Moral atmosphere and moral influence under China's network capitalism
Document Type
Journal article
Source Publication
Organization Studies
Publication Date
1-1-2002
Volume
23
Issue
3
First Page
449
Last Page
478
Keywords
China, Communist, Ethics, Ideology, Leadership, Morality
Abstract
A weak legal system, weak civic accountability, market distortions, public cynicism, and workforces lacking moral self-efficacy, present challenges to moral integrity in Chinese mainland enterprises. Our predominantly qualitative study, in Wuhan, of organizational moral atmosphere (OMA) in two large state-owned enterprises (SOEs), two smaller, shareholder invested SOEs, two foreign-invested joint venture companies (JVCs) and one private company, indicated that felt distributive inequity may have compounded these problems. Government-championed, in-company ideological propagation of avowed business morality appeared to have little impact on OMA, owing to normative incoherence. The JVCs, by adopting the foreign partners' system of rational-legal administration and internal justice, appeared to have found a relatively more effective approach to formal moral governance. Non-JVCs had a more punishment-oriented yet less rigorous approach to regulation, which was commended only at the private company, where personal share ownership gave middle and senior managers incentives,to enforce discipline and thus minimize losses. Developmental and dialogue-based approaches to improving OMA were largely untried.
DOI
10.1177/0170840602233006
Print ISSN
01708406
E-ISSN
17413044
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2002 EGOS
Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Snell, R., & Tseng, C. S. (2002). Moral atmosphere and moral influence under China's network capitalism. Organization Studies, 23(3), 449-478. doi: 10.1177/0170840602233006