IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v182y2023i1d10.1007_s10551-021-05026-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Confucian Virtue Ethics and Ethical Leadership in Modern China

Author

Listed:
  • Li Yuan

    (Renmin University of China)

  • Robert Chia

    (University of Glasgow)

  • Jonathan Gosling

    (University of Exeter)

Abstract

Research on ethical leadership in organizations has been largely based on Western philosophical traditions and has tended to focus on Western corporate experiences. Insights gained from such studies may however not be universally applicable in other cultural contexts. This paper examines the normative grounds for an alternative Confucian virtue-based ethics of leadership in China. As with Western corporations, organizational practices in China are profoundly shaped by their own cultural history and philosophical outlook. The ethical norms guiding both the practice and theory of leadership in China are underpinned by indigenous Chinese wisdoms imbued in their own traditions and China’s collective psyche. Focusing on three fundamental aspects of Confucian virtue ethics: ren (仁 benevolence), yi (义 righteousness) and li(礼 ritual propriety), this paper proposes that an ideal Confucian leader regards self-cultivation as a first priority; status and material gain, whilst important, are not the foremost concern. S/he exemplifies the virtuous role model, exudes moral charisma and influences others by shaping an organization’s ethical culture through the process of ritualization. The paper concludes by claiming that amplifying the explicit discourse around Confucian virtue ethics will help contribute to the development of better ethical leadership in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Li Yuan & Robert Chia & Jonathan Gosling, 2023. "Confucian Virtue Ethics and Ethical Leadership in Modern China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(1), pages 119-133, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:182:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-021-05026-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-021-05026-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-021-05026-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-021-05026-5?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. Edwin Hartman, 2008. "Socratic Questions and Aristotelian Answers: A Virtue-Based Approach to Business Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 78(3), pages 313-328, March.
    2. Shangkun Xu & Rudai Yang, 2010. "Indigenous Characteristics of Chinese Corporate Social Responsibility Conceptual Paradigm," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 93(2), pages 321-333, May.
    3. Silke Eisenbeiss & Daan Knippenberg & Clemens Fahrbach, 2015. "Doing Well by Doing Good? Analyzing the Relationship Between CEO Ethical Leadership and Firm Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 128(3), pages 635-651, May.
    4. Lei Wang & Heikki Juslin, 2009. "The Impact of Chinese Culture on Corporate Social Responsibility: The Harmony Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(3), pages 433-451, October.
    5. Daryl Koehn, 2020. "How Would Confucian Virtue Ethics for Business Differ from Aristotelian Virtue Ethics?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(2), pages 205-219, August.
    6. Qinqin Zheng & Yadong Luo & Stephanie Wang, 2014. "Moral Degradation, Business Ethics, and Corporate Social Responsibility in a Transitional Economy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 120(3), pages 405-421, March.
    7. Joan Fontrodona & Alejo Sison & Boudewijn Bruin, 2013. "Editorial Introduction: Putting Virtues Into Practice. A Challenge for Business and Organizations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 113(4), pages 563-565, April.
    8. Po Ip, 2009. "Is Confucianism Good for Business Ethics in China?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(3), pages 463-476, September.
    9. Yunxia Zhu, 2015. "The Role of Qing (Positive Emotions) and Li 1 (Rationality) in Chinese Entrepreneurial Decision Making: A Confucian Ren-Yi Wisdom Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 126(4), pages 613-630, February.
    10. Kevin Morrell & Ian Clark, 2010. "Private Equity and the Public Good," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 96(2), pages 249-263, October.
    11. Alejo José G. Sison & Ignacio Ferrero & Dulce M. Redín, 2020. "Some Virtue Ethics Implications from Aristotelian and Confucian Perspectives on Family and Business," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(2), pages 241-254, August.
    12. Li Yuan, 2013. "Wise and Virtuous Leadership: The Contribution of Confucian Values to Business Leadership," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Mike J. Thompson & David Bevan (ed.), Wise Management in Organisational Complexity, chapter 7, pages 106-121, Palgrave Macmillan.
    13. Po Ip, 2009. "The Challenge of Developing a Business Ethics in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(1), pages 211-224, April.
    14. Solomon, Robert C., 1992. "Corporate Roles, Personal Virtues: An Aristotelean Approach to Business Ethics," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(3), pages 317-339, July.
    15. Conna Yang, 2014. "Does Ethical Leadership Lead to Happy Workers? A Study on the Impact of Ethical Leadership, Subjective Well-Being, and Life Happiness in the Chinese Culture," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 123(3), pages 513-525, September.
    16. Heidi Weltzien Hoivik, 2007. "East Meets West: Tacit Messages about Business Ethics in Stories Told by Chinese Managers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 74(4), pages 457-469, September.
