Abstract This report evaluates the business ethics and practices at British Airways and Wal-Mart in light of the prevailing political, social, ethical and legal backgrounds. It contrasts the political, social, ethical and legal phenomena in the Britain and USA, the home of these two companies respectively, and how the factors determine decision making at management level. Business ethics, especially regarding labor relations has been chosen because it is a shared challenge between the two firms. British Airways and Wal-Mart have a history of labor relations problems. This report focuses on how these factors influence management of labor relations in the two firms and the resultant outcomes. International Business Issues and Ethics As globalization evolves so is international business. Globally, business has grown to an extent that international businesses are now sharing similar business challenges. This is due to the emergence of international business models. It is worth noting that despite the fact that international firms are facing almost the same problems world over, there are factors determine how these problems are approached in each country. These factors include political, social, legal and ethical. Each country has a set of unique norms and cultural orientations that determine the type of ethical systems that exist. This means that businesses are regulated using different ethics from country to country. Therefore, company managers have to ensure that they are conversant with the ethical systems of the countries within which their businesses operate. These ethical systems influence decision making (The Sullivan Foundation, n. d.). Two companies, Wal-Mart and British Airways have one similar problem: labor relations disputes. The two corporate giants have been received numerous trade suits in the resent past most of them regarding labor relations. Management decisions in the two companies in response to the issue of labor relations vary because of the prevailing political, social, legal and ethical factors in Britain and America. The political environment in America is different from the political environment in Britain. In America, large corporations are allowed to contribute financially to government projects as well as political campaigns. Such contributions are used by these companies to establish political links with the Senate, and later use those links to create business advantage. Wal-Mart, being one of the leading political financers in America, has gained huge popularity within government circles. The company uses its close links with the government to induce major decisions at Senate level. The company has used its political connection in Washington to keep all its employees from being unionized (Quinn, 2000). British Airways operates under a different political environment that requires employers to unionize their employees. The company aims at keeping a balance between negotiating with individual staff members and the staff unions. The company has an efficient communication strategy that facilitates effective negotiation with individual employees as well as staff unions (Blyton & Turnbull, 2004). Wal-Mart is opposed to allowing its employees to join staff unions as it sees this as the best way to mainta