Abstract
Superior leadership, ethical decision-making, and integrity are essential qualities for business managers at all levels of an organization, especially in today’s quickly-changing global society. This is particularly true in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) where relationships and their integrity play a prominent role in all interactions, commercial and otherwise. Multinational corporations devote numerous resources to developing leadership competencies and decision-making skills, which include the ability to navigate the business successfully during influential economic, organizational, and societal changes, like the recent economic crisis, the various business scandals, and the numerous political conflicts. Chinese companies will do society a significant service by also emphasizing ethics training and development because their actions reverberate across the global economy
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1.The methodology consisted of a two phases: (1) A qualitative study consisting of interviews with executives and entrepreneurs; (2) A quantitative study that included questions on the importance/relevance of the teachings of Confucius, Mao Zedong and Western philosophy on their decision-making processes.
2.The attempt to precisely define a moral concept like “integrity” is laced with linguistic, cultural, contextual, and philosophical limitations. Additional challenges involve interpretations influenced by race, gender, education, geography, age, income, and other demographic characteristics like generations (which this chapter proposes as most determinative). Yet, accepting these inherent challenges, trying to understand the important concept of integrity is a worthwhile endeavor because it helps to provide a more nuanced and layered understanding of a significant moral construct within and between various cultures, which should then assist the communication and interaction between these various cultures in their business, political, and social dealings.
3.Mao himself admitted to reading and admiring western classics like John Stuart Mill on ethics, Adam Smith on capitalism, Rousseau on logic, and Montesquieu on law (Melvin 2007, p. 11).
4.As to religion, strength of religious beliefs (but not denomination or value orientation) was found to be strongly related to ethical behavior (McNichols and Zimmerer 1985).
5.Comparable sayings to the Golden Rule, found in MTT 7:12 of Christian scripture can be found in other religious traditions. In Confucian teaching, the rule is most prominently presented in a negative form, “Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself” (Analects XV.24).
6.Preliminary findings indicate that geographical region, urban/rural setting, and type of education also influence the view of integrity and ethics among Chinese.
7.The demarcations of generations are not immutable because some people’s development may overlap two generations (beginning at the end of one generation and continuing briefly into the beginning of another). These “cuspers” may exhibit characteristics outside their birth generation and possibly of both generations.
8.Although other characteristics such as political affiliation, family dynamics, and work/leisure balance may be influenced by generational affiliation, the focus here is on ethical perspectives and decision-making in business.
9.Veterans (born before 1945) found their identity in World War II and the earlier Great Depression. They view integrity as loyalty and assistance to the larger group, with ethics and decision-making as adherence to rules and norms. Baby Boomers (1945–1960) experienced the Civil Rights Movement and other social reform during their formative years. They see integrity, ethics, and decision-making as being rooted in fundamental values and inalienable rights that can be adapted to different situations. Gen-Xers (1961–1980) were influenced by their absentee parents and early political scandals like Watergate. Thus their ethics and decision-making emphasize individual well-being, self-sufficiency, and self-realization. Millennials (1981–2000) have been raised in prosperity and rapid technological advancements. Integrity, ethics, and decision-making all attempt to balance personal development with societal well-being. Homelanders (2000–2020) have experienced scandals in all areas of society accompanied by an economic downturn. The prognosis is that Homelanders will be very apprehensive of international relationships and will pursue a reform agenda with emphasis on a transparent ethics that pursues and protects equitable relationships and punishes unethical and illegal behavior.
10. The interest in cross-cultural business ethics has paralleled the growth of multinational businesses operations, a natural consequence of companies encountering differing ethical perspectives in various countries. Academicians, governments, and businesses alike believe that a fuller understanding of cultural differences will improve multinational business relationships, cross-cultural ethics, and global economic development (Blodgett et al. 2001). This insightful theory contains at least one major flaw: it views each nation as possessing an essentially homogeneous culture, which incorrectly oversimplifies the cross-cultural dynamics of the current global economy.
11.The Chinese Academy of International Trade & Economic Cooperation (CAITEC), a subsidiary of the People’s Republic of China Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) issued CSR Guidelines in 2008.
12.A well-run ethics training program that utilizes the stakeholder model and social networking can help employees to understand the different perspectives, decision-making approaches, and formative experiences of their co-workers and other stakeholders.
