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The Eastern Asian Ethics and Values:

Observing from General to Specific Levels

Alice Chang and Seana Kim

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Abstract

1. Abstract

2. Introduction

3. Literature Review Part A: Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory

I. Asia with High Power Distance

II. Asia with Low Individualism

III. Asia with High Masculinity

IV. Asia with Low Uncertainty Avoidance

V. Asia with High Long-Term Orientation

4. Literature Review Part B: Study of Dr. Rosalie L. Tung

I. International Business Negotiations

II. Comparative Management

III. International Human Resource Management

5. Conclusion

6. Suggestion

7. Works Cited

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Introduction

The United States have already done numerous researches on East Asia by a

number of scientists in recent history. Such multi-national studies are necessary and

momentous especially today in order to guarantee successful international business. This

paper can additionally assist potential workers to be more cooperative and more

employable while keeping pace with globalization.

The following literature reviews will aid its readers to obtain better understandings

from the different level of culture acknowledgement. One approach used to analyze East

Asia was Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory, which took general views on the

countries. The other used to examine East Asia was various studies of Dr. Rosalie L.

Tung, which closely looked into China, Japan, and Korea.

It provides practical abilities by perceptions of diverse culture, history, norms,

traditions, orientations, etc. As the axis of power shifts from Western to Eastern Asian

norm, leaders must be well-advised and learn new ways of working in the worldwide

marketplace. These researches eventually explain the gap between Asia and America in

terms of management style and organizational structure. (Shafer, W., Fukukawa, K., &

Lee, G. 2007)

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Literature Review Part A: Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory

Asia with High Power Distance

Many individuals in Eastern Asia tend to believe that a leader should be different

from others. Most of them would expect that a superior acts as a protector, thinks an

extraordinary stuff, and dictatorially leads subordinates. People acknowledge their own

organizational status, and accordingly embrace a man who is the best one in the field.

Thus, they are efficient in terms of speed because men concentrate on their given tasks

with clearly specified levels. (Daniels, M., & Greguras, G. 2014)

Workers in Eastern Asia take conventional roles in order to maintain current

situations. Yet, the higher power distance negatively affected to the development of

country including welfare, security, advantage, and so on. (Daniels, M., & Greguras, G.

2014)

One who exhibits one’s dominant emotions such as anger and ego seems to hold

a higher social status. It is commonly tolerable that a superior conveys anger toward

subordinates in the country with a high power distance. On the contrary, one who

expresses one’s submissive emotions such as sad and worry appears to take a lower

power position. The employees with less authority do not have the feelings of resistance

since they have already seen the power is unequally distributed to each class. (Hofstede,

G. 1980) Employees in Eastern Asia depend on strong leadership and prefer to keep

status quo. Hence, a superior is not anticipated to sympathize with subordinates since

the understanding about emotions of others is not essentially required. (Daniels, M., &

Greguras, G. 2014)

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The East Asians see a leader as a person who influences on them, encourages

organized exchange, and possesses a unique technique. (Hofstede, G. 1980) A superior

is supposed to manage and motivate subordinates in order to centralize discipline among

them. They also suppose that a leader could interact with followers in the responsible

manner, but should avoid to seek for an advice too frequently. So, the East Asians

assume that a leader would have different levels of job satisfaction and represent

confidence and competence all the times. (Daniels, M., & Greguras, G. 2014)

Asia with Low Individualism

Individuals in Eastern Asia are related to have intensely high collectivism.

Collectivism are also known as a tendency to be more coordinated and more sacrificial

for a group which one belongs to. One with high collectivism tends to think oneself as a

member of an entire group and see it as “ours” rather than “mine”.

(Hofstede, G. 1980) The group discussed here can be in any kind of a form such as a

family, relative, neighbor, community, organization, society, and even country. (Koch, B.,

& Koch, P. 2007)

The East Asians in a collectivism society give priority to unity, purpose, and

agreement of their groups. (Hofstede, G. 1980) Such bonds are deep, warm, and long-

lasting since they recognize themselves in their groups. Accordingly, cooperation will be

worth in Eastern Asia because most of them are spiritually simulated by team cohesion.

