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Case Report - (2017) Volume 3, Issue 2

Immigrants from Asia: Are they better for a More Ethical Business Environment?

Cinar Ozkan1 and Ahmet Hakan Ozkan2*

1ABMYO, Logistics, Istanbul Aydın University, Turkey

2ABMYO, Business Administration in English, Istanbul Aydın University, Turkey

*Corresponding Author:

Ahmet Hakan Ozkan
Lecturer, ABMYO
Business Administration in English
Istanbul Aydın University, Turkey
Tel: +904441428
E-mail: ahmetozkan@aydin.edu.tr

Received Date: March 13, 2017; Accepted Date: March 29, 2017; Published Date: April 07, 2017

Citation: Ozkan C, Ozkan AH. Immigrants from Asia: Are They Better for a More Ethical Business Environment? Acta Psychopathol. 2017, 3:2. doi: 10.4172/2469-6676.100084

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Abstract

The relationship between integration and culture has been one of the main discussion topics. Old and strong cultures are expected to bring segregation. Especially in some Asian countries, which has the oldest roots of a culture, segragation is more common than integration. When the immigrants, who live in developed countries, are observed, Asian groups never seem to be integrated completely, unlike the other groups. On the other hand, it was claimed that if the managers are not Asian, they avoid hiring Asian employees, even though they are more honest. These claims are evaluated and it is seen that the answers are inconsistent, but the dominant cultures have a positive impact on business ethics

Keywords

Integration; Immigrant; Business ethics; Borderline personality disorder; Culture

Introduction

Asian countries lost most of their skilled labor, during the past decades. Because of inadequate capital, some Asian countries could not industrialize enough to enter some markets [1]. For this reason skilled labor migrated from Asian countries. On the other hand it was surprising to see that most of this labor did not join and mix with the society of the country they started to live in.

The Asian immigrants prefer to create a segregated living environment for themselves. They live according to the morals and values of their culture inside their segregated environment. They mostly have a tendency to live with their own groups [2]. This situation helps them to adapt their native environment whenever they travel back to their country.

Legislations are important for a successful industrialization, but they are not always enough [3]. For example, the investments of ethnic minorities can be reacted unethically. It is accepted that legislations can provide protection for minority investors in developed countries of Europe and America [4]. But minority investors cannot be protected by legislations, if the society has a legal reaction to them. The investors’ characteristics affect especially the demand to the common shares [5]. That is why it is also possible to see decreasing demand to the companies which belong to ethnic minorities.

In China, the impact of culture was realised by the presidents. Mao, who was a leader of China, was aware of the strength of culture, but it was not easy to manage the values of a culture [6]. After the death of Mao, Deng became the leader of China. He was more successful, because he used the shared values of the cultures for integration [7]. Anyway, cultural aspects are sensitive and it is usual to see reactions. Deng also confronted some reactions and after Tiennanmen footage, he was collapsed.

The Immigrants

The immigrants try to understand the culture of the new country and sometimes they are highly influenced by the new culture. If the ethical structure of these people is not developed, they will have tendency to protect their own interest and they will get the useful traditions and applications of the new culture. This situation may mean a corruption.

The managers claim that immigrants are unpredictable. It sounds like the managers are not aware of the culture of the immigrants and that is why they cannot predict their prospective behaviours. But the managers who share the same culture with the immigrants also have such an opinion like it is not easy to anticipate when there will be trouble.

The changing habits of the immigrants make it more complicated. Each immigrant, even the ones who came from the same neighborhood, may get affected differently from the new environment. It might be difficult to resist changing, but giving direction to this change is more difficult. Because the new environment will also have an adverse affect on the immigrants inevitably. At least less family members and friends will be available in the new country and the immigrants will have less social interaction.

Asian immigrants tend to share similar values. The resistance to a cultural change is strong among the Asians, it is witnessed many times [6]. In a foreign country, instead of becoming a new person to adapt the new environment, they create a new environment to live in without getting changed. Chinese towns, Vietnamese neighborhoods are very common in many countries.

