Guanxi, Networks and Economic Development: The Impact of Cultural Connections
01 Jan 2013-
TL;DR: In this article, the authors 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.
Abstract: 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.
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TL;DR: The authors explored the history of early-modern and modern China, from the seventeenth century to the present, examining the rise and fall of China's last empire, the emergence of a modern nation-state, the sources and development of revolution, and the implications of complex social, political, cultural, and economic transformations in the People's Republic of China.
Abstract: This course explores the history of early-modern and modern China, from the seventeenth century to the present. We will examine the rise and fall of China’s last empire, the emergence of a modern nation-state, the sources and development of revolution, and the implications of complex social, political, cultural, and economic transformations in the People’s Republic of China. Course materials include scholarly monographs, a memoir, primary sources, and visual and material artifacts that offer diverse perspectives. We will meet twice a week for a combination of lectures, discussion, and viewing of visual texts.
339 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1982
TL;DR: This paper analyzed Chinese commercial negotiating practices for two reasons: the first is to minimize future misunderstandings in such activities, and the second is to provide guidance for government-to-government negotiations.
Abstract: Abstract : This study analyzes Chinese commercial negotiating practices for two reasons. The first is to minimize future misunderstandings in such activities, and the second is to provide guidance for government-to-government negotiations. The research procedure used involved interviews with American businessmen and bankers with extensive experience in the China trade, and--in order to control for American cultural factors--interviews with comparable Japanese bankers and businessmen. What was learned from the experiences of businessmen is to value in government-to-government negotiations, even though there are substantial differences between commercial and diplomatic relationships. At present both Beijing and Washington seek a more cooperative and complementary relationship. (Author)
213 citations
TL;DR: The rational choice approach to social behaviour rationality, egoism and social atomism models of the actor rationality, action and deliberation individualism, and social structure was proposed in this article.
Abstract: The rational choice approach to social behaviour rationality, egoism and social atomism models of the actor rationality, action and deliberation individualism and social structure.
154 citations
TL;DR: A comprehensive critical examination of China's folk architectural forms is presented in this article, where the authors provide a study of the environmental, historical and social factors that influence housing forms for nearly a quarter of the world's population.
Abstract: A comprehensive critical examination of China's folk architectural forms. Together with its companion volume, \"China's Living Houses: Folk Beliefs, Symbols, and Household Ornamentation\", it provides a study of the environmental, historical and social factors that influence housing forms for nearly a quarter of the world's population. Both books draw on the author's 30 years of fieldwork and travel in China, as well as on published and unpublished material in many languages. The work begins by tracing the interest in Chinese vernacular buildings in the 20th century. Early chapters detail common and distinctive spatial components, including the interior and exterior modular spaces that are axiomatic components of most Chinese dwellings as well as conventional structural components and building materials that are common in Chinese construction. Later chapters examine representative housing types in the three broad cultural realms - northern, southern and western - into which China has been divided. Knapp completes his survey with an exploration of China's old dwellings in the context of the rapid economic and social changes that are destroying so many of them.
50 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, Li et al. reclassified Guanxi into obligatory, reciprocal, and utilitarian types at the individual level as a means to clarify the confusion brought above from previous studies, and provided a conceptual framework in which to systematically characterize the link between Guanxi at individual level and organizational dynamics.
Abstract: Guanxi in China is a very ancient concept embedded in the Confucian concept of life and one that is a ‚hot' topic in that it is currently attracting increasing attention from both Western and Chinese scholars. One aspect of Guanxi which has been the subject of most of the research of late is the influence of Guanxi on firm performance. However, relatively few studies have examined how Guanxi at the individual level is transferred into a firm to influence its financial performance. This study first reclassifies Guanxi into obligatory, reciprocal, and utilitarian types at the individual level as a means to clarifying the confusion brought above from previous studies. It then provides a conceptual framework in which to systematically characterize the link between Guanxi at the individual level and organizational dynamics: that is, how is Guanxi at the individual level shifted to a firm and how does it affect organizational dynamics of that firm at the organizational level. Finally, it provides a deeper understanding of the financial implications of Guanxi to business firms in China.
216 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1982
TL;DR: This paper analyzed Chinese commercial negotiating practices for two reasons: the first is to minimize future misunderstandings in such activities, and the second is to provide guidance for government-to-government negotiations.
Abstract: Abstract : This study analyzes Chinese commercial negotiating practices for two reasons. The first is to minimize future misunderstandings in such activities, and the second is to provide guidance for government-to-government negotiations. The research procedure used involved interviews with American businessmen and bankers with extensive experience in the China trade, and--in order to control for American cultural factors--interviews with comparable Japanese bankers and businessmen. What was learned from the experiences of businessmen is to value in government-to-government negotiations, even though there are substantial differences between commercial and diplomatic relationships. At present both Beijing and Washington seek a more cooperative and complementary relationship. (Author)
213 citations
Book•
31 Dec 1999
TL;DR: Wang et al. as discussed by the authors studied the role of local government in creating property rights in the Chinese economy and showed that local institutions and the transformation of property rights can be traced back to the formation of shareholding cooperatives.
Abstract: 1. Property rights in the Chinese economy: contours of the process of change Andrew G. Walder and Jean C. Oi Part I. Enterprise Ownership in Village Communities: 2. Collective enterprise and property rights in a Sichuan village: the rise and decline of managerial corporatism Gregory A. Ruf 3. Local institutions and the transformation of property rights in Southern Fujian Chih-Jou Jay Chen 4. The role of local government in creating property rights: a comparison of two townships in Northwest Yunnan Xiaolin Guo 5. The evolution of property rights in village enterprises: the case of Wuxi Kung James Kai-Sing Kung Part II. Rural Shareholding Reforms and Their Impact: 6. Shareholding cooperatives: a property rights analysis Eduard B. Vermeer 7. Local elites as officials and owners: shareholding and property rights in Daqiuzhuang Nan Lin and Chih-Jou Jay Chen 8. The regional evolution of ownership forms: shareholding cooperatives and rural industry in Shanghai and Wenzhou Susan H. Whiting Part III. The Transformation of Public Property in the Urban Economy: 9. Backyard profit centers: the private assets of public agencies Yi-Min Lin and Zhanxin Zhang 10. Bargained property rights: the case of China's high-technology sector Corinna-Barbara Francis 11. Producing property rights: strategies, networks, and efficiency in urban China's nonstate firms David L. Wank Notes Index.
209 citations
Book•
01 Jan 2004
TL;DR: In this article, an explosion of corruption in Mainland China is discussed and the problems of routine anticorruption enforcement are discussed, as well as institutional designs for clean government.
Abstract: Acknowledgments 1. Anticorruption Reform in a Setting of Widespread Corruption 2. Corruption and Anticorruption Reform in Hong Kong 3. An Explosion of Corruption in Mainland China 4. Problems of Routine Anticorruption Enforcement 5. Anticorruption Campaigns as Enforcement Mechanisms 6. Institutional Designs for Clean Government Notes Works Cited Index
207 citations
204 citations
"Guanxi, Networks and Economic Devel..." refers background in this paper
...Consequently, established values coincide with rational choice theory to explain the psychological mechanisms that drive rationality (Heath 1976, 64; Coleman 1990, 292-299; Granovetter 1985; Moody 2008, 96-97, 100; also see Parsons, Bales and Shils 1953)....
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...That is, individuals anticipate outcomes based on choices, then calculate the best possible outcome in anticipation of a specific goal with utility maximization and self-interest as primary objectives (Heath 1976, 3; Carling 1992, 27; Steinbruner 1974, 8; Coleman 1973)....
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