It might be hugely valuable to act in the way of showing identity, conformity, sympathy,

and participation. (Koch, B., & Koch, P. 2007)

Eastern Asia has lengthy history that targeted on public advantages and shared

activities. It had depreciated private objective and egoistic attainment, and reiterated

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egalitarianism which adds equal inputs to a society in mutual relationships. Consequently,

those conditions with high collectivism left individuals to magnify popular necessity

instead of personal fulfillment. (Hofstede, G. 1980) The East Asians have naturally

evolved to serve themselves for groups with openness and unification. (Earley, C. 1989)

Employers in Eastern Asia also guide their groups by acting in advance and trust

followers to work in return. Employees sense homogeneity when they see enthusiastic

coworkers, so every team member is influenced by each other. On top of it, individuals

with high collectivism sort out a person who is not in their circles, and draw up a line

between in and out of their groups. (Hofstede, G. 1980) Most of them have adverse

reaction toward a person who is not in their circles due to their strong team cohesion.

(Earley, C. 1989)

Individuals with high collectivism acquire honors and happiness from positive

consequences of their groups. Such motivations make the East Asians rank group goals

at the first place and individual objectives at the second place. In addition to it, Individuals

in Eastern Asia deem themselves as someone who makes meaningful impacts and

substantial components for a prosperous group. Most of them desire to be in a successful

group, so they are more likely to maximize their outputs despite of missing their own

choices. (Earley, C. 1989)

The ideology had suggested by several social psychologists that working in a

group are less productive than executing one’s own duties by oneself. The East Asians

are not applied in this case since they function better in their groups than they control all

alone. Individuals with high collectivism realize themselves as a vital part for a continuity

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of their groups, so most of them take all responsibilities together. Social loafing barely

occurs in Eastern Asia even with lack of affection for the job itself.

(Earley, C. 1989)

Asia with High Masculinity

The masculine trends have enormously changed over time, and the feminine tides

became more acceptable compared with the old days. However, Eastern Asia still have

masculinity within the country. Sex roles are partially distinguishable among their nations

at the society level like many other countries. (Hofstede, G. 1980) Men should be

aggressive, obstinate, and profitable while women should be caring, delicate, and

supporting. (Christie, M., Kwon, I., Stoeberl, P., & Baumhart, R. 2003)

Managers in a society with high masculinity could be associated with some routine

practices in operating a firm. They would probably forget threats or weaknesses to obtain

desirable gains by any means that cause dangerous products. (Hofstede, G. 1980) Two

countries are fortunately scored moderately higher on masculinity, which means they are

slightly above on the average. Nevertheless, both of them are perhaps engaged in

creating unethical environments while running a business. (Christie, M., Kwon, I., Stoeberl,

P., & Baumhart, R. 2003)

A supervisor with high masculinity are prone to solve problems with an

unscrupulous demeanor. It is harmful administration in contrast to an organization is

driven by a supervisor with high femininity. (Christie, M., Kwon, I., Stoeberl, P., &

Baumhart, R. 2003)

First, managers with high masculinity make no scruple to damage to ecosystems

if it for business-related sake. Eastern Asia disregard the matter that they abuse natural

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resources for industrial well-being. Second, managers with high masculinity have no

hesitation in doing an exaggerated advertisement. Eastern Asia overlook that an

embellish commercial can be hurtful to buyers who are naive about the merchandise.

Third, managers with high masculinity do not concern too much about manufacturing

detrimental goods. Eastern Asia are notorious for using hazardous materials to produce

cheap things. Fourth, managers with high masculinity are free from care of firing seniors

if the deal is an alternative. Eastern Asia take an immediate action as it is recommended

for fiscal issues. (Christie, M., Kwon, I., Stoeberl, P., & Baumhart, R. 2003)

All of the drawbacks mentioned earlier sound heartless, but it is not that bad idea

for a business if one perceives masculinity in the other way. Eastern Asia favor to employ

males over females or masculine workers rather than feminine workers. It has balanced

to get little more femininity because being excessively fond of hiring men over women

raised negative repercussion on their image. Nonetheless, masculinity continued in two

countries since it had delivered an overall healthy state to business itself. (García, M.,

Posthuma, R., & Roehling, M. 2009)

