Cross-Cultural Ethics An old Vietnamese proverb states, "The law of the Emperor stops at the village gate." This saying illustrates the principle that rules tend to lose their power as they get further away from their source. The distance needs to be measured both in miles and cultural norms. Different cultures and environments have different effects on businesses. Corporate ethics statements typically deal with the gift giving/receiving, proprietary information, bribes, nepotism, and hiring practices, conflict of interest, sexual harassment, treatment of racial and ethnic minority employees and use of convict or child labor by suppliers. All of these areas are vi