Eastern ethics encompasses the ethics or ways of thinking derived from East and Southeast Asia. This includes Chinese, Middle Eastern, Indian and Japanese ethics, as well as their influence on business. Through a combination of globalisation and growing diversity, Eastern ethics and spiritual practices have become prominent within businesses and their conduct.Gockel, A. (2004). The Trend Toward Spirituality in the Workplace: Overview and Implications for Career Counseling. Journal of Employment Counseling, 41(4), 156–167. Across the Eastern and Oriental region, differing ethics arise from historic philosophies, religions or ways of thinking and may prohibit or encourage specific conduct.
Chinese ethics
Confucian Confucianism originates from China and details the social values, institutions, rituals, virtues and transcendental ideals. Confucian ethics develops the personal characters and virtues of benevolence, ritual propriety, righteousness, wisdom and integrity. These teachings were developed by Confucius (551–479 B.C.E.) and overlap with commercial activity and relations.
Classical Confucians Benevolence (or Ren) is a Confucian ethic that necessitates a person to uphold this characteristic within a business or non-business interaction, which mirrors the historic expectation of rulers demonstrating benevolence. Mencius (Mencius, 1970, p. 49) stated that "What is the point of mentioning the word ‘profit’? All that matters is that there should be benevolence and rightness", which entails that profit in business is reasonable if delivered through benevolence and rightness. Business practices are also considered to be carried out with sincerity, as indicated by the Analects. On a government level, benevolence is expected to ensure welfare and responsibilities are fulfilled with moral leadership.
Neo-Confucians Neo-Confucianism considers an approach based on speculative metaphysical truth combined with personal self-cultivation in social ethics. This theory was established by Zhu Xi during the Song dynasty and was derived through the classical Confucius texts from the Doctrine of the Mean, the Analects and Mencius.Thompson, K. (n.d.). Zhu Xi (Chu His, 1130–1200). Retrieved May 14, 2019, from https://www.iep.utm.edu/zhu-xi/#H2 His theory states that people are considered good by the way they display their endowments and social and familial environment. In terms of business, profits, wealth, position and selfish desires are intolerable when engaging in commercial activity as these human desires override the moral principle of self-cultivation and allow the purified mind to naturally respond to these situations.Gardner, D. (1990). Learning to Be a Sage: Selections from the Conversations of Master Chu, Arranged Topically, Berkeley: University of California Press.
Under the Ming dynasty, Wang Yangming had a different approach to Neo-Confucian ethics in commercial activity to than Zhu. His ethical approach centralises on the combination of action and knowledge, or personal morality, defining social well-being. Vulgar Learning saw memorisation, recitation, broad learning and textual studies as knowledge accrued externally, but should instead rely on the moral principles (li) of the external world.Kim, Y. (n.d.). Wang Yangming(1472–1529). Retrieved May 13, 2019, from https://www.iep.utm.edu/wangyang/ By uniting thought and action, people should act in accordance to with Heaven and Earth and should be reflected in business activity.Chan, W. (1963). Instructions for Practical Living, and other Neo-Confucian Writings. New York and London: Columbia University Press.
Middle Eastern ethics
Islam In the Middle East, Islam is the most dominant religion in this region as 62% Muslims globally live here, and provides an ethical structure for commercial conduct and practices for people.Pew Research Center. (2017). World's Muslim Population More Widespread Than You Might Think. Retrieved March 12, 2019, from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/01/31/worlds-muslim-population-more-widespread-than-you-might-think/ Islam originated in the seventh century, 610 A.D., through Muhammad (570 A.D. – 632 A.D.) after receiving an angelic visitation that is believed to be the final prophet from God regarding faith to humanity.Prophet Muhammad (570–632). (2011). Retrieved May 15, 2019, from https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/muhammad_1.shtml There is also a firm belief in one God, Allah, and all conduct, including commercial conduct, undertaken by an individual is associated with worshipping Allah. Virtuous or vicious conduct is judged under the Quran and Sunnah from the Hadith.
In Islamic culture, Muslims are expected to adhere to the five pillars of Islam and the Islamic code of ethics and thereby act in accordance with what is considered halal, not haram.Samir, A. A. (2009). Business ethics in islam: The glaring gap in practice. International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, 2(4), 278–288. A businessperson is expected to act in an ethical manner with Allah at the foremost intention and then ethically with other businessmen. Islamic ethics dictate abstinence from corruption, misuse of power and fraud, whilst simultaneously encouraging efficiency, integrity, collaboration and respect amongst employees.Samir, A. A. (2009). Business ethics in islam: The glaring gap in practice. International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, 2(4), 278–288. This all falls under the indivisible concept of oneness, called Tawhid, which details the importance of an individual and their god, other individuals and their environment.Alhabshi, S.O. (1993), "Management ethics from Islamic perspective", Proceedings: Arab Management Conference, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK.
