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Business ethics is very much necessary for doing a business properly.

Ethics is not same in every


country. Same action in different countries can be viewed differently. So reasons of these
differences supposed to be find out. So finally this research has been made. Here three East
Asian countries has been considered which are Japan, China and South Korea. These countries
have differences in terms of society, culture etc. Here three countries has been considered
because of their historical background, techniques to handle economy, Leadership quality in
business, growing industry etc . Geographic positioning of a country has a great influence on
shaping historical background, economic motives, cultural issues and also religious belief.
Ethical code of conduct varies from country to country. Even some reputated companies in the
world violate ethical code of conduct. So some growing countries are experiencing unethical
problems and they are not able to find out the reasons.
Historical background : Historical background has a great influence on East Asia.
China influenced japan to a great extent in terms of society, culture and religion. Chinese
Civilization also influenced South Korea. On the other hand Korea was influenced by Japan in
terms of culture and society.
Economic Background
Japan: Before the second world war Japan improved a lot. The second world war affect the
Japanese Society and business practices. Unites States helped them in this regard. In 1950s Japan
started to expand their market globally. In 1980 they reach peak
China: at the end of the 21
st
century Chinas economy started to do well . Their main focus was
on exporting and manufacturing. China grew very fast in terms of economy after a social disaster
by Mao. Maos The Green Leap Forward movement aimed to grow economically by focusing
on agriculture and industry. It failed finally and China took capitalism. So rapid growth started
with the help of foreign businesses moving toward China. Their growth has been criticized due
to copyright issues.
South Korea: After the war of Korea their economic growth was outstanding. Governments aim
was to boost up the economy at any cost. With the help of USA they able to boosted up their
economy. Govt. also played an important role here through leadership. The Growth was far
better than other countries and also within a short time. But Govt. violated the ethical code of
conduct to some extent.
Business Ethics:
Japan:
Japan is a very religious country. They even pray before eating food and they use pray phrase
which is known as Itadakimasu. They still use their ancient tradition in these modern days in
their business. Their ancient Samurai culture influenced their ethical practices in business. This
is not seen as a good issue in the eye of foreign investors. Bushido a factor for uniqueness
which includes patience, loyalty, honoring death. Japanese give full effort for what they believe
is correct and they believe process will e=lead them to good result. But foreigners believe in
Results. Trust is a major thing for doing business in Japan. The first step of trust is a ceremonial
ritual the meishi koukan which means exchange of contact. Thet maintain Hierarchical relation
meaning respecting elders. So Japanese business consists trust, respecting elders etc. These are
part of their business ethics. It is complicated but Japanese viewed these things as a necessary
element.
South Korea: After war their economic growth was fast than other countries. Thus they have
some major companies which are able to compete with some big international companies. As the
Govt. sacrifice ethics during the booming of economy they earn peoples mistrust. But growing
economy increased many options like jobs for general people, taking living standard to a high
level, improving society etc. So people again put trust on them. With the passing of time with the
growing international trade Govt. become strict about their ethical policies and companies.
Confucian ideology (trust and loyalty between govt. and general people would implicit social
rule to govern any activity) has influenced the south Korean business. . Big companies over there
monopolized the business. To stay in business these companies violate code of conducts. Also
gap between poor and rich is increasing with the growing economy.
China: Chinese people use Gguanxi in their business. Gguanxi means process of social
interactions. A action of process of social interactions is bribery. Bribery is a very common
Practice in China. Chinese people show respect to their customers by giving gifts, treating them
etc. whatever the customers want they deliver it without concerning ethical issues. One example
of Gguanxi bribery is that railway minister was charged for bribery and abuse of power as he
accepted huge financial incentives. Another example is that Lai Changxing a entrepreneur and
CEO of Xiamen yuanhua Inc. organized a banquets which consists 1000 guests. High level
customs, regional or city leaders, tax officials were there in the party. He gave Hongbo and
expensive gifts to them so that the guests became in their favor and helped him in doing business
ethically or unethically. Govt. recently set some rules to control this issues.

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