Teaching business ethics in Hong Kong: Challenges and response

This paper is a report on an innovative program for teaching business ethics, developed for undergraduate students, at the School of Business, Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU). The paper is an anecdotal account to make the point that in non-Western cultural contexts, figurative rather than scientific language often captures the essence of qualitative phenomena. Besides outlining the challenges that a credible and appropriate curriculum in business ethics must address in post colonial Hong Kong, and the steps that have been taken by the School of Business at HKBU to meet these challenges, the paper will underscore the importance of understanding and making explicit the cultural context(s) that have shaped local business environments and customary business practices, as a basis for effective teaching in business ethics. Hong Kong's unique strategic position in the development of a global economy rests upon the historic interplay of Western and Chinese cultures. The moral and religious values that have shaped Hong Kong's cross-cultural social environment must be regarded as a primary resource for business ethics development. As is documented in this report, HKBU's program, with its distinctive focus on the cultural context, may be of benchmark significance for the development of pedagogically effective curricula in international business ethics.