We were posed this question in class: Should MNCs protect shareholder value by restricting the placement of female employees in certain foreign countries? Discuss sexism in international business.
My response to this is simple. The shareholders are the most valuable entities in any MNC. Therefore in countries where they have an Arabian or Islamic style of life, I fully believe that men should be sent to those countries instead of women, as a man will be able to do business whereas a women may not. This is sexism, however it is the stage of world business. If you are a MNC then in all actuality it is necessary to understand the cultural environment of which your company is moving into and send the best possible fit for that culture in order to do well in that environment.
In American culture this would be deemed sexist and not tolerated, but when we are talking about foreign cultures we must do what is right for that culture and not our own. We can use women in foreign countries where women are seen as equal therefore alleviating the question of equality. A female manager within an MNC should already be aware of the issues of moving into certain cultures and therefore not be offended by such decisions. For example if sending a 50 year old male to Japan for business would be considered a stronger move than sending a 25 year old male, the company would make this decision not to offend the younger man but to make sure we sent the most cultural accepted person in their culture as age is something to be respected.
Ultimately this means that they MNC should always protect shareholder value and send the person that fits the best into the country with which we are expanding. If feelings are hurt and a women is not sent, it should not be taken personally as we are all looking out for the good of the company. We may believe it isn’t fair, but our views should never be forced upon others if we truly want to do good business world-wide.