IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/porgrv/v18y2018i2d10.1007_s11115-016-0370-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Working Adults and Personal Business Ethics in South East Asia: a Comparative Study in Thailand and Vietnam

Author

Listed:
  • Lam D. Nguyen

    (Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania)

  • Quan H. M. Tran

    (University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City)

Abstract

Global leaders and managers have been facing new challenges in the twenty-first century since globalization has created a much more integrated and borderless business environment. One of the key issues that they constantly deal with is business ethics. The global economy has made ethical issues become more complex and challenging. Businesses nowadays face urgent demands to act ethically and responsibly. In order for global leaders and managers to manage such a cultural diverse and complex workforce, they must have the ability to understand these complex issues and act ethically. They also need to possess adequate leadership skills to lead an ethical organization in a multinational environment. Thus, understanding and recognizing the cultural differences as well as the ethical standards of people in different countries are critical to the success of global leaders and managers. The purpose of this study is to investigate the perception of working professionals on business ethics in the two high-context cultures in South East Asia: Thailand and Vietnam. Using the Univariate Analysis of Variance method and adopting the widely-used Clark and Clark’s Personal Business Ethics Scores (PBES) measure, this study will compare the level of ethical maturity of the respondents based on a variety of variables including gender, business law course taken, code of conduct, ethics training, and government work experience. The authors will provide a thorough literature review on business ethics as well as the current ethical issues, i.e., bribery and corruption, in the two countries, together with practical suggestions and implications for educators, managers, and employees.

