Business and Professional Ethics: Principles and Practices (Prof. Dennis P. McCann, CRRS Lecturer)

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Business and Professional EthicsPrinciples and
Practices(Prof. Dennis P. McCann, CRRS Lecturer)

• Outline of Topic
• The Problem of Market Morality Profit (Li) and
  Righteousness (Yi)
• A Little Hint from the West
• A Foreigners Suggestion for modernizing
  Confucian Moral Philosophy
• Practical Consequences Rethinking Guanxixue

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The problem of Market Morality Profit (Li)
and Righteousness (Yi)

• Market Morality A Contradiction in Terms?
• Everywhere you look today, its Money, Money,
  Money.
• Does Market Reform decrease or increase
  Corruption?
• Is going into Business still like Going out to
  Sea?

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The problem of Market Morality Profit (Li)
and Righteousness (Yi)

• Profit and Righteousness Does more Li mean less
  Yi?
• A Struggle over the meaning of Modernization
• A Struggle over the meaning of Confucian
  Tradition
• What are the resources for bringing Li and Yi
  into Harmonious Relationship?

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The problem of Market Morality Profit (Li)
and Righteousness (Yi)

• Business Professions Like Li Yi?
• Business and Profit Maximization ONE Moral Duty
  of Fiduciary Responsibility
• The Business Managers only Moral Duty is to
  Maximize Li for the Owners/Investors)
• Professions and the Ethic of Service MANY Moral
  Duties of The Superior Person, all converging
  on Ren
• Are Business and Professional Ethics in Conflict?

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Western Resources for Overcoming the Disharmony
of Li and Yi

• What We can Learn from Applied Moral
  Philosophy
• Moral Rights and Moral Goods are to be found in
  Business, as in any other human Activity.
• Wealth Maximization (Good) is Moral, so long as
  Justice (Right) is always done in the way we do
  Business.
• Good Business Ethics IS Good Business.
• Credibility Problem for Applied Moral Philosophy

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Western Resources for Overcoming the Disharmony
of Li and Yi

• What we can Learn from Management Theory (Peter
  Drucker)
• What is the Purpose of a Business?
• Profit IS NOT the Purpose of a business
• Profit IS the measure of Success in fulfilling
  the purpose of a business
• The Purpose of a Business is to Create a
  Customer
• A Focus on Customers Means a Focus on Forming
  Ethical Relationships Customers are People whom
  you have given Good Reasons for Coming Back for
  More. Customers are People who TRUST you.

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A Foreigners Suggestion for modernizing
Confucian Moral Philosophy

• Cross-Cultural Studies The Worlds Debt to
  Confucius and Aristotle
• Aristotles Nichomachean Ethics Moral Virtues
  and a Theory of Justice in the Marketplace
• Confuciuss Lun Yu The Managers and the
  Professionals (The Superior Mans) Moral Virtues
  and the Way to Cultivate them

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A Foreigners Suggestion for modernizing
Confucian Moral Philosophy

• Confucian Ethics as a Rectification of Names
• Harmony is Achieved when Each Person lives up to
  the Ethics implicit in Human Relationships
• The Five Traditional Relationships
• Emperor---Subjects
• Parents-----Children
• Husband---Wife
• Older Brother---Younger Brother
• Older Friend-----Younger Friend
• Moral Duties understood within the Relationship
• Moral Duties as Asymmetrical Reciprocities
• Moral Leadership by Moral Example

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A Foreigners Suggestion for modernizing
Confucian Moral Philosophy

• Limits of Traditional Confucian Ethics
• The Centrality of the Traditional Chinese Family
• The State (Empire) the Family in Big
  Characters
• Modernization means Social Responsibility outside
  the Family
• Economic Globalization means Doing Business with
  Strangers
• The Scarcity of TRUST and the Expansion of
  Guanxixue

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A Foreigners Suggestion for modernizing
Confucian Moral Philosophy

• Expanding the Rectification of Names A
  Confucian Approach to Business Professional
  Ethics
• I propose Two New Categories of Relationships
• Merchant------Customer
• Professional--Client
• Both carry all Ethical Assumptions of Confucian
  Moral Relationships

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A Foreigners Suggestion for modernizing
Confucian Moral Philosophy

• Merchant----Customer
• Business Men and Women act in ways that
  effectively Create Customers
• Turn Strangers into Good Guanxi who want to
  Exchange Gifts with you
• Professional---Client
• Professionals act in ways that effectively Create
  Clients
• Serving one another through the Application of
  Knowledge
• Professionals do NOT exploit Clients

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Practical Consequences Rethinking Guanxixue

• How did Guanxi come to mean the same thing as
  Corruption?
• What is Corruption? What is Gift-Giving and
  Receiving? What is Bribery and Extortion? When
  does Gift-Giving become Bribery?
• Does Modernization Change the Meaning of Guanxi?
  (Modernity as a World without Yi)
• The Need for Guanxi in a Modernizing Society The
  Problem of Trust in a World of Strangers

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Practical Consequences Rethinking Guanxixue

• Confucian Ethics and Guanxi
• Mencius The Superior Man Never Allows Himself
  to be Bought. (Book 2, Part B, Number 3
  Universal Condemnation of Bribery)
• Confucius Good Guanxixue and Bad Guanxixue
  distinguished on the basis of Yi. If the ritual
  dimension is ignored, Guanxixue is likely to be
  Bad.
• Good Guanxixue and Bad Guanxixue are
  distinguishable on the basis of the Relationship
  that is cultivated, and the Reciprocities
  appropriate to it.

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Practical Consequences Rethinking Guanxixue

• Confucian Ethics and Guanxi
• Bribes are distinguishable from Gifts not on the
  basis of the amount of money involved (US Legal
  Standard).
• Bribes are distinguishable from Gifts on the
  basis of Ren, ones moral intention. (Confucian
  Moral Standard)
• If the intent is to cultivate a Relationship, and
  not to purchase a favor, this can be regarded as
  Good Guanxixue.