Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

East Meets West: Tacit Messages about Business Ethics in Stories Told by Chinese Managers

  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This article examines how culture influences Chinese managers’ perception of some western management instruments, such as codes of ethics and performance evaluation systems. The research is based on analyzing the tacit messages in “stories told” by managers and reviewing some of the barriers that may hinder understanding. Major obstacles lie in failing to ‘read’ each other’s cultures correctly. Assumptions and biases are left alone instead of being addressed openly. Western management systems and tools do not necessarily function equally well in the Chinese culture, unless they are reassessed and adapted. Some recommendations for managers and further research are given.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Au A. K. M. 2001. Marketing Ethics and Behavioral Predisposition of Chinese Managers of SMEs in Hong Kong. Journal of Small Business Management 39(3), 272–279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barthes, R.: 1978. “A lover’s Discourse: Fragments”, transl. Richard Howard (Hill and Wang, Canada)

  • Blum L. 2000. Against Deriving Particularity. In B. Hooker, M.O. Little (eds), Moral Particularism. Clarendon Press, Oxford, pp. 205–226

    Google Scholar 

  • Boje D. M. 2001. Narrative Methods for Organizational and Communication Research. Sage Publication, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen A. H. Y. 1999. Rational Law, Economic Development and the Case of China. Social and Legal Studies 8(1), 97–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Etheredge J. M. 1999. The Perceived Role of Ethics and Social Responsibility: An Alternative Scale Structure. Journal of Business Ethics 18(1), 51–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilligan C. 1982. In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Gold T., D. Guthrie, D. Wank (eds). 2002. Social Connections in China: Institutions, Culture, and the Changing Nature of Guanxi. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Hampden-Turner Ch., F. Trompenaars 2000. Building Cross Cultural Competence. John Wiley, Chichester

    Google Scholar 

  • Hardjono T. W., M. V. Marrewijk 2001. The Social Dimension of Business Excellence. International Journal of Corporate Sustainability: Corporate Environmental Strategy. 8(3), 223–233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harvey B. 1999. “Graceful Merchants”: A Contemporary View of Chinese Business Ethics. Journal of Business Ethics 20, 85–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede G. T. 1984. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. McGraw Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede G. 2001. Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations across Nations, 2nd edition. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA

    Google Scholar 

  • Ip P. K. 2000. Developing Virtuous Corporations with Chinese Characteristics for the Twenty-First Century. In F.J. Richter (eds), The Dragon Millenium. Quorum, Westpoint, CT, pp. 184–206

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin C.Y.-Y. 1999. Business Ethics in Taiwan: A Comparison of Company Employees and University Students. Business and Professional Ethics Journal, 18(2), 69–75

    Google Scholar 

  • Leung T. K. P., Y. H. Wong 2001. The Ethics and Positioning of Guanxi in China, Marketing Intelligence & Planning 19(1), 55–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu, Z., H. von Weltzien Hoivik and L. Wang: 2006. “Chinese Managers’ Perception of Corporate Social Responsibility: What is the Status Quo in China?” Unpublished paper presented at the World Business Ethics Forum, Hong Kong, 1–3 November, 2006

  • Lu X. 1997 Business Ethics in China, Journal for Business Ethics 16, 1509–1518

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lydenberg S. 2005, Corporations and the Public Interest: Guiding the Invisible Hand. Berrett-Koehler, San Francisco

    Google Scholar 

  • Paine L. S. 1994. Managing Organizational Integrity. Harvard Business Review March–April, 106–117

    Google Scholar 

  • Pedersen, M. H.: 2006, ‘Translating Global Values into Local Practice: Business Integrity Management in Novozymes’, in “United Nations (2006): Business against Corruption: Implementation of the 10th United Nations Global Compact Principle against Corruption” (United Nations, New York), pp. 51–61

  • Pitta D. A. 1999. Ethical Issues across Cultures: Managing the Different Perspectives of China and the USA. The Journal of Consumer Marketing 12, 250–260

