Abstract
It has been 25 years since China began the transition from a
socialist based, command economy to a free market economy. The success
of this conversion has required a modification in the mindset, the rules
of the game, and in the ethical and social norms that guide and inform
business decisions. Shortly before that time, Jamaica achieved
independence from colonial control by Great Britain. The research
presented in this paper continues the examination of the transition of
the values and ethics that underlie business decisions in the U.S.,
China and Jamaica by revisiting a survey process begun 10 years ago.
Five business scenarios calling for decision choices were given to
Jamaican, Chinese and U.S. professionals. The differences and
similarities between the choices of the three groups are compared in the
current study and the results are compared to those derived in a
previous study conducted 10 years ago. The current differences and
similarities are discussed, as well as the changes in differences and
similarities found a decade ago.
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Introduction
Significant changes are occurring in many parts of what has been
considered the "Third World." In this study we examine
possible perceptual/ethical changes over a 10-year period in two very
emerging countries, Jamaica and China, and consider how they compare to
the U.S., a "developed" country. The contrasts are notable. In
recent years in China, the rapid growth of the Chinese economy, the
participation of China in the World Trade Organization and the
significant involvement of Chinese firms in the global investment
community indicates emergence into major power status. In Jamaica, after
independence, there has been a continuing struggle to build the economy
and the infrastructure and to emerge from colonial status. In China,
there has been the need to reconcile a Confucian and communist heritage
with the demands of 21st century business. In Jamaica, capitalist
influences are primary but lack of development leads to frustration of
those aims. Under such circumstances, the increasing relevance of
studies of the norms and values that are the basis for business
decisions may become apparent as a basis for understanding decisions
which are made in very different cultures. This study seeks to continue
a longitudinal study of ethical decision-making that was begun 10 years
ago, to gain a clearer understanding of the progress of the transition
of two very different cultures to the free market.
We describe a methodology and results of a scenario-based survey
conducted among Jamaican, Chinese and American participants. Both
quantitative and qualitative results are put forth and discussed. The
discussion includes considerations of historical and cultural influences
that impact Jamaican and Chinese values including, in Jamaica, openness
to change and the influence of capitalism and, in China, Confucianism,
Maoism, market influences and differences in institutional environments.
We note that the empirical research in business ethics has
traditionally focused on the U.S. and single country studies conducted
in Australia [21], Britain [7,17], India [6], Italy [9] and Russia [13].
It should be noted that, at that time and even today, the major studies
from this group are conducted by researchers from Western traditional
cultures and conducted in Western countries. The work of the research
institute at Hong Kong Baptist University and the China European
International Business School efforts appear to be extending these
single country studies to China. In this research, we compare across
three different cultures: Jamaica (which has not received previous
study), China and the U.S.
The Changes Impacting China and Jamaica
China
The Chinese opening to the West and the dissolution of the former
Soviet Union have fueled interest in the process of economic transition.
Interest in the changes in types and methods of management
decision-making was also aroused. Notable in this body of literature are
the works of Byrd [5] and Lee [14]. The role of soft-technology
transfer, which includes free market management skills, has been studied
empirically by Levitt [15,16] and by Shi [20]. The transition toward
free market operations offers strategic windows of opportunity as one
set of rules of the game replaces another [12,20]. Reform in economic
systems redefines corporate sources of legitimacy and substantively
alters the business, government and society relationship [1,22]. The
overall sense is of a stable culture, but one founded upon Confucian and
Maoist, rather than capitalist, social/ethical systems confronting a
need to take its place in the 21st century marketplace. What will be the
impact upon ethical decision making, given these pressures?
Jamaica
In understanding the situation in Jamaica, of importance is
Hofstede's [10] finding that Jamaica is notably low in uncertainty
avoidance. Ronen [19], compiling the results of several of
Hofstede's studies, points out that Jamaica is the second lowest
country in uncertainty avoidance, with Singapore ranked in the lowest
position. Given the openness to change implied by low uncertainty
avoidance, it may be that Jamaicans will be more open to pressures to
industrialize than cultures such as China. This point has recently been
underscored by Bissessar [3,4], who has studied social services reforms
and "pay for performance" appraisal reforms in several
Caribbean nations, including Jamaica. Bissessar points out that the
reforms studied failed in Trinidad, Tobago and Guyana, the other
countries studied, but succeeded in Jamaica. As Bissessar notes, the
countries have in common their colonial past and "third world"
status, but differences in Jamaica permitted it to succeed where the
other countries failed. One factor in Jamaica's success, he notes,
was its embrace of the changes and its willingness to change whatever
related systems had to change for the reforms to be effective.
