Gm Returns To South Africa 10 Years After Independence

Peter Agwa

Individual Question Analysis

GM returns to South Africa 10 years after end of apartheid

How can foreign firms balance their strategic interests and their social responsibility when faced with similar situations?

I think this is a business strategic interest versus a social responsibility, which is in other words an ethical issue. Most companies In GM's position were leaving South Africa because they wanted to force the South African government into abolishing its apartheid ways and force them to adapt a democratic system.

Most multinationals are big enough to affect a countries economy either by joining the economy or by withdrawing from the economy. When a foreign company pulls out as is in the case of GM, they are sending a strong message not only to the country that they are pulling out from, but to the international community and whole world. So by doing this a multinational company would be achieving several results.

1. they would be letting the world know that they do not support

apartheid. This is likely to increase the sale of the companies' products

in other countries that also are against apartheid.

2. They would be sending a message to the government and telling them

that they do not agree with their apartheid policies and rule, and this

would force the government to think on their stance on apartheid

because no government would like to lose its foreign business, and

also if other companies were to do the