Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-t5pn6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T09:18:16.876Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

6 - Ethical Business Culture in Turkey

Implications for Leadership in a Global Economy

from Part I - Ethical Business Cultures: Country Perspectives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2017

By
Ahmet Coskun  and
Mesut Akdere
Edited by
Douglas Jondle  and
Alexandre Ardichvili
Douglas Jondle
Affiliation:
Bains Jondle & Associates LLC
Alexandre Ardichvili
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
Get access

Summary

Abstract

In a rapidly changing global market, it has become increasingly important and vital for the survival of the organization to be competitive and adaptive. In order to achieve this, organizational leadership needs a better understanding of the business cultures in which their companies are operating. One of the challenges is the lack of literature on ethical business cultures in emerging markets. This is also the case for Turkey, a fast growing emerging market. In this chapter, we use Donaldson and Dunfee’s Integrative Social Contracts Theory (ISCT) to explore the ethical business culture of Turkey as an emerging market. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions are used to analyze the role of Turkish national culture in shaping business behavior. The role of religion and of the political and administrative institutional structures is also discussed in detail. The development of ethical business cultures in Turkish business organizations is also discussed, with special emphasis on challenges presented by globalization and rapid economic development. Implications for leadership are also discussed.

Type
Chapter
Information
Ethical Business Cultures in Emerging Markets , pp. 110 - 131
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2017

