Ethical decision-making and best business practices: Cross-cultural differences of American and Chinese college students

Unidentified cross-cultural ethical behavioral differences between Chinese and American business people have continued to disrupt the multinational business arena. Volumes of literature exists that explains categories of cross-cultural differences, but little research existed that would identify the ethical behavioral choice differences between these two groups. The purpose of this quantitative descriptive study was to investigate culturally based ethical choice differences between Chinese and American business students on hypothetical situations contained in the Personal Business Ethics Survey (PBES).;Using an investigator-developed, 52 closed-ended question survey based on a five-point Likert-type scale enabled the researcher to investigate if ethical choice differences existed between American and Chinese university business students. The study results supported the alternate hypotheses in both cases. Based on the participants in this study, American business major students responded significantly more ethically than Chinese business student majors. Additionally, the results indicated that the cultural aspects of building relationships and saving face significantly influenced the ethical choices of Chinese participants, but held no significant influence in the ethical choices of American students. This study provides significant and robust new cross-cultural insights into the behavioral choice outcomes of Chinese and American student's ethical decision processes. These results will enable the multinational business arena to develop effective policies and procedures that will enhance ethical best business practices across cultures. The results of this study also serve as a foundation for future research seeking to ascertain the varied components of culture that influence cross-cultural decision-making.