Guanxi and Business

Guanxi or interpersonal relationships is one of the major dynamics of Chinese society. 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. Any business in this society, including local firms and foreign investors and marketers, inevitably faces guanxi dynamics. In China's new, fast-paced business environment, guanxi has been more entrenched than ever, heavily influencing Chinese social behavior and business practice. However, as in other emerging economies, corruption in China is becoming more rampant, which makes guanxi and corruption often intermingled. As such, business executives need to place greater caution today in the practice and process of guanxi development and utilization.

Due to the growing academic and practical interest in guanxi, this second edition provides a timely update to the systematic and vigorous exploration of the various social, economic, cultural, and business issues relating to the complex concept and practice of guanxi.
Contents:Definition, Principles, and Philosophy of GuanxiEconomic Perspective of GuanxiGuanxi and Firm PerformanceOrganizational Dynamics and GuanxiGuanxi-Based Business StrategiesForeign Businesses and GuanxiGuanxi, Corruption and GovernancePractical Guidelines to Guanxi Cultivation
Readership: Students, managers and academics in economics, finance, operations research, management and business sociology.
Keywords:Review:
Reviews of the First Edition:

“It is a timely book in its attempt to provide clarity to the concept, offer a conceptual analysis of the phenomenon, and provide practical ideas to managers … I consider the book to be an excellent primer for managers, especially Westerners, who wish to have a basic lesson on the concept of guanxi and related phenomena.”
Asia Pacific Journal of Management

“As a guide to current practice, this book is good value. It contains a wealth of illustrative stories and has useful summary diagrams of the main ideas. It will be of much use to practitioners.”
The China Journal

“This book is a timely contribution to this important subject … It has advanced our intellectual understanding of guanxi by linking it with a number of theoretical bases such as transaction cost theory, organizational networks theory, and resource-based strategy theory … Guanxi and Business is so far the most thorough penetration into the relevance of guanxi for business I have seen written … I highly recommend this book to all who seek to understand business relationships in general and mechanisms in doing business with Chinese societies in particular.”
Journal of Asian Business
Key Features:The second edition includes a new chapter on the differences between guanxi and corruption