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

AccountAbility (2007). Responsible competitiveness index. Retrieved from www.zadek.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/The-State-of-Responsible-Competitiveness_July2007.pdfGoogle Scholar
Akdere, M. (2015). Human resource development in CIVETS countries. Refereed Proceedings of the 2015 Academy of Human Resource Development International Research Conference in the Americas. St. Paul, MN: Academy of Human Resource Development.Google Scholar
Akdere, M., & Dirani, K. (2014). Human resource development in the Middle East. In Poell, Rob, Rocco, Tonette S., & Roth, Gene (Eds.), Routledge companion to human resource development (pp. 457–466). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Akdere, M., & Salem, J. M. (2012). Islamic perspectives on work-based learning. In Gibbs, P. (Ed.), Learning, work and practice: New understandings (pp. 207–217). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Ararat, M. (2008). A development perspective for ‘‘corporate social responsibility’’: Case of Turkey. Corporate Governance, 8(3), 271–285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ararat, M., Yurtoğlu, B. B., & Suel, E. (2010). Sustainable investment in Turkey. Retrieved from www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/790c26804885550fb574f76a6515bb18/IFC_Brief_Turkey.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=790c26804885550fb574f76a6515bb18Google Scholar
Arslan, M. (2001). The work ethic values of Protestant British, Catholic Irish and Muslim Turkish managers. Journal of Business Ethics, 31(4), 321–339.Google Scholar
Arslan, M., & Berkman, A. U. (2009). Business ethics and ethical management in the world and in Turkey (Dünyada ve Türkiye’de İş Etiği ve Etik Yönetimi). Istanbul: TUSIAD.Google Scholar
Askun, D., Oz, E. U., & Askun, O. B. (2010). Understanding managerial work values in Turkey. Journal of Business Ethics, 93(1), 103–114.Google Scholar
Auger, P., Devinney, T. M., & Louviere, J. J. (2007). Using best-worst scaling methodology to investigate consumer ethical beliefs across countries. Journal of Business Ethics, 70(3), 299–326.Google Scholar
Aydın, Z. (2005). The political economy of Turkey. London: Pluto Press.Google Scholar
Aydınlık, A. U., & Dönmez, D. (2007). Codes of ethics survey in top 500 firms in Turkey (Türkiye’de faaliyet gösteren en büyük 500 işletmede etik kodları araştırması). Öneri, 28(7), 151–158.Google Scholar
Aygün, Z. K., Arslan, M., & Guney, S. (2008). Work values of Turkish and American university students. Journal of Business Ethics, 80(2), 205–223.Google Scholar
Bayraktaroglu, S., Ozen Kutanis, R., & Ozdemir, Y. (2005). Where are we in ethics training? Example of faculty of economic and administrative sciences (Etik eğitiminde neredeyiz? İktisadi ve idari bilimler fakülteleri örneği). In Sen, M. et al. (Eds.), 2nd Symposium on Ethics in Politics and Management (2. Siyasette ve Yönetimde Etik Sempozyum) (pp. 377–384). Sakarya: Sakarya University Press.Google Scholar
Benk, S., Budak, T., Puren, S., & Erdem, M. (2015). Perception of tax evasion as a crime in Turkey. Journal of Money Laundering Control, 18(1), 99–111.Google Scholar
Burnaz, S., Atakan, M. G. S., Topcu, Y. I., & Singhapakdi, A. (2009). An exploratory cross-cultural analysis of marketing ethics: The case of Turkish, Thai, and American businesspeople. Journal of Business Ethics, 90(3), 371–382.Google Scholar
Diyanet (2014). Religious life in Turkey. Retrieved from www2.diyanet.gov.tr/StratejiGelistirme/Afisalanlari/dinihayat.pdfGoogle Scholar
Donaldson, T., & Dunfee, T. W. (1994). Integrative social contracts theory. Economics and Philosophy, 11(1), 85–112.Google Scholar
Economist (2014). Our crony-capitalism index: Planet plutocrat. Retrieved from www.economist.com/news/international/21599041-countries-where-politically-connected-businessmen-are-most-likely-prosper-planetGoogle Scholar
Ekin, M. G. S., & Tezölmez, S. H. (1999). Business ethics in Turkey: An empirical investigation with special emphasis on gender. Journal of Business Ethics, 18(1), 17–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ernst, & Young, (2009). European fraud survey 2009: Is integrity a causality of the turndown? Retrieved from www.ey.com/publication/vwluassetsdld/fraudsurvey_au0268_may2009/$file/fraudsurvey_au0268_may2009.pdf?OpenElementGoogle Scholar
Ferrell, O. C. (1999). An assessment of the proposed academy of marketing science code of ethics for marketing educators. Journal of Business Ethics, 19(2), 225-228.Google Scholar
Forsyth, D. R. (1992). Judging the morality of business practices: The influence of personal moral philosophies. Journal of Business Ethics, 11(5/6), 461–470.Google Scholar
Forum for a New World Governance (2011). World governance index. Retrieved from www.world-governance.org/article754.html?lang=enGoogle Scholar
GfK (2013). Global trust report. Retrieved from www.gfk-verein.org/en/research/studies/gfk-global-trust-reportGoogle Scholar
Gölbaşi, S. (2009). Role of the business schools in institutionalization of the ethical behaviors. Turkish Journal of Business Ethics, 2(4), 21–41.Google Scholar
Halici, A., & Kucukaslan, A. (2005). Turkish companies’ ethical statements: Content analysis with comparisons. Management Research News, 28(1), 45–61.Google Scholar
Hisrich, R. D., Bucar, B., & Oztark, S. (2003). A cross-cultural comparison of business ethics: Cases of Russia, Slovenia, Turkey, and United States. Cross Cultural Management, 10(1), 3–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hofstede Centre (2014). Cultural dimensions: Turkey. Retrieved from http://geert-hofstede.com/turkey.htmlGoogle Scholar
IGIAD (2013). Business ethics report: Turkey (İş Ahlakı Raporu: Türkiye). Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Erkan_Erdemir/publication/273629788_IGIAD_2013_Is_Ahlaki_Raporu_IGIAD_2013_Turkey_Business_Ethics_Report/links/5506d9aa0cf27e990e041781/IGIAD-2013-Is-Ahlaki-Raporu-IGIAD-2013-Turkey-Business-Ethics-Report.pdfGoogle Scholar
International Labour Organization (2015). Normlex. Information system on international labour standards. Retrieved from www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=1000:1:0::NO:Google Scholar
Kepenek, Y., & Yentürk, N. (2004). Turkish economy. İstanbul: Remzi Yayınevi.Google Scholar