    17. Christian Resick & Gillian Martin & Mary Keating & Marcus Dickson & Ho Kwan & Chunyan Peng, 2011. "What Ethical Leadership Means to Me: Asian, American, and European Perspectives," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(3), pages 435-457, July.
    18. Julian Barling & Amy Christie & Nick Turner, 2008. "Pseudo-Transformational Leadership: Towards the Development and Test of a Model," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 81(4), pages 851-861, September.
    19. Solomon, Robert C., 2003. "Victims of Circumstances? A Defense of Virtue Ethics in Business," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(1), pages 43-62, January.
    20. Audi, Robert, 2012. "Virtue Ethics as a Resource in Business," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(2), pages 273-291, April.
    21. Gary chan, 2008. "The Relevance and Value of Confucianism in Contemporary Business Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 77(3), pages 347-360, February.
    22. Dennis Hwang & Patricia Golemon & Yan Chen & Teng-Shih Wang & Wen-Shai Hung, 2009. "Guanxi and Business Ethics in Confucian Society Today: An Empirical Case Study in Taiwan," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 89(2), pages 235-250, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Jebran, Khalil & Chen, Shihua & Ye, Yan & Wang, Chengqi, 2019. "Confucianism and stock price crash risk: Evidence from China," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    2. Xingqiang Du, 2015. "Does Confucianism Reduce Minority Shareholder Expropriation? Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(4), pages 661-716, December.
    3. Alejo José G. Sison & Ignacio Ferrero & Dulce M. Redín, 2020. "Some Virtue Ethics Implications from Aristotelian and Confucian Perspectives on Family and Business," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(2), pages 241-254, August.
    4. Patricia Grant & Surendra Arjoon & Peter McGhee, 2018. "In Pursuit of Eudaimonia: How Virtue Ethics Captures the Self-Understandings and Roles of Corporate Directors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(2), pages 389-406, December.
    5. Xingqiang Du, 2016. "Does Confucianism Reduce Board Gender Diversity? Firm-Level Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(2), pages 399-436, June.
    6. Joan Fontrodona & Alejo Sison & Boudewijn Bruin, 2013. "Editorial Introduction: Putting Virtues Into Practice. A Challenge for Business and Organizations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 113(4), pages 563-565, April.
    7. Andrew West, 2018. "After Virtue and Accounting Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(1), pages 21-36, March.
    8. Marina Balboa & Germán López-Espinosa & Antonio Rubia, 2012. "Non-linear Dynamics in Discretionary Accruals: An Analysis of Bank Loan-Loss Provisions," Faculty Working Papers 07/12, School of Economics and Business Administration, University of Navarra.
    9. Irene Chu & Mai Chi Vu, 2022. "The Nature of the Self, Self-regulation and Moral Action: Implications from the Confucian Relational Self and Buddhist Non-self," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(1), pages 245-262, September.
    10. Irene Chu & Geoff Moore, 2020. "From Harmony to Conflict: MacIntyrean Virtue Ethics in a Confucian Tradition," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(2), pages 221-239, August.
    11. Shiang-Min Meng, 2019. "The Ancient Confucian of Analects to Todays Moral Criteria of Maritime Leader in Taiwan," International Journal of Asian Social Science, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 9(1), pages 66-73, January.
    12. Domènec Melé, 2009. "Integrating Personalism into Virtue-Based Business Ethics: The Personalist and the Common Good Principles," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(1), pages 227-244, August.
    13. 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.
    14. Kuo-Wei Lin & Kai-Ping Huang, 2014. "Moral judgment and ethical leadership in Chinese management: the role of Confucianism and collectivism," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 37-47, January.
    15. Dulce Redín & Reyes Calderón & Ignacio Ferrero, 2014. "Exploring the Ethical Dimension of Hawala," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(2), pages 327-337, October.
    16. Wenjin Dai & Jonathan Gosling & Annie Pye, 2020. "The Inclusiveness and Emptiness of Gong Qi: A Non-Anglophone Perspective on Ethics from a Sino-Japanese Corporation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(2), pages 277-293, August.
    17. Kevin Morrell & Stephen Brammer, 2016. "Governance and Virtue: The Case of Public Order Policing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(2), pages 385-398, June.
    18. Yanyan Chen & Dirk C. Moosmayer, 2020. "When Guilt is Not Enough: Interdependent Self-Construal as Moderator of the Relationship Between Guilt and Ethical Consumption in a Confucian Context," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(3), pages 551-572, January.
    19. Andrew Abela & Ryan Shea, 2015. "Avoiding the Separation Thesis While Maintaining a Positive/Normative Distinction," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(1), pages 31-41, September.
    20. Min Huang & Xiaobo Li & Jun Xia & Mengyao Li, 2024. "Does Confucianism Prompt Firms to Participate in Poverty Alleviation Campaigns?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 189(4), pages 743-762, 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:182:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-021-05026-5. 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.