According to Maria F. Garcia, Richard A. Posthumaa, and Mark V. Roehling, the

study implies that masculinity immensely aids prosperity of a business. They set

hypothesis that the more a country adapts itself to masculinity, the more its nations

becomes domestic, and it turned out a true. One can infer from their hypothesis that

individuals with high masculinity bend toward the groups which they are involved in. Most

of them with high masculinity can be helpful and trustworthy, which are traditional

characteristics of femininity, in order to succeed in work. It is surprise to predict that a

masculine person undertakes his or her jobs with sense of belonging. The masculine

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person conducts himself or herself loyally, demonstrates willingness on jobs, and

becomes more valuable to the business. (García, M., Posthuma, R., & Roehling, M. 2009)

Asia with Low Uncertainty Avoidance

Uncertainty will prevail when surroundings are unclear, unstable, and complicated,

and then individuals gets more anxious about their overall states. (Hofstede, G. 1980)

Each person has a different extent of fortitude for uncertainty as well as his or her

response to obscure states. One’s own culture and characteristic can be critical factors

which conclude his or her personal limit of patience for uncertainty. Some people may be

able to resist in a situation with uncertainty, and figure out how to decrease uncertainty.

(Vishwanath, A. 2003)

Individuals in Eastern Asia do not fear to undergo the worst case. They are ready

to suffer from taking some risks, and always hold youth with excellent prospects.

Nonetheless, they are unlikely to serve job security, set up strict regulation, and obey their

social orders as much as other countries with high uncertainty avoidance. The East

Asians can be witnessed as cursory, relaxed, and patient people around the world.

(Hofstede, G. 1980)

Eastern Asia has decision making environments with low uncertainty avoidance.

Two countries are attracted by chance games and risky choices instead of adhering to

monotonous managerial path. (Hofstede, G. 1980) For instance, both countries often

participate in auctions which take high level of vagueness because both of them enjoy it.

They certainly require full amount of data on the auctions and utilize appropriate

information in order to guarantee agreeable events. (Vishwanath, A. 2003)

Asia with High Long-Term Orientation

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First, companies in a country with long-term orientation carry typical features as

putting an organizational step. Individuals in Eastern Asia underline that one should live

with zeal, so there is no an exact border between virtue and vice which are sometimes

mingled with. People with long-term orientation chiefly value education, flexibility, and

candidness for themselves at work. Superiors and subordinates target on settling their

higher places in the market with eagerness while sacrificing their free time. (Hofstede, G.,

& Minkov, M. 2010)

Second, consumers in a country with long-term orientation had their own

assessment on selecting products and services. Many long-term oriented individuals are

financially reliable because they intend to save incomes and curtail consumption as their

lifelong preparation. Most of them have relatively more loyal personality traits, so they

hope to build a deep-rooted relationship with the specific company. Besides, they view

that it is prudent to buy high-cost goods which are expensive but have a longer product

life cycle. This is why individuals in Eastern Asia deliberate that it will be warrantable to

go for premium brand products and services. People with long-term orientation are also

not tempted to purchase hedonistic goods although their circumstances allow them to do

so. Instead, they wish to spend money on buying pragmatic goods with reasonable prices

in order to reach their lifelong purposes. (Sharma, P. 2011)

Third, children in a country with long-term orientation encounter society entrance

with their family life style. They are obligated to find out why one should be thrifty and why

one should not indulge one’s own desires. Most of them are also compelled to be diligent

to chase their ambition and not to be self-conceited anywhere. Those persistence in

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modesty and frugality make their senior age comfortable due to utilitarian endeavor.

(Hofstede, G., & Minkov, M. 2010)

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Literature Review Part B: Study of Dr. Rosalie L. Tung

International Business Negotiations

As Tung emerged from her doctoral studies, she proceeded to study the topic of

cross-cultural business negotiations as well as comparative management (which we will

discuss later). Additionally, she readily applies her deep knowledge of Asian cultural

works to the business world. With her various studies and papers on the subject, Dr. Tung

has contributed significantly to our understanding of East Asian business practices.

Negotiation

In her paper “Negotiating with East Asians” (1999), Tung demonstrates her drive

to build upon prior research. The paper studies Chinese, Japanese, and Korean styles of

negotiation. Tung also suggests many practical ways to negotiate with these three

cultures from an American point of view. Dr. Tung’s thorough and detailed description

makes this a very useful work to study, for anyone planning to do business in East Asia.

