Essay on Global Expansion

Submitted By whites8
Words: 3828
Pages: 16

Global Expansion: Ethical Challenges and Opportunities
Josh Patillo
AB Technical College
ENG112-04

Abstract Global Expansion is a necessity for companies who are looking to grow their businesses and reduce costs. Global expansion, however, does not come without its challenges. When businesses choose to expand to global operations, it is important to properly train leaders in appropriate ethical negotiations with foreign officials. Once negotiations have been completed and business operations begin, it is important that businesses disclose to domestic customers that their personal information is being outsourced overseas. They must endure their customers that the data being sent is secure by following regulatory requirements. Also, businesses must ensure that their employees are protected from political and economic uprisings, local fraud, and provide medical support. Currently, many universities offer courses in their business school for ethical business practices for global expansion. In order for businesses to have successful global operations, they must be prepared to adequately train their employees in local negotiation techniques, how to understand cultural differences, and inclusion and diversity training. Although global expansion can be an attractive alternative for businesses who desire to outsource labor, businesses must weigh the benefits, overcome challenges, and look for opportunities if they want to be successful.
Key Words
Global Operations Ethics Challenges
Negotiations Benefits Opportunities
Labor Data Culture

Introduction
Over the years, many people have experience calling a service center to get technical support or assistance for banking issues only to discover that the customer service representative at the other end of the line are not native English speakers. While they may have expected to talk to a service center located in the United States, the reality is, these jobs have been outsourced to foreign countries. More and more it appears that companies are opting to globally expand their businesses in foreign countries due to saving cost on facilities and labor. The decision to expand globally is not without its challenges, but if done deliberately and methodically, it can provide opportunities and more profits to stakeholders. Global expansion requires that a company maintains a business presence in a foreign country. This requires that the leadership of a company review the overall scope and direction they want the company to proceed, share this information with company stakeholders, get financing, and make a decision on moving operations to globally. Once the decision is made, companies need to meet with local authorities in the country where they want to expand, and review the economic and political landscape of the area to make sure the location selected can accommodate the expectations of the business and the stakeholders. By reviewing the culture, potential workforce, local regulations and requirements, safety, and quality of life, the company can then determine if the move fits into their current ethics and compliance policies. Companies that opt to expand to global operations will have to take many steps to assure they meet the challenges, opportunities, and business approaches necessary to have a successful global operation.

The Necessity of Ethics and Ethical Standards in Business
The purpose of global expansion for most businesses is to increase profits and reduce operating costs. In order for a business to survive locally and globally, there needs to be policies and procedures in place for ethical business behavior. Also, corporate and company leaders and managers from the top of the organization down to the workers, need to be trained on ethics and compliance policies and take ownership of the ethical behavior of the company. In order for employees to internalize ethical behavior in the business, it is important that training programs