Business ethics and workplace guanxi in Chinese SOEs: a qualitative study

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine Chinese employees' perceptions on their ethical decision making in relation to the workplace guanxi context in state-owned enterprises (SOE). Design/methodology/approach Using a qualitative method, two rounds of interviews were conducted with 18 participants in two SOEs “to explore Chinese employees” ethical perceptions and experiences in the workplace. A qualitative thematic strategy was adopted to analyze and interpret the data. Findings The authors identified three major themes on SOE employees ethical decision making in relation to workplace guanxi: the ethical self; malleable ethical standards; and submission to authority. The authors derived a conceptual framework to outline the relationship between the invisible hand of guanxi and the SOE employees' ethical decision making. Originality/value The paper contributes to the business ethics literature by presenting a three-dimensional profile and a conceptual framework for Chinese business ethics research. It provides an in-depth understanding of a complex dynamics of guanxi and its impact on employees' ethical decision-making behavior.