How Do the American Boss and the Chinese Subordinate Interact - Essay Example

The following account involves an ethical issue which I did not personally experience but is one that I observed as an employee. Introduction I once worked as an internship in a Sino-US joint venture headquartered in Beijing, the capital city of China. The joint-venture was formed through merger arrangement between a Chinese and US firms. This meant that two different cultures were brought into close contact through this joint-venture. During the time I worked in that joint-venture, I got close with a Chinese female employee (here I just called her Lussa). Lussa was older than me, and had been an employee of the Chinese firm long before the joint venture was formed with a US corporation. After the Chinese firm entered into the joint venture with American firms, there were some adjustments to the personnel arrangement as this is common occurrence at the early stage of a joint venture, especially for merger and acquisition activities. When two firms or two business lines are joined, great efforts are needed to deal with integration in different departments including human resource, supply chain, financial, research and development. Lussa told me that when the former Chinese firm she has been working for merged with the US firm, great changes have been made in personnel. She was transferred to a different functional department and likewise, her boss also changed. The then new department B where she now worked for was led by an American. Since I was a new person at that time, she gave me a lot of help in getting familiar with business operations and gave me some advice about how to get on well with the other colleagues. She said everything went well at the very beginning but they somehow changed later on and she got into some trouble. The reason is that Lussa had been late for work for several times and she was warned by her boss that if she is late again for work, she would face severe punishment, and would probably be fired if nothing changes. There is both oral and written warning agaist her absenteeism. But she told me that the reason she was late for work was that her newly-born baby needed someone to take care of and her husband was too busy to take time out. Therefore, she had to wait for the babysitter before she leaves for work. But one day, just as she was about to leave for work, the babysitter called and said she would not be able to come. Lussa decided to stay at home that day; but the result is that she was fired by her boss. In attempting to outline the ethical issues in the case given above to ascertain whether Lussa is right or wrong as well as to establish the person to blame between Lussa and her babysitter, it is important to highlight important factors as far as the concept of ethics is concerned. Basically, the term ethics is primarily concerned with distinguishing between what is good and bad while special attention is focused on issues of morality and professional conduct in an organisation where honesty and integrity should be seen as the guiding principles. This is based on normative values which can be described as the “essential and enduring tenets” that help define the company and are “not to be compromised for financial gain or short term expediency,” (DesJardins 2006:5). In general, these can be regarded as the beliefs that incline us to act or to choose one way rather than the other. There are many types of values which include financial, political, historical, cultural as well as religious among others. Many factors can influence the decision making process but in this particular case, the most important influencing factor is culture and how it can inform business behaviour in a globalised world. In pursuance of these values in business, much more needs to be said about ethical values which are more concerned with serving the ends of human well being. Essentially, business ethics refers to those values, principles and standards that operate within business and these attempt to make a distinction between something that is morally good from bad (Rossouw 2004). When ethics is applied to business, we tend to consider the implications of economic activity on the interests of all those who are affected by it. In this way, there is a correlation between identifying and implementing standards of conduct that will ensure that business does not negatively impact on the interests of the stakeholders as well as ensuring that the standard of behaviour will enhance the interests of all those affected by business. However, it is common knowledge that different people from different parts of the world have their own cultural values which are often seen as impacting on how businesses operate as going to be explained below with regards to the given case study above. Culture influence in the decision-making process Hofstede developed his cultural dimensions based on a large survey on employee values. Data is collected from IBM subsidiaries across 64 countries between 1987 and 1973. Based on his initial research, four dimensions of cultural values were indentified: Individualism (IDV), Power Distance (PDI), Masculinity (MAS), and Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI). Subsequent studied focusing on Chinese employee was conducted, and the fifth dimension was added: Long-term Orientation (LTO). (1) Power distance Power distance measures how the subordinates respond to power and authority. Power distance “indicates the extent to which a society accepts the fact that power in institutions and organizations is distributed unequally among individuals” (Hofstede, 1980). Individuals from high power distance cultures believe that power is a part of society and superiors consider their subordinates to be different from themselves (Greenberg, 1993). In high power distance cultures, it is believed that people are not equal, and everyone has a rightful place in a society. However, people in low power distance countries hold that inequity should be minimized. In Lussa’s case, a distinction has to be made between private affairs and business hence the need to abide by the rules and regulations. (2) Uncertainty avoidance Uncertainty avoidance indicates the extent to which a society feels threatened by uncertain and ambiguous situations and tries to avoid these situations (Hofstede, 1980). When uncertainty avoidance of one particular culture is strong, people in that culture tends to perceive unknown situations as threatening and they tend to avoid them. However, in cultures of low uncertainty avoidance, unknown situations are not considered to be threatening. On the other hand, there is need to observe the values of the local people so as to minimize other likely problems related with managing the human resources since there would be some elements within the new value system that would not be compatible with their own culture. Thus, it can be noted that this has a bearing on influencing behavior change among the members of any given organisation. (3) Individualism versus collectivism An individualistic culture features a loosely knit social framework. People are expected to take care of themselves and independence rather than independence is stressed. Collectivism is characterized by a tight social framework in which individuals ties themselves to groups and are loyalty to groups (4) Femininity versus masculinity This dimension indicates “the extent to which the dominant values in a society are ‘masculine’—that is, assertiveness and acquisition of money and things, and not caring for others, the quality of life, or people” (Hofstede, 1980). When masculine values are stressed, people value a high opportunity for earnings and tend to do challenging works to get a sense of accomplishment (Hoft & Nancy, 1995). However, while feminine values are important, people value good relationships with their superior, and tend to work cooperatively with others. (5) Long-term versus short-term orientation A long term orientation is characterized by persistence and perseverance, a respect for a hierarchy of the status of relationships, thrift, and a sense of shame. A short-term orientation is marked by a sense of security and stability, a protection of one’s reputation, a respect for tradition, and a reciprocation of greetings; favors and gifts (Hofstede, 1980). Long-term orientation culture is “commonly found in East Asian countries such as China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea “(Royer & Velden, 2002) Conclusion Lussa was under the influence of Chinese culture; therefore, she may perceive that absence is not big deal. She expected that her boss would understand her situation. Thus, the decision of staying at home was made. Companies are not charities and in most cases, they would not operate in areas where they would not make profit. By virtue of the fact that there have been written and verbal warnings pertaining to the issue of absenteeism, Lussa was supposed to change her behavior and inform her boss about her situation so that proper arrangements could be made. Whilst the babysitter might be wrong to a certain extent, she should not have made a decision alone not to go to work but should have phoned the boss. Issues such as culture can play a major role in determining the extent to which an organisation operates hence the need to have an agreed organizational culture. Reference Barrientos S and Dolan C (2006). Ethical sourcing in the global food system. London. Earthscan. Bugela M.J. (1996). Living ethics. Developing values in mass communication. Boston. Allyn and bacon. DesJardins J. (2006). An introduction to business ethics. 2nd Edition. Boston. McGraw Hill international Edition. Greenberg, J., & Baron, R. A. .1993. Behavior in organizations: Understanding and managing the human side of work (4th ed.). 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