IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v116y2013i4p689-701.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Cultural Roots of Ethical Conflicts in Global Business

Author

Listed:
  • Carlos Sanchez-Runde
  • Luciara Nardon
  • Richard Steers

Abstract

This study examines the cultural roots of ethical conflicts in the global business environment. It begins with a brief look at worldviews on ethical behavior in general. Based on this, it is argued that an in-depth understanding of ethical conflicts has been hampered by an overreliance on Western models and viewpoints. Three common sources, or bases, of ethical conflicts are discussed as they relate to business practices, including conflicts over tastes and preferences, the relative importance of moral imperatives compared to legal requirements, and people’s level of tolerance for different values among others. It is then argued that an understanding of ethical conflicts can be facilitated through different levels of understanding, including the meaning of universal values, the relationship between values and practices, and the existence of multiple levels of conflict within the same organizations or industries. These specific and interrelated ingredients in cross-cultural ethical conflicts form the basis for a broader discussion of the meaning of truth as it relates to such conflicts. The paper concludes with the need for more research that is cross-cultural and multidisciplinary in order to improve theory building and managerial practice. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Carlos Sanchez-Runde & Luciara Nardon & Richard Steers, 2013. "The Cultural Roots of Ethical Conflicts in Global Business," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(4), pages 689-701, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:116:y:2013:i:4:p:689-701
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-013-1815-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10551-013-1815-y
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-013-1815-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kit-Chun Lam & Guicheng Shi & Guicheng Shi, 2008. "Factors Affecting Ethical Attitudes in Mainland China and Hong Kong," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 77(4), pages 463-479, February.
    2. Yungwook Kim & Soo-Yeon Kim, 2010. "The Influence of Cultural Values on Perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibility: Application of Hofstede’s Dimensions to Korean Public Relations Practitioners," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 91(4), pages 485-500, February.
    3. Alex Chan & Hoi Cheung, 2012. "Cultural Dimensions, Ethical Sensitivity, and Corporate Governance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 110(1), pages 45-59, September.
    4. Michael Gift & Paul Gift & QinQin Zheng, 2013. "Cross-Cultural Perceptions of Business Ethics: Evidence from the United States and China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(4), pages 633-642, June.
    5. Kam Chan & Hung-Gay Fung & Jot Yau, 2010. "Business Ethics Research: A Global Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 95(1), pages 39-53, August.
    6. J. Kuntz & J. Kuntz & Detelin Elenkov & Anna Nabirukhina, 2013. "Characterizing Ethical Cases: A Cross-Cultural Investigation of Individual Differences, Organisational Climate, and Leadership on Ethical Decision-Making," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 113(2), pages 317-331, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sven Horak, 2018. "Join In or Opt Out? A Normative–Ethical Analysis of Affective Ties and Networks in South Korea," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(1), pages 207-220, April.
    2. Mirela Popa & Irina Salanță, 2014. "Corporate social responsibility versus corporate social iresponsibility," Management & Marketing, Economic Publishing House, vol. 9(2), Summer.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mitzi Cubilla‐Montilla & Ana‐Belén Nieto‐Librero & Ma Purificación Galindo‐Villardón & Ma Purificación Vicente Galindo & Isabel‐María Garcia‐Sanchez, 2019. "Are cultural values sufficient to improve stakeholder engagement human and labour rights issues?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(4), pages 938-955, July.
    2. Bala Ramasamy & Matthew Yeung & Alan Au, 2010. "Consumer Support for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): The Role of Religion and Values," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 91(1), pages 61-72, February.
    3. Amjad Ali & Wajid Alim & Jawad Ahmed & Sabahat Nisar, 2022. "Yoke of corporate governance and firm performance: A study of listed firms in Pakistan," Indian Journal of Commerce and Management Studies, Educational Research Multimedia & Publications,India, vol. 13(1), pages 08-17, January.
    4. Ozgur Demirtas & A. Akdogan, 2015. "The Effect of Ethical Leadership Behavior on Ethical Climate, Turnover Intention, and Affective Commitment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(1), pages 59-67, August.
    5. Eglė Stonkutė & Jolita Vveinhardt & Włodzimierz Sroka, 2018. "Training the CSR Sensitive Mind-Set: The Integration of CSR into the Training of Business Administration Professionals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-14, March.
    6. Kam C. Chan & Anna Fung & Hung-Gay Fung & Jot Yau, 2016. "A Citation Analysis of Business Ethics Research: A Global Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(3), pages 557-573, July.
    7. Nguyen, Thi Tuyet Mai, 2017. "An examination of independent directors in Vietnam," OSF Preprints ay6dv, Center for Open Science.
    8. K. Praveen Parboteeah & Matthias Weiss & Martin Hoegl, 2024. "Ethical Climates Across National Contexts: A Meta-Analytical Investigation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 189(3), pages 573-590, January.
    9. Lee, Jihyun & Lee, Yuri, 2015. "The interactions of CSR, self-congruity and purchase intention among Chinese consumers," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 19-26.
    10. Gedeon Rossouw, 2011. "The Global Survey of Business Ethics as Field of Training, Teaching and Research: Objectives and Methodology," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 104(1), pages 1-6, April.
    11. Liang, H. & Marquis, C. & Renneboog, L.D.R. & Li Sun, Sunny, 2014. "Speaking of Corporate Social Responsibility," Discussion Paper 2014-018, Tilburg University, Tilburg Law and Economic Center.
    12. Rothonis, Stephanie & Tran, Duy & Wu, Eliza, 2016. "Does national culture affect the intensity of volatility linkages in international equity markets?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 85-95.
    13. Xiaoyi Liu & Zhenzhong Ma & Dapeng Liang, 2019. "Personality Effects on the Endorsement of Ethically Questionable Negotiation Strategies: Business Ethics in Canada and China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-19, June.
    14. Paula Rodrigues & Hélder Oliveira, 2016. "The Relation of Cultural Values and CSR: A study in Portugal and Greece," Proceedings of Business and Management Conferences 3405970, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences.
    15. Jacqueline C. Wisler, 2018. "U.S. CEOs of SBUs in Luxury Goods Organizations: A Mixed Methods Comparison of Ethical Decision-Making Profiles," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 443-518, May.
    16. Younes Kohail & Youssef Saida & Jaoud Obad & Aziz Soulhi, 2016. "The Qualities of a Good Manager … What Does It Mean? Lessons Learned from the Undergraduate Business Students’ Perception in Kingdom of Morocco," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(8), pages 1-86, July.
    17. Devjani Chatterjee, 2014. "Management Control Systems and Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions: An Empirical Study of Innovators and Low Innovators," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 15(3), pages 565-582, September.
    18. van der Laan Smith, Joyce & Gouldman, Andrea L. & Tondkar, Rasoul H., 2014. "Does the adoption of IFRS affect corporate social disclosure in annual reports?," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 402-412.
    19. Ran Zhang & Jigao Zhu & Heng Yue & Chunyan Zhu, 2010. "Corporate Philanthropic Giving, Advertising Intensity, and Industry Competition Level," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 94(1), pages 39-52, June.
    20. Avinash Ghalke & Arunima Haldar & Satish Kumar, 2023. "Family firm ownership and its impact on performance: evidence from an emerging market," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 493-512, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:116:y:2013:i:4:p:689-701. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.