Chinese Guanxi Research Articles

The Role of Culture-Specific Relationships in International Businesses: A Systematic Review and Future Directions

This paper presents a systematic review of 44 prevailing articles about cultural-specific relationships in the international business (IB) context, manifested in five emerging markets: Chinese Guanxi, Arabic Wasta, Latin America Compadrazgo, Brazilian Jeitinho, and the Russian Sviazi. For each of the cultural-specific relationships, this review highlights the state of construct development, theory application, and partnership types in the context of international business relationships in empirical IB studies. Based on these findings, future directions are proposed for advancing the conceptualization and operationalization of culture-specific relationships followed by the study limitations.

Predicting Tie Strength of Chinese Guanxi by Using Big Data of Social Networks

This paper poses a question: How many types of social relations can be categorized in the Chinese context? In social networks, the calculation of tie strength can better represent the degree of intimacy of the relationship between nodes, rather than just indicating whether the link exists or not. Previou research suggests that Granovetter measures tie strength so as to distinguish strong ties from weak ties, and the Dunbar circle theory may offer a plausible approach to calculating 5 types of relations according to interaction frequency via unsupervised learning (e.g., clustering interactive data between users in Facebook and Twitter). In this paper, we differentiate the layers of an ego-centered network by measuring the different dimensions of user's online interaction data based on the Dunbar circle theory. To label the types of Chinese guanxi, we conduct a survey to collect the ground truth from the real world and link this survey data to big data collected from a widely used social network platform in China. After repeating the Dunbar experiments, we modify our computing methods and indicators computed from big data in order to have a model best fit for the ground truth. At the same time, a comprehensive set of effective predictors are selected to have a dialogue with existing theories of tie strength. Eventually, by combining Guanxi theory with Dunbar circle studies, four types of guanxi are found to represent a four-layer model of a Chinese ego-centered network.

Effect of Relationship Closeness on Group-Induced Choice Shifts Among Chinese Students

Using hypothetical choice-dilemma scenarios, we examined the effect of relationship closeness on group-induced choice shifts in a sample of Chinese college students. Previous studies, which have shown an aversion to risk among Chinese students, have overlooked prior relationship closeness. This study attempts to fill the gap in the research by taking this factor into account. The study found that students shifted their choice toward greater risks when placed in groups composed entirely of individuals with high levels of closeness in their relationships than when they were alone. The implications of the findings are discussed from a Chinese Guanxi cultural perspective.

Guanxi influences on women intrapreneurship

Drawing on the literature examining women intrapreneurship, Chinese guanxi and tourism, this article critically explores a theoretical framework for understanding guanxi influences on women intrapreneurship in a non-western and highly patriarchal destination. Through a qualitative analysis of women managers from twenty-four medium and large tourism firms in China, the study provides evidence of Guanxi as socially embedded personal relationships for the exchange of favors, enabling women managers to initiate specific types of women intrapreneurship initiatives in their organizations. The findings reveal how the women managers draw on three forms of guanxi (external, within and back-stage) to display intrapreneurial actions as well as the firm-specific factors that constitute important determinants of women intrapreneurship. The managerial implications for encouraging and supporting women intrapreneurs are critically examined.

Ethical leadership and team effectiveness: Mediating roles of a formal control system and Chinese guanxi

Ethical leadership and team effectiveness: Mediating roles of a formal control system and Chinese guanxi

The effect of task conflict on outsourcers’ long-term orientation toward suppliers: the moderating role of formal control and Chinese guanxi

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the antecedents of manufacturing firms’ long-term orientation towards their suppliers in the context of outsourcing relationships in China.Design/methodology/approachBased on survey data collected from 224 manufacturing firms in China, this study examines the hypothesized relationships.FindingsThe results show that task conflict has a negative effect on long-term orientation, both Chinese guanxi and formal control are useful governance mechanisms to enhance long-term orientation, and the negative effect of task conflict on the long-term orientation weakens as Chinese guanxi between a manufacturer and its supplier increases.Originality/valueThis study contributes to a better understanding of conflict management in outsourcing relationships in China.

