This paper will display a comparative analysis on how one culture is viewed, differently and similarly, by two other cultures, and how such perceptions impact on cross-cultural management. Hofstede’s (1980) studies on culture dimensions are incorporated substan-tially in the research, nevertheless, his assumption that culture is apprehended universal-ly will be refuted. The contribution of this research is that it is based on the presump-tion that culture will be viewed divergently by people of different cultural backgrounds, by employing a triangular comparison among three countries; Sweden, Australia and China.Whilst working in China, expatriates will encounter Chinese social values of guanxi and mianzi, which are terms well imprinted within the Chinese culture. Guanxi deals with how people in China establish, handle and maintain interpersonal relationships. Mianzi is a term for describing how Chinese preserve their pride and honour in social situa-tions. The concepts will be employed when conducting the comparisons of Australian and Swedish expatriate managers’ interpretations on the two respectively. Findings were qualitatively collected by interviewing expatriates from Australia and Sweden, to-gether with the theoretical framework, combined in a triangular analysis. It was con-cluded that the young Australian entrepreneurs scrutinized guanxi and mianzi in a more critical manner in comparison to the elder Swedish managers, who had a more neutral approach towards the Chinese social values.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T15:02:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo1062_1.pdf: 1896668 bytes, checksum: 9fe28ebc521ac8fe7ffad08bdcfd437e (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Este estudo investiga o fenômeno da diáspora chinesa no estado de Pernambuco e tem como principal elemento de análise os possíveis processos de construção da identidade étnica dos integrantes desta heterogênea comunidade imigrante. A investigação etnográfica foi efetuada nas cidades de Recife, Olinda e Caruaru, mas precisamente em ambientes onde estes imigrantes convivem e desenvolvem, entre si e entre grupos sociais locais compostos por brasileiros, dinâmicas relacionadas a estratégias e à organização social de distintividades culturais: lojas de produtos importados nos Bairros de São José e Santo Antonio (Recife) e na “Feira do Paraguai” (Caruaru), restaurantes e lanchonetes chinesas em Recife e Olinda, dois consultórios de medicina tradicional chinesa, o Centro Cultural e Educacional Brasil China (CCEBC) e a Igreja Batista Emanuel no Recife e o Templo Budista FGS (Olinda). A partir dos dados, dos depoimentos coletados e da reflexão acerca de conceitos como capitalismo étnico, guanxi e modernidade alternativa, percebe-se que esses imigrantes, tanto da primeira quanto da segunda geração, constroem e vivenciam identificações étnicoculturais transnacionais que afetam a maneira como se reconhecem, se relacionam com os “outros”, interpretam os acontecimentos ao seu redor e os vivenciam em suas vidas cotidianas. Por fim, o estudo problematiza a hipótese de que tais identificações re-significam e redimensionam tensões culturais entre o Oriente e o Ocidente e evidenciam a necessidade de ampliar e relativizar visões a respeito do que seria “ser chinês” na contemporaneidade

Guanxi, the Chinese term for social connections, has long been a key subject of interest in Chinese management research. Despite the conceptual and empirical efforts of earlier studies to address the nature, instrumentality, and managerial implications of guanxi, the extent to and the ways in which guanxi is deployed in the actual decision-making process in contemporary Chinese organisations remains ambiguous. Cont/d...

Since Sweden’s home market is relatively small, companies are forced to engage in international business. Researchers have stressed that companies with a small home market should find new markets to gain benefits which companies with large home markets possess. The Chinese market has great potential, which results in numerous Swedish companies entering and establish business operations in China. Swedish companies need to address the unique aspects of conducting business in China. One of the unique aspects which has been notably concerned is the phenomena of guanxi. Guanxi is well grounded in the Chinese business culture and can be perceived as relationship building. Previous research has shown upon limited research regarding B2B guanxi in the Chinese-Western business relationships. Hence, the purpose of this thesis, is to provide a deeper understanding of how Swedish companies build and manage B2B guanxi in China and explore its potential risks and benefits. To achieve the purpose of this thesis, three main concepts have been identified- building stages of guanxi, management strategies of guanxi and risks and benefits of guanxi. These create the theoretical approach of the study. By using a qualitative research method and a deductive approach, a deeper understanding regarding guanxi in relation to Swedish companies can be acquired. The data is collected from five companies in different industries, conducting business on the Chinse market. Practical and theoretical implications have arisen from this study, contributing to the theoretical synthesis of B2B guanxi and provided valuable insights on how Swedish companies can use B2B guanxi. Based on the analysis, the outcome of this study suggest guanxi is not a prerequisite for conducting business on the Chinese market. Although, it can be seen as a tool to ease relationship building and business operations. The empirical findings indicate the relevance of B2B guanxi and have identified new factors. The key findings imply Swedish companies use intermediaries to a larger extent in the building staged and as a management strategy. While gift-giving and favour exchange are less used management strategies. Smoother business operations are perceived as an additional benefit. Whereas relationships becoming too personal and a person taking the relationships with them when leaving the company are additional risks ought to be considered new findings. The study can be valuable for Swedish companies that wish to enter or have entered the Chinese market.