Asian immigrants are more predictable, comparing to the other immigrants. Because their values do not deviate much from their cultural values. In a sense, understanding the cultural values of these immigrants will open the way of predicting their behaviours.

The Structure of the Countries

The structure of the country, which hosts the immigrants is important. Some countries assimilate the immigrants. Sometimes any assimilation may mean worse conditions for the immigrants. Because some countries use assimilation to pacifise the immigrants.

Government incentives supported the growth of emerging markets in China [8]. Many emerging markets, such as Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, have relatively developed economies and capital market infrastructure, with a substantial number of firms listed on organized stock exchanges. Nonetheless, there is a huge difference between the wage level of these markets and the wage level of the developed countries.

However, firms in these markets typically do not have the same ownership structures as those in established markets, with many being family owned and funded [9,10]. Family business is not preferred to have foreign partners which are not from the family. This kind of understandings are constraints on capitalising the companies. But this understanding allows the family members to join a business.

As Asian emerging multinational enterprises typically have more flexibility in intra-regional markets, they are able to react quickly and efficiently to both market and technological changes [11,12]. The labor seems to be one of the main factors of this flexibility. Asian culture depends on respect and tolerance in some regions. This characteristic of culture provides better obedience and conformity.

The Asian immigrants look for higher wages and with this purpose they travel to other countries. It is claimed that some countries allienate the immigrants and force them to accept their own values and even their own religion. This pressure is not obvious, but any part of the daily life can be shown as an evidence, relatively. The same tendency will exist at the companies of such countries [13]. Unexpectedly, the Asian immigrants who work in these kind of countries tend to stick to their culture and groups more. Because it is also possible to see the existence of weak legal protection of the immigrants in the business life of these countries [14], and if the employees stand alone, they would not protect themselves easily.

Some countries are multicultural and it is also possible to see managers from different cultures [15]. A foreigner, who is working as a manager, always mean the probability of a conflict. But if the manager is Asian, it also means possible business relationships with some other Asian companies [16]. For example, Chinese managers tend to cooperate with Chinese managers [17].

Methodology

It was claimed that managers, which are not Asian, avoid hiring Asian employees. Besides it was claimed that Asian people are more honest and hardworking, comparing to the other employees. To evaluate these claims, A questionnaire with 3 questions was prepared.

Semi-structured interviews are used. 50 managers from 44 different companies, which are located in Houston, participated this study. 12 of them were recruitment managers, 4 of them were the owner of a business and the rest of them were the managers who assess the performance of a certain team. Vignette analysis is used during the semi-structured interviews. The questions of vignette analysis are shown below:

1. Do you prefer to hire Asian employees?

2. How is the working performance of Asian workers?

3. What do you think about Asian managers?

The first answer is required to be “positive”,”negative” or “neutral”. After the first answer, the participants replied the questions with detailed explanations. The aim of the following questions are learning the reasons of the answer.

The participants are expected to realise and express the difference between native Americans with Asian origin and the Asian immigrants, and to the participants who did not realise the difference, it is reminded. The Asian Americans are the people who raised to be a real American and they are expected have to only a little connection with their country. They must have a US citizenship. The Asian immigrants are the people who have strong connections with their home country. They still keep the citizenship of their Asian country. They may have a working visa or citizenship, but they still transfer Money from USA to their own land.

Findings

The participants were aware of the difference between the Americans with Asian origin, but they were mostly ignoring the difference. This part of the study is important, because Texas is one of the most ethnically diverse state in USA. Only 4 of the participants accepted that some people with Asian origin can be real Americans and Texans. But the rest of the participants denied this and expressed that they never believe that an Asian can be a perfect American citizen. Because they claim that they always witness them to keep tight connections with their relatives in Asia. This situation is not denied by any of the participants, but the mentioned 4 participants did not find this situation to be an obstacle on the way of being a perfect citizen.