Understanding Advertising Client–Agency Relationships in China: A Multimethod Approach to Investigate Guanxi Dimensions and Agency Performance

This study examines how guanxi (relationships, connections) between advertising agencies and their clients impact their creative performance and implementation by integrating both Chinese guanxi and Western relationship quality constructs into a conceptual framework. Using a multimethod approach, Study 1 and Study 2 used surveys to examine the influence of the three guanxi aspects—ganqing (emotional bonding, affection), renqing (exchange of favors), and xinren (interpersonal trust)—on agency performance from both agencies’ and clients’ perspectives. Study 3 used dyadic interviews to gather qualitative insights on advertising client–agency relationships in China. Results show similar patterns in the relationships between the three guanxi dimensions and agency performance in both agency and client data sets. Specifically, ganqing was found to associate positively with cooperation in both data sets. The impact of renqing on cooperation was significant in the agency data but not in the client data. On the other hand, xinren was found to contribute positively to cooperation in the client data but not in the agency data. In both data sets, cooperation was positively related to satisfaction, which leads to agency creativity and the implementation of advertising campaigns in China. The results of this study are important for further understanding the Chinese advertising market and providing insights on how guanxi influences agency performance across Asian countries.

Effect of Relationship Closeness on Group-Induced Shifts: A Chinese Guanxi Cultural Perspective

Using hypothetical choice dilemma scenarios, we examined the effect of relationship closeness on group-induced choice shift in a sample of Chinese college students. Unlike previous results from a C...

Chinese Organization External Guanxi : An Integrative Review and New Directions for Future Research

Chinese Organization External Guanxi : An Integrative Review and New Directions for Future Research

The Moderating Effect of Guanxi on the Dynamic Capacity and Competitive Advantage of Chinese International Contractors

With the active support of the national policy “One Belt and One Road” Initiative, Chinese contractors seized this historic opportunity to accelerate strategic globalization, and they gradually stood out in international construction projects owing to their low-cost advantage. However, despite China having large-scale contractors and wide-range business, compared to developed countries, a considerably large gap still exists. China is confronted with complex and changeable international projects filled with increasing competition. Thus, it is both a focus issue and a major task for Chinese international contractors, and many scholars, to consider how Chinese contractors can obtain and maintain long-term competitive advantages to improve their capabilities in response to dynamic environmental changes. Therefore, the objectives of this study are (1) to study the influence of the dynamic capability of Chinese contractors on competitive advantage in a project and (2) to explore the moderating effect of Chinese guanxi on the dynamic capability and competitive advantage of Chinese international contractors. This study primarily aimed at researching the impact of dynamic capacity of Chinese contractors on competitive advantage and the moderating effects of Chinese guanxi. The findings suggest that the environmental perception capability and the integration and coordination capability of the dynamic capability have a significant positive effect on the project competitive advantage; business guanxi positively moderates the relationship between the environmental perception capability and the competitive advantage. Business guanxi also negatively moderates the relationship between learning ability and competitive advantage, while political guanxi negatively moderates the relationship between the environmental perception capability and competitive advantage. This paper contributes to the construction management literature not only by providing empirical evidence on the dynamic capability and competitive advantage of Chinese contractors but also by expanding guanxi research. The results may also help Chinese contractors by providing strategic reform guidance and sustainable development in international construction projects.

ANALYZING THE FACTORS INFLUENCING TRUST IN A CONSTRUCTION PROJECT: EVIDENCE FROM A SINO-GERMAN ECO-PARK IN CHINA

Trust is regarded as a critical feature and a central mechanism in business transactions, especially in the Chinese guanxi network. In this context, the major objective of this research is to explore the key factors influencing trust in different stages of a construction project from the perspectives of owners and consultants involved in a Sino-German eco-park in China. The analytic network process (ANP) was employed to assess which factors are most closely related to trust and to establish four models to meet the objective of this study. According to the ANP results, trust is strongly influenced by factors that are associated with the mutual interests between owners and consultants. In addition, there are certain differences in the priority of the factors influencing initial trust between owners and consultants, but these gaps gradually decrease over time. The weight of guanxi also decreases over time, and the owners’ and consultants’ guanxi transforms from out-group to in-group focused.

