Rozprawy doktorskie na temat „Guanxi”

This research investigates the relationship between guanxi and Corporate Community Involvement (CCI) in the Chinese business environment. The thesis provides valuable insights into the motivation and management of CCI in China where the institutional and cultural context is radically different from the Western contexts. This thesis also places CCI in the context of guanxi and thus bridges the literatures on CCI and guanxi. Strategic motivation and management of CCI has been studied extensively in the context of Western countries. However, the extant literature offers limited insights into the motivation and management of CCI in the Chinese business environment. The Chinese business environment is characterised by a comparatively poor legal system and weak property rights. In such an environment guanxi – a system of personal connections that carry long-term social obligations – are held to play a significant role in business relationships in China. Earlier studies have found that guanxi is able to influence a variety of corporate behaviours. Nevertheless, no attempt has been made to investigate how CCI may have been influenced by guanxi in China. This research develops a conceptual model and six propositions, which explain how CCI is strategically tailored to initiate guanxi, and furthermore, facilitate inter-organisational relationship development through such guanxi in China. Based on an empirical case analysis of 148 CCI projects from three types of company; foreign, state-owned, and private, this research explores the relationship between CCI and guanxi and tests the conceptual model and propositions. The empirical data was collected deploying face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with 65 companies (30 foreign companies, 9 state-owned companies, and 26 private companies) in China. The findings indicate that foreign companies’ and private companies’ CCI are motivated by guanxi development. Their CCI behaviours are strategically tailored to initiate guanxi with key stakeholders, and in particular with stakeholders who possess strong governmental backgrounds; and Chinese state-owned companies’ CCI behaviours are subject to little influence of guanxi development. While foreign companies used guanxi to facilitate their inter-organisational relationship development, private companies used guanxi to obtain formal institutional supports. From the findings, the conclusion is drawn that guanxi plays a significant role in motivating CCI engagement and shaping CCI behaviours in China, and, through such guanxi, CCI can be employed to facilitate inter-organisational relationship building and obtain formal institutional support.

Purpose: To describe the Relationship Marketing and Guanxi practices of a western company in China, and to create an understanding regarding the interconnection of Guanxi and Relationship Marketing as the foundation of such practices. Method: The research is qualitative with an inductive relation between theory and the empirical findings. With the research design of a case study of the western business-to-business service company ChinaNetCloud. The empirical material was collected through five semi-structured interviews done in China, with influencing persons of the case study organization ChinaNetCloud. Conclusion: Guanxi should be used to facilitate things and should not be established with anyone. To establish relationships are taking more time and will require many activities to maintain them. Relationship Marketing should be used to target other targets than the bases for Guanxi. The relationship are in China based on already existing connections and it is important that the western company is aware of that the relationship are in some cases of more importance than the product or service.  Face-to-face meeting should be used in order to establish relationships in the best way. Trust and commitment are also important dimensions in the relationships. A western company should use Guanxi and Relationship Marketing since it is important for both survival and success in China.

Guanxi, loosely defined as "inter-personal relations" or "personal connections," is one of the key socio-cultural concepts in understanding Chinese society. This thesis presented a theoretical examination of the Chinese socio-cultural concept of guanxi. By using a broad survey of the available literature, this thesis established the following points: Social structures shape and define the development of guanxi practice in Chinese society. Guanxi relationships are based on the social exchange of gifts and favors in dyadic or multi-stranded social networks. While following the general rules of reciprocity found in social exchange, guanxi exchange is also governed by the internalized social norms such as mianzi (face) and renqing (humanized obligation underpinned by human sentiment). Guanxi relationships are also network-oriented, featuring ties based on familiarity and mutual trust, and characterized by an interplay between expressiveness and instrumentalism.

Det kinesiska samhället är i hög grad präglat av dess kulturella traditioner som i många aspekter skiljer sig från andra länder. I samband med att allt fler svenska företag väljer att etablera sig i Kina där svenska expatriater sänds ut som resurser, blir det alltmer väsentligt att förstå sig på landets kultur och värderingar. En central aspekt ligger i att bygga relevanta nätverksrelationer, vilket i Kina benämns som guanxi. Guanxi definieras som relationella utbyten mellan parter baserat på implicita principer av tillit, ömsesidighet och empati. Denna studie har syftat till att undersöka hur viktigt svenska expatriater upplever att guanxi är med kinesiska kollegor, samt på vilka sätt expatriaters personliga egenskaper påverkar relationsuppbyggandet. Vidare har studien avsett att undersöka vilka möjligheter och svårigheter guanxi kan innebära för expatriater under deras internationella uppdrag. En kvalitativ metod har tillämpats, där empirin bestått av åtta intervjuer med svenska expatriater inom olika multinationella företag i Kina. Studiens resultat påvisade att de flesta expatriater upplevde guanxi med lokala kollegor som viktigt vid anpassning till miljön. Personliga egenskaper, som ett intresse för kulturen och en öppensinnad inställning, bidrog även till en bättre förståelse för guanxis innebörd som underlättat utlandsvistelserna. Studiens resultat har vidare påvisat att högre uppsatta expatriater inte upplevde guanxi med lokala kollegor som lika relevant. Samtidigt som guanxi med lokala kollegor bidrar till nya möjligheter och nätverksrelationer, har även svårigheter påvisats relaterat till mutor och korruption.

The interaction of the personnel boundary in inter-firm relationship management is viewed as particularistic in China instead of universalistic as in many Western cultures. Specifically, guanxi networks, the Chinese system of inter-personal relationship, have strong strategic implications for business interactions. The practices of guanxi and the social norms associated with guanxi are complicated. On the one hand, guanxi practices can be traced back to Confucianism; on the other hand, guanxi???s significance has been changing in line with China???s economic reform. In this research, we have attempted to find what presently constitutes good guanxi in inter-firm relationship management against this dynamic backdrop. Additionally, from the transaction cost economies (TCE) perspective, we provide an analysis that guanxi-based business practices offer transaction cost advantages as an alternative to market-based practices. We argue that such advantages partially result from guanxi???s effect on the reduction of opportunist behaviors. Backed up by 97 questionnaire responses from firms in Shanghai and 15 semi-structured interviews, our study confirms that, in inter-firm relationships management, trust, affection and long-term orientation are features of close guanxi. To enhance guanxi quality, familiarization by self-disclosure and the presence of mutual benefits are also necessary, providing practical implications for business practitioners in China. Our study also indicates that guanxi business partners are expected to be obligational in business and flexible in contingencies. Opportunistic behaviors can be mitigated by adopting guanxi practices, supporting the TCE logic. In an absence of a rationalized legal system, guanxi may fill the gaps in the enforcement of the written contract.N

This thesis explores the contemporary role of guanxi in Chinese entrepreneurship. Although previous research has considered the subject of guanxi and Chinese entrepreneurship, this study aims at providing a deeper and richer understanding of its roles and nature. The study focuses on the relationship between guanxi and Chinese entrepreneurs and specifically deals with the question, “Has the importance of guanxi been diminishing in Chinese entrepreneurship?” In order to deepen the understanding of guanxi, its nature, characteristics, benefits, advantages, disadvantages, process and applications are explored. Furthermore, as there are many commonalities between networking and guanxi, the study also distinguishes the differences between the two subject matters. In many aspects, it is important to understand the attitude and behaviour of Chinese entrepreneurs. As Chinese entrepreneurs are affected by traditional Chinese heritage, the study also uses different approaches to explain the difference between western and eastern entrepreneurship. The specific qualitative and quantitative technique used for data generation is the adoption of case studies, surveys and telephone interviews. A total of two in-depth case studies, two surveys and thirty telephone interviews have been conducted. From these findings, respondents and interviewees expressed their view points on how guanxi related to their businesses. The findings are used to identify the relationship between guanxi and modern Chinese entrepreneurs, the changing nature of guanxi, and in turn how the changing business environment affects guanxi. The findings from this study conclude that although guanxi is important in China, it is only a tool to implement business strategies but never a substitution, and its importance has been diminishing in Chinese entrepreneurship.

