A cross-cultural assessment of attitudes of business students toward business ethics A comparison of China and the USA

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine whether undergraduate and graduate business students in China and the USA share similar attitudes with regard to business ethics. Design/methodology/approach - Using an instrument derived from Becker and Fritzsche, this study measured attitudes toward eight business ethics value statements. In addition, the survey asked respondents to report the degree to which they believed that reports of corporate irresponsibility had influenced their responses to the survey. Tests of significance were used to determine significant differences. Findings - Despite advances in communication, the influence of foreign firms now operating in China, and the return to China of nationals who were educated in the USA, of eight business ethics value statements examined, significant differences between the Chinese and US respondents were found in all but one case. Research limitations/implications - The data were drawn from the southern USA and from eastern China. Future researchers may wish to replicate the study using samples from diverse geographical areas in each country. This study could also be replicated to assess similarities and differences between management and student samples. Originality/value - The results of this study point out significant differences between Chinese and US evaluations of the business ethics value statements examined. Given a history of years with little interaction between these two nations and the cultural distance between China and the USA, studies such as this provide useful information in the process of helping the people of these two nations better understand one another. The findings should prove especially useful to those concerned with the increasingly important issue of ethics in business operations.