Track: Case Studies

Abstract

A corporate culture without core values to support it will only be a mere formality and suffer from lack of intrinsic vitality. This condition will make companies more vulnerable to market volatility and drowned in conflicts of interest, which will put the company at disadvantage. Chinese companies who are still growing need to explore and set their own core values that are crucial to the company’s survival. Adhering to the moral and ethical principles established by the traditional Chinese culture, and at the same time, adapting with contemporary Chinese culture become the main challenge for the companies in developing their corporate culture. Confucianism, created by Confucius, is the core of traditional Chinese culture and plays an important role in the formation and development of Chinese society. It is important to refer to Confucianism as the foundation when building a Chinese corporate culture. This paper tries to answer two research questions: 1) Which elements of Confucianism play a role in Chinese companies; 2) What impact does Confucianism have on Chinese companies? This study concludes that a corporate culture that is well integrated with the traditional Chinese culture, like Confucianism, is likely to make the company stronger.

Keywords: Confucianism, Chinese traditional culture, corporate culture, core values, and market volatility.