Cette thèse vise à étudier l’impact du guanxi sur la gestion de la chaîne d’approvisionnement. Dans un premier temps, nous examinons historiquement l’évolution de guanxi et discutons ses impacts sur les performances de l’entreprise. Ensuite, en utilisant des données d'entretiens qualitatifs et une enquête quantitative auprès d'acheteurs chinois en France, nous créons une échelle de mesure guanxi pour la relation acheteur-fournisseur Sino-Française et montrons que l'impact du guanxi sur la performance de la chaîne d'approvisionnement est positif. De plus, grâce aux données d'enquête de 200 fabricants chinois exerçant des activités à l'étranger, nous démontrons que la relation médiatisée entre le guanxi et la performance de la chaîne d'approvisionnement est modérée par la culture individuelle. Nos résultats de recherche non seulement prouvent empiriquement l’importance du guanxi sur le marché international, mais révèlent également que l’efficacité des différents types de guanxi dépend de l’orientation culturelle du partenaire
This thesis aims to investigate guanxi’s impact on supply chain management. As a first step, we historically review guanxi’s evolution and discuss its impacts on business performance. Next, by using data from qualitative interviews and a quantitative survey collected from Chinese buyers in France, this thesis creates a guanxi measurement scale for Sino-Franco buyer-supplier relationship, and reveals that guanxi’s positive impact on supply chain performance is mediated by supply chain collaboration. Furthermore, through draw on the survey data of 200 Chinese manufacturers with overseas business, this thesis demonstrates that the mediated relationship between guanxi and supply chain performance is moderated by individual culture. Our research results not only empirically prove guanxi’s importance in the international market, but also uncover that the effectiveness of different types of guanxi that depends on the partner’s cultural orientation

This research explores the nature of guanxi inside Chinese enterprises and considers the implications for leadership at a time when Western leadership models are growing in dominance, and Eastern cultural norms are still in existence. The literature on guanxi is extensive, but the lack of its application inside organizations, and, in this case, in the leadership function is sparse. The research questions include whether guanxi is applied internally to the organization and, if it is, how does this influence leadership behaviour? The research adopts a pragmatist, social constructivist position, and uses a mixed method approach to investigate the interaction between leadership behaviour and guanxi: the internal guanxi. The researcher is an employee of ABLE Electric Motor Group, a large and successful private sector enterprise in the rapidly growing and transforming Chinese economy. Drawing on the special and unique position in the organisation and existing experience, the researcher uses multiple employee case studies, involving 34 in-depth interviews with senior leaders across ABLE, and surveys the Chinese electric motor sector using a questionnaire collected from 337 respondents. The research developed a conceptual model, creating links between Chinese leadership characteristics and guanxi characteristics, and these are used to focus on the collection and analysis of themes. These themes correspond to seven propositions arising from the initial desk research, the on-going participant observation and a pilot study. These are then explored further through the findings and discussion. The findings suggest that internal guanxi is operating and that it extends beyond the boundaries of the company. However, globalisation and transformation in the Chinese market are changing the nature of the relationship between leadership and guanxi and producing mixed results. Private sector businesses benefit from the leadership–guanxi dynamic, while foreign and state firms are deriving fewer benefits. The research identifies three models of the internal guanxi–leadership relationship: (i) internal, (ii) inter-firm and (iii) inter-regulatory hybrid, providing examples of prominence and behaviours. Leadership approaches that ignore the role of guanxi limit the potential of the firm, which impacts on innovation, the recruitment, and retention of staff. Foreign and state-owned firms are less likely to resolve problems through relationships and typically apply more formal structures. This research has implications for culturally different companies entering this market and those transforming companies that need to maintain harmony in times of revolutionary change.

The influence of guanxi on business performance in Chinese market attracts increasing attentions from the literature. Many empirical evidences proved that guanxi as important business implementation deliver unique impacts to achieve successful business conducts. However, the strategic positioning of guanxi as an impetus to generate competitive advantage is lack of theoretical study from the existing literature field. Moreover, the theoretical boundaries and background for guanxi-based business competence are at an explorative stage. Due to the research situation in this area, the author is motivated to conduct this empirical study with the purpose of theory building in order to portrait a theoretical outlook for guanxi-based competence and its related strategy forms. This study adopts grounded theory approach as a methodological foundation to investigate the real social process of guanxi-based business strategic implementations in Chinese market. Followed with the procedure of grounded theory, the research objectives were gradually achieved to complete the identified general research direction which is focused on exploring the strategic positioning of 'guanxi-based competitive advantage'. Firstly, this study explored the fact that guanxi is interdependent with firm's core competence development. The supporting role of guanxi in business strategic implementations can be identified as a source of generating 'quasi-competitive advantage' which assists the firm to enhance its market-based core competence. Secondly, guanxi is critically in a position of generating indirect impetus on improving firm's business performance due to three major business realities, namely 'cultural embeddedness', 'business necessity' and 'institutional influence'. Thus, guanxi-based business strategic paradigm is as important as market-based strategic paradigm in Chinese market. The author propose that the functionality of guanxi-based business strategy should be clearly defined as exploiting guanxi advantage to cope with the development of firm's market-based competitive advantage. Thirdly, the interdependent nature of guanxi and core competence is summarised into an evolving process of firm's 'co-development of guanxi-based and market-based competence'. In a word, the firm enhances its controlling power on guanxi management from 'reliant guanxi' to 'dominant guanxi' along with the development of its market-based competence and market bargaining power. The new developed insight of 'quasi-competitive advantage' is originated from this grounded theory study. This theoretical outcome provides a breakthrough perspective for other researchers to extend the understanding of guanxi in business phenomena. Further development of academic and business knowledge on this theory may also contribute to the relevant studies on investigating strategic management issues in a transitional economic market.

