Legal, political, and ethical challenges to global business can be found in many arenas. What are the challenges to business that emerge from the actions of a host country and those that emerge from the actions of a home country?

Local politics, laws, and ethical standards all play a crucial role in global business. Even the best corporate strategies or marketing plans can be sidetracked by unexpected legal or political impediments that serve to increase the costs or risks associated with doing business in a foreign country. It is therefore important for those involved in global enterprise of any sort - even if they never leave their home country - to understand the legal, political, and ethical environment of global business.
For example, U.S.-based Intel manufactures semiconductors in China and Costa Rica, among other places. Its home country is therefore the United States, while China and Costa Rica are host countries to its global operations. To succeed, Intel must meet government requirements and local customs in all three countries.
The potential host-country costs include complaints that MNCs extract excessive profits, dominate the local economy, interfere with the local government, do not respect local customs and laws, fail to help domestic firms develop, hire the most talented of local personnel, and fail to transfer their most advanced technologies.
Whenever a domestic employer outsources jobs, or cuts back or closes a domestic operation in order to shift work to lower-cost international destinations, the loss of local jobs is controversial. Corporate decision-makers are likely to be engaged by government and community leaders in critical debates about a firm's domestic social responsibilities. Other home-country criticisms of MNCs include complaints about sending capital investments abroad and engaging in corrupt practices in foreign settings.