A confucian approach to developing ethical self-regulation in management

Abstract

As China has emerged as an economic superpower over recent years, re-searchers have sought to define and distinguish a distinct Chinese leadership and business management style (Chen & Lee, 2008). One approach to managerial leader-ship in the Chinese context that has been garnering considerable political, and some popular, support over the last several decades is that based on Confucian moral phi-losophy (Copper, Michael, & Wu, 1985; Little, 1989; Makeham, 2003c; Yang, Peng, & Lee, 2008). At the same time, increasing attention is being paid to the ideas of “managerial ethics”, particularly in relation to the manager's self-regulation of ethical behavior (Lamond, 2007; 2008). It is, therefore, timely to give consideration to the extent to which Confucian moral philosophy might be applied to managerial ethics. Thus, this paper will address the question 'what are the characteristics and practical applications of a Confucian approach to self-regulation within the context of man-agement ethics?'