Numerous popular business publications and academic literature have highlighted that the Chinese cultural phenomenon of guanxi has made noticeable impacts on the economic efficiency in China’s economic transition. Despite the pervasive belief of the significance of guanxi for facilitating Chinese business transaction, few empirical efforts have been dedicated to comprehensively investigate the dynamics of guanxi in the mainland Chinese business context. Specifically, there is a dearth of empirical evidence to support the anecdotal claims that the guanxi construct and the business strategy orientations are strategically collaborated with the vertical and the horizontal guanxi network, and these operations are influenced by the attributes of organizations and individuals. Consequently, the purpose of this research was to investigate the interactions between the guanxi construct and the business strategy orientation with the vertical and the horizontal guanxi network, as well as the moderating effects that the organizational properties and individual attributes have on the posited interactions.A cross cultural study was conducted in six large coastal and inland cities of Guangzhou, Foshan, Xiamen, Kunming, Hefei and Dalian of mainland China. These six research cities are located in the five large provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, Yunnan, Anhui and Liaoning, which are geographically dispersed from southeastern, southwestern, northeastern to southern China. The six research cities, which were purposely selected across the ‘early’ to ‘late’ open economic regions, are the major centers of the five provinces that have embarked on a modernization policy and market liberalization of the Chinese economy while maintaining traditional values. This study was undertaken with 1033 Chinese business executives who were positioned at the top five senior managerial levels of 480 Chinese organizations across four major industrial fields in the six study cities. The four major industrial fields that were selected in this study were 1) Trading, 2) Building/Construction, 3) Manufacturing, and 4) Service. Although there has been extensive attention on the relevance of guanxi in a relationship based society of China (Gold et al. 2002), few empirical studies that have been conducted in the industrial sectors and across several regional locations that are enmeshed in the revitalization of the Chinese economy. Hence, it is claimed that this study is the first project of its kind that was implemented to empirically investigate the dynamics of guanxi amongst four industrial fields across six cities of mainland China.The study respondents were senior business executives who have overall successful business and managerial careers in directing and developing businesses in mainland China. Many of them have traveled to Western countries frequently, and they possess extensive experience and proven records in global business dealings. More than half of the business executives had at least five years experience in their current industrial fields while nearly half had no less than five years experience in senior managerial levels. One third of the study organizations had existed for five to 10 years, while more than 30 percent of the study organizations had a longer history of more than ten years. And almost one third of the study organizations employed 100 to 500 people, while nearly 20 percent of the organizations have cadres of more than 500 employees. All of the study business executives completed a complex questionnaire for examining a model of the dynamics of guanxi in the business context. The questionnaire was comprised a total of 83 items. Demographic information was sought from the first 12 items of the questionnaire, and a further 72 items that were comprised in three interval instruments that were used to capture the perceptual data of the study.The three interval instruments that were employed in this study included the guanxi construct, the business strategy orientation, and the guanxi network. The instrument of the guanxi construct was developed by two of the guanxi leading scholars (Wong & Leung 2001), and the scale of the guanxi network was developed by several well known guanxi researchers (Davies, Leung, Luk & Wong 1995). These instruments were deliberately chosen because they have shown acceptable psychometric properties (i.e. validity and reliability) in similar assessments, and thus, they were considered appropriated to be adapted and modified for the present study. The modification of these two instruments were undertaken after a systematically study of numerous leading publications pertaining Chinese culture and Chinese Values (e.g., Hofstede 1988; Redding 1990; Luo 2000; Seng & Lim 2004; Xin & Pearce 1996), and thorough consultations with several Chinese Professors of Economics as well as some prominent business people in mainland China. The instrument, which was employed to assess the business strategy orientation in this study, was developed by the researcher. This approach was carried out after a careful study of reputable academic journals and relevant literature (e.g., Aaker 1992; Barnett & Wilsted 1988; Digman 1986; Miles & Snow 1978; Porter 1980; 1985; Pearce & Robinson 1991; Rajagopalan 1997). The development of the instrument involved two separate empirical studies engaging 314 indigenous Chinese managers, who were exclusive of the 1033 study business executives of the main study, in a number of industrial domains in seven large cities of mainland China. In general, the inaugural established instrument of the business strategy orientation and the two adapted scales of guanxi construct and guanxi network were found to have acceptable internal consistencies.A comprehensive pluralist methodology was applied to evaluate the hypotheses of this study. Relevant literature pertaining to the examined variables was reviewed. In light of the literature review, a number of hypotheses and a conceptual model were developed. A quantitative methodology was employed to assess the postulations and qualitative methodology was sought to provide explanations and clarifications of the results. This pluralist methodology is gaining currency in contemporary cross country research. A number of commentators (De Ruyter Moorman & Lemmink 2001; Pearson & Entrekin 1998; Zotteri & Verganti 2001) have contended that a richer and more trustworthy result is likely to be gained by simultaneously pursuing both a quantitative and a qualitative methodology. In total of 1313 questionnaires, which were administrated for completion over six weeks, a total of 1071 questionnaires were returned. However, 38 questionnaires were discarded due to incomplete information provided. The remaining 1033 useful questionnaires generated an overall response rate of 78.67 percent for the six research cities. Comparatively, the response rate of this survey is considerably higher than most of the earlier studies in guanxi research area. More importantly, the high response rate avoids the non response bias in results.Several statistical analyses were employed to evaluate the data. For instance, exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis were used to assess the psychometric properties of the instruments. The results of psychometric assessments indicated that the scales had good validities and reliabilities, which had potential for robust results. In addition, correlation analysis was applied to evaluate the hypothesized bivariate correlations of the conceptual model. Path analysis was then utilized to test the hypotheses, which were postulated in Chapter Two. The results of path analysis demonstrated that certain facets of the guanxi construct had strong influence on the application of both of the vertical and the horizontal network, whereas particular business strategic approaches had intense interactions with the vertical and the horizontal guanxi network. Moreover, regression analysis was applied to further examine the hypothesized relationships of the conceptual model. The results of the regress analysis illustrated a substantial convergence with the results of path analysis. Furthermore, hierarchical multiple regression analysis was undertaken to determine the moderating effects that the organizational properties and personal attributes have on the hypothesized interactions between the guanxi construct and the business strategy orientation and the vertical and the horizontal guanxi network. The results of these analyses indicated that the attributes of organization and individual played significant moderating roles on a number of the tested correlations. Lastly, the analyses of T-test and ANOVA were employed to evaluate the extent of difference in the demographic elements and structure properties.The results of these tests depicted that there was a considerable degree of consensus for all the tested variables of the study model across the demographic elements and structure properties. A salient feature of this study is the application of qualitative analysis to enhance the understanding of quantitative results. The researcher visited each of the six researched cities again to conduct focus group meetings, which were mainly held in the languages of Mandarin and Cantonese. Most of the meetings were approximately 90 to 120 minutes in duration. Focus group meetings that were conducted in the cities of Kunming, Foshan, Xiamen, Hefei and Dalian were videotaped and subsequently replicated into DVD plates, whilst feedback sections that were carried out in Guangzhou were completed recorded by written notes. A total of 90 business executives participated in 20 focus group meetings, which were recorded in Chinese and accredited English translations were subsequently arranged. The Chinese meeting record contains almost 160,000 words in 240 pages, and the English translation had 248 pages with approximately 100,000 words. General details of the focus group meetings are reported in Chapter Four.The subjects that were discussed in the qualitative feedback sessions mainly encompassed six aspects. First, respondents’ comprehension of the instruments and the suitability of the scales employed in this study were discussed. Second, the results of factor and reliability analyses, particularly relating to some certain emerged patterns and the dimensionalities of instruments were elucidated. Third, extensive comments about the empirical findings in relation to the correlations that were predicted in the studied model and the unexpected relationships were sought, and clarifications to the phenomena caused were also documented. Fourth, the outputs of the analyses of T-test, ANOVA, path analysis, and regression for descriptive statistic and correlation were discussed. Finally, opinions on the discovery of the moderating effects that the moderating variables had on the tested relationships were attained and elucidation to the results were clarified. In general, the qualitative analytical results have broadly enriched the comprehension to the quantitative findings. With extensive reference to the contribution of the 90 business executives in the qualitative analytical sections, a lengthy discussion of the results of the study is elucidated. Following the discussion of results, an outline of the key findings of this research is presented in Chapter Five.A number of theoretical and practical contributions have constructed in this study. The first theoretical contribution of this study is an advancement of the currently available knowledge relating to the operations amongst the guanxi construct with the vertical and the horizontal guanxi network, as well as the interactions between the business strategy orientation with the vertical and the horizontal guanxi network in the business context. A second theoretical contribution of the study is to evaluate Western based theoretical notions in a non Western context. Next, evaluation of the study model has the potential to make further theoretical contribution in terms of enhancing the understanding of Multi National Companies (MNCs) and overseas investors on the imperativeness of the cultural phenomenon of guanxi. The first practical contribution is the investigation of the moderating effects that the attributes of organizations and individuals have on the relationships between the guanxi construct and the business strategy orientation with the vertical and the horizontal guanxi network has significant potential to make contribution to international management in an Asian context. Moreover, the inaugural developed seven point Likert scale instrument for assessing the business strategy orientation in the Chinese business organization is likely to facilitate practical contribution to the development of an universal scale. A further practical contribution is to provide a greater comprehensive insight of the dynamics of guanxi in the business context, which would be beneficial to overseas investors and MNCs when they explore their possible Chinese business ventures. Implications of the findings for business practitioners and the theory developments are comprehensively documented in Chapter Six.This research has merged two salient concluding observations. Firstly, it highlighted the importance of the application of a pluralist methodology in implementing cross cultural studies. The findings of this study suggested that the qualitative investigation technique is essential to capture information that was not attainable through the quantitative assessments and that the qualitative dimension complements the quantitative results. In addition, an extended remark in relation to sampling method was offered for further research in mainland China. Preferably, the guanxi ideology is more practical than the Western traditional ‘mail out’ system when conducting a comprehensive survey in China. Especially, guanxi plays a significant role in attaining genuine and liberated comments for qualitative analysis. Secondly, the results of this study suggested that the global environment has reshaped the quality and mindset of Chinese people and this has resulted in the substantial consensus in conceptualizing the theories of the present study. The salient observations and suggestions for future research are discussed in Chapter Six.

This thesis aims to examine the conditions for entrepreneurship in Taiwan by the occurrence of cultural phenomenon guanxi. Based on the concept of familiness and guanxi, the family is central in this study of family business. Traditional descriptions of the Asian culture claim that guanxi is vital in the business context. Though, recent studies indicate that significance of guanxi seems to be changing. Therefore the purpose of this thesis is to create an understanding of the importance and relevance of guanxi in the context of Taiwanese family business. By travelling to Kaohsiung, Taiwan to interview six managers of Taiwanese family firms this study’s empirical material was gathered for further processing based on a qualitative approach. This material led to the theoretical fields of social capital, familiness, Confucian culture and guanxi. Furthermore four propositions were modelled to test the expressions of guanxi in the visited companies. By testing these propositions a wide dissemination of perceptions about family and business was identified in the result. How guanxi is embodied in Taiwanese family business is due to how the owning family is structured and how the owning family choose to relate to international influences. The conclusion of this essay is therefore that guanxi is expressed by individual values in the company and is not as visible in the company it self as traditions would claim. The family is still central in Taiwanese culture and business, but how the importance of the family is expressed has changed with the development of guanxi.

The Chinese term “Guanxi” literally refers to interpersonal relationships which have aroused growing interests among researchers and business practitioners. Common research interests are mainly centered on theoretical study and model building instead of applying them to business practices while this paper is aimed to investigate how business Guanxi works from a practical view, and in particular how business Guanxi affects the performance of small and medium-sized Chinese construction companies. Three independent managers in different regions are chosen as the initiating point to explore how Guanxi works by tracing back their inter-connectivity as well as interactions among different stakeholders. The empirical findings indicate business Guanxi acts as an important source of information and the efficient way to seek financial and technical support, to increase market shares and reduce risks, has a positive effect on to the performance of small and medium-sized Chinese construction firms. Based on the empirical findings, it is further argued that a good business Guanxi is likely to create competitive advantages in supporting Tsang’s arguments. Finally a managerial implication is provided which tries to remind practitioners that business Guanxi is a necessary factor for the survival of Chinese construction enterprises but it is not sufficient. Managers should not solely rely on Guanxi even if two parties have high quality of connections, and the institutional tools are needed in order to secure the health of Guanxi.

[Truncated abstract] This thesis investigates the phenomenon of organisational guanxi in business in the SOE hotel environment in south-west China. A general aim is to give the reader a sense of how organisational guanxi operates in this environment. It identifies the characteristics and roots of organizational guanxi and discusses the significance of its operation in this environment. This thesis also analyses the implications of the continued practice of organizational guanxi and the prospects of its future as the Chinese economy continues to evolve toward a more market orientation. In Chapter One, the phenomena of guanxi, mainzi and renqing are defined and the importance of their role in conducting business in mainland China proposed. … The findings of this new research in south-west China provide conclusive evidence that in this region the guanxi network remains the lifeblood of the business community (Kao, 1993). In addition, this research throws up some conclusions that are not aligned with that of Guthrie?s (2002) Shanghai-based findings. In Chapter Nine, The Conclusion, the major findings of this thesis are revisited and include the acknowledgement and definition of organisational guanxi, the exploration of the roots of organisational guanxi inside the danwei, the differentiation of intra-organisational guanxi from inter-organisational guanxi, the definition of the concept of guanxi neglect, and a comparison of the decay in the strength and usage of guanxi in south-west China with that in the Shanghai region.

