THE CURRENT ROLE OF BUDDHISM IN BUILDING BUSINESS ETHICS IN VIETNAM

* Данное исследование финансируется Университетом социальных и гуманитарных наук ВНУ, Ханой, Вьетнам. Код CS. 2022.35

ABSTRACT

 The renovation work that was initiated and led by our party has achieved great success with drastic changes in several fields. In particular, with the rise of the market economy and the current trend of globalization, religion has become a source of support for more and more people from different professions. For a long time, beliefs and religions, specifically Buddhism have strongly influenced the spiritual life of many Vietnamese, and are taking place at an unprecedented rate. Buddhism is a philosophical and religious doctrine imbued with humanitarian values, and has efficiently contributed to the establishment and reinforcement the ethical standards of the Vietnamese people. The system of Buddhist moral principle standards plays an important role in regulating human behaviors such as studying, working, producing, doing business, trading, etc. This essay will only discuss the influence of Buddhism in building business ethics in Vietnam today.

АННОТАЦИЯ

Восстановительные работы, которые были инициированы и проводились нашей партией, достигли большого успеха благодаря радикальным изменениям в нескольких областях. В частности, с ростом рыночной экономики и нынешней тенденцией глобализации, религия становится источником поддержки для большего числа людей разных профессий. В течение долгого времени верования и религии, в частности буддизм, сильно влияли на духовную жизнь многих вьетнамцев и развивались беспрецедентными темпами. Буддизм - это философская и религиозная доктрина, внушавшая гуманитарные ценности, которая внесла большой вклад в установление и укрепление этических стандартов вьетнамского народа. Система стандартов буддийских моральных принципов играет важную роль в регулировании человеческого поведения, такого как учеба, работа, производство, ведение бизнеса, торговля и т.д. В данной статье будет идти речь только о влиянии буддизма на формирование деловой этики во Вьетнаме на сегодняшний день.

Keywords: Buddhism ethics, business ethics, Vietnam, religious ethics

Ключевые слова: этика буддизма, деловая этика, Вьетнам, религиозная этика.

Buddhism was born in India around the 6th century and was introduced to Vietnam around the second century AD. Buddhism is a religion that "advocates human equality, liberates people from suffering through the practice of cultivating, raises awareness of themselves and the world, gradually gives up normal desires and moves towards the cessation of greed, ignorance, and anger to live a healthy life and to achieve happiness and peace together" [1]. Since its birth, Buddhism has integrated many philosophies and other moral ideas to constantly improve itself. The reciprocal relationship between Buddhism and national culture in the new period and international integration is becoming much tighter. It can be concluded that Buddhism, with its positive cultural and ethical values, has made certain positive contributions to social life including business ethics in general and Vietnamese business ethics in particular.

Business ethics is a special form of ethics that prescribes values, standards, regulations and regulates the behavior of agencies acting as the intermediary between producers and consumers. This type of ethics aims at promoting human values, repelling, and eliminating negative influences to protect the benefits of consumers.

Vietnam's socialist-oriented market economy includes many factors and economic relationships. There are physical factors such as goods and money, the relationship between buyers and sellers, or the influence of the law of supply and demand and the law of competition, which commercialize and regulate the connection between production and consumption, between supply and demand, between goods and money, and between buying and selling. Therefore, it can be asserted that all those involved in the business process (including business customers) are governed by standards of business ethics. The role of business ethics can be summarized in the following main points:

Firstly, ethical consciousness in business contributes to the regulation of business behaviors based on the moral standards of the society.

Second, business ethics contribute to building healthy social relations through economic relations, business activities, and the social responsibility of business entities.

Third, business ethics contribute to the regulation of the market economy's interdependence of interests. They deal primarily with the relationship of interests and responsibilities between the main actors in the market economy, namely the consumer, the business and the state.