Suggested Citation

  • Lam D. Nguyen & Quan H. M. Tran, 2018. "Working Adults and Personal Business Ethics in South East Asia: a Comparative Study in Thailand and Vietnam," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 159-174, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:porgrv:v:18:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s11115-016-0370-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11115-016-0370-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11115-016-0370-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11115-016-0370-2?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. Elizabeth Maitland, 2001. "Corruption And The Outsider: Multinational Enterprises In The Transitional Economy Of Vietnam," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 46(01), pages 63-82.
    2. Ethan Waples & Alison Antes & Stephen Murphy & Shane Connelly & Michael Mumford, 2009. "A Meta-Analytic Investigation of Business Ethics Instruction," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 87(1), pages 133-151, June.
    3. Nonna Martinov-Bennie & Rosina Mladenovic, 2015. "Investigation of the Impact of an Ethical Framework and an Integrated Ethics Education on Accounting Students’ Ethical Sensitivity and Judgment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 127(1), pages 189-203, March.
    4. Dr. Bahaudin G. Mujtaba & Prof. Dr. Talat Afza, 2011. "Business Ethics Perceptions of Public and Private Sector Respondents in Pakistan," Far East Journal of Psychology and Business, Far East Research Centre, vol. 3(1), pages 1-11, April.
    5. Elisaveta Sardžoska & Thomas Tang, 2015. "Monetary Intelligence: Money Attitudes—Unethical Intentions, Intrinsic and Extrinsic Job Satisfaction, and Coping Strategies Across Public and Private Sectors in Macedonia," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(1), pages 93-115, August.
    6. Koonmee, Kalayanee & Singhapakdi, Anusorn & Virakul, Busaya & Lee, Dong-Jin, 2010. "Ethics institutionalization, quality of work life, and employee job-related outcomes: A survey of human resource managers in Thailand," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 20-26, January.
    7. Marta, Janet K.M. & Singhapakdi, Anusorn & Lee, Dong-Jin & Sirgy, M. Joseph & Koonmee, Kalayanee & Virakul, Busaya, 2013. "Perceptions about ethics institutionalization and quality of work life: Thai versus American marketing managers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 381-389.
    8. David Desplaces & David Melchar & Laura Beauvais & Susan Bosco, 2007. "The Impact of Business Education on Moral Judgment Competence: An Empirical Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 74(1), pages 73-87, August.
    9. Lam D. Nguyen & Kuo-Hao Lee & Bahaudin G. Mujtaba & Sorasak Paul Silanont, 2014. "Business Ethics Perceptions of Working Adults: A Study in Thailand," International Journal of Asian Business and Information Management (IJABIM), IGI Global, vol. 5(2), pages 23-40, April.
    10. Douglas May & Matthew Luth & Catherine Schwoerer, 2014. "The Influence of Business Ethics Education on Moral Efficacy, Moral Meaningfulness, and Moral Courage: A Quasi-experimental Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 67-80, September.
    11. David A Ralston & Nguyen Van Thang & Nancy K Napier, 1999. "A Comparative Study of the Work Values of North and South Vietnamese Managers," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 30(4), pages 655-672, December.
    12. Daniel Bageac & Olivier Furrer & Emmanuelle Reynaud, 2011. "Management Students’ Attitudes Toward Business Ethics: A Comparison Between France and Romania," Post-Print hal-01796502, HAL.
    13. Vinay Bhargava & Emil Bolongaita, 2004. "Challenging Corruption in Asia : Case Studies and a Framework for Action," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 15069.
    14. Liz Wang & Lisa Calvano, 2015. "Is Business Ethics Education Effective? An Analysis of Gender, Personal Ethical Perspectives, and Moral Judgment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 126(4), pages 591-602, February.
    15. Sebnem Burnaz & M. Atakan & Y. Topcu & Anusorn Singhapakdi, 2009. "An Exploratory Cross-Cultural Analysis of Marketing Ethics: The Case of Turkish, Thai, and American Businesspeople," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 90(3), pages 371-382, December.
    16. Ralston, David A. & Terpstra-Tong, Jane & Maignan, Isabelle & Napier, Nancy K. & Nguyen, Van Thang, 2006. "Vietnam: A cross-cultural comparison of upward influence ethics," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 85-105, March.
    17. Bahaudin Mujtaba & Reza Tajaddini & Lisa Chen, 2011. "Business Ethics Perceptions of Public and Private Sector Iranians," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 104(3), pages 433-447, December.
    18. Craig D. Parks & Anh D. Vu, 1994. "Social Dilemma Behavior of Individuals from Highly Individualist and Collectivist Cultures," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 38(4), pages 708-718, December.
    19. Fryxell, Gerald E. & Lo, Carlos W. H., 2001. "Organizational Membership and Environmental Ethics: A Comparison of Managers in State-owned Firms, Collectives, Private Firms and Joint Ventures in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(11), pages 1941-1956, November.
    20. Helen Klein & Nancy Levenburg & Marie McKendall & William Mothersell, 2007. "Cheating During the College Years: How do Business School Students Compare?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 72(2), pages 197-206, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lam D. Nguyen & Loan N. T. Pham & Natalia Ermasova, 2019. "Business Ethics in a Global Economy: A Cross-Cultural Study Among Working Adults in Russia and Vietnam," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 20(4), pages 856-870, August.

