Guanxi and the ethical judgements and moral reasoning of Hong Kong managers

Ho, CY; Redfern, KA; Crawford, JD

Guanxi and the ethical judgements and moral reasoning of Hong Kong managers

Ho, CY Redfern, KA Crawford, JD

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Publisher:: ANZAM
Publication Type:: Conference Proceeding
Citation:: Proceedings of the 21st ANZAM 2007 Conference: Managing Our Intellectual and Social Capital, 2007, pp. 1 - 15
Issue Date:: 2007-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Ho, CY	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Redfern, KA	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Crawford, JD	en_US
dc.contributor.editor	Leonard, D	en_US
dc.date	2007-12-04	en_US
dc.date.issued	2007-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Proceedings of the 21st ANZAM 2007 Conference: Managing Our Intellectual and Social Capital, 2007, pp. 1 - 15	en_US
dc.identifier.isbn	186308 140 2	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/2257
dc.description.abstract	The importance of personal connections and relationships, or guanxi , when doing business with the Chinese is widely acknowledged amongst Western academics and business managers alike. However, aspects of guanxi related behaviours in the workplace are often misunderstood by Westerners with some going so far as to equate guanxi with forms of corruption. This study investigates the underlying modes of moral reasoning in ethical decisions relating to aspects of guanxi, amongst Hong Kong managers. Managers ethical judgements and underlying moral reasoning relating to a series of guanxi related behaviours, were recorded. Content analysis yielded categories that correspond with categories of moral reasoning described in Kohlberg s (1969) model. As hypothesised, it was found that harsher ethical evaluations of guanxi-related behaviours were positively correlated with the stage of moral reasoning. The most common types of reasoning were those corresponding to Kohlberg s stages four and five which relate to moral reasoning based on law and order, and on reason rather than emotion. Stage six, concerned with universal moral principles, was utilized considerably less than other stages. This finding supports the literature on ethical ideology across countries and cultures whereby Eastern cultures are generally found to be more relativistic or less universal than their Western counterparts.	en_US
dc.publisher	ANZAM	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Proceedings of the 21st ANZAM 2007 Conference: Managing Our Intellectual and Social Capital	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management Conference	en_US
dc.title	Guanxi and the ethical judgements and moral reasoning of Hong Kong managers	en_US
dc.type	Conference Proceeding
utslib.location	Canning Bridge, Western Australia	en_US
utslib.location.activity	Sydney, Australia	en_US
utslib.for	150308 International Business	en_US
dc.location.activity	Sydney, Australia	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.consider-herdc	true	en_US
pubs.place-of-publication	Canning Bridge, Western Australia	en_US
pubs.start-date	2007-12-04	en_US

Abstract:

The importance of personal connections and relationships, or guanxi , when doing business with the Chinese is widely acknowledged amongst Western academics and business managers alike. However, aspects of guanxi related behaviours in the workplace are often misunderstood by Westerners with some going so far as to equate guanxi with forms of corruption. This study investigates the underlying modes of moral reasoning in ethical decisions relating to aspects of guanxi, amongst Hong Kong managers. Managers ethical judgements and underlying moral reasoning relating to a series of guanxi related behaviours, were recorded. Content analysis yielded categories that correspond with categories of moral reasoning described in Kohlberg s (1969) model. As hypothesised, it was found that harsher ethical evaluations of guanxi-related behaviours were positively correlated with the stage of moral reasoning. The most common types of reasoning were those corresponding to Kohlberg s stages four and five which relate to moral reasoning based on law and order, and on reason rather than emotion. Stage six, concerned with universal moral principles, was utilized considerably less than other stages. This finding supports the literature on ethical ideology across countries and cultures whereby Eastern cultures are generally found to be more relativistic or less universal than their Western counterparts.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/2257