Guanxi describes the basic dynamic in personalized networks of influence, and
is a central idea in Chinese society. Although it has a long history as a
Chinese cultural phenomenon, the term is not clearly defined in literature. In
Western media, the pinyin romanization of this Chinese word is becoming more
widely used instead of the two common translations—"connections" and
"relationships"—as neither of those terms sufficiently reflects the wide
cultural implications that guanxi describes.
Guanxi largely originates from the Chinese social philosophy of
Confucianism, which stresses the importance of associating oneself with
others in a hierarchical manner, in order to maintain social and economic
order. Particularly, there is an emphasis on implicit mutual obligations,
reciprocity, and trust, which are the foundations of guanxi and guanxi
networks. Closely related concepts include that of
ganqing, a measure which reflects the depth of feeling within an interpersonal
relationship, renqing, the moral obligation to maintain the relationship,
and the idea of "face", meaning social status, propriety, prestige, or more
realistically a combination of all three.
Guanxi has a major influence on management-based businesses in China,
and on those owned by overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia, also known as the
bamboo network. Description and usage
= Guanxi in a personal context= ≤≥/At its most basic, guanxi describes a
personal connection between two people in which one is able to prevail upon
another to perform a favor or service, or be prevailed upon. The two people
need not be of equal social status. Guanxi can also be used to describe a
network of contacts, which an individual can call upon when something needs to be
done, and through which he or she can exert influence on behalf of another.
Guanxi refers to the benefits gained from social connections and usually
extends from the extended family to school friends, workmates and members of
common clubs or organizations. It is customary for Chinese people to
cultivate an intricate web of guanxi relationships, which may expand in a
huge number of directions, and includes lifelong relationships. Staying in
contact with members of your network is not necessary to bind reciprocal
obligations. Reciprocal favors are the key factor to maintaining one’s guanxi
web, while failure to reciprocate is considered an unforgivable offense.
Guanxi can perpetuate a never-ending cycle of favors.
The term is not generally used to describe interpersonal relationships
within a family, although guanxi obligations can sometimes be described
in terms of an extended family. Essentially, familial relations are the
core of one’s interpersonal relations, while the various non-familial
interpersonal relations are modifications or extensions of the
familial relations. The term is also not generally used to describe relationships
that fall within other well-defined societal norms. The relationships formed
by guanxi are personal and not transferable.
The five cardinal virtues play an integral role in determining behavioral
guidelines and understanding guanxi and include: emperor-subject, father-son,
husband-wife, elder brother-younger brother, and friend-friend. There are
two important characteristics that all five cardinal virtues share: 1) every
relation has an unequal upper status-lower status structure built in
and 2) there is a hierarchical order among the five cardinal virtues, with
the emperor-subject being the highest rank. Extending back to the centrality
of family as the core interpersonal relation, the father-son, husband-wife,
and elder brother-younger brother are the most important within the five
cardinal virtues, after the emperor-subject relation. Last in
importance is the friend-friend relation, which is seen as an extension
of the familial relations. Douglas Guthrie distinguishes between
guanxi and guanxixue, as the former is considered in the modern Chinese society
as common inter-personal ties that reflect the Chinese nature, while the
latter represents the manipulation and corruption brought about by a selfish
and sometimes illegal utilization of guanxi. Although many Chinese lament the
strong importance of guanxi in their culture, they still consider guanxi as a
Chinese element that should not be denied.
= Guanxi in a business context= In a business context, guanxi can be
referred to as the American equivalent of social networking. In China, a
country where business relations are highly socially embedded, guanxi plays a
pivotal role in the shaping and advancement of daily business
operations. Guanxi also acts as an essential informal governance mechanism,
helping leverage Chinese organizations on social and economic platforms. Thus,
guanxi is important in two domains: 1) social ties with managers of suppliers,
buyers, competitors, and other business intermediaries; and 2) social ties with
government officials at various national government-regulated agencies. Given its
extensive influential power in the shaping of business operations, many see
guanxi as a crucial source of social capital and a strategic tool for
business success. This is especially true in countries
where guanxi is a prominent part of the culture. Specifically, guanxi allows for
inter-business relationships and relationships between businesses and the
government to grow as the members of these organizations work with one
another. In doing so, businesses receive insider information, raise their
awareness regarding specific government policies, and gain exclusive access to
resources. Knowing this, some economists have warned that Western countries and
others that trade regularly with China should improve their "cultural
competency" in regards to practices such as guanxi, to avoid financial fallout
due to lack of cultural awareness. The nature of guanxi, however, can also
form the basis of patron–client relations. As a result, it creates
challenges for businesses that are obligated to repay favors when they
cannot sufficiently do so. In following these obligations, businesses may be
forced to act in ways detrimental to their future. They may also start to
over-rely on each other, and the tendency of their members to discuss
information already known among them becomes greater than the tendency to
discuss information only known by select members. If the ties fail between two
businesses within an overall network built through guanxi, the other ties
comprising the overall network have a chance of failing as well. A guanxi
network may also violate bureaucratic norms, leading to corporate corruption.
