Explaining Guanxi: The Chinese Business Network

by Walker; Anthony

• ISBN13: 9780415384179
• ISBN10: 0415384176
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-02-14
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Guanxi can be roughly translated as personal ties, but the simplicity of this definition belies the complex nuances invoked by the word and the profound influences it has on Chinese business life. Although it is a widely recognized concept in both business and academia, there is relatively little published which aims to provide a thorough explanation (rather than simply a description) of its economic and social origins and thereby its real meaning in business life today. China will be the world's leading economic force for many years and will soon be its largest economy. The demand for knowledge of how the Chinese operate from businessmen and academics working in the field is huge and will continue to grow. Guanxi is an enormous force underpinning the way in which the Chinese conduct themselves and do business. The more others understand guanxi, the greater advantage they will have in dealing with China. The book will therefore be a valuable addition to our growing Asian Business list meetingboth student and professional needs.

Author Biography

Anthony Walker is Professor Emeritus in Real Estate and Construction at the University of Hong Kong.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgements	xi
What is guanxi?	1	(20)
Guanxi introduced	1	(7)
Initiating, developing and maintaining guanxi	8	(7)
What does guanxi provide?	15	(2)
Trust	17	(4)
Explaining guanxi	21	(29)
A Chinese culture perspective	23	(11)
An organizational institutionalist explanation	34	(8)
Economic explanations	42	(8)
Analysing guanxi	50	(27)
The choice-theoretic approach	50	(6)
A multidisciplinary analysis	56	(2)
The guanxi puzzle	58	(4)
Guanxi technology	62	(15)
The influence of Chinese culture	77	(24)
Culture's ability to constrain behaviour in general	78	(5)
Chinese culture defined	83	(1)
Confucianism	83	(10)
The constraint of Confucian culture on guanxi behaviour	93	(3)
Government inculcation of Confucianism in imperial China	96	(5)
The influence of law in imperial China	101	(13)
Law as a practical expedience	101	(5)
Confucian and legalist orientation of the law	106	(4)
Officials' lack of resources and incentive	110	(1)
The problem of the courts	111	(3)
The rationality of the traditional Chinese legal and cultural systems	114	(14)
The constraints of transaction costs on the emperors' ruling style	119	(5)
The monopolistic position of the Chinese imperial state	124	(2)
The efficiency of the traditional system	126	(2)
The future of guanxi	128	(27)
Guanxi: persistence and change	128	(4)
The Chinese state now	132	(7)
Cultural change	139	(3)
The pressure for more formalism	142	(1)
In conclusion	143	(12)
Notes	155	(4)
Bibliography	159	(8)
Index	167