Evaluate Bribery in the context of International Strategic Marketing - Essay Example

As it is, international corporate actions are governed by multitudes of responsibilities, codified procedures, and negotiated contracts, strategic alignments with other entities and political groups, joint responsibilities and the likes. The complexities of operations of these international corporations as well fierce market competition often push these entities to resort to drastic measures to achieve their goals. As it is, many of these companies include bribery and cartels as an unwritten part of their marketing strategies.

Bribery in itself is considered as illegal in most countries around the world. There are many international as well as local laws and regulations that prohibit this act. Business ethic standards also dictate that bribery and cartels should be avoided. As stated by the Court in the celebrated case of Verizon Communications Inc. v. law Offices of Curtis V. Trinko, 540 U.S. 398 (2004), bribery and cartels are the supreme evil of antitrust and companies should beware about using these strategies to crush their competitors.

However, despite the many laws and regulations that attempt to curve this practice, companies still manage to use this tactic to get ahead. The advancement in communications makes it even easier for companies to perform acts of bribery and conceal these acts from the public. Of course there are cases when companies are caught giving bribes as in the case of Siemens in Germany but these incidents are too few compared to the actual number of business entities that are practicing bribery. Bribery is a complex thing and it comes in many shapes and forms.

It can happen between private businesses and government entities. Bribery can also take place between two or more private companies. When it comes to its application, bribery can be an overt act as in the case of outright political corruption and influence peddling or it can be indirect