It’s Hard to Say Goodbye: Managing Disengagement during Political Disruptions

When companies experience political disruptions to their global business, such as Myanmar 2020 or Russia 2022, challenges in the host economy may be compounded by home country pressures to disengage. How can MNEs navigate such economic and ethical complexity? We suggest that MNEs facing pressures to exit should organize their decision process in three steps: First, clarify the financial implications considering the implications of disengagement for operations outside the focal country. Second, assess the ethical implications of continuing operations in the country. Third, opting to disengage, assess the merits of alternative disengagement strategies, including partial and full exit.