Cross-cultural issues in business ethics: A review and research agenda

Abstract

This paper reports a systematic literature review of articles published over the past 35 years on cross-cultural issues in business ethics. A screening process resulted in a final sample of 306 papers in 26 double-blind reviewed journals with an impact factor score of at least 1.0 in the field. This study uses citation analysis, systematic literature review method, and knowledge-stock analysis. This study highlights the findings from prior studies, compares and contrasts salient characteristics and provides directions for future research. This study identifies important gaps between the literature and the challenges of cross-cultural issues in business ethics. These gaps include lack of conceptual articles, multi-countries level analysis, and deficiency of comparison analysis between developed and developing countries. This article proposes to apply virtue ethics and model of cultural sense-making as some analytical frameworks in the field of cross-cultural issues in business ethics. This review of the literature could provide managers with a longitudinal perspective on how the institutional environment and national culture affect business ethics perception of employees. This paper contributes to the cross-cultural literature on ethical attitudes, helps us better understand cross-cultural differences in business ethics, and provides directions for further research.

Using a cultural and social identity lens to understand pandemic responses in the US and India

“…This is followed by an analysis through a social identity lens considering pertinent in-group and out-group categories relevant for each country, informing behavioral response to the pandemic. This is in keeping with the view that the role of country context plays a critical role in the advancement of cross-cultural research (Ermasova, 2021), and the need to focus both within the culture and examine cross-cultural variability (Fischer and Schwartz, 2011).…”

Ethical behavior perceptions in Russia: Do ethics‐related programs and individual characteristics matter?

“…Many authors reveal that ethical behavior perceptions are not universally shared around the world (Ardichvili et al., 2009, 2010, 2012; Bailey & Spicer, 2007; Cavico & Mujtaba, 2009; Danon‐Leva et al., 2010; Ermasova et al., 2017; Farazmand, 2017; Ford & Richardson, 1994; Jaffe et al., 2018; Jaffe & Tsimerman, 2005; McCarthy & Puffer, 2008, 2013; Morgan & Neal, 2011; Robertson et al., 2003, 2008). There are extensive studies on ethical behavior and different types of ethical organizational interventions (Burns, 2012; Calma & Davies, 2020; Carlson & Burke, 1998; Cannon, 2001; Ermasova et al., 2017; Ermasova, 2021; Jazani & Ayoobzadeh, 2012; Majluf & Navarrete, 2011; Nguyen et al, 2014; Wang & Calvano, 2015). Christie et al.…”

“…Calma and Davies (2020) found that there is a growing interest in business ethics due to pressure for businesses to engage in fair and transparent practices and “a greater sense of responsibility and accountability to customers, stakeholders and the society” (p. 8). Many scholars (Calabretta et al., 2011; Ermasova, 2021; Linuesa‐Langreo et al., 2019; Ma et al., 2012; Robertson et al., 2008; Uysal, 2010; Wang et al., 2018; Wood, 2017; Xiao & Ma, 2015) proved the differences in the ethical attitudes of people from different cultures. Gift et al.…”

“…Many scholars provide research evidence that business ethics vary across national cultures and personal business ethics' perceptions of Russian business students and working adults have specific characteristics like the emphasis on self‐interest and being more tolerant of unethical behavior (Beekun et al., 2005; Ermasova, 2021; Ermasova et al., 2018, 2019, 2021; Nguyen et al., 2015, 2016, 2019; Puffer & McCarthy, 1996). There is a need for additional rigorous empirical studies on the personal business ethics’ perceptions that influenced by national context, including Russian business culture.…”

“…According to Ludlum and Moskaloinov (2005), “the future of Russia's views on business ethics depends on the attitudes of the current students” (p. 156). Earlier studies had emphasized a need for improving of educational approaches toward management education, including business ethics training (Burns, 2012; Clark et al., 2020; Ermasova, 2021; Ermasova et al., 2017, 2018; Kuznetsov & Kuznetsova, 2005; Morgan & Neal, 2011; Nguyen et al., 2019; Wang & Calvano, 2015). Some researchers (Ermasova et al., 2017; Jaffe & Tsimerman, 2005) found that personal business ethics' perceptions of Russian business students are different from business ethics' perceptions of students in other countries.…”