Identifying Exogenous Cultural Variables in Ethical Decision Making in Negotiation: A Qualitative Study of Differences between Australia and China

12 Pages Posted: 7 Jun 2003

See all articles by Cheryl Rivers

Cheryl Rivers

Queensland University of Technology - School of International Business

Anne L. Lytle

Melbourne Business School - University of Melbourne

Michael J.V. Hudson

ENS International

Abstract

While the importance of situational variables on ethical decision making is well established in the business ethics literature (Randall & Gibson, 1990) and the cultural psychology literature emphasises differences in how situational context is understood across cultures (Markus, Kitayama, & Heiman, 1996, Smith & Bond, 1993) the process of identifying the important situational variables that affect ethical decision making in cross-cultural negotiation has only just begun with recent studies by Volkema & Fleury, (2002) and Zarkada-Fraser & Fraser, (2001). This study seeks to expand understanding of which variables are important in negotiation by integrating the findings of the business ethics literature and the cross-cultural ethics literature with the ideas of negotiators in the People's Republic of China and Australia who were interviewed in an exploratory qualitative study. A model is proposed that identifies differences in the nature of situational variables and how they are understood in the two cultures. The variables identified are the legal environment, organisational values/policies, organisational goals/objectives, the money ethic and the perception of the other party. Future research directions to test the relationships in the model are discussed.

Keywords: Cultural exogenous variables, ethics, negotiation

Suggested Citation

Rivers, Cheryl and Lytle, Anne Louise and Hudson, Michael John Varley, Identifying Exogenous Cultural Variables in Ethical Decision Making in Negotiation: A Qualitative Study of Differences between Australia and China. 16th Annual IACM Conference Melbourne, Australia, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=400920 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.400920

Cheryl Rivers (Contact Author)

Queensland University of Technology - School of International Business ( email )

Brisbane, Queensland 4001
Australia

Anne Louise Lytle

Melbourne Business School - University of Melbourne ( email )

200 Leicester Street
Carlton, VIC 3053
Australia
+614-402-336-723 (Phone)
+612-9904-4646 (Fax)

Michael John Varley Hudson

ENS International ( email )

East Sydney NSW 2010
United Kingdom

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