The purpose of this study is to explore the mechanics of guanxi in an organizational setting, focusing on the use of interpersonal relationships within Chinese firms to discover how firms initiate, build and use guanxi networks. Two richly detailed case studies document changes that take place over time in two distinct networks with respect to key actors and their contacts. This research also investigates patterns of social structure that emerge over time in these two distinct cases looking at brokerage relationships, network density, and dyadic redundancy in three waves at six month intervals. The cases are dissimilar in all aspects except absolute size demonstrating the universal use of guanxi across time, geographic location, specific industries, and firm experience. Dynamic network visualization is used to highlight the sequence and rate of activity in each network to identify salient changes. The findings show that firms seek to improve their organizational guanxi by improving existing employees' guanxi quality within the firm and by recruiting new actors from outside the firm. Additionally, firms use organizational guanxi to expand their networks by forming cooperative partnerships with complementary organizations that enhance the attributes or potential of both organizations. And finally, firms initially exploit brokerage in organizational guanxi, then attempt to stabilize the network by fostering new ties to exclusive contacts.

Aim: The aim of this study is to understand how trust influence quality Guanxi in the Chinese business context.   Method: An inductive qualitative research method is adopted in this study; a single case study, interview questions and semi-structured interviews are applied to collect primary data.   Result & Conclusions: Quality Guanxi needs to build deep trust by combining cognition- and affect-based trust together in Chinese business context.  Meanwhile, Renqing gradually builds Ganqing (affection) through reciprocal behavior and empathy, and eventually leads to affect-based trust in Guanxi networks. Furthermore, cognition-based trust could be understood as initial trust in Guanxi networks.   Suggestions for future research: Due to the limited number of interviews, the result and conclusion of this study is based on only one company (Vigor) and one country (China) perspective. Therefore generalization cannot be achieved. For further studies on this field, it is necessary to increase the scope and number of interviews, such as different industries, different positions, etc.   Contribution of the thesis: This study contributes to the further understanding of Guanxi as a unique way of developing business relationships in China from the perspective of trust.  It shows how the quality Guanxi can be developed by deep trust relying on cognition- and affect-based trust.
目标：本文主要解析了在中国的商业环境中信任是如何影响优质关系的。   方法：本文采用归纳定性研究方法； 应用单一案例研究、访谈问题和半结构化访谈来收集主要数据。   结果/ 结论：在中国的商业活动中，只有通过结合基于认知的信任和基于情感的信任，从而建立深度信任，才能最终建立优质关系。同时，人情通过互惠行为和同理心逐步建立感情，最终建立关系网络中基于情感的信任。而基于认知的信任又可以理解为关系网络中的初始信任。   对未来研究的建议：由于访谈数量有限，本文的结果和结论仅基于一个公司(上威集团)和一个国家(中国)的视角，因此不能泛化。为了进一步研究这一领域，有必要增加其访谈的范围和数量，如不同行业、不同职位等。   本文的贡献：本文有助于从信任的角度进一步认识关系，这种作为发展中国商业关系的一种独特方式。并说明了如何依靠基于认知的信任和基于情感的信任，从而建立深度信任来发展优质关系。
Objetivo: El objetivo de este estudio es entender como la confianza influencia la calidad del Guanxi en el contexto de negocios Chino.   Método: Para este estudio un método inductivo y cualitativo ha sido adoptado. Preguntas de entrevista y entrevistas semi-estructuradas han sido aplicadas en la recolección de la información primaria.   Resultado y Conclusiones: Para lograr calidad en la red Guanxi se necesita construir confianza “profunda” mediante la combinación de confianza cognitiva y afectiva en el contexto de negocios chino. Renqing puede construir gradualmente Ganqing a través del comportamiento reciproco y la empatía, lo cual con lleva eventualmente a la generación de confianza afectiva en la red de contactos Guanxi. Además, la confianza cognitiva puede ser considerada como la confianza inicial en las redes de contactos Guanxi.   Sugerencias para investigaciones futuras: Debido al número limitado de entrevistas, los resultados de este estudio solamente están basados en una compañía (Vigor) y un país (China). Por lo tanto, la generalización de los resultados a otros países no es aconsejable. Para futuras investigaciones en este campo, es necesario aumentar el número de entrevistas de empleados de diferentes empresas pertenecientes a diversas industrias y países.   Contribución de la tesis: Este estudio contribuye al mayor entendimiento del concepto chino “Guanxi” como una forma única de construir relaciones de negocios en China, mediante el desarrollo de la confianza “profunda”. Para ello, se muestra como la calidad del Guanxi puede ser desarrollado mediante la confianza profunda la cual se basa en la confianza cognitiva y afectiva.

Ce travail s'inscrit dans une veine de recherche en intelligence économique. Un mot clé est souvent associé à l'activité d'intelligence économique au quotidien: c'est celui de réseau. Le réseau est présent à toutes les étapes du cycle du renseignement. Dans ce travail, le concept de réseau va nous intéresser dans une perspective interculturelle. Nous allons plus précisément nous attacher au concept chinois de Guanxi, orientation de l'esprit qui conduit à mobiliser les réseaux de relations dès lors qu'on se trouve face à un problème décisionnel et ce à tous les niveaux de la vie sociale.Pour comprendre les mécanismes du Guanxi, il est nécessaire d'en décrire les mécanismes en utilisant des concepts nécessaires à sa compréhension. La complexité du travail vient du fait que les concepts sous-jacents ne sont pas traduisibles en français autrement que par des périphrases et qu'ils se définissent de façon emboitée. Impossible de comprendre la notion de Guanxi sans s'immerger dans le système social chinois. Afin d'éclairer le lecteur, il nous a paru également utile de mettre en parallèle le concept de Guanxi de concepts voisins qui ont pu être utilisés dans d'autres sociétés. Le Guanxi joue sans doute un rôle de facilitateur dans le développement de l'entreprise chinoise. Il aide les entrepreneurs chinois à réussir. Quel rôle le Guanxi joue-t-il dans la réussite de l'entrepreneur français en Chine? Le Guanxi est-il aussi un élément favorable au développement des entreprises à capitaux étrangers (français) en Chine?Pour répondre à ces questions, nous sommes partis en Chine rencontrer des entrepreneurs français, écouter leur expérience personnelle ainsi que leur pratique professionnelle.La seconde partie rend compte de ce travail de terrain et montre toute la difficulté d'une compréhension fine du concept de Guanxi par ces chefs d'entreprise alors même qu'ils évoluent dans un environnement asiatique
This work is part of a vein of research intelligence. A keyword is often associated with the activity of intelligence in everyday life: this is the réseau. The network is present at all stages of the intelligence cycle. In this work, the network concept will interest us in an intercultural perspective. We will specifically bind us to the Chinese concept of Guanxi orientation of the mind which leads to mobilize networks of relations as soon as we are faced with a decision problem and at all levels of social life.To understand the mechanisms of Guanxi, it is necessary to describe mechanisms using concepts needed to understand. Complexity of the work is that the underlying concepts are not translatable in French except by circumlocution and how they define nested. Impossible to understand the concept of Guanxi without immerse themselves in the Chinese social system. To inform the reader, we thought it useful to also parallel the concept of Guanxi of related concepts that could be used in other companies.Guanxi undoubtedly plays a facilitating role in the development of the Chinese company. It helps Chinese entrepreneurs to succeed. Guanxi plays what role he in the success of the French entrepreneur in China? Guanxi is it also a favorable factor for the development of foreign-invested enterprises (French) China? To answer these questions, we went to China to meet French entrepreneurs, listen to their personal experience and their professional practice.The second part gives an account of this fieldwork and demonstrates the difficulty of a thorough understanding of the concept of Guanxi by these business leaders even though they operate in an Asian environment

Guanxi plays an important role in Chinese entrepreneurial networking activities, especially for micro entrepreneurial firms in China. Due to limited information and resources available to micro firms, micro firms are more dependent on entrepreneurs’ guanxi networks to get access to the necessary resources. Previous literatures have particularly discussed the impacts of guanxi networks for foreigners successfully doing business in China. Nevertheless, there are scant literatures that study on the role of the guanxi in Chinese entrepreneurship. The purpose of this study is to provide a better understanding of the role of guanxi in Chinese entrepreneurship. This study employs the relevant guanxi concepts, Western social capital theory, and network-based entrepreneurship as the main conceptual framework to examine how Chinese entrepreneurs utilize their guanxi networks during the development of micro firms. Furthermore, this study is based on ten case studies in China. Empirical Data are collected from semi-structured interviews with ten Chinese entrepreneurs in micro firms. The results show that guanxi networks are highly important for Chinese entrepreneurs to develop their business. Firstly, Chinese entrepreneurs make use of different guanxi governance mechanisms--qinqing, renqing and jiaoqing to acquire different information and resources for the development of their firms. The obtained information and resources constitute the social capital, which can be used to complement insufficient capital within the firms. Secondly, Chinese entrepreneurs intentionally enlarge their guanxi network size to obtain more resources. Moreover, Chinese entrepreneurs benefit from strong guanxi ties and closure network structures to obtain the cohesive social capital. While Chinese entrepreneurs gain greater benefits from weak guanxi ties and spare network structures for acquiring additional information, resources and business opportunities. Thirdly, guanxi-networking activities are different from Western social networking activities, as guanxi-networking activities put more emphasize on keeping harmony and mutual reciprocity. Furthermore, Chinese entrepreneurs are proactive to build and maintain guanxi networks through various approaches for their business development. Lastly, even though guanxi networks play important roles in the development of micro entrepreneurial firms, they cannot be sustainable competitive advantage in the long term. Indeed, the core competences such as high quality of products and services, advanced technologies and marketing channels could be sustainable competitive advantages for the entrepreneurial firms in today’s increasingly fierce competitive market.