In Jamaica, adoption of "capitalist" ethical systems
should be far less challenging than is the case with China, in that
Jamaica's heritage is capitalist and it has enjoyed a close
relationship with the U.S. However, Jamaica is emerging from a colonial
heritage, as noted, and is confronted with bringing together the diverse
heritages of the many peoples who have contributed to its culture,
notably Arawak Indians/Tainos, English, Africans, Jamaican, Indians and
Jews [11]. Note, however, that these groups do not share similar ethical
backgrounds or capitalist heritages, and, given Jamaica's struggles
to emerge from its colonial past and to build an appropriate
infrastructure for business, its openness and capitalist, Western,
orientation may be less controlling than it may initially appear.
Methodology
Method and Design
The current study replicates the method and design used in previous
studies in this series, continuing the vein of management and business
ethics literature that uses vignettes to present various kinds of real
life ethical dilemmas [8,18]. In an effort to facilitate wider
generalization and comparison with previous studies, the vignette set
developed by Fritzsche and Becker [8] was used. Instrument and
hypotheses replicate those used in similar studies beginning in 1993.
Similar subject groups were selected to aid the comparison.
Instrument
The instrument was derived from the Becker and Fritzsche instrument
and presents five vignettes. For each vignette, two responses were
solicited. First, subjects were asked to indicate on a 0 to 10 point
Likert Scale what their own decision would be to the scenario issue.
Second, they were asked to indicate the reasoning behind their decision.
Options were presented in multiple-choice format, including an
open-ended option.
Hypotheses
Two hypotheses were tested for each vignette.
Hypothesis 1: Chinese, Jamaican and U.S. subjects will select the
same behavioral choice when faced with the same ethical dilemma.
Hypothesis 2: Chinese, Jamaican and U.S. subjects will select the
same rationales to justify their behavioral choices.
Subjects in the Current Study
* Subjects in the Chinese sample were approximately 49 managers
from primarily government organizations (93.9%). The managers were
roughly 90% male, and the age range was from the late 20's to early
40's, with an average age of 35.2.
* Subjects in the Jamaican sample were approximately 39 managers
from a wide variety of manufacturing and service organizations. The
managers were roughly 50% males, and the age range was from mid
20's to early 50's, with an average of 35.1.
* Subjects in the U.S. sample were approximately 81 managers from a
wide variety of primarily service organizations (83%, with 21% of them
in health care). The managers were roughly 53% male. The age range was
from the late 20's to early 70's, with an average age of 34.6.
All respondents were attending graduate level management training.
* The U.S. sample was from two universities, with one in a large
Southern city and one from the West Coast.
* The Jamaican sample was from a U.S.-based university.
* The Chinese sample was from two different provinces in China.
Results
The findings from all three samples are summarized in Exhibits 1
through 7. The average scores and standard deviation of the likelihood
of taking the action in each vignette are summarized by country in
Exhibit 1. A "0" means "definitely would not" take
the action and a "10" means "definitely would." For
each vignette, ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) was used to see if the
average scores from the Chinese, the Jamaican and the U.S. samples were
significantly different from each other. The ANOVA results are
summarized in Exhibit 2.
Hypothesis 1 suggested that there would be no difference in the
selection of behavioral choice when faced with an ethical dilemma among
the subjects from China, Jamaica and the U.S. As shown in Exhibit 2,
Vignette 3 is the only one that has significant ANOVA results among the
5 vignettes. Vignette 3 describes a situation where a new technology can
give the company a competitive edge but will produce excess air
pollutants. With significance in the ANOVA, this finding implies that
the average scores for some of countries are statistically different in
Vignette 3. All three sample means were on the low side but the Jamaican
sample (3.26) is significantly higher than the Chinese sample (1.71) and
the U.S. sample (1.83) (see Exhibit 1). In other words, all respondents
were inclined not to use the new technology that exceeded pollution
limits, but those in the Chinese and the American samples were much less
likely to do so than the Jamaicans. As for the other four vignettes, the
data does not support significant difference among the three nations.
The findings in this study are consistent with the Whitcomb,
Erdener, and Li study [22] in four out of the five vignettes. The only
inconsistency is in Vignette 1. In this study, there was no significant
difference in two countries, but it was found that the Chinese gave a
significantly higher action score than the Americans.
Hypothesis 2 suggested that Chinese, Jamaican, and American
respondents would select the same rationales to justify their behavioral
choices in each case. A chi-square test of independence was used to test
this hypothesis. The results are summarized in Exhibits 3 to 7. Among
the five vignettes, Vignette 1, 3 and 5 reported p-value less than 0.05.