As a result, business ethics are critical in the process of creating an equal and favorable business environment. It is an essential code of conduct that creates a reputation, unique brand for each business, and at the same time, it is the source of existence and sustainable development in the manufacturing market and the social responsibility of entrepreneurs and businesses. Along with the development of the industrial production and services, the social responsibility of Vietnamese people, in general, has gradually improved and enhanced. The production and business process of enterprises are regulated by the law and held in reality, which has brought value to the development of the business culture of the Vietnamese people. Therefore, the formulation of business ethics is influenced by both subjective and objective factors. To be specific, the impact of culture, beliefs, and religions, in which Buddhism, specifically Buddhist ethics, makes an important contribution.

In recent years, the relationship between economics and religious ethics has also been mentioned as an evidence of modern social life when the secular process is going strong. In Vietnam, the incarnation process of Buddhism has served as a driving force in modern religious life. Vietnamese Buddhism has focused on real life with sublunary, concentrating on building an equal, charitable, and united with beliefs with attributes community in the modern society. Moreover, the trend relationship between Buddhism and national culture in the period of renewal and international integration is increasing. Integrating Buddhism into social activities, social reform, and the guidance of positive thoughts in Buddhism contributes to building a sustainable society materialistically and mentally. Thus, in the field of building business ethics, how is the role of Buddhism shown? Some of the main points can be summarized as follows:

Firstly, Buddhism orients the foundation of values and ethical standards in the business.

There has long been a view that "the common ground between religion and economics focuses mainly on the effects of traditional religion on improving the material conditions of life" [2]. Like other religions, the idea of applying Buddhist knowledge to business has existed for a long time. The harmony between personal desires and material interests for business purposes is often seen as a positive and direct contradiction in the Buddhist worldview. However, this belief occurs due to a misunderstanding of the relationship between material gain and wealth in the Buddhist view.

According to history, the Buddha gave up his prince's life - full of wealth and pleasure to come to the arduous monastic life in the forest. However, when the process of ascetic practice did not bring the desired results, he resorted to the "Middle Way". It focuses on the stillness of people, and develops mental understandings because only then can we move away from our daily thoughts and focus on knowledge. The goal here is not to destroy all trivial desires, but to liberate us from attachment to life.

Honesty is one of the important qualities of business ethics; when the subject acquires honesty, it means that they have lived for others, loving consumers like loving themselves, thereby liberating themselves from selfishness, narrow-mindedness, cruelty, dishonesty, and fraud to serve personal interests, despite crimes. When there is a lack of business ethics, the subject will use unfair competitive methods to win over the opponent quickly. Business owners need to maintain credibility with partners, customers, and product users because it is one of the necessary ethical aspects to contribute to the success or failure of the business. Therefore, business owners must keep their promises, keep their credibility in trading, and strictly comply with the commitments agreed upon by the two parties: there will be no false advertising to promote quick sales; no counterfeit goods, poor quality goods, imitation goods, or goods harmful to human health will be produced; and no gray matters and intellectual property rights will be stolen. Business owners need to strictly abide by the state's regulations, such as not trading in prohibited items, not declaring taxes, and evading taxes. As for the society, business owners must strictly comply with environmental protection, such as not discharging wastewater that pollutes the environment of rivers, seas, lakes, etc., or not destroying the natural habitat of creatures. In addition, it is also necessary to ensure the business of goods that are characterized by fine customs and traditions, Vietnamese culture, and meet the educational needs of children and commit to social responsibility.

Buddhist ethics carries deeply humane and humanitarian values that contribute to the orientation of business ethical values. Compassion, and equanimity are the two good qualities that turn a person's pure morality into the beauty of culture and orient people to reach truth, goodness, and beauty...

Buddhism always teaches people to respect others. This is in line with the principles of business ethics in general. Honesty in Buddhism means not lying, always doing good deeds according to one's conscience, and at the same time, complying with the regulations of the state and the law. When being applied in business, leaders always need to be honest in trading, for instance, not trading or producing prohibited items, do not use false advertising forms to increase profits, do not evade taxes, do illegal business to gain their benefits, and always strictly comply with the provisions of the state as well as the law.

Second, Buddhism contributes to building healthy relationships in business. Moral relations are "hidden" in social relations; therefore, Buddhism's ideas of compassion, love, and "compassionate compassion" contribute to social and people-to-people relationships in business.