    Google Scholar 

  • Pless, N. M. and T. Maak: 2005, ‘Relational Intelligence for Leading Responsibly in a Connected World’, in K. M. Weaver (ed.), Proceedings of the Sixty-fifth Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Honolulu, Hawaii

  • Provis C. 2004. Guanxi, Relationships and Ethics. Australian Journal of Professional and Applied Ethics 6(1), 47–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Redfern K. 2005. The Influence of Industrialisation on Ethical Ideology of Managers in the People’s Republic of China. Cross Cultural Management 12(2), 38–50

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Redfern K., J. Crawford 2004a. An Empirical Investigation of the Influence of Modernisation on the Moral Judgements of Managers in the People’s Republic of China. Cross Cultural Management 11(1), 48–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Redfern K., J. Crawford 2004b. An Empirical Investigation of the Ethics Position Questionnaire in the People’s Republic of China. Journal of Business Ethics 50, 199–210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramasamy B., H. W. Ting 2004. A Comparative Analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility Awareness. Journal of Corporate Citizenship 13, 109–123

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowley G. 1947, Principles of Chinese Painting. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Sama L. M. 2006. Interactive Effects of External Environmental Conditions and Internal Firm Characteristics on MNEs’ Choice of Strategy in the Development of a Code of Conduct. Business Ethics Quarterly 16(2), 137–167

    Google Scholar 

  • Spence J. D. 1977, To Change China: Western Advisors in China, 1620–1920. Penguin, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Snell R., C. S. Tseng 2002. Moral Atmosphere and Moral Influence under China’s Network Capitalism. Organization Studies 23(3), 449–478

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tan D., R. S. Snell 2002. The Third Eye: Exploring Guanxi and Relational Morality in the Workplace. Journal of Business Ethics 41(4), 361–384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tam O. K. 2002. Ethical Issues in the Evolution of Corporate Governance in China. Journal of Business Ethics, 37, 303–321

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsui J. 2001. Some Cross-cultural Evidence on Ethical Reasoning. Journal of Business Ethics 31(2), 143–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warren D. E., T. W. Dunfee, N. Li 2004. Social Exchange in China: The Double-Edged Sword of ‘Guanxi’. Journal of Business Ethics 55, 355–372

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Welford R 2004. Corporate Social Responsibility in Europe and Asia: Critical Elements and Best Practice. Journal of Corporate Citizenship 13(Spring), 31–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitcomb L. L., C. B. Erdener, C. Li 1998. Business Ethical Values in China and the U.S Journal of Business Ethics 17, 839–852

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wong Y. H. 1999. Relationship Marketing in China: Guanxi, Favouritism and Adaptation. Journal of Business Ethics 22(2), 107–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodbine G. F. 2004. Moral Choice and the Declining Influence of Traditional Value Orientations Within the Financial Sector of a Rapidly Developing Region of the People’s Republic of China. Journal of Business Ethics 55, 43–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright P. C., W. F. Szeto, S. K. Lee 2003. Ethical Perceptions in China: The Reality of Business Ethics in an International Context. Management Decision, 41(1/2), 180–189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu C. F. 2002 The Relationship of Ethical Decision-Making to Business Ethics and Performance in Taiwan. Journal of Business Ethics, 35(3), 163–177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu, C. F. 2006. Does the East Differ from the West to Hack a Way through the Ethical Jungle? – A Discussion of the Traits of Chinese Business Ethics, unpublished paper presented at World Business Ethics Forum, Hong Kong and Macau, November 2006

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Ethics and Leadership, Norwegian School of Management, Nydalsveien 37, Oslo, 0484, Norway

    Heidi von Weltzien Hoivik

Authors
  1. Heidi von Weltzien Hoivik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Heidi von Weltzien Hoivik.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

von Weltzien Hoivik, H. East Meets West: Tacit Messages about Business Ethics in Stories Told by Chinese Managers. J Bus Ethics 74, 457–469 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9508-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9508-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation