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Codes of ethics Codes of ethics

A comparison of the attitudes of future

managers in China and the USA
Spero C. Peppas and Tyler T. Yu 383
Georgia Gwinnett College, Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine attitudes of undergraduate and graduate
business students in China and the USA with regard to business codes of ethics.
Design/methodology/approach – Respondents were instructed to assume that an Ethical
Practices Code had been drawn up by firms operating in the industry in which they intended to work
and were asked to indicate their levels of disagreement/agreement with seven statements relating to
the possible consequences of such a code. Tests of significance were used to analyze responses for the
USA and Chinese groups. In addition, the effect on responses of a course in ethics was examined.
Findings – Despite the recent attention focused on corporate irresponsibility and the possible
adverse effects on US consumers of outsourcing to China, the findings indicate that, with one
exception, attitudes toward codes of ethics were not significantly different between the Chinese and
USA respondents.
Research limitations/implications – Future researchers may wish to replicate this study using
management and student samples randomly drawn from diverse geographical areas in each country
and track changes that may occur over time.
Practical implications – The findings should prove useful in helping government and business
understand attitudes toward codes of ethics and aid in the development of such codes.
Originality/value – At a time of growing concern about corporate social responsibility, the findings
should prove especially useful to those concerned with the increasingly important issue of ethics in
business operations. Given the cultural distance and history of years with little interaction between
China and the USA, studies such as this provide insight and help build mutual understanding
between the people of these two countries.
Keywords Business ethics, Managers, China, United States of America
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
China’s transition to a market-directed economy, coupled with its billion-plus
inhabitants and a yearly economic growth rate of ten-plus per cent over the past three
years (World Economic and Financial Surveys, 2007), has made this country a sought-
after market for companies from around the world. Yet, in 2005, the National Corporate
Responsibility Index ranked China 66 out of 80 countries in terms of corruption,
environmental management, and corporate governance and in 2006, Transparency
International ranked China second worst in terms of engaging in bribery in developing
nations (The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2006).
In an attempt to curtail unethical behaviors, the approach of many businesses and
professional organizations across the globe has been to create codes of ethical standards.
In the USA, in July 2002, as a direct result of the Enron debacle, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act,
which requires that companies have a specialized code of ethics for financial officers,
went into effect as a legal impediment to corporate misconduct (Livingston and
Braunschweig, 2002). While the law is aimed at public companies, it sends a ‘‘corporate Management Research News
Vol. 32 No. 4, 2009
reform’’ message to all companies to establish or reassess their organizations’ codes of pp. 383-391
ethics (Hollinger, 2002). For these types of top-down directives to be effective, those # Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0140-9174
working in organizations must buy into the notion that codes are worthwhile. However, DOI 10.1108/01409170910944326
MRN this has not always happened and codes have not always been followed. For example,
32,4 Snell and Herndon (2004) reported that in 1994, spearheaded by Hong Kong’s
Independent Commission Against Corruption, over 1,600 Hong Kong companies and
trade associations adopted codes of ethics but post-adoption surveys showed that
employees believed the codes had limited impact on ethical conduct in their
organizations. Given globalization and increasing business and government interaction
384 between China, the USA, and the rest of the world, it is possible that employee buy-in
would be different today than when the surveys were conducted a decade ago.

Significance and objective of the study

As globalization accelerates, business people of different cultures will find themselves
increasingly interacting with individuals possessing value systems perhaps different
from their own. As a result, there is a greater likelihood that individuals working side
by side to maximize shareholder value may not see eye to eye with regard to the
desirability and effectiveness of codes of ethics. At a time of growing concern about
corporate social responsibility, attention should be turned toward future managers and
business leaders, whose attitudes will shape the direction of business in the years to
come (Ahmed et al., 2003).
The objective of this study is to examine whether undergraduate and graduate
business students in China and the USA share similar attitudes with regard to business
codes of ethics. While young Chinese have grown up in an era that saw the opening of
China’s borders, new technology, and the influence of many Western businesses
establishing operations in China, the cultural distance between East and West cannot
be ignored. The research question was, ‘‘What are the attitudes of graduate and
undergraduate Chinese students toward codes of ethics and are they similar to or
different from those of USA counterparts?’’ To this end, it was hypothesized that there
would be significant differences in the attitudes of the two groups with regard to the
effects of such codes. It was believed that if similarities and differences in attitudes of
future managers could be identified through an examination of this research question,
businesses would be better equipped to address the issue of ethics in business through
the use of codes.
While there is a wealth of research focusing on business ethics, there exists little
research directly related to the present study. The following two sections set forth a
review of the literature most relevant to the study at hand. The first examines the
ethical climate in China today and the second summarizes research relating to codes of
ethical conduct.

Business ethics in China

Highlighting differences between the USA and China, Leung (2004) suggested that
trust, equity, responsibility and commitment are the basis of ethical judgment in the
USA. On the other hand, in China, ethics values and decisions are based on the
relational constructs of ‘‘jen’’ (moral excellence), ‘‘guanxi’’ (networks of informal
relationships and exchanges of favors that dominate business activity), ‘‘xinong’’
(personal trust) and face. Leung further suggested that managers in Sino-US joint
ventures must balance these two approaches if good relations between the partners are
to be maintained. In an exploratory study of business students in China, Egypt,
Finland, Korea, Russia and the USA, Ahmed et al. (2003) found that students from all
countries were in basic agreement as to what constitutes good versus bad ethics.
However, there was disagreement among the respondents in terms of their views of the Codes of ethics
potential harm resulting from unethical practices.
Research conducted by Wright et al. (2003) focused on Chinese perceptions of the
present state of business ethics in China. Based on data obtained from participants in a
management development program, their findings were inconclusive, with a 50/50 split
in terms of whether participants believed there had been a decrease in corruption in
the private sector in the last five years. With regard to the public sector, however, the
majority of respondents believed that corruption had not decreased. Overall, the
385
findings of this study point to a society in transition with ethical practices differing by
sector. These authors conclude that the best hope for significant positive change with
regard to business ethics lies with those employed by small businesses with less than
50 employees, in that these respondents appeared to be highly aware of the effects of
corruption on China’s image as a good place to conduct business.
In another study examining perceptions of corruption in China, Pedersen (2006) used
a sample of Chinese working for USA and European companies in China, and concluded
that the past 10-15 years have seen an improvement in business practices. This
improvement was attributed to an increase in the number of foreign companies in China
and the return of Chinese who had been educated abroad. Xin (2006) concurs with
Pedersen with respect to the notion that the influx of foreign enterprises has had an effect
on business practices in China. He suggests that globalization and competitive advances
in hardware and software have brought with them ethics and corporate concepts that
must be embraced. The influence of foreign companies in China, he concludes, is largely
the reason for the increasing acceptance of corporate social responsibility/accountability
(environmental, economic and social) by Chinese enterprises.
Examining the premise that China’s transition to a ‘‘socialist market economy’’ has
resulted in corrupt business practices, Shafer et al. (2007) compared USA and Chinese
managers’ responses on the Perceived Role of Ethics and Social Responsibility Scale
(PRESOR). They hypothesized that ethical and socially responsible business conduct
would be less important to Chinese managers than to their US counterparts. Interestingly,
they found that nationality did not have a consistent impact on PRESOR scores. Despite
these findings, there continues to be a general perception of business corruption in China.

Codes of ethics: the yea and the nay

A number of researchers have focused on codes of ethical conduct, at both the national
and international level. While the research sheds considerable light on codes of ethics
and their effects, there are, nonetheless, considerable inconsistencies in the findings.
Many studies have found that codes and corporate policies on ethics were significantly
related to higher standards of ethical behavior (see, for example, Ford and Richardson,
1994; Gray, 1996; Navran, 1997; Kaptein, 2002).
The contents and effects of codes are affected by a number of factors including
socio-economic and political factors (Tucker et al., 1999). Other researchers have
focused on cultural differences and believe that this factor must be taken into account
when implementing international codes of ethics. An international ethical behavior
code is feasible, notwithstanding differences in the world with regard to what is
considered to be ethical and unethical (Roth et al., 1996). Suggesting that adaptations
might be necessary, Smeltzer and Jennings (1998) argued for the value of codes that set
forth guidelines for core ethical practices across cultures and advanced that such codes
could and should be developed. Despite factors which complicate the construction of
codes, many organizations across the globe have developed codes and believe that such
MRN codes help their members behave more ethically. In fact, Yahoo, Google, Microsoft and
Amazon are currently working to develop an international ethical code of conduct as a
32,4 response to criticism over their censorship activities in China (Web Firms Tackle China
Effect, 2007).
Taking a somewhat negative view on codes, Verschoor (2002) purported that even with
a code of ethics, ethical behavior is not necessarily assured. Using Enron as an example,
he posited that even though the company had a code of ethics, it was lacking in ethical
386 corporate culture. He found that of 100 ethics officers at a Conference Board seminar on
ethics, more than half thought that ethics training would have made little or no difference
at Enron. Even though over 80 per cent of these officers worked for companies that had
ethics hotlines or helplines, only 40 per cent of the companies punished employees for
violating ethics codes. Code offenders were even promoted in 8 per cent of the companies!
Examining eight large Australian firms, Farrell et al. (2002) studied the influence of
codes of ethics on the behavior of employees. They measured consistency of behavioral
patterns of over 500 managers and employees to see if particular corporate ethics
strategies were associated with higher levels of behavioral consistency among
employees, but found no association. Examining Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) regulation infractions in organizations, McKendall et al. (2002)
found that codes of ethics, ethics training, and ethical compliance programs did not
result in fewer violations. They advanced that ethics programs could even serve as
‘‘window dressing’’ to shift attention and responsibility for illegal actions away from a
company. Snell and Herndon (2004) also found that, even though companies in Hong
Kong did not always follow best practice prescriptions for ethics code adoptions, the
codes helped preserve an anti-corruption image.
China, however, is changing rapidly as this nation embraces a more capitalistic
economic system, with Chinese youth increasingly exposed to Western practices and
beliefs through education, technology and the operations of international firms. The
question which has not been addressed in the literature is what the upcoming generation
of business leaders in China thinks codes of ethics and their reasonable enforcement
would accomplish, and how this compares to the beliefs of their Western counterparts.

Methodology
Data collection
Questionnaires were administered to traditional and non-traditional business students
enrolled in graduate and undergraduate programs in a private university in the
Southeastern USA and in two public universities in eastern China. The data were
gathered at regular class meetings at the universities. Students enrolled in more than
one course were instructed to complete only one questionnaire. No attempt was made
to contact students who were not present during the survey period. In order to isolate
the effects of nationality, only the responses of US citizens and Chinese citizens were
used for each respective sample.

Measurement instrument
The questionnaire contained a demographic information section and a survey on ethics
codes. The demographic section gathered information on nationality, gender, age,
program of study, and whether respondents had taken a course in ethics (defined as a
course with ‘‘ethics’’ in the title). The section on codes of ethics was derived from Becker
and Fritzsche (1987). Respondents were asked to assume that an Ethical Practices Code
had been drawn up by firms operating in the industry in which they intended to work.
They were then asked to indicate their levels of disagreement/agreement with seven Codes of ethics
statements relating to the possible consequences of such a code. A scale from 1
(disagree) to 5 (agree), with only end-points labeled, was employed.

Methods of analysis
The demographic data were analyzed to provide frequencies. Responses to the ethical
practices code statements were analyzed by calculating and comparing mean scores 387
for each statement for the USA and Chinese groups. Tests of significance (Independent
Samples T-Test for Equality of Means) were conducted to determine significant
differences (p < 0.05).

Results and discussion

Demographics
Of the 305 respondents in this research, 123 were Chinese nationals and 182 were USA
citizens, with a male/female ratio of 61/39 for the Chinese and 51/49 for the USA. Ages
ranged from 18 to 41 for the Chinese group, with a mean age of 24.5, and from 22 to 52
for the USA group, with a mean age of 30.3. Approximately 70 per cent of respondents
were between the ages of 23 and 33. The majority of the respondents had work
experience (98 per cent of the USA group and 62 per cent of the Chinese group). All of
the respondents were enrolled in their university’s school of business, with 41 per cent
of the Chinese sample and 96 per cent of the USA sample pursuing MBA degrees.
Those respondents reporting that they had taken a course in ethics included 55 per
cent of the Chinese and 84 per cent of the USA sample.

Assessment of the ethical practices code

The survey provided students with the following paragraph and seven Likert-type
statements:
Assume for the moment that an Ethical Practices Code has been drawn up by firms
operating in the industry in which you work or intend to work. The following
statements assess what you think such a code and its reasonable enforcement would
accomplish:
. The code would raise the ethical level of business in this industry.
. The code would be easy to enforce.
. In situations of severe competition, the code would reduce the use of unethical
practices.
. Individuals working in this industry would welcome the code when looking for a
way to diplomatically refuse an unethical request.
. The code would protect inefficient firms and retard the growth of businesses in
this industry.
. The code would help business people by clearly defining the limits of acceptable
conduct.
. People would violate the code whenever they thought they could avoid detection.
Both the Chinese and USA groups believed that an ethical practices code would raise
ethical levels and that individuals would welcome a code when looking for a way to
diplomatically refuse an unethical request. Both groups were in agreement that a code
MRN would help by clearly defining the limits of acceptable conduct, would not protect
32,4 inefficient firms, and would not retard the growth of businesses in the industry. The
groups tended toward the middle of the scale with regard to whether, in situations of
severe competition, the code would reduce the use of unethical practices. Interestingly,
both groups believed that the code would not be easy to enforce and that people would
violate the code if they thought they could avoid detection. Table I presents the results in
more detail.
388 Statement 4, Individuals working in this industry would welcome the code when looking
for a way to diplomatically refuse an unethical request, elicited the strongest responses, for
both the Chinese and USA groups (3.91 and 4.01, respectively). It is noteworthy, that the
Chinese and USA groups differed significantly in their responses with regard to only one
statement. While both groups disagreed with the idea that the code would protect
inefficient firms and retard the growth of businesses in this industry, the Chinese group
disagreed more strongly (mean ¼ 2.89 for the Chinese and 2.31 for the USA). The
variation in level of disagreement suggests that cultural differences, among other factors,
exert powerful effects on the value attached to how these two groups feel about the
relationship between the code and economic efficiency. While no definitive answer can be
provided, a speculation is warranted regarding the cross-cultural variability. Nisbett

Survey responses (%)

Ethical practices code t- 1¼ 2 3 4 5¼
statement Nationality Mean value Significance Disagree Agree

1. The code would raise Chinese 3.48 0.377 0.706 3 10 36 36 15

the ethical level of US 3.43 7 10 31 37 15
business in this industry.
2. The code would be easy Chinese 2.67 0.435 0.664 10 37 31 20 2
to enforce. US 2.62 12 37 34 12 5
3. In situations of severe Chinese 3.15 1.493 0.137 8 20 32 28 12
competition, the code US 2.96 13 21 31 27 8
would reduce the use of
unethical practices.
4. Individuals working in Chinese 3.91 0.873 0.384 1 3 27 42 22
this industry would US 4.01 4 3 15 44 34
welcome the code when
looking for a way to
diplomatically refuse an
unethical request.
5. The code would protect Chinese 2.89 4.550 0.000 13 26 25 30 6
inefficient firms and retard US 2.31 26 34 25 13 2
the growth of businesses
in this industry.*
6. The code would help Chinese 3.59 1.693 0.091 2 6 36 41 15
business people by clearly US 3.77 3 8 19 50 20
defining the limits of
acceptable conduct.
7. People would violate Chinese 3.25 0.674 0.501 7 17 34 26 16
the code whenever US 3.16 6 21 34 27 12
they thought they could
avoid detection.
Table I.
Results Note: *Significant at the 0.05 level of significance.
(2003) advanced that the Chinese were less concerned with ‘‘issues of control of others or Codes of ethics
the environment than with self-control, so as to minimize friction with others in family
and village and to make it easier to obey the requirements of state, administered by
magistrates.’’ Therefore, the code, as a device of self-regulation and control, might be less
likely to be viewed by the Chinese as counter-productive.

Effects of a course in ethics

Analysis of the responses showed, that for the USA sample, taking a course in ethics
389
did not have a significant influence on attitudes. On the other hand, for the Chinese
respondents, those who had taken a course in ethics differed significantly from those
who had not with regard to the statement. The code would raise the ethical level of
business in this industry, with mean scores of 3.73 and 3.18, respectively. Both Chinese
groups agreed that a code would raise ethical levels, but those who had taken a course
in ethics agreed significantly more strongly. It appears that taking a course in ethics
did, for the Chinese, have a positive influence on ‘‘buy-in’’ to a code of ethics; however,
for the other six statements, there were no significant differences between the two
Chinese groups. The overall findings in terms of the effects of a course in ethics are
consistent with those of Wynd and Mager (1989), Davis and Welton (1991) and Peppas
and Diskin (2000), and are especially interesting given the emphasis placed by
accrediting bodies on teaching ethics.

Conclusion
Business ethics, a phrase called an oxymoron by some (Rutland, 2002,) has been the
focus of researchers’ attention for decades, and businesses, professional organizations,
as well as many universities have, for many years, attempted to address this issue. In
recent years, there appears to be an increased interest in this topic as a result of
corporate scandals including the Arthur Anderson, Enron and WorldCom debacles as
well as diverse perspectives of what constitutes ethical and unethical behavior brought
to the forefront by globalization.
The results of this study provide an interesting insight at a time when considerable
attention has been focused on corporate irresponsibility and the possible adverse
effects of outsourcing to China. Recent media reports of recalls of toys, toothpaste, tires,
drugs, ceramic heaters and pet food, all produced in China, raise questions as to the
reasons behind these problems in production (Webley, 2007). However, the findings
indicate that, with one exception, attitudes toward codes of ethics are not significantly
different between the Chinese and USA respondents, and the one statement for which
the means were significantly different, showed a difference in strength of response, not
in attitude.
The results of this study lead one to question what the future holds with regard to
codes of business ethics. US government leaders have spoken out, denouncing
dishonesty and unethical behavior, and have suggested that codes of ethics serve as a
means of promoting ethical behavior in business. New legislation, such as the Sarbanes-
Oxley Act (2002), requires the creation of such codes. However, the participants
responding to this study seem to indicate that some means of code enforcement is
necessary for a code of ethics to be effective (see Egels-Zandén, 2007, Hong, 2001). That
is, while they believe that codes of ethics have some positive effects, they also believe that
people would violate codes whenever they thought they could avoid detection.
The findings of this study beg for further research, both on a national and
international level, to shed more light on and to examine the basis for attitudes toward
MRN codes of ethics and toward business ethics in general. Future researchers may wish to
replicate this study using samples randomly drawn from diverse geographical areas in
32,4 each country, so that the results would be more readily generalizable, and continue to
track changes that may occur over time. In addition, researchers may wish to examine
the relationship between ‘‘guanxi’’ and attitudes toward codes of ethics. The findings of
this study, as well as those of related future studies, should prove useful in helping
government and business understand attitudes toward codes of ethics and as a result,
390 help in the development of such codes.

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About the authors

Spero C. Peppas, PhD, is Professor of Marketing and International Business and Director of the
Center for International Business at Georgia Gwinnett College, a unit of the University System of
Georgia, in Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA. He has taught in the USA and Europe where he has
been recognized for his teaching and research in the areas of international marketing and
management. He has served as Marketing Specialist for the United Nations and the ILO as well
as for the governments of Senegal and Benin in developing small and medium-sized businesses.
Spero C. Peppas is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: speppas@ggc.usg.edu
Tyler T. Yu, PhD, is Professor of Economics and Accounting at Georgia Gwinnett College, a
unit of the University System of Georgia, in Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA. He has taught in the
USA and China where he received awards for teaching and research. His research and consulting
focus on international economics and finance.

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