Additionally, Tung’s work breaks new ground by looking at Korean negotiation techniques.

Previous researchers mostly focused on the Chinese and Japanese, leaving a dearth of

research on this distinctly different East Asian culture.

Starting out with questionnaires from previous US-Asian studies, Tung surveyed

and then interviewed twelve executives who were involved in their companies’ US-Asian

negotiations.

Notably, American negotiation teams often consisted of one or two people. In

contrast, Asian negotiation teams were often much larger. Korean teams were often

smaller, but overall, Asian businesses tended to collect large groups to negotiate a deal.

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Japanese teams were often quite large, perhaps to gather people from various

levels of the company, or to train younger managers in the field. However, it was also

hypothesized that large teams reflected how seriously the company took the negotiation,

which could make it seem that the small American team was trying to disrespect the

Japanese team. In contrast, Chinese teams generally operated with a leader advised by

several experts in each relevant area of interest. The practice reflected the Chinese

affinity for large power distance as according to Hofstede. Similarly to the Japanese, the

small American team size could be seen as a sign of disrespect. As previously stated,

Korean teams were smaller, but they were structured very hierarchically and were much

attuned to each member’s status. Additionally, like the Japanese, Korean teams would

reach a group consensus when making each decision.

More generally, Tung (1999) found that all three East Asian teams would gather

as much background information as possible, in an effort to follow Lao Tzu’s advice to

“know your opponent.” In fact, the Japanese will often engage in a lot of casual

conversation at the beginning of negotiations, right when Americans are getting impatient

and trying to get down to business. This can lead to friction if the Americans try to cut this

crucial stage short.

Additionally, East Asians will try to build meaningful relationships with the other

parties, which puts Americans at a disadvantage. Since long-term orientation is important

to the Chinese/Japanese/Koreans, often the Asian party will remain the same, while the

American party’s members will have changed. This leads to the Asian party having

greater familiarity than the American party, which is a distinct disadvantage on the

American side.

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Culture also impacts how each party makes decisions. As a shorter-term oriented

culture, Americans often take much less time to make a decision on a deal. This confuses

them when Asian teams take weeks to make the same decisions. Japanese negotiators

have to take the time to reach a complete consensus across the entire company. Of

course, this makes them very inflexible when it comes to changes in the plan. In contrast,

Korean teams will often see even a final contract as a flexible document. Chinese teams

also have a similarly long-winded process. They require large time investments for

socialization and dinners, but once a proposal is reached, the Chinese team has to go to

the true decision-maker (sitting at the office). The back-and-forth process takes a long

time to finish. In contrast, Koreans have smaller teams, so it takes them less time to get

to a decision.

Guanxi

Tung also spends time explaining an interesting concept specific to Confucian

cultures known as guanxi. In a previous article (1996), Tung defined guanxi as a

relationship which will advance “bilateral flow” of future undertakings. Indeed, those

companies with strong and “right” guanxi networks performed much better than

companies without such relationships. She noted six cultural factors contributing to the

importance of guanxi: 1) Confucian emphasis on relationships, 2) Confucian principle of

repaying favors, 3) East Asian tendency towards long-term orientation, 4) duty of the

strong to benefit the weak, 5) tendency to ignore statutory law in favor of “personal law”,

6) negative effects of losing face. All of these reasons affect Confucian societies

fundamentally and are hard to uproot. For instance, Tung notes that in China, the Cultural

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Revolution’s attempts to assault Confucianism only made people depend even more

heavily upon their personal networks (guanxi).

In her study, Tung noted that prior research only focused on establishing the

existence and nature of guanxi relationships. Thus, her research on “the role of guanxi in

business relationships” was novel and quite necessary (1996). She accomplished this by

interviewing Chinese executives on the influence of guanxi in their operations.

Interestingly enough, the importance of guanxi is not constant among all companies.

Similar to the importance of networking for college students, guanxi is most important for

smaller, newer companies.

Additionally, exporting companies are more concerned about guanxi than

manufacturing companies. Basically, the less established a company is, the more urgent

it is that the company expand and establish their guanxi network. Relationships are crucial

in the “set-up” phase of a company’s life-cycle.

