Business and Politics: countries at war

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When a country goes to war, businesses have to make the big decision if they should keep working in the country or not. For example, when Russia invaded Ukraine many businesses left the country. Mcdonald’s,a business that left Russia said, “The humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, and the precipitating unpredictable operating environment have led Mcdonald's to conclude that continued ownership of business in Russia is no longer tenable nor is it consistent with Mcdonald’s values.”

There can be positives of staying in a country at war. This includes, the business will get more money, going back to the Russo-Ukrainian war, Russia is a large country with a population of around 144,100,682 as of March 14th 2024, according to the worldometer website. There's a lot of innocent people living in war countries that will buy from businesses. A large beauty company,Avon, stayed in Russia to support women “whose lives depend on their Avon business.” the beauty brand said.

There are also many negatives of staying in a war country, such as conflict from the public. This can lead to public boycotts, a boycott is when a group of people avoid buying from a business as a form of protest, the aim is to impact the businesses profit, forcing it to change. On January 19th 2024 Pizza Hut got boycotted for supporting Israelis. The company posted a picture on the Pizza Hut Israel Instagram account reposted a story from user @alex_slults that showed two smiling soldiers holding Pizza Hut boxes, implying the fast-food chain provided meals to the soldiers for free. The story eventually got expired and can no longer be seen on Pizza Hut's Instagram.

In conclusion, I believe businesses can stay in war countries to provide man made things such as appliances,medicine,etc. Although it can be better for the businesses reputation to leave as they get disapproval from the public,leading to less people buying from their business.

Comments (8)

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  • i agree a business could suffer from it but always good to stay and provide goods and services

  • I agree because many many businesses have big decisions to make when supporting or staying with russia or other countries with war

  • I agree with you! Businesses will tend to make these "big" decisions based on money. If most of the brand's income is from a specific country that is at war, the brand will tend to stay with the country. Sometimes, a company's reputation can be tarnished from this too. As you used as an example, Pizza Hut received much backlash from their post, which led to others boycotting their company. This caused Pizza Hut to lose money and even support from other companies.

  • I think it's kinda like when you're playing a video game. Sometimes you gotta decide whether to stay in a tough level and keep playing or just quit and try another level. It's like that for businesses in countries at war. I agree that staying can help out people and make money, but at the same time leaving might save a business from a lot of trouble. It's a tricky choice, kinda like picking the right path in a game.

    Thank you!

  • As you stated there are both sides you have to consider.
    I personally believe that a business staying in a country is not going to be profitable so there is no point in staying there. I don’t think that consumers will have their mind buying a product especially if it is not necessary.
    Even it employees maybe at risk going to work every day for producing something not in need.
    However we meet to take into account that these people if they lose their work they won’t have money to live. The government along with the company should give them a fund during period time for me.

  • Yes I agree with you but war can damage businesses. As an example in Somali during the Ukrainian War businesses that uses wheat from Ukraine were damaged due to the fact that Russia had blocked trades for Ukraine. This is horribly for countries and war should not affect businesses.

  • I agree that businesses can benefit AND suffer from operating in countries that are at war. The benefits are that the business can still earn profits and may even have an increase in profits due to operating in a country at war because their competitors may have left the country or the citizens in the country may begin to favor the business because it stayed open during the war. But in some cases the business may suffer in other areas from operating in a country at war. People may begin to boycott the brand for doing such, decreasing their profits in multiple other locations around the world.

  • I totally agree with your point of view. I think it's a tricky decision for businesses for countries at work to decide whether stay or leave the country.Actually, They face two choices that are more difficult than each other. Some companies believe that staying will increase their profit and make more money but other companies feel that this country is no longer suitable for work and prefer to leave. Personally, I think that staying is better to help out people and provide them with their needs, services and job opportunities even this will impact the company reputation or put it in some troubles.