This paper explores expatriates’ ethical evaluations of and responses to guanxi in China through the lens of integrative social contracts theory. We conducted in-depth interviews with 14 expatriate managers who had spent, on average, 6.5 years working and living in China. Based on the content analysis of these interviews, we identified two different uses of guanxi: defensive and competitive. In general, the respondents found defensive guanxi moral in the Chinese context, while they considered competitive guanxi immoral. Based on our findings, (...) we identified fair competition as the substantive hypernorm that governed most respondents’ ethical evaluations of guanxi. The study has implications for all scholars who seek to utilize integrative social contracts theory to study the relationship between informal networks and corruption in developing countries. (shrink)

The importance of personal connections and relationships, or guanxi when doing business with the Chinese is widely acknowledged amongst Western academics and business managers alike. However, aspects of guanxi-rehted behaviours in the workplace are often misunderstood by Westerners with some going so far as to equate guanxi with forms of corruption. This study extends earlier study of Tan and Snell: 2002, Journal of Business Ethics 41 (December), 361-384) in its investigation of the underlying modes of moral reasoning in ethical decisions (...) relating to aspects of guanxi, amongst Hong Kong managers. Managers' ethical judgements and underlying moral reasoning relating to a series of guanxi related behaviours were recorded. Content analysis yielded categories that correspond with categories of moral reasoning described in Kohlberg's (1969, Handbook of Socialization Theory and Research, Rand McNally, Chicago, pp. 347-480) model. As hypothesised, it was found that harsher ethical evaluations of guanxi-vehted behaviours were positively correlated with the stage of moral reasoning. The most common types of reasoning were those corresponding to Kohlberg's stages four and five which relate to moral reasoning based on law and order, and on reason rather than emotion. Stage 6, concerned with more universalistic approaches to moral reasoning, was utilised considerably less, consistent with popularly held beliefs of the relativistic nature of Chinese ethics. (shrink)

In the People’s Republic of China (PRC), we investigated the relationships between supervisor–subordinate guanxi and trust in supervisor in firms with different types of ownership from both supervisor and subordinate’s sides. Utilising a qualitative approach, the findings of this study showed there was a direct relationship of superior–subordinate guanxi on trust in supervisor. The findings were discussed in the theoretical context of—social exchange theory, social identity theory and the theory of reasoned action as the theoretical foundations on the relationships between (...) superior–subordinate guanxi and trust in supervisor. (shrink)

In light of the considerable disparity in the thinking patterns between Western and Chinese societies, this study seeks to develop a better comprehension of the influences of traditional Chinese cultural elements on knowledge management practices within contemporary Taiwanese society. To this end, the research draws on the concepts of “guanxi” based on the embeddedness theory concept through the lens of employees’ happiness. A qualitative case study was conducted within a virtual team ), and data were collected from both observations and (...) 36 interviewees. Based on the resulting analysis, the findings show that individuals’ knowledge-sharing behavior results from a complex interplay of a sense of well-being, guanxi, and the Chinese culture rooted within such organizations. The study provides a significant insight into the cultural implications of KM strategies and offers valuable advice for knowledge managers within the context of Taiwanese society. (shrink)