Köseoğlu, M. A. (2007). Effects of ethics codes in competitive strategies and a field investigation (unpublished doctoral dissertation). Afyon, Turkey: Afyon Kocatepe University.Google Scholar
Lu, L., Rose, G. M., & Blodgett, J. G. (1999). The effects of cultural dimensions on ethical decision making in marketing: An exploratory study. Journal of Business Ethics, 18(1), 91–105.Google Scholar
Menguç, B. (1998). Organizational consequences, marketing ethics and salesforce supervision: Further empirical evidence. Journal of Business Ethics, 17(4), 333–352.Google Scholar
O’Fallon, M. J., & Butterfield, K. D. (2005). A review of the empirical ethical decision-making literature: 1996–2003. Journal of Business Ethics, 59(4), 375–413.Google Scholar
Omurgonulsen, U., & Doig, A. (2012). Why the gap? Turkey, EU accession, corruption and culture. Turkish Studies, 13(1), 7–25.Google Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2014). Society at a glance 2014 highlights: Turkey. Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/turkey/OECD-SocietyAtaGlance20142014-Highlights-Turkey.pdfGoogle Scholar
Park, H., Blenkinsopp, J., Oktem, M. K., & Omurgonulsen, U. (2008). Cultural orientation and attitudes toward different forms of whistleblowing: A comparison of South Korea, Turkey, and the U.K. Journal of Business Ethics, 82(4), 929–939.Google Scholar
Ralston, D. A., Pounder, J., Lo, C. W. H., Wong, Y., Egri, C. P., & Stauffer, J. (2006). Stability and change in managerial work values: A longitudinal study of China, Hong Kong, and the U.S. Management and Organization Review, 2(1), 67–94.Google Scholar
Rawwas, M. Y. A., Swaidan, Z., & Oyman, M. (2005). Consumer ethics: A cross-cultural study of the ethical beliefs of Turkish and American consumers. Journal of Business Ethics, 57(2), 183–195.Google Scholar
Reputation Management Institute (2013). Corporate reputation research in companies. Retrieved from www.iye.org.tr/wpcontent/uploads/2013/02/Isletmelerde_Kurumsal_Itibar-Arastirmasi_Raporu_2013.pdfGoogle Scholar
Rice, G. (1999). Islamic ethics and the implications for business. Journal of Business Ethics, 18(4), 345–358.Google Scholar
Robertson, D. C. (2009). Corporate social responsibility and different stages of economic development: Singapore, Turkey, and Ethiopia. Journal of Business Ethics, 88(4), 617–633.Google Scholar
Schneider, H., Krieger, J., & Bayraktar, A. (2011). The impact of intrinsic religiosity on consumers’ ethical beliefs: Does it depend on the type of religion? A comparison of Christian and Moslem consumers in Germany and Turkey. Journal of Business Ethics, 102(2), 319–332.Google Scholar
Sims, R. L., & Gegez, A. E. (2004). Attitudes towards business ethics: A five nation comparative study. Journal of Business Ethics, 50(3), 253–265.Google Scholar
Singhapakdi, A., Vitell, S. J., & Leelakulthanit, O. (1994). A cross-cultural study of moral philosophies, ethical perceptions and judgements: A comparison of American and Thai marketers. International Marketing Review, 11(6), 65–78.Google Scholar
Srnka, K. J., Gegez, A. E., & Arzova, S. B. (2007). Why is it (un-)ethical? Comparing potential European partners: A western Christian and an eastern Islamic country – on arguments used in explaining ethical judgments. Journal of Business Ethics, 74(2), 101–118.Google Scholar
Transparency International (2014). Corruption perceptions index. Retrieved from www.transparency.org/cpi2014Google Scholar
Trevino, L. K., Butterfield, K. D., & McCabe, D. L. (1998). The ethical context in organizations: Influences on employee attitudes and behaviors. Business Ethics Quarterly, 8(3), 447–476.Google Scholar
Turker, D. (2015). An analysis of corporate social responsibility in the Turkish business context. In Idowu, S. O., Schmidpeter, R., & Fifka, M. S. (Eds.), Corporate social responsibility in Europe United in sustainable diversity (pp. 435–468). Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.Google Scholar
Turkish National Revenue Administration (2015). Action plan of the program for decreasing shadow economy. Retrieved from www.gib.gov.tr/sites/default/files/fileadmin/beyannamerehberi/2015kayitdisi.pdfGoogle Scholar
Turkish Risk Center (2015) Statistical reports. Retrieved from https://www.riskmerkezi.org/en/statistics/23Google Scholar
Turkstat (2012). Child labour force survey. Retrieved from www.turkstat.gov.tr/PreHaberBultenleri.do?id=13659Google Scholar
Turkstat (2014) Main statistics. Retrieved from www.turkstat.gov.tr/UstMenu.do?metod=temelistGoogle Scholar
United Nations Development Programme (2008). Turkey corporate social responsibility: Baseline report. Retrieved from www.tr.undp.org/content/dam/turkey/docs/Publications/PovRed/CSR_Report_en.pdfGoogle Scholar
United Nations Development Programme (2013). Human Development Report 2013. Retrieved from http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/14/hdr2013_en_complete.pdfGoogle Scholar
Uygur, S. (2009). The Islamic work ethic and the emergence of Turkish SME owner-managers. Journal of Business Ethics, 88(1), 211–225.Google Scholar
Vitell, S. J., Paolillo, J. G. P., & Singh, J. J. (2005). Religiosity and consumer ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 57(2), 175–181.Google Scholar
Warren, D. E., Gaspar, J. P., & Laufer, W. S. (2014). Is formal ethics training merely cosmetic? A study of ethics training and ethical organizational culture. Business Ethics Quarterly, 24(1), 85–117.Google Scholar
World Bank (2013). Turkey: Enterprise survey of 2013. Retrieved from http://microdata.worldbank.org/index.php/catalog/2182Google Scholar
World Bank (2014). Evaluation of the EU-Turkey customs union. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/financial_assistance/phare/evaluation/2014/20140403-evaluation-of-the-eu-turkey-customs-union.pdfGoogle Scholar
World Values Survey (2014). Welcome page. Retrieved from www.worldvaluessurvey.orgGoogle Scholar
Yılmaz, S. E. (2012). The relationship between organization performance and business ethics applications at human resources management (HRM): A sample of Fortune Turkey’s largest 500 corporations (unpublished doctoral dissertation). Sakarya University, Sakarya, Turkey.Google Scholar
Zulfikar, Y. F. (2012). Do Muslims believe more in protestant work ethic than Christians? Comparison of people with different religious background living in the US. Journal of Business Ethics, 105(4), 489–502.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×