Business ethics and workplace guanxi in Chinese SOEs: a qualitative study Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine Chinese employees' perceptions on their ethical decision making in relation to the workplace guanxi context in stateowned enterprises (SOE). Design/methodology/approach Using a qualitative method, two rounds of interviews were conducted with 18 participants in two SOEs to explore Chinese employees ethical perceptions and experiences in the workplace. A qualitative thematic strategy was adopted to analyze and interpret the data. Findings The authors identified three major themes on SOE employees ethical decision making in relation to workplace guanxi: the ethical self; malleable ethical standards; and submission to authority. The authors derived a conceptual framework to outline the relationship between the invisible hand of guanxi and the SOE employees' ethical decision making. Originality/value The paper contributes to the business ethics literature by presenting a threedimensional profile and a conceptual framework for Chinese business ethics research. It provides an indepth understanding of a complex dynamics of guanxi and its impact on employees' ethical decisionmaking behavior. 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

published proceedings

  • JOURNAL OF CHINESE HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

author list (cited authors)

  • Li, J., & Madsen, J.

citation count

  • 11

complete list of authors

  • Li, Jessica||Madsen, Jean

publication date

  • January 2011