This finding implies that certain of the rationales used to justify
their behavioral choices are different in the three countries.
The first vignette concerns a bicycle company. It must make a
payment to a foreign country businessman if it wants to gain access to
his country's market. After making this payment, the resulting new
business will yield $5 million in annual profit for the company. From
Exhibit 3, the biggest discrepancy between the three countries is found
in Rationales C, E, and F. 23.5% of the American respondents and 17.9%
of the Jamaican respondents believed that a bribe would be unethical
(Rationale C), while only 8.2% of the Chinese respondents shared this
belief. Additionally, 28.4% of the American respondents, 23.1% of the
Jamaican respondents versus 10.2% of the Chinese respondents justified
their decision by claiming that it is an acceptable practice in other
counties (Rationale E). However, 46.9% of the Chinese respondents and
30.8% of the Jamaican respondents rationalized their decision by stating
that making such a payment is not unethical and is just the price paid
to do business (Rationale F), when only 13.6% of the American
respondents agreed.
Vignette 3 concerns an adoption of a new technology that will give
the company a competitive edge and yet will produce exceptionally high
levels of air pollutants.
Rationales A and B are the two top choices among all three nations,
and yet the levels of agreement are significantly different. 37% of the
American respondents and 46.9% of the Chinese respondents believed that
it would be illegal to adopt the new technology (Rationale A), while
only 15.4% of the Jamaicans shared the same view. However, 30.9% of the
American respondents and 48.7% of the Jamaican respondents indicated a
concern for the environment (Rationale B) in their decision making
process, while only 18.4% of the Chinese respondents have this concern.
Vignette 5 concerns the issue that an auto parts contractor will
face bankruptcy if its buyer finds out that a part sold by the
contractor is defective. From Exhibit 7, the major difference in the
reason for the selection is in Rationales C and E. The Chinese
respondents predominantly (69.4%) chose Rationale C: The company has a
responsibility to the public; it is criminal and dishonest to remain
silent, while only 38.3% of the American respondents and 30.8% of the
Jamaican respondents shared this belief. On the other hand, 38.3% of the
American respondents and 41% of the Jamaican respondents versus 4.1% of
the Chinese respondents reported Rationale E: Chances of causing injury
or death are too great to remain silent.
The results for Hypothesis 2 are slightly different from the
Whitcomb [22] study. While Vignettes 1, 3 and 5 have shown significant
results in this study, Whitcomb et al. had significance in all five
vignettes.
Conclusions, Summary and Afterthoughts
Two hypotheses were tested in the current study of cross-cultural,
ethical decision-making. The results of this current study were then
tested against the results of the same survey administered 10 years ago
as reported in the Whitcomb et al paper [22]. The findings for the first
hypothesis indicate that the decisions made by the respondents of the
three nations--China, Jamaica and U.S.--were not significantly different
in four out of five scenarios and are consistent with the findings of
the earlier study. Note, however, that the differences we report suggest
that Jamaica, perhaps in its concern for rebuilding its economy, is
willing to tolerate more violations of pollution standards than are the
other countries. The flexibility implied in openness to change may be a
factor, as well.
The second hypothesis deals with the rationales underlying the
decisions. Results of the current study indicate significant
cross-cultural differences in the decision-making rationale for three
out of five scenarios. It is interesting to note the inconsistencies in
alignments. At times, Jamaican rationales appear similar to those in the
U.S., while at other points, China and the U.S. seem better aligned.
What may be suggested is that the countries are using utilitarian
approaches and are selecting the issues they will support based upon
country/economic necessities rather than upon ethical concerns alone.
An encouraging note is that the previous study found significance
for all five scenarios, rather than the three in this study. This
finding suggests that, perhaps, the cultural gap is narrowing and that
critical thought patterns are becoming increasingly similar. Further
study would be required to connect this narrowing of the cultural gap to
the economic transition and the changes in institutional environments.
The potential implications for firms seeking to do business in
China, Jamaica and the U.S. are encouraging in that these findings
suggest that the bases for cross-cultural understanding are improving,
albeit slowly and incrementally. The implications for future research in
this vein are rich in possibility, calling for continuing studies
including examinations of regional differences within and among the
three countries, exploration of alternative scenarios and the
development of alternative hypotheses.
