HRER860:

 

The globalization of commerce has made the topic of non-Western moral values more than a matter of curiosity. Increasingly, U.S. companies have created global footprints. They in some cases manage operations on several continents reflecting a variety of national, ethnic, and religious cultures that are quite different from their American counterparts.

This lesson will focus on the moral values common to several major religions. These belief systems are very often the basis of the ethnic and national cultures in which they are common. We will see that HRER policies and practices that are common to the U.S. cultural environment are often at odds with non-U.S. settings. The difficulties can exist in even what a U.S. manager might consider an otherwise simple matter: avoiding, if at all possible, the appearance of impropriety by hiring blood relatives over more qualified applicants.

 

Lesson Objectives

After successfully completing this lesson, you should be able to do the following:

• Compare and contrast non-Western and Western approaches to making ethical decisions.
• Explain how exposure to non-Western ethical perspectives does not necessarily commit one to moral absolutism or moral relativism.
• Apply non-Western ethical values to a common HRER-related problem.

 

Readings and Activities

Check the Course Schedule for specific details on what to read this week.

 

 

Non-Western Approaches to Ethical Decision-Making

The previous lessons addressed the topic of ethical decision-making from an exclusively Western perspective. Western ethics is pervaded by 17th- and 18th-century European "Enlightenment ideas," such as beliefs in science, rationality, and progress. For instance, ethical choice resembles a step-by-step procedure that, similar to science, methodically seeks to secure progressively better results. In non-Western approaches, custom and tradition play a more prominent role in ethical choice. In HR, especially international HR, showing sensitivity to differences in values and beliefs is critical for success. Similarly, sensitivity to non-Western approaches to ethical decision-making is equally important in international HR decisions with an ethical dimension—e.g., whether to enforce a policy prohibiting employees from offering bribes to public officials at the Chinese subsidiary.

What follows is a brief sampling of non-Western moral values, each of which can direct choices about what is right and wrong in the process of ethical decision-making:

• Kyosei (Confucian/Japan): Cooperation aimed at promoting public welfare, or the common good.  
• Santutthi (Buddhist/Chinese): Self-control through the annihilation of desire or severe limitations on material comforts.
• Zakat (Muslim/Middle East): Duty to give alms to the poor.
• Dharma (Hindu/India): Acceptance of an inherited obligation.

How might these differing values manifest themselves? As an example, an HR manager at the Calcutta (India) subsidiary of a multinational corporation believes that she has an inherited duty (dharma) to protect and serve the interests of the less fortunate. Consequently, she is reluctant to terminate an employee who has stolen company property to feed his family.

 

 

Avoiding the Extremes: Moral Absolutism and Moral Relativism

Two extreme positions enter most discussions of whether or not to be sensitive to non-Western moral values: moral absolutism and moral relativism.

Moral absolutism is the belief that there are universal moral truths, and judgments about what is right and wrong are true no matter what the social, cultural, religious, or country context.  

Moral relativism is the belief that there are no universal truths, and judgments about what is right and wrong are true only relative to specific the social, cultural, religious, and country contexts.   

However tempting each is, both absolutism and relativism represent extreme positions. While some moral values approach the status of universal moral truths (e.g., lying, stealing, murder, adultery, and impiety are prohibited in almost all societies), moral absolutists cannot account for differences across cultures, religions, and societies—for instance, between the Western (largely Protestant) belief in the moral acceptability of profit maximization and the non-Western, Islamic rejection of the same business practice (see the Abbas, Al-Aadi, and Al-Owaihan reading). Moral relativists, on the other hand, properly appreciate how judgments about what is right and wrong typically rely upon culturally contingent moral values. However, there are some moral values that transcend contexts (as mentioned above), and if all our moral judgments were truly relative, then it would be impossible to make claims that apply beyond a specific social, cultural, religious or country context. To say, for example, that “employing child labor is morally wrong” would be a form of shorthand for saying that it is wrong in my society or culture, or among those who share my religious beliefs. Indeed, if moral relativism were true, then there would be no opportunity for cross-cultural ethical disagreement. Therefore, the better position is somewhere between these two extremes (i.e., accepting that some moral values are universal, while others are contingent upon particular societies, cultures, religions, and countries).  

 

 

Example: What We Owe to Our Parents and Employers From a Confucian HR Perspective

Instead of inheriting ideas from the European Enlightenment (1650–1780 A.D.), Chinese culture bears the legacy of philosophical traditions and moral values dating all the way back to the life and times of the philosopher Confucius (551–479 B.C.). Similar to virtue ethicists, Confucians believe that the path toward proper conduct and wholesome character involves cultivating good habits and virtues (or excellences of character), such as benevolence, moderation, and righteousness. Self-improvement means following the way (dao or tao) by attaining the virtues of jen (care of others), li (performance of rituals) and yi (comprehending what is appropriate). One of the most important routes toward realizing these virtues involves showing respect for the elderly, especially one’s parents. According to Confucian teachings, children owe their parents for raising them and, therefore, must not only express gratitude but also have an obligation to repay the parents for their kindness and generosity. Unlike countries in the West, China and other Asian countries have few nursing homes for the elderly, since children care for their parents in old age, consistent with the Confucian way. What are the implications of the Confucian belief that children owe their parents everything for HR practice? Should HR managers develop more flexible life–work initiatives and paid leave programs for Chinese employees taking care of sick parents? How does this commitment to parents extend to employers? Will paternalistic HR policies generate employee loyalty at a similar level of intensity? 

 

 

Non-Western approaches to ethical decision-making commonly incorporate moral values based on custom and tradition, not Enlightenment ideas. As HR professionals, we should be sensitive to differences in moral frameworks, reflecting diverse social, cultural, religious, and country contexts. However, this does not mean that we should subscribe to moral relativism, or the position that the truth of all moral judgments is contingent upon the society or culture one belongs to, so that cross-cultural ethical disagreement proves impossible. On the other, hand, moral absolutism, or the position that a set of universal moral truths exists, is similarly troublesome, since it rules out any sensitivity to diverse moral frameworks. For instance, the Confucian belief that it is morally obligatory to care for one’s elderly parents is true in certain cultural contexts. However, there are some moral beliefs (e.g., that lying, stealing, and murder are wrong) that cross all contexts and so resemble universal moral truths. Therefore, taking a position somewhere between the extremes of relativism and absolutism is usually the best approach in appreciating non-Western approaches to ethical decision-making.   

 

This is the end of Lesson 04. Check your schedule for the time frame of Lesson 05.