To bring it back to negotiations, for the Chinese and Koreans, the

guanxi/relationship between two parties is foremost. Guanxi even takes precedence

before a signed paper contract. For them, the contract is merely a symbol of their

relationship. Thus, Korean and Chinese teams readily change and cancel contracts if the

situation changes. In contrast, American and Japanese teams put much more stock into

the finality of a signed contract. In an interesting extension of this concept, Koreans are

most often concerned with emotional kwankye (similar to guanxi) in all matters. Thus,

they will often ask for small boons (e.g. a discount, favors) in order to cement a positive

memory of the opposing team.

Comparative Management

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East Asian Culture

Several seminal classics inform East Asian culture and affect business on a

fundamental level as well. In a 1994 paper, Tung identifies four major works of this nature:

Sun Tzu’s Art of War, Five Rings, Musashi’s The Three Kingdoms, and The Thirty-Six

Stratagems.

Art of War: Written about 2,500 years ago in ancient China, Art of War has gone

above and beyond its initial intended audience. It has become a classic in East Asia,

especially for commerce and business purposes. Sun Tzu posits six necessities for a

leader to follow in battle: a higher (moral) purpose, leadership, environmental conditions

(#3 and #4 combined), disciplined troops, and espionage. All of these are of course

fundamental to leading a team at work. Managers must lead their teams for a genuine

purpose and with proper motivation; they also must continually keep track of their

opponents’ plans and activities. For instance, Samsung jumped at the opportunity when

Apple’s iPhone 6 debuted among allegations of flimsy construction. By noticing when

social media trends indicated a negative change in opinion about Apple, Samsung was

able to quickly craft an opposing marketing campaign to appeal to their audience’s worries.

The advertising campaign for Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4 showed video of a machine

designed to simulate a human sitting down on the phone, and the Note 4 survived

hundreds of such stress tests. In the same way, leaders in business and battle must

continually scan the environment and other factors for any weaknesses they can exploit

(whether through espionage, other information techniques, etc).

Five Rings: Similar to Sun Tzu, The Book of Five Rings was written by a Japanese

military man as well. The author, a samurai and devotee of Zen philosophy, noted nine

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principles to follow for success. They are as follows: seeking multiple perspectives,

knowledge, patience, discipline, hiding your true intentions, being flexible, scattering your

enemies to conquer them easily, and scanning the environment.

Three Kingdoms: To sum up this epic account of the power vacuum created by the

fall of the Han dynasty, Three Kingdoms details military strategy, the nature of humanity,

and the importance of “kinship” in daily life.

Thirty-Six Stratagems: Derived from the I Ching, Stratagems almost seems like a

book of fortune cookie advice focused on military/business strategies.

To put it all together, these fundamental works guide East Asian businesses and thus

must be understood by foreign negotiators. However, one must not drape a generic East

Asian flag across every Asian culture. Tung notes that one major pitfall is to assume that

conclusions about one culture will apply to another culture.

China (80’s)

During her brief visits to China in 1979 and 1980, Tung interviewed several

business owners and observed as much as she could about the current state of business

in China. Of course, during that time period, China was still transitioning from its planned

economy to a more open mixed economy. As Lippit notes in his 1983 review, after Mao’s

death in 1976 and the arrests of the Gang of Four, China instituted “selective introduction

of the market” and many other reforms. At the time, however, China’s economy was still

more rigid and planned than now. Today the country differs greatly from the China that

Tung visited.

Upon her return from China, Tung busied herself writing two books: Management

Practices in China (1980) and Chinese Industrial Society After Mao (1982). Although

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Tung could not gain much scientific data, she still managed to glean an anecdotal

understanding of how Chinese manufacturing companies worked.

In Chinese Industrial Society After Mao, Tung provides an overview of the Four

Modernizations - “the goal of modernizing industry, agriculture, science and technology,

and national defence” by 2000 (Lippit, 1983). Lippit also notes that Tung relies rather

heavily upon China’s official news source Beijing Review. However, she does gather an

impressive amount of information that should prove useful to the businessperson who

wishes to set up manufacturing operations in China.

In her 1981 Academy of Management paper, Tung expounds on the specific topic

of motivation for workers in China (specifically in industrial businesses). Tung analyzed

workers’ motivations according to Katz and Kahn’s 1978 model. This divides the topic into

three categories: “rule enforcement, external rewards, and internalized motivation” (Tung

1981).