Abstract The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate and compare the effects of coworkers¡¦ relational demographic similarities and guanxi base on coworkers¡¦ helping behavior. Moreover, the mediation mechanisms of social liking between coworkers¡¦ relational demographic similarities and helping behavior, and guanxi obligation between coworkers¡¦ guanxi base and helping behavior were examined. Furthermore, the moderation effect of interdependent self on the relationship between relational demographic similarities and helping behavior, and the moderation effect of individual traditionality on the relationship between guanxi base and helping behavior were examined. There were three studies in this dissertation, and the data were collected by scenario experimental design combined with questionnaire survey. The subjects were working employees sampled from different industries. Results showed that both coworkers¡¦ relational demographic similarities and guanxi base have significant effects on the interpersonal-related helping behavior, but not on work-related helping behavior. Moreover, the mediation effects of social liking towards coworker, and guanxi obligation were significant in both study 1 and study 2. The moderation effect was not significant in study 1, but was significant in study 2. The individual traditionality moderated the relationship of guanxi base and guanxi obligation. The results of study 3 showed that coworkers with guanxi base have stronger effect on both interpersonal-related and work-related coworkers¡¦ helping behavior than coworkers with relational demographic similarities. The results were discussed and the limitations and suggestions for future research were proposed.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / In light of the discussions about the internationalization of firms and the challenges inherent in this process, several theories emerged seeking to understand the critical factors for the success of organizations in the foreign market. A recent theoretical approach argues that the main barriers in the internationalization process are related to the burden of being out of international networking, ie, the y face the so - called liability o f outsidership . Considering the importance of China for the trade balance of Brazil, the presence of 44.4% of Brazilian multinationals in Asia, and the complexity of business relationships in China ( guanxi ), this study aims to investigate how Brazilian com panies operating in China develop guanxi as a way to overcome the liability of outsidership. For this, it was developed a descriptive research with qualitative nature, and performed a multiple case study in four Brazilian companies that operate in the serv ices sector, being two law firms and two trading companies, with a subsidiary in China. The observation units involved professionals who had more experience in driving the company's business in China. Th e information was collected through semi - structured interviews explored in depth. To analyze the data, it was opted to content analysis, with the help of the software NVivo 8.0. The results show: (1) the motivations of the firms for the internationalization in China; (2) the difficulties arising from the liability of outsidership; (3) the im portance and benefits of guanxi ; (4) the activities for the development of guanxi ; and (5) the exper ience of the companies developing guanxi according to the model of Chen & Chen (2004). It is hoped that this research will contribute to knowledge generation about the internationalization of Brazilian companies to China. / À luz das discussões sobre internacionalização de empresas e os desafios inerentes à este processo, diversas teorias emergiram buscando compreender os fatores críticos para o sucesso das organizações no mercado estrangeiro. Uma recente abordagem teórica defende que as principais barreiras no processo de internacionalização estão relacionadas ao ônus de estar fora das redes de relacionamento internacionais, ou seja, enfrentam a chamada liability of outsidership. Considerando a relevância da China para a balança comercial do Brasil, a presença de 44,4% das multinacionais brasileiras na Ásia, e a complexidade das relações de negócios na China (guanxi), este estudo se propôs a investigar como as empresas brasileiras que operam na China desenvolvem guanxi como meio de superar a liability of outsidership. Para isso, foi desenvolvida uma pesquisa de caráter descritivo e natureza qualitativa, sendo realizado um estudo de casos múltiplos em quatro empresas brasileiras que atuam no setor de serviços, sendo dois escritórios de advocacia e duas tradings, que possuem filial na China. As unidades de observação compreenderam os profissionais que possuíam mais experiência na condução dos negócios da empresa com a China. A coleta de dados ocorreu por meio de entrevistas semi-estruturadas exploradas em profundidade. Para o tratamento dos dados, optou-se pela análise de conteúdo, com o auxílio do software NVivo 8.0. Os resultados obtidos identificaram: (1) as motivações das empresas na internacionalização para a China; (2) as dificuldades enfrentadas decorrentes da liability of outsidership; (3) a importância e os benefícios do guanxi; (4) as atividades realizadas para o desenvolvimento do guanxi; e (5) a experiência das empresas no desenvolvimento do guanxi à luz do modelo de Chen e Chen (2004). Espera-se que este trabalho contribua para geração de conhecimento sobre a internacionalização das empresas brasileiras para a China.

