As seen in the First Nations article, external factors heavily influence the way in which a business will operate. For example, a portion of the article is about how Taseko Mines found a large deposit of copper and gold on aboriginal lands and they wanted to destroy the entire lake. In order to fight this, First Nations got into a lengthy court preceding that enforced the protection of their lands. This serves to illustrate how First Nations was basically an external factor that influenced Taseko Mines and effectively halted their plans.

The article I have chosen revolves around how Chinese companies in the USA are urged to learn the country’s employment laws. Often times, foreign companies in the USA are targeted with lawsuits because they do not understand how it works in the USA, as the culture and ethical guidelines are different. This is similar to the case of First Nations because both parties had different agendas, and neither are necessarily wrong. The external factor in the case of the Chinese companies essentially forces them to adopt to a new way, which involves restructuring and educating. I believe that external factors can be a positive or negative. This ties in nicely to ethical guidelines of business and the grey line between what is or isn’t morally acceptable. In the case of Taseko Mines, I believe that the external factor (First Nations) was positive, because it allowed for the preservation of land and culture. In the case of the employment laws, I think it is one of those external factors that is inevitable, and it has less to do with personal agendas, and more to do with practicality.

Sources: http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2014/07/26/Tsilhqotin-With-Gloves/

http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/us/2014-09/18/content_18622649.htm