    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. Lam D. Nguyen & Loan N. T. Pham & Natalia Ermasova, 2019. "Business Ethics in a Global Economy: A Cross-Cultural Study Among Working Adults in Russia and Vietnam," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 20(4), pages 856-870, August.
    2. Bahaudin G. Mujtaba & Arif Sikander & Naveed Akhtar & Talat Afza, 2012. "Business Ethics of Pakistanis in Islamabad and Lahore: Do Age, Gender and Data Collection Processes Make a Difference?," International Journal of Learning and Development, Macrothink Institute, vol. 2(3), pages 325-341, June.
    3. Daniella Juric & Brendan O’Connell & Michaela Rankin & Jacqueline Birt, 2018. "Determinants of the Severity of Legal and Employment Consequences for CPAs Named in SEC Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Releases," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(3), pages 545-563, February.
    4. Fuan Li & Mike Chen-ho Chao & Nancy Yi-feng Chen & Sixue Zhang, 2018. "Moral judgment in a business setting: The role of managers’ moral foundation, ideology, and level of moral development," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 121-143, March.
    5. Christian Hauser, 2019. "Fighting Against Corruption: Does Anti-corruption Training Make Any Difference?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 281-299, September.
    6. Xin Liu & Byron Y. Lee & Tae-Yeol Kim & Yaping Gong & Xiaoming Zheng, 2023. "Double-Edged Effects of Creative Personality on Moral Disengagement and Unethical Behaviors: Dual Motivational Mechanisms and a Situational Contingency," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 185(2), pages 449-466, June.
    7. Mukhiddin Jumaev & Prof. Dr. Dileep Kumar. M. & Jalal R. M. Hanaysha, 2012. "Impact Of Relationship Marketing On Customer Loyalty In The Banking Sector," Far East Journal of Psychology and Business, Far East Research Centre, vol. 6(4), pages 36-55, March.
    8. Jorge Sinval & M. Joseph Sirgy & Dong-Jin Lee & João Marôco, 2020. "The Quality of Work Life Scale: Validity Evidence from Brazil and Portugal," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 15(5), pages 1323-1351, November.
    9. Lu-Ming Tseng, 2019. "How Implicit Ethics Institutionalization Affects Ethical Selling Intention: The Case of Taiwan’s Life Insurance Salespeople," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(3), pages 727-742, September.
    10. García-Pérez, Carmelo & Prieto-Alaiz, Mercedes & Simón, Hipólito, 2020. "Multidimensional measurement of precarious employment using hedonic weights: Evidence from Spain," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 348-359.
    11. Nguyen, Thi Tuyet Mai, 2017. "An examination of independent directors in Vietnam," OSF Preprints ay6dv, Center for Open Science.
    12. Guillem C. Cabana & Muel Kaptein, 2021. "Team Ethical Cultures Within an Organization: A Differentiation Perspective on Their Existence and Relevance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(4), pages 761-780, May.
    13. Chung-wen Chen, 2014. "Are Workers More Likely to be Deviant than Managers? A Cross-National Analysis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 123(2), pages 221-233, August.
    14. Viengkham, Doris & Baumann, Chris & Winzar, Hume & Dahana, Wirawan Dony, 2022. "Toward understanding Convergence and Divergence: Inter-ocular testing of traditional philosophies, economic orientation, and religiosity/spirituality," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1335-1352.
    15. Katarina Katja Mihelič & Barbara Culiberg, 2019. "Reaping the Fruits of Another’s Labor: The Role of Moral Meaningfulness, Mindfulness, and Motivation in Social Loafing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(3), pages 713-727, December.
    16. Professor Bahaudin G. Mujtaba, 2012. "Bribery Challenges And Business Ethics In Afghanistan," Far East Journal of Psychology and Business, Far East Research Centre, vol. 6(4), pages 58-76, February.
    17. Sean Valentine & Seong-Hyun Nam & David Hollingworth & Callie Hall, 2014. "Ethical Context and Ethical Decision Making: Examination of an Alternative Statistical Approach for Identifying Variable Relationships," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(3), pages 509-526, October.
    18. Pablo Ruiz-Palomino & Ricardo Martínez-Cañas & Pedro Jiménez-Estévez, 2019. "Are Corporate Social Responsibility Courses Effective? A Longitudinal and Gender-Based Analysis in Undergraduate Students," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-17, October.
    19. Professor Hafiz Abdur Rashid & Hafsa Noreen & Monazza Karamat, 2012. "Growth And Prospects Of Islamic Banking In Pakistan," Far East Journal of Psychology and Business, Far East Research Centre, vol. 7(4), pages 52-65, May.
    20. Muhammad Fayyaz Sheikh & Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah & Saeed Akbar, 2018. "Firm performance, corporate governance and executive compensation in Pakistan," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(18), pages 2012-2027, April.

    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:porgrv:v:18:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s11115-016-0370-2. 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.