Doing Business in a Country with a Totalitarian Government

A totalitarian government can be defined as a form of government that theoretically permits no individual freedom and that seeks to subordinate all aspects of the individual's life to the authority of the government. (britannica.com) All government activity is administered by one single person, a dictator, or by a small group of people who serve with loyalty to the dictator. Totalitarian dictatorships strive to be in control over all the aspects of private and public behavior by influencing all of society toward all the common goals and policies of the government.

When thinking of a totalitarian government a good example that comes to mind would be North Korea. They have a dictator that rules every aspect of the citizens lives. There is propaganda all over the place from the television to the text books that suggest that nothing is more important than the dictator. The citizens are not even allowed to have in their possession any magazines that are not government issued and are not allowed to have cell phones either. I learned all of this one day when there was a special on Oprah, and they had a correspondent go into North Korea.

I believe that doing business in a country with a totalitarian government would not be a wise decision. They will tell you how your business needs to be run and they are involved in every aspect of how your business operates. You would have to be very cautious of what you sell, and how you sell it. One wrong move and you might even have your business taken over by the government while you sit inside a jail cell wondering what happened. I also believe that by doing business with a country that lives under totalitarian rule that you are inadvertently supporting the regime of the dictator.

Reference:
Encyclopedia Britannica Online (2007). Totalitarianism Retrieved October 8, 2007 from