Den ekonomiska jätten i öst växer som aldrig förr och affärsmöjligheterna för företag har gåttfrån att bara ha varit ett land där man förlägger sin produktion, tack vare att kostnaderna är såpass låga, lockar numera den snabbt växande konsumentmarknaden fler och fler företag atttesta lyckan i landet. I denna uppsats tas den affärskulturella skillnaden upp både internt iföretag där man har kinesiska kollegor samt externt, hur man jobbar med kinesiska företagfrån ett svenskt perspektiv. Den stora problematiken längs vägen mot en hybridkultur är denkulturella skillnaden som råder mellan Kina och Sverige som medför utmaningar för varjeföretag som ämnar etablera sig i Kina. Skillnader i värderingar, religion, normer, vanor medmycket mera bidrar till en skild uppfattning om hur affärer ska skötas.Genom att söka relevant data i litteratur, tidskrifter och artiklar samt genomföra kvalitativaintervjuer med personer som har erfarenhet och kunskap av den kinesiska kulturen då de harantingen verkat i Kina eller har arbetat med kinesiska kollegor under en längre tid, hoppas vikunna skapa en djupare förståelse för hur svenska företag bemöter den kinesiskaaffärskulturen. Dessa personer hittar vi i både stora och små företag som verkar i Kina för attfå fler perspektiv på hur kulturen fungerar. Hur mycket de kommer i kontakt med begreppsom guanxi1 och mianzi2, som är stora delar av den kinesiska affärskulturen, är också relevantför denna studie. Vi ville även undersöka hur aktuell befintlig data inom ämnet är och om denär i behov av en modernisering för att spegla dagens rådande affärsklimat.Hur ser de kulturella skillnaderna ut för ett svenskt företag och hur gör de för att överkommadessa för att lyckas på den kinesiska marknaden? Hur mycket behöver de anpassa sig till denrådande kulturen samt hur mycket anpassar sig de kinesiska företagen till de svenskaföretagen? Var är den internationella affärskulturen i Kina på väg? Detta är några av de frågorvi försöker få svar på genom denna studie.
The financial giant in the east expands like never before and the business opportunities havegone from just being a country where you place your production due to the low costs, to arapid growing consumers market that attracts more and more companies to try out their luck.In this thesis the business Culture is described both internally in the company where you haveChinese colleagues and externally, how you work with Chinese companies from a Swedishperspective. The main issue along the way towards a hybrid culture are the culturaldifferences between China and Sweden as well as the challenges that comes with it for everycompany that tries to establish themselves in China. Differences in values, religion, habits andnorms among much else contribute to a separated opinion on how business is supposed to bedealt with.By searching for relevant data in literature, periodicals and articles as well as carry outqualitative interviews with individuals with experience and knowledge about the Chineseculture where they have worked in China or have had Chinese colleagues under a longerperiod of time, we hope to create a deeper understanding of how Swedish companies treatsthe Chinese business culture. We find these people in both large and small companies that arein China to get more perspective on how the culture works. How much do they get in contactwith concepts like guanxi1 and mianzi2, which are major parts of the Chinese business culture,is also relevant to this study. We also wanted to do research of how up-to-date current data inthe field is and if the data is in need of a modernization to reflect the current business climate.How do the cultural differences look like for a Swedish company and how do they go about toovercome this to succeed on the Chinese market? How much do they need to adapt to theculture and how much do the Chinese companies adapt to the Swedish business culture?Where is the international business culture heading? These are just a few of the questions thatwe are trying to find an answer to with this study.

I jakten på nya affärsmöjligheter ser allt fler svenska företag Kina som en potentiell marknad. Flera faktorer gör det svårt för utländska företag att etablera sig på den kinesiska marknaden, det tar tid, kräver hårt arbete och ett väl utvecklat kontaktnät. Guanxi är ett begrepp som beskriver hur kineser skapar och underhåller sociala relationer, både privat och i affärslivet. Det är nödvändigt för utländska företag att anskaffa kunskap om hur de utvecklar guanxi med lokala kinesiska aktörer för att framgångsrikt etablera sig i Kina.

För att exemplifiera problematiken har vi genomfört en kvalitativ undersökning på Alfa Laval och Exportrådet Kina. Syftet med denna uppsats är att med utgångspunkt i Blankenburgs nätverksmodell för utlandsetableringar undersöka hur Alfa Lavals etableringsprocess på den kinesiska marknaden och utvecklandet av lokala nätverk genomförts med hänsyn till guanxi. Etableringsprocessen på en främmande marknad underlättas av att det etablerande företaget har en välutvecklad existerande nätverkskontext samtidigt som de etablerar nya relationer till lokala aktörer på den främmande marknaden, vilket Blankenburg (1995) visar i de externa och interna etableringskrafterna i nätverksmodellen för utlandsetableringsprocessen.

Utfallet av studien visar att de externa etableringskrafterna varit mer pådrivande i Alfa Lavals etableringsprocess än de interna. Att Alfa Laval lyckats genomföra etableringen och utveckla lokala nätverk i Kina, trots att inte samtliga etableringskrafter verkat förstärkande, tror vi kan kopplas till den bransch Alfa Laval är verksamma inom. De har även insett det nödvändiga i att anställa kineser som har både kunskap om affärslivets komplexitet och kontakter på marknaden att utnyttja vilket också påverkat Alfa Lavals etablering positivt. Utifrån Alfa Lavals erfarenheter har guanxi påverkat deras etablering på den kinesiska marknaden och gör så fortfarande idag.

Do western management practices and beliefs and Chinese business practices complement or substitute each other in the emerging world of Chinese business? This thesis explores the interaction between two central ideas in western and Chinese thinking about the way business should be done ??? between the western emphasis on market orientation as the key to profitable growth, and the Chinese reliance on traditional networks embodied in the concept of guanxi. These two variables are embedded in a broader model of strategic decision making in order to identify moderating factors that may influence performance outcomes. Following pretests and in-depth interviews, in 2003 a sample of 152 businesses was drawn in Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang area from two industries, the electronics industry and the textile/garment industry. Low response rates and a small sample were two important limiting factors. Two broad analytical approaches were used. The first made use of graphical smoothing methodology, an approach that facilitates the identification of complex non-linear interactions among the variables. The second used Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) where a linear structure is imposed on the relationships among the variables, allowing simultaneous consideration of the full variable set together with an analysis of fit and measurement error, while the graphical smoothing non-linear method was effectively limited to three variables at a time. The graphical analysis suggested the existence of nonlinearities in many relationships, and found a positive interaction between guanxi and market orientation in influencing performance, and that both were in that sense complements rather than substitutes. The SEM analysis suggested that while there were some indirect links between guanxi, market orientation and performance, these were relatively weak, (although the use of guanxi with other managers was a factor in market orientation), and that the primary driver of performance was the strength of the competitive advantage possessed by the firm. This factor directly impacted market orientation, indirectly affected guanxi and accounted for much of the observed correlation between the two cultural variables, guanxi and market orientation, and performance.

This study examines the differential patterns of access to higher education of students from rural areas in transition from a planned to a market economy. In respect to college access, the research argues that market reforms have reproduced the advantages for students from the cadre’s and the professional’s families while simultaneously creating new opportunities for the children of the new arising economic elite. Yet, it has performed less for traditional peasant families whose children still fail to gain access to college in proportions higher than the size of the population. Based on the literature, this research places a special emphasis on how economic and cultural resources become the main influence on rural students? college access. The process dimension -- how families from different social backgrounds within rural society involve themselves in the schooling of their children and how this contributes to inequality of college access within rural society, are investigated. This research unpacks this process by examining the school involvement experiences of parents in Zong, a county located in the province of Anhui. Parental involvement is conceptualized in terms of how economic and cultural resources are converted to social capital as part of family strategies within the increasingly stratified social context of rural China. The research identifies the consequences of activating different types of social networks within family and community, and also between family and school to facilitate this process by gaining advantages in access to college. Household interviews and field notes were used as the main methods of data collection with a range of parents and teachers involved in this ethnographic study. The data analysis suggests that state, schools and teachers provide few formal and routine channels for rural parents to become involved in schooling. This raises the importance of family strategic initiatives to employ interpersonal social networks (guanxi) within family, community and between school and family. Parents from cadres and professional backgrounds are capable of maintaining these social networks that are useful for their children’s chances of entering higher education. Their counterparts from the new economic elites? backgrounds have developed the means to capitalize upon their families economic and cultural resources by converting them into social capital that creates advantages in college access for their children. Peasants, however, rely heavily on teachers and relatives in education and are substantially marginalized from those important interpersonal social networks of capital conversion. Although this research found the structure constrains interpersonal social network of peasant families, it also highlights the agency of parents from different families. For example, in some cases it found, that peasants actively use their kinships to create chances for school involvement to potentially improve the chances of their children’s college access. This research is one of the first empirical studies to inquire about the mechanism of capital conversion in affecting higher education opportunities in the post-socialist era, which will help to re-evaluate the influence of market reforms over rural education system in China.
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Education
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Doctor of Philosophy

