Chinese folk wisdom: Implications for guarding against unethical practices by Chinese managers

Recent research showed that the driving forces behind the contemporary development of business ethics in China were Confucianism, Maoism and foreign business ethics. Economic reforms in China had brought in the Western concept of capitalism which undermined traditional Confucian values in business d...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of public affairs 2010-08, Vol.10 (3), p.173-185
Main Author: Szeto, Ricky W. F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Asia
Behavior
Business ethics
Capitalism
China
Chinese culture
Confucianism
Corporate governance
Corporate social responsibility
Economic reform
Folk wisdom
Impact analysis
Managers
Maoism
Organizational behaviour
Profit
Social responsibility
Studies
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Recent research showed that the driving forces behind the contemporary development of business ethics in China were Confucianism, Maoism and foreign business ethics. Economic reforms in China had brought in the Western concept of capitalism which undermined traditional Confucian values in business dealings. Conducting a survey on practicing business managers in China, we examined the impact of Chinese folk wisdom on ethical practices and behaviour. In particular, we analysed the implication of such wisdom in guarding against unethical practices by Chinese managers. Analysis of the survey data indicates that Chinese folk wisdom remains an effective carrier of the Chinese traditional ethical values and acts as an effective ‘firewall’ guarding against possible unethical practices by Chinese managers. However, ‘Li’ (profits) is found to have received more attention than ‘Yi’ (ethics) in the contemporary development of business ethics in China. At this stage, we cannot conclude that ‘Yi’ or ethics is a means or an end to conducting business in China. Possibly it is both a means and an end! The study has also provided evidence on the influences of Chinese folk wisdom on corporate social responsibility and corporate governance. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ISSN:1472-3891
1479-1854
DOI:10.1002/pa.355