The national border: up for sale? You bet
The major oil distributors, refiners, producers and promoters (indeed anyone involved in black gold), have never had an easy time of it in the press. Hardly a surprise given the state of the planet and the fluctuations of oil prices, the latter conspiring to effect markets high and low.
And whilst consumers allow these multinationals to get away with murder – some would say quite literally – they’ve done a fairly good job of painting themselves in an angelic light. Take Shell for instance, who have been selling for years as the Levi’s of the energy market. An age-old family friend, but who just might be too cool for school. On top of that, they’re consistently reliable.
So when one thinks of the clandestine nature surrounding TNK-BP at the moment, you have to wonder if they’ve been pursuing the right discourse. Of course the West has only been doing business with Russia for a few years, and so you might be forgiven for thinking we actually knew how they did business in the former USSR. But the publicity surrounding the oil giant’s decision to get rid of Chief Executive Bob Dudley and replace him with a “Russian-speaking candidate with Russian business experience”, has been an exacerbation of immense proportions.
Of course we in the West expect the Russians to work in the global economy; of course the company in question is a multi-international hit. This type of national pride that slows down business would never happen in the West. The British don’t complain about foreign call centres, the French don’t complain about working with US industrial parts, and Australia certainly has no qualms working with Asia.
Perhaps a rethink of just how ‘global’ markets really are is in order. Do some of the old prejudices exist? Of course they do – it’s called keeping business at home, and it can be one of the best selling points a business tycoon can issue at his or her disposal. But that’s all it should be: there are plenty of other ways to be successful in a business, so don’t limit your options.
