Different business ethics in chiness and western cultures

• Main Author: Zheng, Min
• Publication Date: 2015
• Format: Master thesis
• Language: eng
• Source: Repositórios Científicos de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP)
• Download full: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/11137
• topic: Business ethics; Ethical values; Integrative social contracts theory; Ethical dilemmas; Ética de negócios; Valores éticos; Dilemas éticos

With the development of economic and cultural globalization, the study of business ethics has been arisen in recent years. Business ethics involves in many fields such as culture, ethics and business behaviors. Generally speaking, universal ethics refers to the basic human rights and obligations of the agreement to all human beings. While the “Integrative Social Contracts Theory” can be used as an effective tool to analyze the universal ethics. In the framework of universal ethic, their has the specific ethical characteristics of Chinese and Western cultures, specifically speaking, Western ethics based on rules and emphasizing the equality and individual rights to avoid the conflicts among social members; Chinese ethics based on family and relations which tries to maintain a stable social order. This paper puts particular emphasis on discussing the issue of business ethics in China which aims to arouse the ethical consciousness of Chinese enterprises. Comparatively speaking, Chinese ethical systems have the dual influences on business behaviors, on the one hand, Chinese enterprises tend to manage emotionally which have the harmonious interpersonal relationship, high cohesion, and centralized decision-making authority; on the other hand, nepotism, parents system, the neglect of individual rights and equality and the weakness of institutionalized management is the malady of the Chinese enterprises. Only dealing with the ethical conflicts between different cultures, can more Chinese multinational enterprises succeed globally and more foreign companies invest in China.