Multinationals must work sensitively with different cultures around the world or face potentially dire consequences for themselves and society, according to a new analysis of globalisation by British Telecommunications.
In Variety and values, the third in a series of occasional papers on corporate reputation, Jan Walsh, BT’s head of corporate reputation and social policy, argues that if globalisation is not to have a negative impact, then multinationals must develop ways to do business that are ‘appropriate to every culture they operate within’.
Although that may be ‘too daunting a prospect for some companies,’ she says that ‘now is the moment to embark on this undertaking, as globalisation has moved forward just far enough for a core of cultural and ethical understanding to begin to emerge between countries and enterprises’. The paper says all multinationals ‘need to understand why some people feel so strongly about the matter’. Otherwise, it claims, they could face repeats of the anti-business riots in the City of London and in Seattle.