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Clarity of ethical rules for open‐minded discussion to resolve ethical issues in Chinese organizations
Author(s) -
Snell Robin Stanley,
Tjosvold Dean,
Wu Julie Lanjun
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
asia pacific journal of human resources
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.825
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1744-7941
pISSN - 1038-4111
DOI - 10.1177/1038411110368466
Subject(s) - clarity , constructive , extant taxon , ethical leadership , economic justice , sociology , interpersonal communication , psychology , epistemology , social psychology , engineering ethics , political science , law , process (computing) , computer science , biochemistry , chemistry , engineering , philosophy , evolutionary biology , biology , operating system
In critical incident interviews, 101 Chinese mainland employees each described a work‐related occasion where ethical values were at stake. Case examples and structural equation analyses indicated that clearly understood ethical rules facilitated open‐minded discussion of opposing views, i.e. constructive controversy, which in turn developed interactive justice, strengthened interpersonal relationships, and promoted confidence in future discussions. However, clarity about ethical rules and engagement in constructive controversy was perceived to have no substantive ethical impact. This result was interpreted as indicating that common understanding among employees about the content of the extant ethical rules combined with open‐minded discussion of the rules does not necessarily lead to agreement that bringing behavior into alignment with the extant rules is necessarily the best moral solution, and as suggesting that using constructive controversy to develop ethical rules may be better than imposing them from the top.