Japan (80’s)

From 1984-1986, Tung published three books focused on Japan. Business

Negotiations with the Japanese (1984) and Strategic Management in the United States

and Japan (1986) were both translated into Japanese as well, providing a resource for

both Japanese and American negotiators. An additional book, Key to Japan's Economic

Strength: Human Power (1984) studied the Japanese approach to human resources

management. The book describes in detail how Japanese companies deal with sending

expatriates abroad, the hierarchy of managers in a Japanese company, and various other

topics relevant to one who wishes to learn about Japanese business culture.

Korea (90’s)

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In a rather more rigorous process than her study on China, Tung published a 1991

article about negotiations with South Koreans. She interviewed executives in charge of

US-Korean relations in various industries. Interestingly, several executives rated Korea

as the most stressful country to move to, “even more so than Japan and China.” Tung

examines a few reasons why this could be the case.

According to Tung, the greatest stumbling blocks in most US-Korean negotiations

involve spats over equity and management. Both partners will attempt to gain at least 51

percent ownership in joint ventures. Tung mentions an interviewee’s hypothesis that

Koreans are especially defensive due to their long history of “domination by neighboring

powers” (1991).

However, it seems like a weak attempt to ascribe a Korean-specific explanation to

something that all companies aspire to. There is no reason to make an excuse out of thin

air. The greater control that comes with a majority stake (<50%) is something that any

reasonable company would try to gain. When consulting the American firms on this topic,

Tung merely notes that the majority stake “gives us the extra clout” when it comes to

future plans and business. We can apply the same reasoning to Korean firms. Similarly,

Tung attempts a similar analysis on the topic of staffing higher-level management

positions in US-Korean ventures. Her analysis on these two issues seems to rely a little

heavily on what the managers on each side say, and not the deeper-seated motivations

behind their so-called reasoning.

In contrast, one finds that Tung’s discussion of Korean business practices is much

more useful. This is especially true because most literature about East Asian business

focuses on Japan and China.

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In the same 1991 article, Tung notes that Koreans may be a bit faster to make

decisions than Chinese or Japanese teams. However, “socializing with the decision

makers” can help one avoid any delays or miscommunications with the initial (often more

junior) negotiating team. Additionally, Koreans may act illogically (from a Western

standpoint) and fail to respond to logical reasoning. Unlike the Japanese or Chinese,

Koreans are commonly “very emotional” and make decisions based on personal

convictions. In the same vein, “status symbols… titles, company car, personal chauffeur”

and others may prove more effective than simply throwing an equivalent amount of money

at Korean employees.

Another frustrating issue is the Korean viewpoint on contracts. As mentioned

previously, US parties regard a signed contract as a final step in negotiations, but Koreans

will often regard a contract as a temporary record that can be changed anytime.

Additionally, this disregard for written agreements also extends to the matter of bribery.

While an American may refuse to offer bribes on principle, in Korea it is expected to oil

the machine with bribes, gifts, parties, and other attractions. In fact, Korean parties will

often cite lack of such entertainment and bribes as the reason why the American party

failed to seal the deal. However, the American executives in turn will note that the Foreign

Corrupt Practices Act (1977) ties their hands and firmly outlaws any tomfoolery of such

kind.

Finally, Tung notes that the importance of relationships in Korea cannot be

overstated. American expatriates are already at a disadvantage here, because they tend

to get come in on “short-term” assignments. However, such a short period of time is simply

not enough to develop the relationships needed to accomplish anything in Korea. As one

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interviewee put it, “subtle, invisible rules” govern Korean businesses. Additionally, as a

long-term orientation culture, Koreans regard negotiations like “raising a child” - a process

that can take years, but when both parties reach a final and pleasing agreement, the

payoff is all worth it.

International Human Resource Management

International HR management extends human resources to the global stage.

However, as Tung noted in her 1998 paper on IHRM, international and merely domestic

HR management are becoming less and less distinct.

Training Multinationals

Tung visited the topic of assigning expatriates in a 1981 paper presented at the

Academy of Management. Along with another article, her work culminated in a book titled

The New Expatriates: Managing Human Resources Abroad (1988).