Considering the legal landscape, Islam still remains a part of the written laws and underpins the ongoing commercial and trading practices.Mullin Marta, J. K., Singhapakdi, A., Attia, A., & Vitell, S. J. (2004). Some important factors underlying ethical decisions of middle-eastern marketers. International Marketing Review, 21(1), 53–67. The Sharia once formulated a significant part of the written law in Muslim countries; however, since the 19th century, numerous countries have become influenced by Western colonial powers and have seen a mix between Western laws and Sharia Law.The Origins of Islamic Law. (2019). Retrieved May 12, 2019, from http://www.crf-usa.org/america-responds-to-terrorism/the-origins-of-islamic-law.html These countries include Pakistan, Israel and Egypt, whilst Turkey has adopted a more secular legal system. In the 20th century, the Sharia has become more adaptive to modern circumstances and still preserves the ethical foundations of Islam. This is seen particularly in Iran and Saudi Arabia, which have traditionally upheld a classical Sharia. Businesses operating in countries that experience a legal system that is prominently dictated by Islamic law experience restraints in operation if their activity compels interest on consumers by protecting the welfare of parties involved.Cerimagic, S. (2010). The Effects of Islamic Law on Business Practices. Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, 3(1), pp.40–47. Also, the strict nature of Islamic law restricts the way businesses engage in interest or risky activity.
Indian ethics
Hinduism
Hinduism is considered part of the four major religions in the world and has over 1.1 billion followers. Hinduism, also referred to as Sanatana Dharma, translates to the eternal law or way.Flood, G. (2009). Hindu Concepts. Retrieved June 5, 2019, from https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/concepts/concepts_1.shtml#h2 It is also the oldest religion of the four major ones. Though Hinduism is present around the world, the predominant countries that practice Hinduism and would operate their businesses under this include Nepal, Mauritius and India.Hinduism. (2018). Retrieved June 5, 2019, from https://www.history.com/topics/religion/hinduism
Ethical business considerations derived from Hinduism have become an important part of defining people's actions. The Gita details how the ethics of Hindu teachings influence business practices and involves how Dharma, meaning duty or ethics, encourages individuals to follow callings to move higher in life and to attain this duty and is relevant in business practices and trade. Another teaching, Tat-Twam-Asi, highlights the way nature, individuals and spirits intertwine. These teachings hold businesses to consider a holistic approach to their commercial outlook.
Lord Ganesha in Hinduism is a god tasked to "remove obstacles", "patron of sciences and arts," as well as the "deva of wisdom and intelligence," as Dunn and Jensen (2019) claim.Dunn, S., & Jensen, J. (2019). Hinduism and Hindu Business Practices. International Journal of Business Administration, 10(1). The elephant often symbolises Ganesha as the ears represent and encourage greater listening, the small mouth promotes lesser talking, the big stomach associates with one's greater ability to digest the bad, neutral and good things in life, the little eyes with attentive concentration and the trunk for high efficiency and flexibility. This becomes identifiable in business work ethics as people aim to resemble Lord Ganesha and his features.
Neo Hinduism Neo-Hinduism has underpinned the success of businesses and consumer lifestyles through a rapid economic growth seen in India. Hinduism asserts the importance of wealth and success as a feature of an acceptable life more dominantly than other religions such as Islam, Christianity and Buddhism.INDIA: Hinduism shapes encounter with modernity. (2010, Feb 17). OxResearch Daily Brief Service. Nevertheless, too much personal wealth is not expected to deliver happiness, as society should be able to benefit from this selfless and moral behaviour.
Buddhism
Buddhism was founded in 500 BCE by Prince Siddartha Gautama (Gautama Buddha) in India.Siderits, M. (2019). Buddha. Retrieved May 15, 2019, from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/buddha/ It is practiced by 535 million people predominantly across most Asian countries such as India, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Bhutan.Buddhist Countries 2019. (2019). Retrieved May 16, 2019, from https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/buddhist-countries/ Buddhism focuses more on an experimental and knowledge-based system. The teachings of Buddha centralise on the Three Universal Truths, the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path and have the main belief of reincarnation.Marques, J. (2010). Toward greater consciousness in the 21st century workplace: How Buddhist Practices Fit in. Journal of Business Ethics, 92(2), 211–225.
Workplaces have increasingly started to integrate more spiritual principles into their culture and management systems on the basis of Buddhist ethics and influences. It has also made a growing presence in Western countries such as the US, indicative of the increasing cultural diversity that has been brought about by globalisation. Buddhism has seen values and ethics of an increase in greater personal responsibility, motivation towards greater collaboration and open-mindedness become embedded within business practices.Marques, J. (2010). Toward greater consciousness in the 21st century workplace: How Buddhist Practices Fit In. Journal of Business Ethics, 92(2), 211–225.