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The Impact of Chinese Culture on Corporate Social Responsibility: The Harmony Approach

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Abstract

Although the history of adopting the Western Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) concept in China spans less than 20 years, the core principles of CSR are not new and can be legitimately interpreted within traditional Chinese culture. We find that the Western CSR concepts do not adapt well to the Chinese market, because they have rarely defined the primary reason for CSR well, and the etic approach to CSR concepts does not take the Chinese reality and culture into consideration. This article resolves these problems and contributes a new definition of CSR, called here – the Harmony Approach to CSR. Simply, the Chinese harmony approach to CSR means ‘respecting nature and loving people’. It is the first time CSR has been defined in relation to Confucian interpersonal harmony and Taoist harmony between man and nature. Conceptually, this definition will broaden our understanding and will fit the characteristics of the Chinese market better. The idea of incorporating cultural contexts into CSR concepts could also contribute to future CSR studies. In business practice, it will help corporations to adopt CSR on their own initiative. The proposed virtues of traditional Chinese wisdom, in particular, will guide corporations to a new way of improving their CSR performance.

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Abbreviations

BC:

Before Christ

CSR:

Corporate Social Responsibility

CR:

Corporate Responsibility

CIBA:

The Chinese Institute of Business Administration

CNTAC:

China National Textile and Apparel Council

FDI:

Foreign direct investment

GDP:

Gross Domestic Product

GE:

General Electric Company

GC:

The Global Compact

ICT:

Information and Communications Technology

ILRF:

International Labour Rights Fund

ILSS:

Institute of Labour and Social Security

ISO:

International Standards Organization

MCPRC:

Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China

NGO:

Non-Governmental Organization

NPC:

National People’s Congress

ORSE:

Study Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility

PRC:

People’s Republic of China

SGCC:

The State Grid Corporation of China

SAI:

Social Accountability International

WTO:

World Trade Orga- nization

WRAP:

Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Academy of Finland and Finnish Cultural Foundation in providing funding for this study.

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    Lei Wang & Heikki Juslin

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Wang, L., Juslin, H. The Impact of Chinese Culture on Corporate Social Responsibility: The Harmony Approach. J Bus Ethics 88 (Suppl 3), 433–451 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0306-7

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