According to her 2005 retrospective, Tung’s work on this topic shifted focus in the

mid-90’s. Where she had previously focused on the business-level ramifications of

multinationals, she began to look into how the experience affected the expatriates

themselves. She noted that this was in order to reconcile the gap between international

and intra-national diversity (Tung 2005). Thus, one can note a distinct divide between her

articles on expatriation in the 80’s and her articles on the same subject in the 90’s.

Expatriation Failures

One of the most important concerns for expatriates is the worry that they will fail to

perform successfully in the countries they are sent to. In a 1987 Academy of Management

Executive paper about expatriation, Tung noted that “family situation” ranked highest

among reasons for such failure. Although to some extent expatriates worried about being

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left behind in the rat race at home, uprooting their lives could potentially affect their

immediate family most greatly. To relate this to recent pop culture, Lane Pryce (British

expatriate and the business side of the ad agency in Mad Men) often struggles with the

agency’s unexpected demands. Sudden requirements often wreak havoc with his family.

For instance, moving would mean uprooting his son at yet another school. It is quite easy

to see that expatriates with families add exponential amounts of complication with each

family member. It is no surprise that this is one of expatriations’ most intractable issues.

Despite such concerns, Tung stated that the “vast majority” of expatriates see their

assignments as a “fast track” to even greater career heights (1998). In contrast, only 4%

of expatriates in a 1987 survey thought their experience would advance their careers.

Female Expatriates

In her 1999 study on female expatriates, Tung also conducted research on how

women fare in the international arena. She collected questionnaires from female

expatriates as well as their supervisors. They covered several measures derived from

Hofstede’s work: “power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism/collectivism and

masculinity/femininity” (Caligiuri and Tung, 1999). Additionally, the questionnaires asked

the women 1) how much they wished to leave, 2) how well they felt they adjusted.

Separate questionnaires collected supervisor ratings of the expatriates’ performances

abroad. Tung found that while female expatriates rated themselves slightly lower than

their male counterparts, this had little to no effect on their actual performance.

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Conclusion

There have been a multitude of cross-cultural researches regarding business

ethics and values based on similarities and differences. It is a very crucial issue to realize

that individuals cannot hold same viewpoints since they have diverse history, culture,

norms, traditions, orientations, etc. This study likewise shed light on multi-national

characteristics, which is essential and significant to global companies facing with

international relationships. Leaders are able to exercise business transactions with

mutual respect as long as they become aware of the background of nations. It incurs them

to concrete more improved decision making environments, and to implement some useful

tactics for the future. (Gift, M., Gift, P., & Zheng, Q. 2013)

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Suggestion

According to Tung (2014), businesses need to make sure their people adopt a

“global mind-set,” but the problem is that there simply aren’t enough leaders that

understand this. In her paper, Dr. Tung outlines five steps to combat this issue.

Of course, the first step is to recognize that there even is a problem. Leaders need

to see that they are not thinking globally. Only then can they strive to reach beyond their

comfort zones and expand their viewpoints to include other cultures’ perspectives as well.

Secondly, they need experiment with new ideas. Dr. Tung cites the hit movie

Crocodile Dundee’s eponymous protagonist as her model for such a leader. Dundee’s

charismatic personality hinges on his “adventurous, friendly, and adaptable” spirit, which

is key to accepting new ideas and philosophies.

Dr. Tung’s third point is, characteristically, rooted in the teachings of Lao Tzu. As

a researcher often concerned with East Asian businesspeople, Dr. Tung often references

his teachings in her papers. It is handy to note that Lao Tzu is central to the study of any

East Asian society, due to the deep-rooted hold his writings have on Asian cultures. Thus,

Dr. Tung fittingly outlines the third rule of this brave globalized world in terms of Lao Tzu,

noting that the only constant is change itself.

Fourth (and perhaps most fundamentally), Dr. Tung exhorts leaders to understand

and respect other cultures. Although this might seem quite obvious, she notes that there

is a difference between respect and mere tolerance of a culture.

Additionally, the best way to do so is to expose oneself to the most alien culture

possible. Drawing upon her previous study of Hofstede’s famous dimensions and the

GLOBE studies, Dr. Tung notes that though such studies may be flawed, they do reflect

25

reality. Businesses need to accept that all societies are different, and know what the

differences may be. She cites Barack Obama’s 100k Strong Foundation as an example

of what American businesses need — experiences that will drop their leaders into

culturally distant lands.

26

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