Besides honesty, Buddhism always directs people to good human values, teaches us to respect the elderly, and respects each other. This is also one of the important ideas in business ethics. To have a long-term business, owners must always respect employees, partners, and customers, as well as competitors and everyone who works with them. If Buddhist principles were applied to business, business owners could achieve their goals, align the interests of the company with the common interests of customers, and be responsible to society.

On the other hand, it is necessary to ensure business ethics, which requires business owners to respect the legitimate rights of employees and ensure full compliance with enterprise law, such as paying full salaries to employees and ensuring that all employees in their enterprises have enough health insurance, unemployment insurance, retirement insurance, and other remuneration policies for employees as prescribed by the law. In addition, it is important to create the most favorable conditions for employees and employees, for example, a civilized and safe working environment, plenty of opportunities for health care, skill development, talent, and creativity in the workplace, implementation of democracy, progress, and social justice; strict labor discipline; implementation of a healthy and active competition by improving technology, increasing labor productivity, and refraining from using unfair competition tricks to destroy other businesses.

In addition, it is necessary to always attach importance to business efficiency with responsibilities to the state, society, and community. Because when a business is socially responsible and always attaches its interests to the common interests of society, in the not too distant future, the business will achieve its goals.

Subjects governed by business ethics are all production and business entities such as companies, enterprises, corporations, business partners, and merchants. The scope of application of business ethics includes all individuals, organizations, trade unions, customers, employees, and shareholders of the business related to the operation of the business or the cause of the impact, subject to the business activities of the subject that includes political institutions, laws, and constitutions of the state...

Third, Buddhist thought is introspective, promoting the self-awareness of business entities in the implementation of ethical rules.

The propaganda of Buddhism calling for and preaching on giving up greed, hatred, and delusion, is a matter of great significance in promoting the self-awareness of subjects in the implementation of moral rules and standards. It shows that Buddhism does not recognize the supremacy of supernatural forces; instead, it emphasizes the self-awareness of individuals in the implementation of ethical principles and standards. This is one of the elements that contribute to adjusting the behavior of business subjects with a reflective spirit, self-consciously looking at themselves to improve according to the values of humanity, compassion, love, and work. In order to create happiness, we can aim to build a sustainable, humane society. Specifically, it contributes to building business ethics by regulating the behavior of business owners so that they do not work against ethical standards, not defy all tricks and harm the interests of others and the society for the sake of pursuing profits. In addition, the implementation of business ethical principles and standards helps business owners build trust and reputation with customers and follow the objective development law. Only the business entities that have humane values can develop sustainably. Because customers and investors often tend to choose reputable and ethical businesses to cooperate with and invest in, rather than dishonest businesses and companies, regardless of all the tricks used to achieve the goal. Although businesses and companies may be assessed on product quality, it is lower than other businesses. In addition, business ethics can also affect employees' commitment to work. Employees frequently stick with businesses and companies for which they receive attention, trust, and appropriate incentives as a basis for creating a premise for them to align their interests with the interests of the company or enterprise.

During the transition to socialism, the multilateralization of foreign relations, and the diversification of foreign relations, Vietnam has achieved great success. However, Vietnam is still facing a lot of difficulties and challenges on the way towards sustainable development. Therefore, to ensure the sustainable development of society as well as the development of businesses and companies today, Buddhism should play an increasingly important role, contributing to preserving the positive values of business ethics. With the active contribution to building the business ethics of Vietnamese enterprises today, the particularly important position of Buddhism should be further affirmed in both the current social life and throughout the national historical periods.

Reference:

1. Bui Huu Duoc. Unity in religion for national development. Hanoi: Government Committee for Religious Affairs, 2015.
2. Do Quang Hung. Religion and economic development, fighting against corruption. The Vietnam Fatherland Front, 2018. Url: http://mattran.org.vn/hoi-dong-tu-van/ton-giao-va-tang-truong-kinh-te-phong-chong-tham-nhung-11387.html