中国特色的关系文化在知识管理中的影响

中国特色的关系文化在知识管理中的影响

Understanding Chinese consumer engagement in social commerce

PurposeBuilding on the Chinese guanxi perspective, the purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical model that explains the indirect effects of social support from friends on social commerce intentions, as mediated through the relational aspects that potential buyers develop with sellers.Design/methodology/approachHypotheses are tested with partial least squares (PLS)-graph applied to data collected via a survey of social media users (n=511). SPSS and PLS-graph are the statistical analysis tools used in this study.FindingsRelationship exists in social commerce interactions and its quality can be captured by swift guanxi and trust. These swift relationships matter as they drive users’ behavioral intentions on social commerce sites. The informational and social support people receive from friends helps in improving the relationship quality and can indirectly influence user behaviors on these sites.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has relied on a convenient sampling and this may limit the generalizability of the findings. Future research should employ broader and more random sampling techniques to re-validate and extend the findings.Originality/valueThe interpersonal aspect of relationship quality has received little attention in the social commerce literature. This study develops a theoretical model that explains consumers’ intention in social commerce. The findings reveal the mechanisms through which different types of social support indirectly influence social commerce intentions. They provide a unique glimpse into consumer behavior in Chinese settings, in which the guanxi aspect of relationship quality highly matters.

Tie strength, absorptive capacity and innovation performance in Chinese manufacturing industries

PurposeIn innovation networks, firm innovation performance is affected by external tie strength and internal knowledge absorptive capacity. This study aims to empirically examine the path relationship between tie strength, absorptive capacity and firm innovation performance in Chinese manufacturing industries, thus enhance our understanding on the mechanism between innovation network and innovation performance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors have conducted a survey among Chinese manufacturers in four industries (textile and garment, household appliance, IT and electronics and motor vehicle assemblers) that are located in North, East, Central and South China, respectively, with a valid response from 278 manufacturers. Structural equation model is used to analyze the results.FindingsThis study demonstrates that in Chinese Manufacturing industry, tie strength is positively related to innovation performance. The authors also find that absorptive capacity has a positive impact on innovation performance and it mediates the relationship between tie strength and innovation performance. Then, the authors analyze the effect of ownership, industry and sub-region, and the results show that in private firms and traditional manufacturers, and the firms located in North and Eastern China, tie strength has no direct effect on innovation outcomes, but it can influence innovation indirectly through absorptive capacity.Originality/valueThis study further supports that in Chinese guanxi culture, strong ties with other innovation partners can improve the firm’s absorptive capacity and thus improve innovation performance. The results also suggest that a firm’s absorptive capacity has a significant mediating effect on the relationship between tie strength and innovation performance.

Relational resources for emerging markets’ non-technological innovation: insights from China and Taiwan

PurposeThis paper aims to highlight the importance of relational resources (trust and relationship effectiveness). The authors investigate how the Chinese guanxi is utilized to create and develop service exploitation and exploration activities for adopting non-technological innovations.Design/methodology/approachThis study surveyed 252 Chinese and Taiwanese firms. The results were analyzed through structural equation model.FindingsRelational antecedents of collaborative communication and constructive conflict positively relate to trust, as well as to relationship effectiveness. Constructive conflict positively relates to exploration and exploitation. Relationship effectiveness and trust mediate two relational antecedents to exploitation. Relationship effectiveness crucially mediates two relational antecedents to exploration.Research limitations/implicationsDyadic data would be more desirable to study firm interactions.Practical implicationsChinese society perceives conflict as being detrimental to relationships. Constructive conflict enhances inter-firm trust and relationship effectiveness. Relationship effectiveness, which motivates suppliers to mobilize their guanxi network, mediates the supplier–customer interaction in broadening relationships to produce new services, as well as reinforcing networks to strengthen existing ventures.Originality/valueThis study contributes to a relatively under-explored relationship effectiveness area. Chinese suppliers capitalize their guanxi networks to achieve competitive advantages in non-technological innovation.

The information ethics perception gaps between Chinese and American students

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand the impact of Chinese culture on the information ethics perception gaps between Chinese and American students.Design/methodology/approachUsing a qualitative approach, this study utilizes Kohlberg’s Cognitive Moral Development model and an open-ended questionnaire to measure and analyze the gaps among information ethics perceptions of students from Taiwan, Mainland China, Hong Kong, and the USA, and to assess the extent to which the gaps are influenced by Chinese culture.FindingsStudents’ perceptions of intellectual property, information accuracy, privacy, and accessibility (PAPA) are deeply influenced by national culture. Sub-cultures have significant impact on the perceptions. Political systems, history, and legal environment may also play a role in the differences of PAPA perceptions among the three Chinese societies. The study also revealed that accuracy and intellectual property are the most deficient areas of moral developments in both Chinese and American samples.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample sizes from Hong Kong and the USA were relatively small due to resource and time constraints. In addition, the subjects from Hong Kong and the USA were a little bit older than the subjects from Taiwan and Mainland China due to the fact that universities in HK and USA tend to have more non-traditional students than in universities in Mainland China and Taiwan. Second, the questionnaire is a limited means of studying moral reasoning because the results are likely to reflect espoused theory rather than theory-in-use.Practical implicationsThe educational implication of this study calls for a renewed approach to educate students on the importance of information ethics for the sake of sustained economic development.Originality/valueThe novelty of this research lies in its interpretation of students’ PAPA perceptions and fresh insights from a Chinese guanxi perspective.