Many scholars have addressed the important role that guanxi plays in the Chinese social-economic system. Guanxi is widely accepted in academia as an indigenous construct from China-deeply rooted in Chinese culture and reflected in the behaviour of Chinese people in both the social and institutional environment. During the growing globalisation of Chinese multinational companies, Chinese expatriates have increasingly taken up international assignments and inevitably carried Chinese guanxi to the host country. Research on guanxi in China has been intense. However, how the employees of Chinese multinational companies employ guanxi in the West, how Chinese expatriates develop and use guanxi in the host country, and how these behaviours affect their adjustment remain unclear. My dissertation contributes to this line of study in three ways. I first examined guanxi capitalism theoretically to highlight the features of China's economic system embedded deeply in its cultural-social-political environment and to explore how guanxi emerged, evolved, and subsequently dominated the economic system in China. Based on this analysis, I developed a conceptual framework of the "Guanxi capitalism structure" to illustrate the fundamental role of guanxi as the "invisible hand" in China. Next, I examined empirically how guanxi practice affects intra-firm multicultural group dynamics involving Chinese expatriates, host-country nationals, and host-country Chinese in Chinese multinationals. My study shows how expatriates actively practice guanxi with their homeland counterparts, but they do not do so with host-country nationals and host-country Chinese, and it explores the implications of these dynamics. Finally, I examined the impact of guanxi building on Chinese expatriate adjustment. Based on my analysis, I developed a process model that illuminates that guanxi development alters expatriates' adjustment curve significantly. My findings contribute more generally to shed light on cross-cultural management in terms of Chinese guanxi practice and the process of initiating, building, and utilizing guanxi in the Western context.

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Este estudo investiga o fenômeno da diáspora chinesa no estado de Pernambuco e tem como principal elemento de análise os possíveis processos de construção da identidade étnica dos integrantes desta heterogênea comunidade imigrante. A investigação etnográfica foi efetuada nas cidades de Recife, Olinda e Caruaru, mas precisamente em ambientes onde estes imigrantes convivem e desenvolvem, entre si e entre grupos sociais locais compostos por brasileiros, dinâmicas relacionadas a estratégias e à organização social de distintividades culturais: lojas de produtos importados nos Bairros de São José e Santo Antonio (Recife) e na “Feira do Paraguai” (Caruaru), restaurantes e lanchonetes chinesas em Recife e Olinda, dois consultórios de medicina tradicional chinesa, o Centro Cultural e Educacional Brasil China (CCEBC) e a Igreja Batista Emanuel no Recife e o Templo Budista FGS (Olinda). A partir dos dados, dos depoimentos coletados e da reflexão acerca de conceitos como capitalismo étnico, guanxi e modernidade alternativa, percebe-se que esses imigrantes, tanto da primeira quanto da segunda geração, constroem e vivenciam identificações étnicoculturais transnacionais que afetam a maneira como se reconhecem, se relacionam com os “outros”, interpretam os acontecimentos ao seu redor e os vivenciam em suas vidas cotidianas. Por fim, o estudo problematiza a hipótese de que tais identificações re-significam e redimensionam tensões culturais entre o Oriente e o Ocidente e evidenciam a necessidade de ampliar e relativizar visões a respeito do que seria “ser chinês” na contemporaneidade

Globalizationhas lead to a condition of an ever increasing role of the Multinational Corporations(MNCs) acting on the global arena. This development has further resulted in thecreation and wide recognition of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). WhileCSR is thought to enhance quality of life and promote human rights, at timesthe norms which is often referred to as universal and that are building up thefoundation of CSR clashes with culturally manifested practices. This study aimsat providing a discussion of how we can address CSR and thus norms consideredas universal when they clashes with practices regarded as culturally embedded.This study will conduct the practice of guanxi – a Chinese custom oftenconfused with corruption – and explore the possibility to think outside the boxby making use of postcolonial theory when approaching the problem of culturalrelativism, ethnocentrism and moral dilemmas.

Numerous popular business publications and academic literature have highlighted that the Chinese cultural phenomenon of guanxi has made noticeable impacts on the economic efficiency in China’s economic transition. Despite the pervasive belief of the significance of guanxi for facilitating Chinese business transaction, few empirical efforts have been dedicated to comprehensively investigate the dynamics of guanxi in the mainland Chinese business context. Specifically, there is a dearth of empirical evidence to support the anecdotal claims that the guanxi construct and the business strategy orientations are strategically collaborated with the vertical and the horizontal guanxi network, and these operations are influenced by the attributes of organizations and individuals. Consequently, the purpose of this research was to investigate the interactions between the guanxi construct and the business strategy orientation with the vertical and the horizontal guanxi network, as well as the moderating effects that the organizational properties and individual attributes have on the posited interactions.
A cross cultural study was conducted in six large coastal and inland cities of Guangzhou, Foshan, Xiamen, Kunming, Hefei and Dalian of mainland China. These six research cities are located in the five large provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, Yunnan, Anhui and Liaoning, which are geographically dispersed from southeastern, southwestern, northeastern to southern China. The six research cities, which were purposely selected across the ‘early’ to ‘late’ open economic regions, are the major centers of the five provinces that have embarked on a modernization policy and market liberalization of the Chinese economy while maintaining traditional values. This study was undertaken with 1033 Chinese business executives who were positioned at the top five senior managerial levels of 480 Chinese organizations across four major industrial fields in the six study cities. The four major industrial fields that were selected in this study were 1) Trading, 2) Building/Construction, 3) Manufacturing, and 4) Service. Although there has been extensive attention on the relevance of guanxi in a relationship based society of China (Gold et al. 2002), few empirical studies that have been conducted in the industrial sectors and across several regional locations that are enmeshed in the revitalization of the Chinese economy. Hence, it is claimed that this study is the first project of its kind that was implemented to empirically investigate the dynamics of guanxi amongst four industrial fields across six cities of mainland China.
The study respondents were senior business executives who have overall successful business and managerial careers in directing and developing businesses in mainland China. Many of them have traveled to Western countries frequently, and they possess extensive experience and proven records in global business dealings. More than half of the business executives had at least five years experience in their current industrial fields while nearly half had no less than five years experience in senior managerial levels. One third of the study organizations had existed for five to 10 years, while more than 30 percent of the study organizations had a longer history of more than ten years. And almost one third of the study organizations employed 100 to 500 people, while nearly 20 percent of the organizations have cadres of more than 500 employees. All of the study business executives completed a complex questionnaire for examining a model of the dynamics of guanxi in the business context. The questionnaire was comprised a total of 83 items. Demographic information was sought from the first 12 items of the questionnaire, and a further 72 items that were comprised in three interval instruments that were used to capture the perceptual data of the study.
The three interval instruments that were employed in this study included the guanxi construct, the business strategy orientation, and the guanxi network. The instrument of the guanxi construct was developed by two of the guanxi leading scholars (Wong & Leung 2001), and the scale of the guanxi network was developed by several well known guanxi researchers (Davies, Leung, Luk & Wong 1995). These instruments were deliberately chosen because they have shown acceptable psychometric properties (i.e. validity and reliability) in similar assessments, and thus, they were considered appropriated to be adapted and modified for the present study. The modification of these two instruments were undertaken after a systematically study of numerous leading publications pertaining Chinese culture and Chinese Values (e.g., Hofstede 1988; Redding 1990; Luo 2000; Seng & Lim 2004; Xin & Pearce 1996), and thorough consultations with several Chinese Professors of Economics as well as some prominent business people in mainland China. The instrument, which was employed to assess the business strategy orientation in this study, was developed by the researcher. This approach was carried out after a careful study of reputable academic journals and relevant literature (e.g., Aaker 1992; Barnett & Wilsted 1988; Digman 1986; Miles & Snow 1978; Porter 1980; 1985; Pearce & Robinson 1991; Rajagopalan 1997). The development of the instrument involved two separate empirical studies engaging 314 indigenous Chinese managers, who were exclusive of the 1033 study business executives of the main study, in a number of industrial domains in seven large cities of mainland China. In general, the inaugural established instrument of the business strategy orientation and the two adapted scales of guanxi construct and guanxi network were found to have acceptable internal consistencies.
A comprehensive pluralist methodology was applied to evaluate the hypotheses of this study. Relevant literature pertaining to the examined variables was reviewed. In light of the literature review, a number of hypotheses and a conceptual model were developed. A quantitative methodology was employed to assess the postulations and qualitative methodology was sought to provide explanations and clarifications of the results. This pluralist methodology is gaining currency in contemporary cross country research. A number of commentators (De Ruyter Moorman & Lemmink 2001; Pearson & Entrekin 1998; Zotteri & Verganti 2001) have contended that a richer and more trustworthy result is likely to be gained by simultaneously pursuing both a quantitative and a qualitative methodology. In total of 1313 questionnaires, which were administrated for completion over six weeks, a total of 1071 questionnaires were returned. However, 38 questionnaires were discarded due to incomplete information provided. The remaining 1033 useful questionnaires generated an overall response rate of 78.67 percent for the six research cities. Comparatively, the response rate of this survey is considerably higher than most of the earlier studies in guanxi research area. More importantly, the high response rate avoids the non response bias in results.
Several statistical analyses were employed to evaluate the data. For instance, exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis were used to assess the psychometric properties of the instruments. The results of psychometric assessments indicated that the scales had good validities and reliabilities, which had potential for robust results. In addition, correlation analysis was applied to evaluate the hypothesized bivariate correlations of the conceptual model. Path analysis was then utilized to test the hypotheses, which were postulated in Chapter Two. The results of path analysis demonstrated that certain facets of the guanxi construct had strong influence on the application of both of the vertical and the horizontal network, whereas particular business strategic approaches had intense interactions with the vertical and the horizontal guanxi network. Moreover, regression analysis was applied to further examine the hypothesized relationships of the conceptual model. The results of the regress analysis illustrated a substantial convergence with the results of path analysis. Furthermore, hierarchical multiple regression analysis was undertaken to determine the moderating effects that the organizational properties and personal attributes have on the hypothesized interactions between the guanxi construct and the business strategy orientation and the vertical and the horizontal guanxi network. The results of these analyses indicated that the attributes of organization and individual played significant moderating roles on a number of the tested correlations. Lastly, the analyses of T-test and ANOVA were employed to evaluate the extent of difference in the demographic elements and structure properties.
The results of these tests depicted that there was a considerable degree of consensus for all the tested variables of the study model across the demographic elements and structure properties. A salient feature of this study is the application of qualitative analysis to enhance the understanding of quantitative results. The researcher visited each of the six researched cities again to conduct focus group meetings, which were mainly held in the languages of Mandarin and Cantonese. Most of the meetings were approximately 90 to 120 minutes in duration. Focus group meetings that were conducted in the cities of Kunming, Foshan, Xiamen, Hefei and Dalian were videotaped and subsequently replicated into DVD plates, whilst feedback sections that were carried out in Guangzhou were completed recorded by written notes. A total of 90 business executives participated in 20 focus group meetings, which were recorded in Chinese and accredited English translations were subsequently arranged. The Chinese meeting record contains almost 160,000 words in 240 pages, and the English translation had 248 pages with approximately 100,000 words. General details of the focus group meetings are reported in Chapter Four.
The subjects that were discussed in the qualitative feedback sessions mainly encompassed six aspects. First, respondents’ comprehension of the instruments and the suitability of the scales employed in this study were discussed. Second, the results of factor and reliability analyses, particularly relating to some certain emerged patterns and the dimensionalities of instruments were elucidated. Third, extensive comments about the empirical findings in relation to the correlations that were predicted in the studied model and the unexpected relationships were sought, and clarifications to the phenomena caused were also documented. Fourth, the outputs of the analyses of T-test, ANOVA, path analysis, and regression for descriptive statistic and correlation were discussed. Finally, opinions on the discovery of the moderating effects that the moderating variables had on the tested relationships were attained and elucidation to the results were clarified. In general, the qualitative analytical results have broadly enriched the comprehension to the quantitative findings. With extensive reference to the contribution of the 90 business executives in the qualitative analytical sections, a lengthy discussion of the results of the study is elucidated. Following the discussion of results, an outline of the key findings of this research is presented in Chapter Five.
A number of theoretical and practical contributions have constructed in this study. The first theoretical contribution of this study is an advancement of the currently available knowledge relating to the operations amongst the guanxi construct with the vertical and the horizontal guanxi network, as well as the interactions between the business strategy orientation with the vertical and the horizontal guanxi network in the business context. A second theoretical contribution of the study is to evaluate Western based theoretical notions in a non Western context. Next, evaluation of the study model has the potential to make further theoretical contribution in terms of enhancing the understanding of Multi National Companies (MNCs) and overseas investors on the imperativeness of the cultural phenomenon of guanxi. The first practical contribution is the investigation of the moderating effects that the attributes of organizations and individuals have on the relationships between the guanxi construct and the business strategy orientation with the vertical and the horizontal guanxi network has significant potential to make contribution to international management in an Asian context. Moreover, the inaugural developed seven point Likert scale instrument for assessing the business strategy orientation in the Chinese business organization is likely to facilitate practical contribution to the development of an universal scale. A further practical contribution is to provide a greater comprehensive insight of the dynamics of guanxi in the business context, which would be beneficial to overseas investors and MNCs when they explore their possible Chinese business ventures. Implications of the findings for business practitioners and the theory developments are comprehensively documented in Chapter Six.
This research has merged two salient concluding observations. Firstly, it highlighted the importance of the application of a pluralist methodology in implementing cross cultural studies. The findings of this study suggested that the qualitative investigation technique is essential to capture information that was not attainable through the quantitative assessments and that the qualitative dimension complements the quantitative results. In addition, an extended remark in relation to sampling method was offered for further research in mainland China. Preferably, the guanxi ideology is more practical than the Western traditional ‘mail out’ system when conducting a comprehensive survey in China. Especially, guanxi plays a significant role in attaining genuine and liberated comments for qualitative analysis. Secondly, the results of this study suggested that the global environment has reshaped the quality and mindset of Chinese people and this has resulted in the substantial consensus in conceptualizing the theories of the present study. The salient observations and suggestions for future research are discussed in Chapter Six.

