By 2007, 127 universities had obtained permission from the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China to run MBA programs. To gain a thorough understanding of the status of business ethics education in MBA programs in China, we conducted a national survey. This survey was begun in October 2006 and concluded in December 2007. Our goal in conducting this survey was twofold. We wanted to understand, first, the extent of business ethics teaching currentlybeing offered in MBA programs, and (...) second, the prospects for the development of business ethics teaching in the near term. Our survey results show that business ethics instruction is presently offered on a limited scale, and there are constraints impacting business ethics education. However, we also discovered that future prospects for business ethics teaching are promising. (shrink)

First I briefly review the emergence and development of business ethics, following three stages (1978–1984; 1984–1994; 1994 to the present) and driven by four factors: the inheritance of Chinese traditional ethics; the influence of Marxist philosophy and ethics; the reflections on the economic reform; and the influence of business ethics from abroad. Then, from a practical and a theoretical perspective, I discuss the main challenges for business ethics in China: issues of the economic system, of corporate ethics, and of management. (...) After commenting on the role of business ethics for the social development in China, I offer some reflections about what China can contribute to, and learn from, other peoples. (shrink)

Business ethics in Japan has developed in five stages. Especially in the last stage (in the 1990s), there have appeared two clear-cut trends in business ethics activities: positive and passive. For the rise of business ethics, the passive trend is much more important. Once entered the 1990s, an increasing number of business scandals have been revealed. Because of this, the Japanese business community cannot but help take business ethics much more seriously than it ever has.Not only business practitioners but also (...) business ethicists have inaugurated a variety of ethics-related studies and activities. This article mainly puts focus on the studies, which have been done in the 1990s. At the end of the article, ethical challenges, which the Japanese business and academia meet presently, are described. (shrink)