Note that the aforementioned organizational flaws guanxi creates can
be diminished by open market systems that are regulated by formal
organizational procedures while promoting competition and innovation.
In East Asian societies the boundary between business and social lives can
sometimes be ambiguous as people tend to rely heavily on their close relations
and friends. This can result in nepotism in the work force, as it is common for
authoritative figures to draw from family and close ties to fill employment
opportunities, instead of assessing talent and suitability such as is the
norm in Western societies. This practice often prevents the most suitably
qualified person from being employed for the position. Although guanxi is
associated with the traditional Confucianist doctrine, guanxi ties were
strongly developed during the Mao Zedong government, particularly due to the work
unit system, which led many workers to construct strong social networks within
their units, thus improving their ability to enjoy important resources and
privileges. = Guanxi in a government context=
Usage examples Someone is described as having good
guanxi if their particular network of influence could assist in the resolution
of the problem currently being spoken about, and Guanxi is most often used in
the Western media when interpersonal obligations take precedence over civic
duties, leading to nepotism and cronyism.
Ethical concerns of Guanxi In recent years, the ethical
consequences of guanxi have been brought into question. While guanxi can bring
benefits to people directly within the guanxi network, it also has the
potential to bring harm to individuals, societies and nations when misused or
abused. For example, mutual reciprocal obligation is a major component of
guanxi. However, the specific date, time and method are often unspecified. Thus,
guanxi can be ethically questionable when one party takes advantage of
others’ personal favors, without seeking to reciprocate.
This question is especially critical in cross-cultural business partnerships,
when Western firms and auditors are operating within Confucian cultures.
Western-based managers must exercise caution in determining whether or not
their Chinese colleagues and business partners are in fact practicing guanxi.
Caution and extra guidance should be taken to ensure that conflict does not
occur as a result of misunderstood cultural agreements.
Other studies argue that guanxi is not in fact unethical, but is rather wrongly
accused of being an act that is thought to be unethical in the eyes of the
other. Lovett et al. states that just as the Western legal system is a reflection
of Western ethical perspectives, the Eastern legal system functions similarly
so. Specifically, renqing, or “human feelings”, plays a central role in the
Chinese ethical perspective. While Westerners may misinterpret guanxi as a
form of bribery, the Chinese recognize guanxi as a subset of renqing, and so
recognize any relevant actions as working within ethical constraints.
Similar concepts in other cultures Sociologists have linked guanxi with the
concept of social capital, and it has been exhaustively described in Western
studies of Chinese economic and political behavior.
Blat in Russian culture Shurobadzhanashtina in Bulgarian society
Wasta in Middle Eastern culture Sociolismo in Cuban culture
Old boy network in Anglo-Saxon and Finnish culture
Dignitas in ancient Roman culture Ksharim in Israeli culture. Protektsia
is the use of Ksharim for personal gain or helping another, also known in slang
as 'Vitamin P'. Enchufe in Spain, meaning to 'plug'
friends or acquaintances 'into' a job or position.
= Cultural Differences in guanxi= = Western vs. Eastern social business
relations= Similar to guanxi, Western relationship
marketing involves a mutual, high quality, ongoing relationship between
two business parties. The four dimensions of business networking
success involve: trust, bonding, reciprocity, and empathy. However, the
perspectives in which these dimensions are interpreted and incorporated into
business operations are vastly different in the East versus the West.
In the Western perspective, trust is referred to as mutual reliability,
dependability, and reciprocity. In the Eastern perspective, trust is synonymous
with obligation, in which guanxi is expected to be maintained through
continuous long-term association and interaction. Whereas bonding in a
Western context may refer simply to common interests with the client,
bonding in an Eastern context refers to a close friendship with the client. The
Chinese system of wu-lune supports this Eastern attitude, emphasizing that one’s
fulfillment of one’s responsibilities in a given role ensures the smooth
functioning of Chinese society. Reciprocity is also a dimension which is
much more emphasized in the East than in the West. According to Confucianism,
each individual is encouraged to become a yi-ren and repay a favor with
significantly more than one has received. Lastly, empathy is a dimension
that is highly embedded in Eastern business relations, more so than in its
Western counterpart. The Confucian understanding of ren, which also equates
to “Do not do to others as one does not want others to do to him”, stresses the
importance for sellers and customers to understand each other’s needs.
See also Social network
Chinese social relations Social capital
Bamboo network Xenos
References External links
China's modern power house, BBC article discussing the role of Guanxi in the
modern governance of China. What is guanxi? Wiki discussion about
definitions of guanxi, developed by the publishers of Guanxi: The China Letter.
Guanxi, The art of relationships, by Robert Buderi, Gregory T. Huang, ISBN
0-7432-7322-2. China Characteristics – Regarding Guanxi
GCiS China Strategic Research