Confucian Work Dynamism

Confucius was a Chinese philosopher who lived around 500 b.c. and wrote extensively about the pragmatic rules of living. Geert Hofstede and Michael Bond's research on global cultures demonstrated that individuals and firms in China and other Asian countries focused on a dynamic future-oriented mentality and reflected a deep sense of harmony and stable relationships, as recommended in Confucius's writings, and labeled this dimension of culture “Confucian work dynamism.”

The interest in Confucian work dynamism and future orientation emanated from a rise in competitive dominance in the latter part of the 20th century of some East Asian countries such as Japan and the “four dragons” (or “tigers”)—Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan—as well as south Asian countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. Immigrant Chinese families controlled most of the business and economic operations in many of these countries, and researchers attributed their success primarily to their reliance on the Confucian work ethic, which focused on the quality of relationships a person maintained, as well as their performance of their social and civic duties.

The Confucian work dynamism scale was based on an instrument called the Chinese Value Survey (CVS), which was administered in 23 countries and based on the values as seen by native Chinese social scientists. In addition to the four cultural dimensions identified by Geert Hofstede, Michael Bond discovered a new dimension and labeled it “Confucian work dynamism,” to emphasize the importance of practical ethics based on the following principles: (1) the permanence of society is contingent on imbalanced relationships expressing mutual and complementary obligations between father and son, older and younger brother, ruler and subject; (2) “virtuous behavior” toward others entails not treating others as one would not like to be treated by them; (3) the family is the foundation and archetype of all social organizations; individuality should be subdued if it diminishes harmony, and it is very important to maintain everybody's face by preserving others' dignity; (4) virtues in life involve acquiring skills and education, working hard, being thrifty, having a sense of shame, and being patient and persevering; [Page 367]and (5) individuals should have a sense of commitment and organizational identity and loyalty.

A group of workers on a tea plantation in China, where the Confucian work ethic may be contributing to economic growth.

The Confucian Work Dynamism Index has been shown to be positively correlated with the economic growth of countries as well as to entrepreneurship orientation. Scholars also hypothesized that a high savings rate in east and southeast Asian countries was a consequence of the Confucian ethic that promoted long-term orientation. Predictably, these societies scored high on the Confucian Dynamism Index, while Western societies scored lower. Interestingly, some non-Confucian countries like India and Brazil have also scored high on this dimension.

In other empirical studies, the Confucian Dynamism Index has been shown to be negatively correlated to “this year's profits,” but positively correlated to “profits 10 years from now.” It has also been shown to be strongly positively related to a measure of “marginal propensity to save.”

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