We examined Confucian moral philosophy,
primarily the Analects, to determine how Confucian
ethics could help managers regulate their own behavior
(self-regulation) to maintain an ethical standard of practice.
We found that some Confucian virtues relevant to
self-regulation are common to Western concepts of
management ethics such as benevolence, righteousness,
wisdom, and trustworthiness. Some are relatively unique,
such as ritual propriety and filial piety. We identify seven
Confucian principles and discuss how they apply to
achieving ethical self-regulation in management. In
addition, we examined some of the unique Confucian
practices to achieve self-regulation including ritual and
music. We balanced the framework by exploring the
potential problems in applying Confucian principles to
develop ethical self-regulation including whistle blowing.
Confucian moral philosophy offers an indigenous Chinese
theoretical framework for developing ethical selfregulation
in managers. This is relevant for managers and
those who relate to managers in Confucian-oriented
societies, such as China, Korea, Japan, and Singapore. We
recommend further research to examine if the application
of the Confucian practices outlined here actually work in
regulating the ethical behavior of managers in modern
organizations.