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Lillian Y. Fok, University of New Orleans
Sandra J. Hartman, University of New Orleans
Kern Kwong, California State University, Los Angeles
EXHIBIT 1. DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF LIKELIHOOD TO TAKE ACTION
N Mean Std. Deviation
Vignette 1 U.S.A. 81 4.84 3.11
China 49 5.69 3.34
Jamaica 39 5.44 3.44
Vignette 2 U.S.A. 81 3.49 3.23
China 49 3.43 2.71
Jamaica 39 3.18 2.57
Vignette 3 U.S.A. 81 1.83 2.16
China 49 1.71 2.65
Jamaica 39 3.26 3.35
Vignette 4 U.S.A. 81 2.67 2.91
China 49 1.57 2.59
Jamaica 39 1.92 2.95
Vignette 5 U.S.A. 81 7.89 2.76
China 49 7.92 2.98
Jamaica 39 8.23 2.60
EXHIBIT 2. SUMMARY OF ANOVA RESULTS
ANOVA
Sum of
Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
V11 Between Groups 24.544 2 12.272 1.158 .317
Within Groups 1758.911 166 10.596
Total 1783.456 168
V21 Between Groups 2.649 2 1.324 .153 .858
Within Groups 1437.991 166 8.663
Total 1440.639 168
V31 Between Groups 65.374 2 32.687 4.781 .010
Within Groups 1135.016 166 6.837
Total 1200.391 168
V41 Between Groups 39.905 2 19.953 2.493 .086
Within Groups 1328.769 166 8.005
Total 1368.675 168
V51 Between Groups 3.309 2 1.654 .212 .809
Within Groups 1292.597 166 7.787
Total 1295.905 168
EXHIBIT 3. VIGNETTE #1
Reasons for Decisions (Frequency Distributions)
Choice Reason U.S. China Jamaica
A Against company policy 4.9% 8.2% 2.6%
B Illegal 9.9 6.1 5.1
C Bribe; unethical 23.5 8.2 17.9
D No one is hurt 4.9 2.0 7.7
E Is an acceptable practice 28.4 10.2 23.1
in other counties
F Is not unethical, just the 13.6 46.9 30.8
price paid to do business
G Other 14.8 18.4 12.8
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Significance Level
Chi-Square 25.649 12 .012
EXHIBIT 4. VIGNETTE #2
Choice Reason U.S. China Jamaica
A Unethical for Smith to 30.9% 30.6% 20.5%
provide, and unethical for
employer to ask
B Unethical for employer 11.1 10.2 25.6
to mislead Smith when
he was hired
C Protect Smith's reputation 2.5 4.1 7.7
D Provide some but not 14.8 10.2 12.8
all information
E Decision based on whether 28.4 42.9 23.1
security agreement is
in force.
F To keep job; loyalty 4.9 0 7.7
to new employer
G Other 7.4 2 2.6
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Significance Level
Chi-Square 16.884 12 .154
EXHIBIT 5. VIGNETTE #3
Choice Reason U.S. China Jamaica
A It would be illegal 37.0% 46.9% 15.4%
B Concern for the 30.9 18.4 48.7
environment/life
C Risk of getting caught with 18.5 20.4 10.3
resulting negative
consequences too great
D Not their fault; equipment 3.7 4.1 2.6
would be installed
if available
E The pollution would 1.2 8.2 5.1
not really hurt
the environment
F Large potential 4.9 2.0 12.8
with low risk
G Other 3.7 0 5.1
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Significance Level
Chi-Square 24.805 12 .016
EXHIBIT 6. VIGNETTE #4
Choice Reason U.S. China Jamaica
A Too dangerous to 58.0% 61.2% 79.5%
world safety
B May create image 9.9 6.1 7.7
detrimental for company
C Concerned with 6.2 20.4 5.1
legal ramifications
D Don't see responsibility 4.9 2.0 0
as theirs to make choice
E Those who want the 12.3 8.2 5.1
information can get it now
from other sources
F Other 8.6 2.0 2.6
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Significance Level
Chi-Square 17.055 12 .073
EXHIBIT 7. VIGNETTE #5
Choice Reason U.S. China Jamaica
A Ward has no additional 3.7% 12.2% 0%
responsibility; loyalty
will keep him quiet
B Risk of injury or death 4.9 2.0 2.6
too low to halt sale
C The company has a 38.3 69.4 30.8
responsibility to the public;
criminal and dishonest
to remain silent
D Risk to firm's image, 14.8 10.2 15.4
profitability and long run
potential too great
to remain silent
E Chances of causing injury 38.3 4.1 41.0
or death too great to
remain silent
F Other 0 2.0 10.3
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Significance Level
Chi-Square 41.657 12 .000