Frequency table of the participants is shown on Table 1. Only 3 participants are female. The youngest manager is 33 and the oldest is 64. All the participants are white. They all have US citizenship. They did not give any other details about their ethnicity.

Gender
Male 47
Female 3
Age
25-35 1
36-45 24
46-55 11
56+ 14
Education
Bachelors 41
Masters/postgraduate 9

Table 1: Frequency table.

Table 2 shows the allocation of the primary answers to the questions. Most of these managers agree that Asian employees have a satisfying performance, but answers to the first question display that only half of them prefer to hire Asian employees.

S. No. Positive Negative Neutral
1. 25 22 3
2. 31 15 4
3. 9 31 10

Table 2: Allocation of the answers.

Social Structure

In East Asia the ruling classes were more aware of social needs, and implemented policies such as land reforms, public housing, public investments in rural infrastructures and public education which had a positive effect on both growth and income distribution; better educated people can get a better job and earn more; public investment in the rural sector can bring farmer productivity and income higher; public housing and other social services can increase the purchasing power of people, and so forth [18]. The population can become a power itself. The investment multiplier is higher than expected in frontier markets.

China has a China’s relationship-based business system, particularly the importance of “guanxi” relations, which creates difficulties for “outsiders” in gaining access to information and in the enforcement of exchange terms [19]. Other Asian emerging markets also have similar sturctures. This situation can be seen as a barrier for the foreign investors. But in fact, it just changes the way. The foreign investors usually enter the market by their Asian partners. Their Asian partner might soon become an imitator of their technology or know-how.

Discussion

East Asian markets are a good example of the success of Asian employees. It is known that there are different ethnic groups working in these markets, such as Uighurs, Indians. They are all Asian. The wages are lower in Asian markets, but they are getting higher.

The compensations and benefits are also getting better in Asian markets. Especially for the managers, there are good opportunities. But still comparing to US markets, the wages are lower in Asia. That is why working is USA is a good chance for Asian people.

The conditions are too different for the native workers and foreign workers in USA. It is mostly debated whether the foreign workers are working efficiently or not. Some researchers claim that personality disorders may make it worse for a foreign worker and the efficiency of these employees may have sharp declines.

Borderline personality disorder and some other personality disorders include sensitivity to any kind of abandonment. It means foreign workers with such disorders may feel depressed when they leave their native country or their family. But Americans are not more lucky; they mostly have to leave their native state and their family to work. It means the same risk also exist for the American workers.

It is also seen that occupational burnout is widespread both for domestic and foreign workers. On one hand domestic workers have more advantages, because they are in their native land. They can visit their family to feel better. In the short-term, they are more advantegous. On the other hand, foreign workers can travel back to their country and spend time there. It will be cheaper to stay in Asia without working. That is why in long-term, foreign workers are advantegous.

Conclusion

The main cultural factor which is a key tool for the success of Asian emerging markets seems to be nationalism. The Asian countries have a strict nationalism, but it is not aggressive, comparing to the nationalism in other continents. The root of this nationalism depends on the idea of having a better future.

Asian emerging markets owe its success to its labor. Labor itself is not a strong factor in Europe or America. But in Asia, labor is loyal and coherent. The personal features of labor can also be a threat in Asia. Therefore the government policies should be performed after elaborating the structure of culture.

The early emerging markets of Asia were Japan and China. These countries also have a nationalist structure. But not only nationailsm, but also self-respect played a great role on the integration of these countries. Respect has both ways. If you pay respect to the other people, then you expect respect from the other people. Besides, it is known that respect is better for the people with personality disorder. Most of the personality disorders, especially the bipolarism, gets better when the social relationships are based on respect and consistency.

The routines of a culture, such as rituals, ceremonies, make your existence more tangible than before. Esteem and self actualization appears here together with confidence. Confident people are usually employed and they contributed their best to their corporations and the society.

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