| Differences in Perceptions of Ethicality: U.S. and Asian Business Students |
| | Farh, Jiing-Lih | Hong Kong U. of Science and Technology | | 852-2358-7735 |
| | Burton, Brian K. | Western Washington U. | burton@wwu.edu | (360)-650-3389 |
| | Hegarty, W. Harvey | Indiana U., Bloomington | hegarty@indiana.edu | (812)-855-2580 |
| | This study examines ethical orientation of business students at U.S., Hong Kong, Taiwan, and People's Republic of China institutions through the use of short descriptions of behaviors. Differences are found in all dimensions of business ethics studied, as well as some differences related to gender, religion, and social norms. One clear implication is that the type of behavior used in business ethics studies must be specified to increase understanding of results. |
| | Keywords: cross-cultural; ethics; gender |
| Children's Work and Child Labor in Brazil: Influence of Family Employment and Global Industry on Work Satisfaction and Perceived Contribution of Work to Life |
| | French, J. Lawrence | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State U. | [lfrench@vt.edu] | [(703)-538-8408] |
| | Longstanding debates over children's work have been characterized by more emotion and self-interest than analysis and research. Current trade conflicts between the US and developing nations over the latter's alleged exploitation of child labor in export industries suggest the need for systematic research, informed by the child workers themselves, that helps to distinguish between acceptable children's work and exploitative child labor. Controversies abound regarding the implications of two sorts of work situations for children: 1)work for parents in a family business as compared to work for more impersonal firms and 2) work in export-oriented global industries as contrasted to work in local or domestic ones. The present research, based on survey data from Brazil, focuses on child workers' work satisfaction and the perceived contribution of work to other facets of their lives. Results suggest that whether families serve as a protective refuge for young workers or a constraint on their progress depends on the industry. In the intensely competitive and highly volatile export-oriented shoe industry, child workers' sense of work satisfaction and contribution is higher when working for parents in family firms. Conversely, in the more stable and expanding commercial/services sectors, child workers appear more positive about their work when employed by firms rather than their families. |
| | Keywords: children; labor; family |
| Corporate Social Responsibility in Chinese State Enterprises: From Company Town to "Corporate Social Benefits" |
| | He, Wei | Boston College | hew@bc.edu | (617)552-0171 |
| | Both opponents and proponents of corporate social responsibility used to share a similar assumption-the firm's economic activities and social activities are separable (Wicks, 1996). Although some researchers of business and society have emphasized that the firm's economic and social responsibilities are interwoven (e.g., Preston & Post, 1975; Wood, 1996), few Western companies have ever integrated their economic and social activities as closely as the Chinese state enterprises (CSEs) used to do, due to the fundamentally different believes about the firm's mission between the West and the communist China. For the first three decades of the People's Republic's history (i.e., 1949-1978), a CSE was a total institution (Shenkar, 1996) or a company town that took care of every sides of its employees' life as well as its business. This totality of political, social, and economic activities in CSEs derived from the Chinese Communist Party's power maintenance need, its communism ideology, as well as the traditional Chinese culture values. Since China began reforming its economy toward a market-oriented one in the late 1970's, however, the totality in CSEs has been gradually broken. Many of the CSEs' internal social responsibilities have been rationalized, while their external responsibilities are more and more highlighted. They are now committed to develop both "corporate economic and social benefits" to the society. The change of corporate social responsibility in CSEs reveals that the relationship between corporate economic activities and social activities is conditioned by the firm's institutional environment.
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| | Keywords: corporate responsibility, ; China |
| Corruption Networks and Implications For Ethical Corruption Reform |
| | Nielsen, Richard P. | Boston College | richard.nielsen@bc.edu | 617-244-4624 |
| | The problem this article focuses on is not the isolated individual act of corruption, but the systematic, pervasive sub-system of
corruption that can and has existed across historical periods, geographic areas, and political-economic systems. It is important
to first understand how corrupt and unethical subsystems operate, particularly their network nature, in order to reform and change
them while not becoming what we are trying to change. Twelve key system elements are considered that include examples from
Asia, Latin America, the Mediterranean, and North America. A key operating feature of corruption sub-systems is that they are
relatively stable networks rather than exceptional, independent, individual events. Drawing on social network, social movement,
and action learning theories, six theory building propositions concerning ethical corruption reform are developed. |
| | Keywords: ethics; corruption; change |