Globalisation brought with it sweeping paradigmatic shifts that necessitated changes in international communication standards (Featherstone, 2003). Communication in international platforms demands the creation of ethical standards of conduct. This essay explores the implications of cultural ethics in international communication with respect to internet use in Asia.
National cultures in Asia generally gravitate towards Confucianism. Confucian administrative culture, however, presents a striking contrast to liberal administrative culture as can be seen in the present administrative systems in Asia (Lingle, 1996). As Lingle (1996) observed, the structure and ideology of the Confucian tradition recognize a sense of authority formed by the dominant power, represented in the immense hierarchy between the ruler and the people. This underlying perspective, in a way, presents major challenges in the formation of a global economy.
According to Lingle (1996) Confucianism further influences several oriental societies in various areas such as morality, manners, administrative culture, and social norms. Most countries in central and South-East Asian regions propagate draconian interne laws that are meant to stifle free flow of information with the overriding objective of preserving the authoritative dominance of rulers over their subjects. Indeed, the dictatorial administrative structures of communist countries such as China, Burma, and North Korea are founded on social ethos and Confucian philosophies (Featherstone, 2003). The authorities live under constant fears that free flow of information may potentially inspire cultural transformations and subsequently breed the quest for greater public participation in politics.
For example, government-sponsored internet regulations in mainland China compulsorily require all internet companies to censor search engine results (Palmer, 2010). Moreover, the Chinese Communist governance, by itself, is ideologically skewed in favour of the rulers, with basic human rights such as privacy and freedom of speech being perceived as being insignificant to the preservation of the state and its national culture (Featherstone, 2003)
The retrogressive government censorship structures in China were best demonstrated by the withdrawal of the Google search engine from the country in 2010 (Stableford, 2010). Google suffered government censorship and a myriad of sophisticated cyber attacks on its servers and internet infrastructure systems. In fact “Google discovered a sophisticated attack that originated in China, which was designed to steal Google intellectual property and access the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists (Albanesius, 2010).
North Korea, on its part, has in place total barriers on foreign media with privacy, intellectual property rights and freedom of speech among its citizenry having been condemned to eternity. This shows just how detrimental Communism can be on issues that concern individual freedom especially when it comes to the management of MNCs.
Such societal and political ideological formations ultimately portend far reaching implications on the strategic management of a multinational firm. It presents challenges in the transformation of cultural diversities into resourceful tools for approaching international business relationships.
References
Albanesius, C. (2010). Google stops censoring China search results. Web.
Featherstone, M., (ed). (2003). Global culture: Nationalism, globalisation and modernity, London: Sage.
Hofstede, G. (1991). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. London: McGraw-Hill.
Lingle, C. (1996). The end of the beginning of the pacific century? Confucian corporatism and authoritarian capitalism in east Asia, The Pacific Review, 9(3): 389–409.
Palmer, B. (2010). Is there freedom of speech in China? Web.
Pitta, D. A., Fung, H., & Isberg, S. (1999). Ethical Issues Across Cultures: Managing the Differing Perspectives of China and the U.S.A. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 16(3): 240-256). Web.
Stableford, D. (2010). Google exits China over censorship. Web.