13.Ethical culture usually includes formal policies (mission statement, codes of conduct), control strategies (compensation, discipline), and informal practices (symbols, stories, interactions). Control strategies and informal practices should be tailored for each generation in order to achieve optimal impact.
14.In order to determine the cognitive complexity, ethical sensitivity, personal values, ethical fortitude, and moral stage of development of potential professionals, tests designed to measure these attributes and their optimal levels should be developed and given as part of the application process. Rest’s (1986) Defining Issues Test, which looks at moral sensitivity, judgment, motivation, and character, is a good place to start. Christie and Geis’ (1970) Mach IV exam, which measures a leader’s perspective on the appropriate purpose and use of power in order to anticipate ethical compromise, would be another helpful tool. Similarly useful are the Ethics Position Questionnaire developed by Forsyth (1980) and the Multidimensional Ethics Scale developed by Reidenbach and Robin (1988). Interestingly, scholars predicted an increase in psychological testing among businesses would eventually occur (Bergen et al. 1993; Verbeke et al. 1996). It may be worth the investment to create an exam tailored to one’s particular organization.
15.Without diminishing the important role that ethics training plays in improving the ethical behavior of sales people, limits to its effectiveness do exist based in part on the individual’s current level of moral development (Ferrell et al. 2005). Given this limitation, the recruiting and hiring of ethical people takes on added significance and can only enhance the ethical well-being of a sales force. This is especially true since cognitive complexity, empathy, and moral development are critical ethical skills for the stakeholder management framework. Therefore, sales departments might want to organize their candidates’ pool in a manner that prioritizes the non-discriminatory attributes of type of education, cognitive complexity, ethical sensitivity, personal values, ethical fortitude, and moral stages of development. Yet, further research is necessary to more clearly understand this area, and to avoid any sort of discriminatory “sales personnel profiling.”
16.Influential organizational leaders, however, are not exclusively found among professionals with titles and prestige. Lower level employees are often the most influential leaders through friendships, peer pressure, informal mentoring, humor, and gossip (Bandsuch and Cavanagh 2005). An organization that touts its ethical culture is rendered mute if its message is unheard or ignored by the many subsidiary employees who serve as a major voice to a company’s true ethical message. The union representative, the helpful co-worker, the insightful lunch partner, the successful sales team, even the funny and popular peer have an unprecedented power to impact organizational culture and its ethical climate. Therefore, it may behoove a company to identify both potential formal and informal leaders and work with them in designing and cultivating an ethical climate. The hiring and training of employees at all levels of the business, but especially of informal and formal leaders, will be a significant factor in determining a company’s ethical culture, climate and corresponding behavior.
17.A well-run ethics training program that utilizes the stakeholder model and social networking can help employees to understand the different perspectives, decision-making approaches, and formative experiences of their co-workers and other stakeholders. Such ethics training can help overcome generational differences in ethical reasoning by breaking down the false stereotypes about generations that often hinder inter-generational dialogue and cooperation. Improving the multigenerational communication and social networking, especially among the boundary spanners within the organization, will decrease role ambiguity, expand the ethical reach of the business, and cultivate “guanxi” among internal and external stakeholder relationships.
18.Ethical culture usually includes formal policies (mission statement, codes of conduct), control strategies (compensation, discipline), and informal practices (symbols, stories, interactions). Control strategies and informal practices should be tailored for each generation in order to achieve optimal impact. In general, revolutionaries need much more positive reinforcement for their good behavior and a softer form of admonishment and detailed explanations for their mistakes. This need is rooted in the mixed messages they experienced during the Cultural Revolution. Little Emperors have a similar disposition resulting from the one-child policy. Loyalists and Reformers thrive with a balanced reward system. At the very least, some specific management responses to both ethical and unethical behavior are necessary to influence the ability of the entire sales force to recognize ethical quandaries (McClaren 2000).
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Bandsuch, R.M. (2013). Understanding Integrity Across Generations in China: Implications for Personnel Choices in Chinese Corporations. In: Rothlin, S., Haghirian, P. (eds) Dimensions of Teaching Business Ethics in Asia. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36022-0_4
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