Cross-Cultural Perceptions of Business Ethics: Evidence from the United States and China

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The article raises the point that while an individuals ethical profile affects a business exchange to a large degree, their perception of the other parties ethical profile can affect it to an even larger degree. This shows that an individuals perception of a party can change based on their predefined perception of the other parties ethics, even though the other parties ethical profile remains unchanged. For example, a prospective employee may avoid a certain company based on recent bad publicity due to the fact that the employees perception of the companies ethical profile is bad. This will be true no matter what the companies true ethical profile turns out to be.

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Monash Library Details

 * Authors:
 * Gift, Michael1 Gift, Paul2 Zheng, QinQin3


 * Source:
 * Journal of Business Ethics. Jun2013, Vol. 114 Issue 4, p633-642. 10p. 1 Diagram, 6 Charts.


 * Document Type:
 * Article


 * Subject Terms:
 * *BUSINESS ethics *INTERNATIONAL business enterprises *CORPORATE governance *CORPORATE culture *REGRESSION analysis CROSS - cultural studies GRADUATE students PERCEPTION SAMPLE size (Statistics) SENSITIVITY analysis LIKERT scale


 * Geographic Terms:
 * CHINA UNITED States


 * Author-Supplied Keywords:
 * Business ethics Cross-cultural perceptions Ethical perceptions Ethical vignettes International business Survey instruments


 * Abstract:
 * A number of empirical studies have examined business ethics across cultures, focusing primarily on differences in ethical profiles between cultures and groups. When managers consider whether or not to develop a business relationship with those from a different culture, their decision may be affected by actual differences in ethical profiles, but potentially even more so by their perceptions of ethicality in the counterpart culture. The latter issue has been largely ignored in extant empirical research regarding cross-cultural ethical profiles. In this study, we employ a design that allows for a more complete analysis of cross-cultural perspectives, examining both the manner in which selected cultures view

themselves and the manner in which those same cultures perceive the ethical profiles of others. To this end, we surveyed master's students in business fields at several universities in the United States and China-two countries/cultures that engage in a significant amount of business transactions-and examined differences in personal ethical profiles across cultures, differences in one group's ethical profile and the way it is perceived by the other group, and differences in perceived ethical profiles across cultures; that is, differences in how groups view each other. Findings suggest meaningful discrepancies in the ethical perceptions formed toward the counterpart culture. Results support a role for ethical perceptions in future research, and further examination and inquiry into the development and adaptation of ethical perceptions in cross-cultural business dealings.
 * (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
 * (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)


 * Author Affiliations:
 * 1Faculty of Business Administration, University of Macau, Macau China 2Graziadio School of Business and Management, Pepperdine University, 6100 Center Drive Los Angeles 90045 USA 3School of Management, Fudan University, Shanghai China


 * ISSN:
 * 0167-4544


 * DOI:
 * 10.1007/s10551-013-1709-z


 * Accession Number:
 * 88109603


 * Database: