Business Ethics in East Asia Examples in Historical Context

For organisations and management the role of business ethics is of key importance, but to what extent business ethics are actually new or fashionable or universally applicable are interesting questions. Asia has been the site of contests between competing economic and ethical views of how economic norms and institutions are organized. This book examines the evolutionary similarities and differences of institutionalizing business ethics in Asia in a historical context and in comparison to better-explored business ethics literature, both empirically and theoretically.

This collection uses both historical and contemporary cases in Japan, Korea and China to show that these countries have tried to balance their traditional business ethics norms and values with those that have been introduced from the West. Underpinning the case studies is the fact that these countries have historically pursued ethical mandates in running private corporations, although corruptive practices were also rampant during different historical periods. The contributions to the book analyse how the theories and models of New Institutionalism and Modes of Exchange fare in their attempts to explain Asian business ethics. As the results indicate, historical methods must accompany any analysis of business ethics. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Asia Pacific Business Review.

1. Business ethics and the role of context: institutionalism, history and comparisons in the Asia Pacific region 2. Political economy and business ethics 3. Work ethic formed by pedagogical approach: evolution of institutional approach to education and competitiveness 4. The state as a regulator of business ethics in Edo Japan: the Tokugawa authority structure and private interests 5. A sociocognitive approach to business ethics: lessons from early industrializing Japan 6. Confucian business ethics in Korea: pre-modern welfare state 7. Overcoming ethical issues through symbolic management, cultivating proponents and storytelling: the institutionalization of Korea’s horseracing industry 8. The institutionalization of Korean traditional music: problematic business ethics in the construction of genre and place 9. Understanding the rise and decline of shareholder activism in South Korea: the explanatory advantages of the theory of Modes of Exchange 10. Corporate governance and the institutionalization of socially responsible investing (SRI) in Korea 11. Educational inequality among Chinese urban schools: the business ethics of private schools 12. Relinquishing business ethics from a theoretical deadlock: the requirement for local grounding and historical comparisons in the Asia Pacific region

Chris Rowley is Inaugural Professor of Human Resource Management at the Cass Business School, City University, London, UK, and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. He is the editor of the book series Working in Asia and Asian Studies, and has published widely, with over 500 journal articles, books and chapters and other contributions in practitioner journals, magazines and newsletters.

Ingyu Oh is Professor of Hallyu Studies at the Research Institute of Korean Studies, Korea University, Korea. Previously, he taught in the UK, the US, New Zealand, and Japan. His main research interests are economic sociology, cultural sociology, and international business strategy.