China has blossomed from going from one of the poorest economies to a financial leader. The private consumption in China has grown 8,3% annually the last two decades. The dining out expenditures have grown 10,2%, and is an exciting market for foreign entrepreneurs to establish themselves in. Previous research has suggested that foreign Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises should join forces with a Chinese counterpart in order to get access to market experience and network contacts, in order to succeed in the Chinese market (Wilson and Brennan, 2003). Deng (2001) claims that the most popular investment vehicle Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise increases in popularity among all company sizes.   This dissertation aims to investigate to which extent MSME foreign entrepreneurs use networking and guanxi, depending on ownership registration. A qualitative research method was used with an abductive approach and an interpretivist research philosophy to explore this phenomenon. The results of this thesis show that foreign entrepreneurs can start up successfully both as WFOEs and JVs. WFOEs and JVs share many of the same contacts, but networking activities and usage of guanxi has some influencing factors. The Registration Status of company influence strategic networking decisions, the perception and expectation of the nature and benefits of guanxi and perceived necessity of gift giving also affected the networking activities.  JV owners perceive guanxi contacts to be necessary to succeed in China and finds cultivation and utilization of it to be beneficial.  Entrepreneurs who establish Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprises both use and have a more “Western” approach to social networking, and almost exclusively don’t have guanxi contacts. The Investment Vehicle Network Scheme shows that JVs have more complex networks than WFOE, since they receive Chinese guanxi and networking contacts through their partners. The Guanxi Network Ownership Model shows the network intensity during the startup phases of the companies. The research also indicates that guanxi smoothens out the start-up process for the entrepreneurs who enter JVs.

This paper will display a comparative analysis on how one culture is viewed, differently and similarly, by two other cultures, and how such perceptions impact on cross-cultural management. Hofstede’s (1980) studies on culture dimensions are incorporated substan-tially in the research, nevertheless, his assumption that culture is apprehended universal-ly will be refuted. The contribution of this research is that it is based on the presump-tion that culture will be viewed divergently by people of different cultural backgrounds, by employing a triangular comparison among three countries; Sweden, Australia and China.Whilst working in China, expatriates will encounter Chinese social values of guanxi and mianzi, which are terms well imprinted within the Chinese culture. Guanxi deals with how people in China establish, handle and maintain interpersonal relationships. Mianzi is a term for describing how Chinese preserve their pride and honour in social situa-tions. The concepts will be employed when conducting the comparisons of Australian and Swedish expatriate managers’ interpretations on the two respectively. Findings were qualitatively collected by interviewing expatriates from Australia and Sweden, to-gether with the theoretical framework, combined in a triangular analysis. It was con-cluded that the young Australian entrepreneurs scrutinized guanxi and mianzi in a more critical manner in comparison to the elder Swedish managers, who had a more neutral approach towards the Chinese social values.

Dissertação de Mestrado em Relações Internacionais
Após o seu handover em 1999, Macau viu-lhe atribuída a missão de operar como plataforma entre a China e os Países de Língua Portuguesa (PLPs). Sob a atenta orientação de Pequim, a sua vocação histórica, lusófona e multicultural surge coadunada com a estratégia chinesa de going out, que tem procurado transformar a região num centro de serviços e de formação de talentos bilingues. Portugal representa neste contexto um velho conhecido e amigo, tendo do seu lado não apenas o vetor da cultura e da língua, mas também o vetor dos afetos. Uma vez colocada no horizonte da sua política externa mais premente a relação com o mundo de expressão portuguesa, importa assim compreender a posição tomada no apoio à concretização desses objetivos, também eles de interesse estratégico no âmbito da sua afirmação internacional. A presente dissertação propõe, por isso, analisar o papel do nosso país na promoção da sua diplomacia cultural no território entre 2009 e 2019 via três significativos organismos: o Instituto Português do Oriente (IPOR), a Escola Portuguesa de Macau (EPM) e o Consulado-Geral de Portugal em Macau e Hong Kong. A partir de uma abordagem teórica construtivista fundamentada na importância das ideias, identidades e normas no processo de tomada de decisões e posicionamento dos Estados, foram delineadas várias pistas no sentido de melhor compreendermos a atuação portuguesa. Conclui-se que a sua participação, não obstante os esforços positivos das instituições referidas, permanece pouco desenvolvida e dependente das iniciativas locais e chinesas.
Following its handover in 1999, Macao has been given the mission of operating as a platform between China and the Portuguese speaking countries. Under the close orientation of Beijing, its historical, lusophone and multicultural vocations emerge aligned with the Chinese strategy of going out, which has been attempting to transform the region into a service and bilingual talent training center. In this context, Portugal represents an old acquaintance and friend, having on its side not only the vector of a shared culture and language, but the one of affection as well. Having placed on its most pressing foreign policy horizon the relationship with the Portuguese speaking world, it matters thus understand its position towards the concretization of those goals, also strategic to its international assertation. Therefore, this dissertation proposes to analyze our country’s role in promoting its cultural diplomacy in the territory from 2009 to 2019 via three significant organisms: the Instituto Português do Oriente (IPOR), the Escola Portuguesa de Macau and the Consulate General of Portugal in Macao and Hong Kong. From a constructivist theoretical approach grounded in the importance of the ideas, identities and norms in the decision-making processes and State standing in the world affairs, several leads have been raised for a better understanding of the Portuguese behavior. This study concludes that, regardless the previously mentioned institutions’ positive efforts, Portugal’s participation remains limited and dependent on the local and Chinese initiatives.
Fundação Macau
N/A

