The Hindu Business Line : Or cashing in on opportunity?

The protests in Pakistan as a fallout of the Danish cartoons have been particularly bloody. People have been shot in efforts at crowd control and property has been destroyed. Local political commentators have observed that the protests are not so much against the Danish cartoons that showed disrespect towards Islam as they are against dissatisfaction with the country's leadership for lack of response to local needs and for toeing the US line on matters of foreign policy.

The price of being a `US ally' and the resentment against American hegemony regularly rears its head in Pakistan in protests along border areas when there is an air-strike against suspected terrorists. It is probably a similar sentiment that explains some of the acts of violence against businesses that one saw recently, namely, the attacks on KFC, Pizza Hut and McDonalds. Invariably, the owners of the shops that are burnt are local businesspersons, who employ the locals, in jobs that are hard to come by in poor economies.

IRRATIONAL ANGER

Yet, the feeling of anger against the US and its policies seems to override rational considerations and these outlets become targets. The CEOs of these companies should be concerned that the kind of image they project attracts such attention.

The Wall Street Journal reported, in a recent article, that the US government official Ms Karen Hughes, was now recruiting the assistance of the US corporate world in projecting a better image of the US abroad. The CEO of Pfizer Inc, the pharmaceutical company, accompanied Ms Hughes, who is the undersecretary for public diplomacy, on a tour of Pakistan.

They were visiting areas of earthquake devastation and while Dr Hank McKinnell, the Pfizer CEO, went along to hand out free medicines, Ms Hughes was handing out children's books, apart from conveying US aid for relief and reconstruction. The message was: US government and US companies have come to the rescue of the poor and the suffering. So they are good people, not bad.

PUBLICITY OPPORTUNITY

Few companies want to miss a golden opportunity for publicity. But would they like to be perceived as taking undue advantage of the suffering for self-promotion? The paper says that the Pfizer CEO `kicks himself that the donated cartons of drugs didn't come decorated with American flags.' He saw it as a missed opportunity to reiterate the American image in the minds of the locals.

On his company's Web site, Mr McKinnell is quoted as saying, "We want to be the most valued company to patients, colleagues, shareholders and the communities where we work and live." To reflect that sentiment, shouldn't he want to print the Pakistan flag on the cartons to show his commitment to the Pakistani market?

Moreover, when companies donate for disasters or humanitarian causes, they do not usually like to shout it from the rooftops, the way they would when they are sponsoring a sports event. The hundreds of US companies that have given millions of dollars for tsunami relief have not been proclaiming their charity in full-page advertisements about what they gave, and neither have they been waving the flag each time.

This is not the first attempt of the US government to use a business approach to project a better image overseas. Soon after the terrorist attack on the twin towers in New York and the Pentagon in September 2001, the President advised his compatriots to go to the malls, as a way of asking them to lead their normal lives.

WHY ANTI-US?

Many people after that terrorist attack began seriously wondering what was the perception of the US overseas, in general, and West Asia, in particular. Almost every magazine came up with articles and surveys titled `why do they hate us?' In October 2001, the government appointed Ms Charlotte Beers to the position that Ms Hughes now occupies. She produced videos and pamphlets to be used in Muslim countries to show religious tolerance and project the success Muslims have achieved in the US. But the reluctance of several Arab media/countries to broadcast the videos resulted in that project being scuttled and Ms Beers quit in 2003.

Now, Ms Hughes, a trusted assistant of the President from his home State of Texas, is taking the help of US corporations, which are becoming willing champions of the government's agenda.

The other companies whose current or former CEOs accompanied Ms Hughes to promote both their charity and the US include Xerox and United Parcel Service. Mr Sanford I. Weill, Chairman of Citigroup Inc, which donated money for the earthquake relief in Pakistan, is quoted in the same article as saying, "I think companies are realising that we all have to be salesman for America and not just sit back and rely on the government." Citigroup proudly proclaims that it serves 200 million customers in 100 countries and its Chairman still sees it as an American company.

Clearly, these companies need to reflect on whether they are global companies who act locally, or American companies seeking to make a profit abroad, and are willing to be instruments of US foreign policy.

(The author is professor of international business and strategic management at Suffolk University, Boston, US. His Internet address is cgopinat@suffolk.edu)

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