Attitudes towards business ethics: where East doesn’t meet West

In culturally homogeneous groups there is a greater likelihood that values, including ethics values, of individual group members will coincide. Due to globalisation, changing demographics, and a desire for increased diversity, corporate cultures are becoming less homogeneous, thus increasing the likelihood that individuals working side by side to maximise shareholder value will not see eye to eye when it comes to business ethics. Given that many international students who earn US graduate business degrees find employment with US companies either in the US or abroad, the objective of this study was to examine whether international graduate business students, in particular Asian nationals, an d their US counterparts share similar attitudes with regard to business codes of ethics and ethics values. It was hypothesised that there would be significant differences in the attitudes of US and Asian students. It was believed that if similarities and differences with regard to ethics could be identified, universities and businesses would be better equipped to address ethics in their operations.