A China Business Primer: Ethics, Culture, and Relationships PDF
Preview A China Business Primer: Ethics, Culture, and Relationships
A CHINA BUSINESS PRIMER The COVID-19 pandemic underscored longstanding fissures in China’s business relationships with the West. If the West is going to develop a relationship of mutual trust and improve business relations with China in the coming decades, it is imperative to understand how to engage with Chinese thinking on ethics in business—this book explains how. Government officials, businesspeople, and business-ethicists have trouble communicating about issues in ethics, policy, and business across the China- West divide. This book shows how to overcome the us-versus-them mindset plaguing China-West relations by presenting to Western audiences an easy-to-understand yet deeply informed primer on core ideas and perspectives in Chinese cultural and philosophical thought. The book considers original texts of Chinese philosophy and religion, and applies principles from those writings to three business-ethics topics of enduring interest to business executives, government officials, and academics, namely, the protection of intellectual property, assurance of product safety and quality in the pharmaceutical supply chain, and human rights. This book is a must-read for those who want to forge constructive relationships with their Chinese counterparts based on mutual trust and understanding. The book is specifically relevant to business executives, but it should also be of interest to policymakers, educators, and students who seek to communicate more effectively with their Chinese counterparts, in particular about difficult and contentious business, policy, and ethical issues. Michael A. Santoro is the author of two previous books about China. A former Fulbright Fellow at the University of Hong Kong, he has taught at the Sinopec Management Institute and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He is a professor of management and entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University. Robert Shanklin is Senior Lecturer in the Philosophy Department at Santa Clara University. His teaching and publications include Chinese philosophy, business ethics, aesthetics, and philosophy of language. He has advised firms based in Silicon Valley and elsewhere on business ethics and China. “Well-researched, lucidly written, and bristling with insights, A China Business Primer offers a clear and effective practical guide to help contemporary Westerners navigate the uncharted waters of ethical practices, norms, and expectations in the Chinese business world.” —Philip J. Ivanhoe, Chair of the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Georgetown University, USA “All of us who engage with contemporary China—in business, academia, and NGOs—encounter a world of references deeply held by our Chinese counterparts. This book arms you with those cultural/historical touchstones, and illuminates the Chinese approach to ethics (and how it differs from Western thinking). Up to date and essential knowledge for building your credibility and ethical fluency in today’s China.” —David Youtz, President, Yale-China Association, USA A CHINA BUSINESS PRIMER Ethics, Culture, and Relationships Michael A. Santoro and Robert Shanklin First published 2021 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2021 Michael A. Santoro and Robert Shanklin The right of Michael A. Santoro and Robert Shanklin to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Santoro, Michael A., author. | Shanklin, Robert, 1980– author. Title: A China business primer : ethics, culture, and relationships / Michael A. Santoro and Robert Shanklin. Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2020040513 (print) | LCCN 2020040514 (ebook) | ISBN 9780367506698 (hbk) | ISBN 9780367506711 (pbk) | ISBN 9781003050711 (ebk) Subjects: LCSH: Business ethics—China. | Human rights—China. | Intellectual property—China. | Product safety—China. Classification: LCC HF5387.5.C6 S35 2021 (print) | LCC HF5387.5.C6 (ebook) | DDC 174/.40951—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020040513 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020040514 ISBN: 978-0-367-50669-8 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-367-50671-1 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-05071-1 (ebk) Typeset in Joanna by Apex CoVantage, LLC To Robyn Burch MAS * * * To the late Jim Higginbotham, dissertation supervisor, steadfast sup- porter and friend who, while correcting my Chinese, encouraged me to continue my studies of Chinese language, culture and philosophy, even as I delved into the realms of formal syntax and semantics. Jim, I’m sorry you never got to see my first publication, and I wish you had gotten to see this book. RS CONTENTS List of figures ix Acknowledgments x 1 Tea with the dragon: traditional Chinese ethics and contemporary Chinese business 1 2 An Ethical Triad for understanding traditional Chinese culture: Context-First, Interconnectedness, and Awareness—and how they can be used to protect intellectual property 26 3 Cultivating Ethical Agility: face and assuring safety and quality in the supply chain 54 4 Cultivating Ethical Agility and employing guānxi to protect human rights 74 5 Beyond face and guānxi: foundational normative concepts and values of traditional Chinese ethics 101 Index 129 FIGURES 2.1 An Ethical Triad for understanding traditional Chinese culture 27 5.1 Five normative concepts of relationships and three foundational values of Chinese ethics 102
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