Ethics of doing business in a country with totalitarian government is considered oppressive because business ethics are such that business houses do not feel that they are independent and have to constantly act under the pressure of the government. Not only this bribery and moving ahead through contacts is considered normal and there are very lenient rules and regulations for people dealing in these activities. China is a very good example of a country with a totalitarian government.
Of late there has been numerous debates over doing business in this country, as it is a growing industry giant but difficult for the non-totalitarian countries to deal with its business ethics. Glossika Inc. rightly, observed “ The China of today features a symbiotic type of relationship between business and government…Opportunities depend on building a personal network with the people in power and keeping them happy. ” (para. 2) There is a similar situation in the case of bribery too.
As far as the business ethics of the countries governed by the totalitarian government is concerned, those belonging to the western countries but interested in doing business here have to learn a complete set of new ethics, which seems quite different and unreasonable to many. Though the business fraternity of non-totalitarian countries consider the ethics of a totalitarian country like China very unsatisfactory, the Chinese argue that even though the practices in the field of business have been unethical, the ethics laid by their government are positive.
If the business ethics is seen from the point of view of how advantageous they are to the society then it can be accepted that, “ They also offer insight into building a stakeholders’ society, which the Chinese might call a ‘ harmonious society. ’ (Steen, para. 3) Hence it can be concluded that ethics of doing business in a country run by a totalitarian government can never reach to a consensus as the business fraternity of both totalitarian and non totalitarian countries would hold a different viewpoint about it.