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Despite its title, this book is not an extension of an Asian versus Western debate, nor is it climbing onto the bandwagon of the “Asian Century”. Its naissance arose out of a simple need by a group of professors who teach ‘Ethics and Social Responsibility’ – a compulsory ‘university core’ course at Singapore Management University (SMU). Faced with Western textbooks that do not adequately address Asian issues, they were compelled to collaborate on “Ethics and Social Responsibility: Asian and Western Perspectives”.

While drawing upon theoretical concepts and scholarship on the topic from the West, the book uses examples that are more relevant to Asians – points that people within the region will find easier to relate to. But aside from serving as a textbook for SMU undergraduates, this book also provides useful information to both students and professionals across a multitude of disciplines.

How should one live?

The book, co-edited by SMU law professors Gary Chan and George Shenoy, gives a comprehensive overview of the topic. The 13 chapters give an introduction to ethics and ethical decision-making, as well as theories of ethics and social responsibility. They include workplace ethics, such as employee discrimination, sexual harassment and whistle-blowing, along with industry-specific ethical principles in advertising, marketing, legal and accounting professions. It also explores popular issues like corporate social responsibility, environmental sustainability and corruption.

The introductory chapter on Ethics and Ethical Decision-making takes readers back more than 2,000 years to Socrates, who had famously posed the question - How should one live? – a puzzle that has since engaged philosophers and ethicists on the “nature and scope of ethics as well as the practical issues concerning the proper conduct of our everyday personal, corporate and professional lives”. The chapter also introduces the development of moral reasoning in humans, from the viewpoint of psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg.

According to Kohlberg, humans undergo three levels of moral reasoning development, with two stages at each level. He noted that “though most people would progress through the stages in sequence, some may remain in one of the earlier stages”. His theory shows “a bias in favour of rationality over emotions (such as the fear of punishment)”, based on universal ethical principles.

The chapter also discusses the differences between ethics and law even though both prescribe normative modes of behaviour (what is acceptable). For instance, the chapter noted, while lying is generally seen as wrong, there is no general legal rule against it. But, there are criminal laws that would prosecute commercial fraud. The last section of this chapter examines the role of ethics in businesses and selected professions, including legal and finance fraternities.

Philosophers, East and West

The second chapter presents the raison d'être of this book – the need to incorporate an Asian perspective in a study that has much predominance in the West. And it is important to do so because Asia is not a vacuous entity. Rich in history and culture, it brings fresh, if not complementary, pairs of lenses to the study of ethics. Readers will read the thoughts of Western philosophers like Bentham, Mill and Kant alongside Asian philosophers like Confucius and Mencius. There’s also an introduction to Islamic, Buddhist and Hindu ethics. This is especially interesting, given the recent buzz about Islamic banking, which is essentially, finance guided by ethical principles.

What makes this book relevant and true to its promise of bringing Asian and Western perspectives is the conscious effort by the authors to draw parallels between the two perspectives, so that they read in a fluid manner. In the section on Confucian Ethics, comparisons were drawn between the teachings of Confucius and the theories of Aristotle, Kant, Nozick and Rawls.

Highlighting that the focus in Confucian Ethics is on duty instead of on rights, the section then looks at how business practices in Asia reflect Confucian tenets. For instance, affiliated companies within a corporate group in Japan are considered to be within a quasi-family circle, while in China, the concept of guanxi, loosely defined as relationship between people, who give and exchange favours, is largely an acceptable practice - though its ethicality might be viewed by outsiders to be contentious.

A fascinating section within the chapter deals with ethics from an Islamic perspective. With petro-dollars from oil-rich Islamic states gaining more currency, western banks, including Citibank and HSBC, are paying an increasing amount of attention to Islamic banking – explained in the chapter as: “instead of profit-maximisation as a goal, Islam focuses on value-maximisation, based on the principles of equity and justice”.

Because Islam prohibits speculation or gambling, uncertainty and interest, insurance contracts, as per conventional banking, are not permissible. Islam also prohibits “dealing in specific products and commodities such as alcohol and pork”. Such traits make Islamic ethics “fairly distinct from other business or religious ethics”. Another interesting contradistinction between Islamic and Western ethics is that while the Western common law progressively enjoins upon vendors not to conceal defects in their products from the buyers, “Islamic ethics has historically been more protective of the buyer”.

Case studies – local and international

The ‘meat’ of the book, chapters 3 to 13, is where issues and case studies in the workplace - professional ethics – are highlighted. Readers are invited to ponder over issues such as sexual harassment, discrimination at the workplace, rights to privacy, and whistle-blowing; each illustrated with examples from both the Western and Asian worlds.

For instance, the authors noted that whistle-blowing “largely originated in the United States” and is “not yet firmly rooted in Asia, perhaps owing to cultural factors”, such as Confucian values of loyalty and respect for authority and harmony. But they also showed that it is not completely absent here, citing the revised Code of Corporate Governance in Singapore which recognises “the role of whistle-blowers within a company’s corporate governance framework”, and companies such as Keppel Corporation, Singapore Airlines and PSA International have whistle-blowing policies in place.

On advertising and marketing ethics, readers are acquainted with issues in deceptive advertising and irrational persuasion, as well as the ethical dimensions of marketing a product: competition, pricing and sales practices. The chapter on corporate social responsibility (CSR) makes a case for businesses to take on ethical responsibilities, and the author argues that Asia, which lags behind in CSR, can learn much from European and North American counterparts.

The following chapter on corruption highlights the various ethical perspectives to corruption. It brought up Singapore’s tough laws against corruption, wherein, Singapore citizens who have committed corruption outside of Singapore can be dealt with in the same way as if they had committed the offence in Singapore.

In applying ethical concepts to environmentalism, various philosophies were offered to justify support for the environment. The chapter on the environment also discussed some key environmental issues in Asia, including global warming, the Three Gorges Dam project in China, deforestation, and the Bhopal industrial disaster in India.

Given the interdependent nature of global commerce, ethical issues from trans-national business were raised as well. References were made to the payment of US$1.6 billion by German manufacturer Siemens to settle charges of corruption by the US Department of Justice. These charges include the payments of bribe to government officials in transactions such as power plants in Israel, medical devices in Vietnam, China and Russia, and the design and building of a metro line in Venezuela.

The last four chapters of the book, Professional Ethics, Legal Ethics, Accounting Ethics and Ethics for Accountants, and Finance Ethics, used several interesting examples to illustrate the specific issues and conflicts of interest confronting some professions. One such example: the case of Jeremy and Mike, property agents with ERA Realty Network, and Natassha, Mike’s wife. They had been “involved in a sale and purchase of property on behalf of clients without disclosing to them ‘the identity, connection and the interests of each of them’. In one case, Mike had managed to pocket $275,000. The judge who had presided over the case noted that Mike had tried to circumvent the Code of Conduct of the Institute of Estate Agents by creating “a little more distance between himself” through his wife, Natassha, and Jeremy.

Organised for learning

While great for launching deep discussions on ethics and social responsibility, the book is also formatted systematically to help readers identify the key concepts presented in each chapter. Every chapter starts with a list of objectives, so it’s clear what readers can expect to learn as they go through the chapter. Interspersed throughout each chapter are questions designed to provoke thought or reflection.

With its clear writing and ample illustrations, the book is an easy read, and it should appeal to a wider readership, beyond legal and business professionals. An international edition has been planned for the near future, presumably to gain a wider reach for all who wish to get a pulse on what goes behind the thinking in Asian businesses. Amid the rising economic powerhouses in Asia, along with recent episodes at Lehman Brothers, a book like that could not have been timelier.

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