The degree of cross$-$country variability in paying bribes and kickbacks to grease business transactions:

violates ethical principles of right and wrong in all countrie

is ethically acceptable according to the principle of ethical universalism and ethically unacceptable according to the principle of ethical relativism

acceptable to immoral managers but not to amoral managers

is one of the thorniest ethical problems that multinational companies face because paying bribes is normal and customary in some countries and ethically or legally forbidden in others

is more acceptable in dealing with a company's suppliers than in dealing with a company's customers.