Conducting Business in the Peoples Republic of China - Article Example

Natural right and social construct Property rights give people legal ownership of property and hence decide on how and with whom to share such properties. This, therefore, would leave all wealth with the rich as the poor forever remain in poverty. But Nair (2012) argues that owners hold a legal obligation to other people in the community and that this principle propagates that. Therefore, to operate ethically, there is a need to give back to society. Unlike the Western countries’ promotion of individualism culture, PRC propagates Confucianism with focus on the organization of the society to propagate collective welfare and stability.

This appreciates the interdependence in humans and their welfare which determine the resultant quality of the society. Wang (2006) gives an example of the Chinese authorities’ requirement for more endowed businesses to be taxed more than the ones who are not, for the benefit of the whole community. Production This type of business ethics dictates that firms have the duty of ensuring that their processes do not cause harm needlessly. This covers even the products that get released to the market.

But most organizations would hold the fact that the products they produce do not have any risk to the consumers. It would be however important to consider other related factors such as the environment. Firms have a legal obligation to ensure that their processes and products do not harm the environment. Therefore, they would be responsible for the environment for the entire product cycle. Wang (2006) gives an example of eco-economics ethics that combines both ecological and economic ethics in business.

In China, there is an emphasis on human harmoniously living with nature (Chan, 2001). The Taoist philosophies require that man finds ways to adapt to the environment and integrate with it in order to achieve unity between nature and man. The government has crafted various regulations to conserve the environment but lack of emphasis on implementation has led to continued pollution as witnessed in its capital, Beijing. International issues China being an international player in trade has players from all over the world.

Therefore, business entities operating in the region face the challenge of adapting to regulations that are in line with the international communication behavior due to some localized regulations in the country, China is known for its richness in culture. The confines of Guanxi, for instance, dictate that “if someone does a favor for you, there will be an expectation that you, at some point in the future will return the favor” (Clair & Norris, 2011, p.4). From the international perspective, this could be viewed as corruption and therefore unethical.

But in China, this would simply be taken as a promise for a future accomplishment, which if met would be considered as ethical.