Managing dependency in China outsourcing relationships

This paper examines manufacturing firms’ use of guanxi and formal control to address dependence on suppliers and achieve desired outsourcing performance in China. Using survey data collected from manufacturing firms operating in China, a structural equation model is used to test the research model. The results suggest that manufacturing firms with high dependence on suppliers build Chinese guanxi with those suppliers to overcome the dependence and enhance outsourcing performance. In addition, Chinese guanxi also appears to facilitate the use of formal control, which was also found to have a positive relationship with outsourcing performance. This paper contributes to the literature by illustrating the importance of guanxi in achieving desired outsourcing performance in the China context, particularly in the case where a manufacturer perceives high dependency on its major supplier.

How work-related capabilities influence job performance: a relational perspective

Employee relationships with supervisors can be based upon both work-focused activities and outcomes, as exemplified by leader–member exchange (LMX), and personal, non-work activities, as exemplified by Chinese guanxi. The purpose of this study is to examine the mediating role of supervisor–subordinate guanxi (SSG) and LMX in the relationship between the work-related human and social capital of employees and supervisors’ ratings of their job performance. Data were collected from 372 employees and 127 supervisors in a range of companies in China. The study demonstrates how human and social capital might play differing roles in influencing SSG and LMX. In particular, LMX partially mediated the relationship between human capital and job performance, and the relationship between social capital and job performance was fully mediated by SSG and LMX. The findings enrich understanding of how personal capabilities influence work and non-work relationships and assessments of job performance. The unique content of the Chinese construct of guanxi has implications for research and practice in modern organizations where the barriers between work and non-work are permeable and relationships include affective attachment as well as instrumental considerations.

Guanxias Social Exchange: Emotions, Power and Corruption

After reviewing social exchange theory and identifying emotions as key to exchange relations the article introduces Chinese guanxi as a form of gift exchange, elsewhere treated in terms of its network attributes. The obligatory nature of exchange, noted by Mauss and extensively discussed by Blau, is explained through ‘social sentiments’ that substantiate assurance in exchange. The emotions-complexes renqing and ganqing, basic to guanxi, are outlined. Social esteem as a consequence of participation in exchange distinguishes the latter from bribery, in which coercion predominates. The article advances sociological understanding in these and associated ways by regarding exchange and guanxi as arenas of emotion practices.

The Hippocratic Dilemmas

Patients mobilising guanxi (interpersonal relations) to gain access to hospital care is prevalent in post-Mao China. Yet few studies have centred on how medical professionals deal with guanxi patients. Based on ethnographic research and applying an analytical frame of Chinese guanxi developed by Fei Xiaotong (1992 [1948]) and Cheris Shun-Ching Chan (2009), this article examines the dilemmas that Chinese physicians face in weighing professional standards versus guanxi. We divide the patients into three general categories: patients without any guanxi, patients with weak to moderate ties with physicians, and patients with strong ties with physicians. We find that physicians face few dilemmas when they interact with patients without guanxi. They largely adhere to their professional code of practice and generally display dominance over the patients. When interacting with patients with weak to moderate ties, however, physicians are caught in a dilemma between fulfilling renqing (interpersonal obligation) and adhering to a professional code of practice. They manage this dilemma through dramaturgical strategies such as information-sharing, emotional work, and face-giving. When interacting with patients with whom they have strong ties, however, affection and the sense of asymmetric obligation may take precedence over professional codes. Physicians deal with this dilemma through a different set of strategies, such as information-control, emotional avoidance, and altruistic care. Our analysis reveals the impacts of guanxi on medical professionals and the moral dilemmas they face in a guanxi-dominant societal context. It offers direction for possible policy reforms to mitigate the problem.