One important issue that international managers must face is questionable payments abroad. What is acceptable in terms of culture and law varies greatly around the world, and managers must come to grips with the inevitable and often conflicting demands that will be made on them in foreign markets. There are, essentially, three sources that spell out what payments are, or are not, "proper" in global business: the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (amended in 1988), the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) of 1997, and the codes of conduct of virtually all multinational corporations.
