Ethical and Legal Issues
Ethics refers to “codes” of conduct within business, industry, or society (Czerny 42), it also refers to accepted principles of right or wrong that govern. For very many years, Poland failed to provide the best infrastructure for business ethics due to “communism.” Corruption, poverty, lack of proper legal infrastructure, and the financial crisis continued to affect the country (Szczerbiak). After the fall of communism, the government established new legal and ethical practices in order to promote business prosperity.
The strategy attracted new investors and eventually promoted “economic development” in the country (Czerny). There are some citizens facing certain ethical concerns in the workplace. Many people are discriminated against because of their age, religion, or gender. Cases of “abuse of authority” are also common in the country (Ryan). As a result, the government has embraced new strategies in order to address most of the ethical and “human resource” concerns affecting the people.
Since Poland liberalized its trade in 1989, the country has adopted a favorable business environment for international trade. Consequently, Poland joined the European Union in 2004 that necessitated it in adopting custom laws in accordance with the EU custom laws. However, it is noted that since 2006, Poland has deteriorated in ease of doing business. The decline has been associated with government bureaucracy in terms of administration, legal framework as well as taxation. Poland is ranked as the second country after Mexico among the OECD country with the greatest administrative requirements for start-ups.
Moreover, it is estimated that starting up a business in Poland will cost three times more than the average cost required in starting a business in any OECD country. This bureaucracy is a major challenge for foreigners doing business in Poland.
Foreign Exchange and International Trade
The Polish Zloty has continued to strengthen against the Sterling Pound and the US Dollar. This is attributable to the country’s economic growth and political climate. The country continues to attract investors from different parts of the world. Currently, Poland is doing business with different countries, thus making it an economic powerhouse in the region. Poland’s improvement in its international trade was realized in 1989 after it adopted strategic political as well as economic reforms that initiated a journey to its current market-driven economy. In the eastern region, Poland possesses the largest market among former central Europe.
Poland’s international trade augmented further in 2004 after it joined the European Union. The improvement was realized after Poland adopted strategic EU legislation that enabled it to enact important economic legislation that reduced government interferences in private business, which greatly boosted its economy. In an effort to improve its market competitiveness, Poland adopted strategic changes in how it ran its businesses in enhancing its financial markets, embracing appropriate intellectual property law, as well as enforcing an increase in financial reporting among companies operating in the country.
Subsequently, these reforms improved foreign investments in the region that consequently boosted the country’s economy to become the sixth nation with the largest GDP in Europe. It was amazing that while most of Europe struggled with the recent financial downtime from 2008-2012, Poland Gross Domestic Product grew by 18%. While the growth of Poland’s economy was partly attributed to €68.7 billion received between 2007 and 2013 from the EU structural and cohesion funds as Poland was the chief beneficially of these funds, a significant part of its economic growth was as a result of its strategic international polices that supported international trade.
Polish public has very strong positive attitudes towards direct foreign investments that have attracted international investors and mainly U.S. investors in the automobile sector, IT as well as in aerospace among many others. Embracement of appropriate policies has placed Poland as a strategic location where many multinational companies from western nations have outsourced most of their tasks.
The outsourcing aspect has greatly boosted the rate of employment in the country, henceforth leading to robust economic growth in Poland. In summary, Poland closeness to a vast market, conducive political environment as well as its workforce that possesses high ethical standards have transformed the country into a strategic locality where many U.S. companies aspiring in expanding their export markets have given the first priority.
Despite the continuous growth in the GDP, Poland remains one of the European less-developed nations. The Polish public suffers from limited purchasing capacity, which compromises its domestic consumption rate. Similarly, Poland has a major challenge in its infrastructure, such as roads, railway as well as airstrips. The poor transport network in Poland raises the cost of doing business in the country considerably. However, Poland, being a member of the European Union, enjoys the access of billion of Euros in structural and cohesion funds that are being used in supporting its infrastructure development.
In conclusion, it is fair to state that this analysis “portrays” Poland as a stable country for international business (Prasad and Keane).