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Doctor of Philosophy / Security Studies / David Graff / How does the social network structure of China’s Central Committee influence the direction and timing of intra-Party events, domestic policies, and foreign policies? How do changes in network structures explain specific patterns and propensities for policy change? The purpose of this study is to describe the social network structure of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee from 1922 to 2011 and to explore the relationship between changes in the network and policy trends. This study draws on policy network theory, network dynamics, Veto Player Theory and Prospect Theory which together posit that dynamic network structural characteristics influence policy outcomes. I introduce a dynamical theory of policy networks and describe some observable implications. This mixed method analysis is based on a new network dataset and follows two major lines of investigation. A structured, focused comparison of case studies associates changes in the Central Committee’s network structure in 1969, 1978, 1982, and 1997 with consequent policy outcomes and demonstrates the explanatory power of the dynamical theory. Statistical analyses of China’s foreign policies (1949-1978 and 1984-1995) and China’s domestic policies (1984-1995) suggest the dynamical theory is generalizable. Changes in paramount leader and potential competitor centralities and Central Committee centralization are important causal factors explaining the timing and type of intra-Party, domestic, and foreign policies.

China’s economy is growing. It has been said that “the question like ‘how to do business with Chinese people’ have occupied the minds of international business people who are planning to enter China.” (Fan & Zigang, 2004). Sweden as a country which listed China as its largest trading partner in Asia and a priority country in Sweden's export strategy, has a need to gain understanding about guanxi –an important concept in Chinese business culture. In this thesis, the author will present the development of three exercises inspired by design methods (role play, visualization and customer journey map) which aim to help Swedish business managers to learn guanxi in an experiential way. It includes the challenges the design team went through, how did they solve it and what are the latest version of the exercises looks like. The main challenges presented in this thesis are: how to embed specific knowledge smoothly into exercise; how to set up the role of facilitator(s); and how to increase the level of satisfaction for the users. Those challenges are not only specific to our project, but also could be inspirational for other people (e.g. designers, business culture scholars and so on) who want to create similar exercises or looking for new ways to deliver the knowledge about cross-cultural business communication.

This research investigates the relationship between guanxi and Corporate Community Involvement (CCI) in the Chinese business environment. The thesis provides valuable insights into the motivation and management of CCI in China where the institutional and cultural context is radically different from the Western contexts. This thesis also places CCI in the context of guanxi and thus bridges the literatures on CCI and guanxi. Strategic motivation and management of CCI has been studied extensively in the context of Western countries. However, the extant literature offers limited insights into the motivation and management of CCI in the Chinese business environment. The Chinese business environment is characterised by a comparatively poor legal system and weak property rights. In such an environment guanxi – a system of personal connections that carry long-term social obligations – are held to play a significant role in business relationships in China. Earlier studies have found that guanxi is able to influence a variety of corporate behaviours. Nevertheless, no attempt has been made to investigate how CCI may have been influenced by guanxi in China. This research develops a conceptual model and six propositions, which explain how CCI is strategically tailored to initiate guanxi, and furthermore, facilitate inter-organisational relationship development through such guanxi in China. Based on an empirical case analysis of 148 CCI projects from three types of company; foreign, state-owned, and private, this research explores the relationship between CCI and guanxi and tests the conceptual model and propositions. The empirical data was collected deploying face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with 65 companies (30 foreign companies, 9 state-owned companies, and 26 private companies) in China. The findings indicate that foreign companies’ and private companies’ CCI are motivated by guanxi development. Their CCI behaviours are strategically tailored to initiate guanxi with key stakeholders, and in particular with stakeholders who possess strong governmental backgrounds; and Chinese state-owned companies’ CCI behaviours are subject to little influence of guanxi development. While foreign companies used guanxi to facilitate their inter-organisational relationship development, private companies used guanxi to obtain formal institutional supports. From the findings, the conclusion is drawn that guanxi plays a significant role in motivating CCI engagement and shaping CCI behaviours in China, and, through such guanxi, CCI can be employed to facilitate inter-organisational relationship building and obtain formal institutional support.