Guanxi and business / Yadong Luo.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Luo, Yadong.

Series:

Asia-Pacific business series ; vol. 1.

Asia-Pacific business series ; vol. 1

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Industrial sociology--China.

Industrial sociology.

Business networks.

Business enterprises--Corrupt practices.

Business enterprises.

China.

Corporate culture--China.

Corporate culture.

Interpersonal relations--China.

Interpersonal relations.

Business enterprises--Corrupt practices--China.

Business networks--China.

Physical Description:

xiii, 342 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Singapore ; River Edge, N.J. : World Scientific, [2000]

Summary:

Guanxi (interpersonal relationship) is one of the major dynamics of Chinese society. It has been a pervasive part of the Chinese business world for the last few centuries. It binds literally millions of Chinese firms into a social and business web. It is widely recognized to be a key determinant of business performance, because the life-blood of the macro economy and micro business conduct in the society, including local firms as well as foreign investors and marketers, inevitably faces guanxi dynamics. No company can go far unless it has extensive guanxi in this setting. In China's new, fast-paced business environment, guanxi has been more entrenched than ever, heavily influencing Chinese social behavior and business practice.

Despite the current academic and practical interest in guanxi, there is no book-length treatment systematically and vigorously exploring the concept and practice from the business perspective. This book fills that gap by exploring the various social economic cultural, and business issues relating to the complex concept and practice of guanxi.

Contents:

1 Definition, Principles, and Philosophy of Guanxi 1

1.1 Concepts 1

Basis for Guanxi Establishment 4

Modes 7

1.4 Guanxi in Social Life 20

1.5 Gifts, Bribes, and Guanxi 26

1.6 Importance in the Future 31

1.7 Theoretical Directions 33

1.8 Practical Examples 36

Minicase 1 Guanxi is his Middle Name 36

Minicase 2 A Smuggler with Guanxi 37

2 Economic Perspective of Guanxi 41

2.1 Economic Rationale of Guanxi 41

Social Capital 41

Economic Necessity 43

Economic Idiom 49

2.2 Guanxi versus Western Networks 50

2.3 Guanxi as a Critical Capability 52

2.4 Business Implications 57

2.5 The Use of Guanxi by Overseas Chinese 61

Economic Perspectives 62

Cultural Perspective 66

Minicase 1 The New China Hong Kong Group on the Mainland 69

Minicase 2 Guanxi: The First Step in Any China Venture 72

Minicase 3 Business Connections by Big Six Accounting Firms 74

3 Guanxi and Firm Performance 79

3.2 Guanxi and Performance 82

Guanxi with Other Businesses 82

Guanxi with Government Officials 84

Market versus Financial Performance 85

Necessary versus Sufficient Condition 86

Empirical Evidence 88

3.3 Managerial Implications 90

Minicase 1 Acer in China 92

Minicase 2 AgriGlobal in China 95

Minicase 3 Dell Strengthens Guanxi with its Customers 97

Minicase 4 Chase Capital uses Guanxi to Expand its Asian Business 98

Minicase 5 Valuing Connections for Hong Kong's Red Chips 100

4 Organizational Dynamics and Guanxi 105

4.1 Guanxi as Inter-organizational Network 105

4.2 Organizational Dynamics and Guanxi 109

Institutional Factors 111

Ownership Structure 111

Location 112

Strategic Factor 113

Strategic Orientation 113

Organizational Factors 115

Organizational Size 115

Length Of Operation 118

4.3 Empirical Evidence 121

4.4 Practical Examples 123

Minicase 1 Does Guanxi Matter in KFC? 123

Operations in China 124

Guanxi Relations 124

Minicase 2 Why is Shanghai Volkswagen Successful? 126

Minicase 3 Guanxi used by Sony 130

5 Guanxi-based Business Strategies 135

5.1 Guanxi-based Business Strategies 135

5.2 Impact Of Guanxi-based Business Strategies 138

5.3 Managerial Implications 141

Minicase 1 Sony in China 143

Minicase 2 AST Owes as much to People Connections as to Electrical Ones 145

Minicase 3 Dell in China 147

Minicase 4 CSI in China 150

Minicase 5 Selling in China 153

Minicase 6 Charoen Pokphand in China 155

6 Foreign Businesses and Guanxi 159

6.1 Foreign Businesses in China 159

6.2 Guanxi and Foreign Businesses 175

Partner Effect 175

Origin Effect 176

Length Effect 177

Size Effect 177

Empirical Evidence 178

6.3 Implications and Examples 179

Minicase 1 Hewlett-Packard's Initiatives to Build Up Guanxi 180

Minicase 2 Toyota in China 184

Minicase 3 NEC in China 188

Minicase 4 Boeing in China 192

7 Business Implications of Corruption 195

7.1 Nature of Corruption 195

Differences Between Corruption and Guanxi 199

7.2 Corruption in China 202

Current Situation 202

Types and Reasons 206

7.3 Economics of Corruption 211

7.4 Business Implications of Corruption 218

Corruption as an Evolutionary Hazard 219

Corruption as a Strategic Impediment 221

Corruption as a Competitive Disadvantage 222

Corruption as an Organizational Deficiency 223

7.5 Practical Examples 224

Minicase 1 Corruption in Yuxi Cigarette 224

Minicase 2 Bribe with Care 230

Minicase 3 Rough Justice 231

Minicase 4 Zhu's Hatchet Man in Guangdong 234

Minicase 5 Anti-corruption by Shell 237

Winning Over Hearts and Minds 239

Inter-company Corruption 241

A Worthy Fight 242

8 Practical Guidelines to Guanxi Cultivation 245

8.1 Constructing your own Guanxi Network 245

8.2 Utilizing Intermediaries 248

8.3 Searching for the Right People 249

8.4 Implanting Individual Guanxi into Organizations 251

8.5 Hiring Locals and Dispatching Ethnic Chinese 251

8.6 Monitoring Guanxi within an Organization 253

8.7 Maintaining Guanxi Relations 254

8.8 Improving Credibility 255

Minicase 1 GM in Shanghai 257

Minicase 2 Xian-Janssen 261

Minicase 3 Motorola in China 264

Minicase 4 Solving Staffing Problems 267

Minicase 5 Joint-venture Mode and Guanxi 270

Minicase 6 "Guanxi" Man Smooths Road to China 274

1 Summary of Anti-Corruption and Anti-Bribery Laws and Rules in China 275

2 Summary of Anti-Corruption and Anti-Bribery Laws and Rules in the United States 284

3 Transnational Cooperation in Combating Corruption and Bribery 293

4 OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions 304.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 315-325) and index.

ISBN:

9810241143

OCLC:

43569582