Gm In South Africa

GM Returns to South Africa 10 Years after End of Apartheid

General Motors left South Africa ten years ago because they had some problems with this country due to their racial discrimination, called Apartheid. General Motors did not want to be part of this because the United States was already desegregated, so staying there could have affected its brand reputation. A lot of firms confronted the dilemma of staying in South Africa to make profit or leave the country and not be part of this injustice. We think that the firms that decided to stay in South Africa were mostly thinking in making money. In other words, they decided to continue their operation in South Africa because the market there was still good. We can not say that this decision was bad or good, because on one side this decision helped the South African families and gave employment to them, but on the other side the economy of the country was also being helped. Many countries that criticized apartheid were imposing economic sanctions on South Africa as a way to force the government to abolish segregation. In our point of view, those companies were not being socially responsible to the people of South Africa. Some of the companies that stayed during the Apartheid were Elli Lilly & Company, Ford, and Nestle. Some of those firms are good now because they signed the Sullivan Act, but Nestle was suit because the advertising of milk that the majority of the South African people could not afford.

Foreign firms can balance their strategic interests and the social responsibility by having a business code of ethics. They should take into account that the best way to advertise is to make social labor and that people are going to remember the brand name if they are concerned with the problems of the society. Being good with the people means more profits. We think that GM is in a very good position because there are more opportunities. We searched in the Internet

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