This thesis provides a political economic analysis of the development of corporate governance in China. This research focuses on the corporate governance of the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in China, and analyzes the dynamic changes of social relationships within the corporate field. It highlights the importance of cultural logic behind different types of social relationships and takes the changes of structure of social relationships as the process and consequences of cultural struggle. Guanxi has important influence within Chinese society by engaging individuals into the embedded social networks so that governance within many Chinese corporate organizations is achieved by following its own cultural logic. The mainstream theory of corporate governance developed in the West does not fit with the social reality in China. But the development of capitalistic economy in China has broken the historical social relationships and demanded the capitalistic corporate governance. As fundamentally the reflection of capitalistic cultural logic, the mainstream theory of corporate governance satisfies the requirement of capital power and helps legitimize the capitalistic governance so that the consent to guanxi-based governance could be replaced with the consent to capitalistic governance. This thesis analyses the transformation process under the framew ork of the corporate field and points out that the present is a critical period for many SMEs in China in that the breaking of historical social relationships is leading to the struggle for hegemony between the capitalistic cultural logic, on the one hand, and the regeneration of guanxi among the workers within that same corporate field, on the other.

“关系”是中国社会特有的一种现象，由于外力的影响，特别是自一九七八年中国改革开放以来，根植于集体主义社会的“关系”正越来越多地进入全球商业市场。了解“关 系”显然很重要，虽然如此，之前的许多研究都因循著名的 Mayfair Yang /Guthrie的观点。“关系”的演变以及它对年轻一代是否仍然重要，却不常被研究。这也是为什么这篇文章研究的目的定为“关系的重要性和实践在现代中国改变了吗?”     多年来，关系在中国社会一直起着作用，在毛泽东时代，许多人会利用关系来获得额外的衣服和食物，在 80到 90年代，关系更多的被用来获取护照或者许可证等等。中国改革开放后的 40年，了解人际关系在中国商业市场中的作用和表现，以及背后的驱动，不仅对西方，而且对所有西方和东方经济体的意义都显得更加重要。     本文的研究分为两部分: 1.关系对年轻一代仍然重要吗? 2. 在商业交往中，关系实践有哪些变化?         为了回答这两个问题，本文采用了定性研究的方法，通过问题设计和深度访谈获取样本进行分析。 在研究中，邀请了来自不同领域的五名管理人员进行访谈， 在选择访谈对象的过程中尽可能提高样本的多样性，因此 5 位访谈的采访对象来自不同的年 龄组/背景/职位。其中一人曾在政府部门工作，另外四人来自于 b2b商业公司。研究结果发现，受社会经济环境和技术等外部因素的影响，年轻一代仍然重视关系，因为关系有可能改善他们的职业发展。然而，关系的变化也是惊人的，关系的概念产生于集体主义社会，但是关系现在的形式正转变为更适合与西方相似的个体主义的商业世界。     现在的关系大多追求短期利益，缺乏信任，更多人开始把关系当作一种资产，对企业或个人的资产。但这并不是说，在现代中国社会没有长期的关系。虽然这项研究尽量做到样本多样化，但也存在一定的局限，其中之一是受访者不多，如果采访的数量更多，可能会有更多的证据，比如可以观察访者不同的人口背景进行分类，然后分类比较不同群体之间的差异。

碩士
淡江大學
管理科學學系
89
This research tries to explore managers'' perception towards guanxi based on how it was constructed. Specifically, the relationship between various dimensions of guanxi construction and managers’ perception of guanxi is investigated. Fruthermore, the relationship between the perceptual map of guanxi and managers’ decision-making results is also examined in this study. Scenario design is used to collect the data and test the following hypotheses: 1.The higher the managers’ initiation of building guanxi, the higher the managers’ long-term orientation towards building guanxi. 2.The higher the managers’ long-term orientation towards building guanxi, the more extent to which managers would provide relational mark-down (RMD) in decision-making. 3.The higher the managers’ long-term orientation towards building guanxi, the less extent to which managers would ask for compensatory mark-up (CMU) in decision-making. 4.The higher the managers’ initiation of building guanxi, the higher the possibility for managers to perceive members included in quanxi as insiders. 5.The higher the possibility for managers to perceive members included in quanxi as insiders, the more extent to which managers would provide relational mark-down (RMD) in decision-making. 6.The higher the possibility for managers to perceive members included in quanxi as insiders, the less extent to which managers would ask for compensatory mark-up (CMU) in decision-making. Regression analysis and path analysis are employed to analyze the data. Results partially support both hypotheses. Implications for future research and business practices are discussed.

The objective of this study is to understand how important guanxi is for the business development of enterprises, located in mainland China, and what its potential future tendencies may be. This study analyses how guanxi plays a role in business development, focusing specifically on: its importance; the reasons for its use; the relationship between guanxi base and guanxi network; and an explanation of its progress and potential future role, within mainland China. Detailed and personal interviews were carried out with senior managers working in mainland China. The study’s sample consisting of thirteen senior business development managers working for different enterprises in various sectors. Motives for justifying use of guanxi have become more sophisticated, due to changes in the Chinese mindset and a gradual institutional shift in mainland China. Social networking is re-defining the limits of guanxi network and as a result, business relationships are easily built and the exchange of information, with Chinese business professionals, who have not established a prior physical business relationship, has increased. Unethical guanxi practice is filtering out of the contemporary guanxi network as a result of China’s improved institutions.
O objetivo deste estudo é compreender a importância de guanxi para o desenvolvimento de negócio das empresas localizadas na China continental, e quais serão as suas possíveis tendências futuras. Este estudo analisa como guanxi desempenha uma função no desenvolvimento de negócios, com especial foco na sua importância, nas razões para o seu uso, na relação entre a base guanxi e rede guanxi, e uma explicação do seu progresso e potencial futuro papel, dentro da China continental. Entrevistas detalhadas e pessoais foram realizadas com gerentes sénior que exercem a sua actividade na China continental. A amostra do estudo foi composta por treze gerentes sénior de desenvolvimento de negócios, a trabalhar para diferentes empresas, em diversos setores. Motivos para justificar a utilização de guanxi tornaram-se mais sofisticados, devido às mudanças na mentalidade chinesa e a uma mudança institucional gradual na China continental. A rede social está a redefinir os limites da rede guanxi e, como resultado, as relações comerciais são facilmente construídas e a troca de informações, que não tenham estabelecido uma relação de negócios física antes, com profissionais de negócios chineses, tem vindo a aumentar. Prática guanxi antiético está a filtrar-se para fora da rede guanxi contemporânea, como resultado das melhores estruturas das instituições chinesas.

碩士
國立政治大學
國際經營管理英語碩士學位學程(IMBA)
99
Japan’s sogo shosha institutions and South Korea’s chonghap sangsa are among the top trading companies in the world. Along with other players in the international market, they have significantly contributed to the expansion of trade and to the economic development of their countries. In countries like Taiwan, Japan and Korea, trading companies were part of the driving force that propelled their global economic effort and they were an integral part of the economic miracles that transformed their economies forever. International trade benefits countries by improving the living standard of the population, lower prices for consumers, improved efficiency in production and a greater variety of goods. This business plan is focused on analyzing the feasibility of Guanxi Trading LLC, an export trading (ETC) company based in Honduras, with efforts oriented toward boosting the Honduran economy by trading with Taiwan. In doing so, it intends to replicate the success of trading companies worldwide in improving the economies of their nations. By trading with Taiwan, Guanxi Trading LLC also aims to enter the rising Asian market and increase its global presence in hope of helping in the development of the Honduran economy.

博士
國立東華大學
企業管理學系
95
In a relationship-oriented Chinese society, it is quite important concerning how to create and apply the relationship to individuals and organizations. “Guanxi” applied by the academic research aimed at distinguishing the special cognition between the concept of “Guanxi” to the Oriental society and that of “relationship” to the Western society. “Guanxi” has a profound influence over Oriental culture, and it is discussed in the areas of anthropology, sociology, and management. However, in the empirical research, the Guanxi effect is often measured by relationship tie. More complete and concrete measures are needed. The exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were executed to form the Perceived Guanxi. The constructs of the perceived Guanxi contain ethical codes, reciprocity, and renging-mianzi. Additionally, reciprocity significantly positive impact costomer loyalty and relational benfits can mediate the effect of reciprocity on costomer loyalty. Finally, the study also provides some suggestions for the management policies and academic implications for the future research.