ETHICAL PERCEPTIONS OF EXPATRIATE AND LOCAL MANAGERS IN HONG-KONG

In an effort to build on the current knowledge of ethical behaviour in Asia this paper proposes to replicate existing ethical research and t o investigate specific questions relating to intra-cultural difference s in Hong Kong. Four major conclusions were derived from this descript ive empirical study. A statistically significant correlation exists be tween age and ethical beliefs, with older employees less likely to exp ress agreement to an unethical action than younger employees. In contr ast to many previous studies no statistically significant differences in ethical beliefs were found in relation to gender, level in the orga nisation, company size, and whether the respondent worked in a multina tional or local company. Significant differences in responses to ethic al dilemmas were identified between local and expatriate personnel wit h expatriate respondents indicating a lower level of agreement to unet hical actions. For local respondents, of Hong Kong origin, there was n o significant correlation between level of education, religiosity, yea rs of business experience, functional origin and their ethical respons es.