Multinational Corporations and Culture in Liberia

The proportion of multinational corporations (MCs) in a developing country (DC) has little to do with the degree of corruption of local culture that takes place. Rather, policy decisions taken by governments of DCs determine whether or not multinationals have a positive or negative impact, according to the author's research in Liberia among foreign managers, African supervisors, and Liberian workers. Even though Liberia has an “open door” policy toward MCs, very little violence has been done to Liberian culture. The reason is two‐fold: 1) multinationals have maintained tight enclaves and have generally refused to integrate their values, managerial and otherwise, with those of the Liberian society; and 2) Liberian government officials have done little to generate Liberian interest in the business field or to force multinationals to play a more participative role in the society. The result has been “growth without development,” in the sense that the country's growth rate has increased over the years, but the Liberian people remain very much underdeveloped. A change of policy could bring about continued growth with development and without cultural disintegration.