A cross-cultural, inter-generational study of business attitudes in Singapore, Vietnam, and China.

• Main Authors: Tan, Kee Cheong., Tan, Jimmy., Ku, William.
• Other Authors: Roger Marshall
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: DRNTU::Business::Operations management::Family owned business enterprises
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/20238
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The purpose of this study is to assess the business attitudes of two generations of business people in Singapore, China and Vietnam A questionnaire consisting 3 sections of brief ethical questions was completed by 508 undergraduates and 239 business people The questionnaire used in this study is based on one used during a data-gathering exercise commissioned by Independent Commission Against Corruption (IACA) of Hong Kong. The original questionnaire was condensed to a more manageable and practical form and translated into Chinese and Vietnamese for the purpose of the survey. The results indicate that the Vietnamese have least concern for business ethics compared to the Singaporean and Chinese and that there is no significant difference between the ethical standards of Singaporean and the Chinese. Singaporeans are relatively more concerned about getting caught compared to Vietnamese and Chinese. Undergraduates are more ethical overall than business people and females are more ethical overall than males. Some suggested implications included that the market behavior will settle down into a pattern more typical of the Developed Countries' model in the next decade or so as the young people come into senior roles in business.