Nerissa Etienne
Donaldson Writing Assignment BUS 200
In short cultural relativism is the ethical or moral norms, that differ from culture to culture,
are all equally valid and no one culture is superior to the other. Whereas ethical
imperialism is the idea that the cultural setting deems what is considered “right” and
wrong” which implies that you need to conform to certain ideals. Donaldson explains this
concept in a quote “when in Rome do as the Romans do”; which if used in international
business could cause tension. Neither approach is ideal when conducting business
internationally because many cultures do not want to conform to an ideal that goes against
their own beliefs. This cause’s ethical imperialism to fail based on the fact not every
culture is willing to go against their own beliefs because they are in a different cultural
setting. Cultural relativism prevents anyone to criticize cultural practices that may violate
basic human rights. Donaldson proposes that there has to be a middle ground in conducting
international business ethically, that we cannot follow the extremes of both approaches. He
outlined guidelines in three principles, first “to respect all human values and determine a
moral threshold for all business activities.” Secondly to “respect all local traditions”,
which inherits both the ideals of cultural relativism and ethical imperialism. Although there
may be a difference in cultural ideals there has to be a form of respect for one’s culture
rather than conform, in order to conduct business ethically. Respecting ones traditions also