Ethical and Cultural Issues: Doing Business in China - Essay Example

? Ethical and Cultural Issues: Doing Business in China of the Management of the Concerned September 27, Ethical and Cultural Issues: Doing Business in China There is no denying the fact that when it comes to international business, culture happens to be a salient issue. Thereby, while doing business in a foreign country, an insight into and understanding of the local culture and norms could play a pivotal role in facilitating or hindering business interests (Johnson & Turner, 2007). Though the cultural nuances associated with business processes may not readily present themselves to the managers, it is a fact that they tend to have an emphatic influence on the employees and the approach that the managers need to pursue (Johnson & Turner, 2007). Many people tend to believe that business is business and it is about standardized business practices that happen to be same around the world. They think that the relevance of culture in business is overrated. However, nothing could be far from the truth. The thing that needs to be understood is that every business system happens to evolve around a culture and is significantly influenced by the cultural norms and beliefs (Johnson & Turner, 2007). Thereby while undertaking business operations in foreign nations, it is quiet feasible to offend people from a different business culture, without even intending to actually do so. Yet, it is also a fact that even if one agrees to the fact that business systems do get influenced by culture, it is difficult to ascertain as to how much one should know about a culture while engaging in business with it. There is no definite answer. Certainly, cultural knowhow is important, yet more important is the attitude of the managers managing business in a foreign culture (Johnson & Turner, 2007). The fact is that if one makes the effort to understand the values of a foreign culture, one does get an idea of the salient values influencing a culture and the cultural commonalities one shares. There are a few important things that need to be kept in mind while doing business in a foreign culture. On needs to have a genuine respect for the culture in one operates. One also needs to have a basic understanding of the cultural values and norms implicitly or explicitly practiced in a culture and while taking decisions one ought to show consideration for these cultural differences (Kline, 2009). A manager working in a foreign culture also needs to retain an attitude that is caring about the society in which one operates. For instance while doing business in China, a manager needs to remember that the Chinese society is highly shaped and moulded by traditional Confucian values that affiliate to a strict sense of propriety and norms (Alon, 2007). It is these norms and values that determine as to how a person ought to operate, act and behave while dealing with a range of social hierarchies. In addition, it is a fact that the Chinese tend to maintain little separation between their business life and personal life, and each business decision tends to have a personal context (Alon, 2007). One important thing to be understood is that the concepts of ‘mianzi’ and ‘guanxi’ happen to highly influence the business ethics in China. Guanxi happens to be a system of business connections, contacts, networks and relations that is really complex and deeply imbedded (Alon, 2007). These connections are formed over decades and happen to run deep. Mianzi is affiliated to the concept of face and in a broader term it could be interpreted as a concern for one’s personal self respect and self respect of the others (Alon, 2007). Hence, while dealing with ethical issues in China a manager always needs to remember that no concern for ethics may supersede the notions of guanxi and mianzi. The Chinese notion of ethics is flexible in the sense that while deciding about ethics it does tends to show consideration for personal relationships and the onus of allowing others to save their sense of face, even if it involves somewhat compromising on ethics. As per the Corruption Perception Index 2011 published by Transparency International, China stood at number 75 amongst 185 nations with regards to corruption (Transparency International, 2013). Corruption stands to be a major issue faced by the business operators in China and an ethical approach towards the issue of corruption is severely marred by the institutions of guanxi and mianzi that tend to protect the corrupt officials and businessmen owing to their high connectivity and social clout. Corruption is a standard issue in almost all the industries in China and every business operating in China is required to contend with corruption in one form or other. If one takes into consideration the Hofstede cultural dimensions, China happens to be a high power distance index country which means that China has a hierarchical society and people tend to be tolerant of those who are superior to and more powerful than them (Hofstede, 2013). China also tends to score low on individualism, which means that the Chinese people tend to value groups and communities and are less likely to resort to individualist stands (Hofstede, 2013). A high power distance index and a collectivist culture make China vulnerable to unique ethical issues. Going by the Confucian notions of allegiance to one’s group and towards one’s superiors, the Chinese employees are less likely to below the whistle on the corrupt practices of their colleagues and superiors (Alon, 2007). Hence, for a business operating in China it is imperative to introduce channels of reporting that protect the identity of the whistle blowing employees, so as to protect them from loosing face before their colleagues. Discrimination against the women employees is quiet common in China (Fincher, 2013). Thereby male dominance is one other ethical and cultural issue that is faced by the Western businesses operating in China. Besides, women working in China do find it hard to report the instances of sexual exploitation and harassment, going by the institutions of guanxi and mianzi (Fincher, 2013). The Western businesses operating in China are very likely to come across many ethical issues that have their foundations in the Chinese culture and norms. An insight into and understanding of the culture specific ethical issues are a must to be able to successfully manage the business operations in China. References Alon, I. (2007). Chinese Culture, Organizational Behavior, and International Business Management. Westport, CT: Praeger. China: The Politics of Fighting Corruption (2013, August 28). Transparency International. Retrieved, September 27, 2013 http://www.transparency.org/news/feature/china_the_politics_of_fighting_corruption Fincher, L.H. (2013). China’s Entrenched Gender Gap. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/21/opinion/global/chinas-entrenched-gender-gap.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Hofstede, Geert. (2013). What about China. Retrieved September 27, 2013, from The Hofstede Centre website, http://geert-hofstede.com/china.html Johnson, D., & Turner, C. (2007). International Business. London: Routledge. Kline, J.M. (2009). Ethics for International Business. New York: Routledge. Read More