ABSTRACT
One of the most fundamental questions to be asked of organizations and individuals is "are their actions morally sound?". This chapter addresses that question in the Chinese context by examining business ethics, corporate social responsibility and the problem of corruption. Ethical thinking and behaviour is most obviously attributable to individuals, and there is difficulty in attaching it to collective entities and hence to business organizations. The guanxi issue is important and a key point of difference between Asian and Western ethical norms. Corruption leads to public anger, especially when it arises from the exercise of guanxi by the well-connected. One approach to measuring corruption is through the work of Transparency International, which collects survey data on the extent of malfeasance in order to make comparisons across countries. The chapter examines the extent to which the country is putting a sustainable model of development in place, thereby safeguarding future generations.
