A multinational company is accused of paying bribes to the government of a host country to obtain permission to build a production factory. The public relations manager of the company defends the company's actions as being ethically sound; he states that in the host country, paying bribes to government officials is the accepted norm and is in keeping with the social practices in the host country. The public relations manager is using which of the following philosophical doctrines to defend the actions of the company? A. The Friedman doctrineB. Righteous moralistC. Noblesse obligeD. Cultural relativism

The answer is: D) Cultural relativism

Explanation:

In business, cultural relativism refers to the belief that a company's activities should be understood in terms of the culture it operates in.

In other words, the actions of the foreign division of a company should not be judged based on the culture where the parent company operates, but rather by the culture where the subsidiary operates in (foreign country).

Besides the morality of the actions, if the parent company operates in the US, this action (bribery) is illegal and the management of both parent and subsidiary could face criminal charges. That doesn't apply for European of Asian multinational corporations.