Le parc industriel présente une importance prépondérante dans la littérature en science régionale et constitue un enjeu économique vital pour les pays en développement. L'expérience est d'autant plus probante que l'émergence économique de la Chine pourra s'expliquer par la construction massive des parcs industriels sur tout le territoire national depuis des années 1980. La politique chinoise des parcs industriels vise à promouvoir la croissance et l'innovation par la concentration et la mise en réseau des acteurs économiques et technologiques. Elle renvoie à la question de la colocalisation et de l'interaction, qui est étudiée par l'approche de la proximité au sujet des dynamiques localisées, et qui se renforce par une analyse des relations interpersonnelles et inter organisationnelles. Partant de cette approche, notre thèse présente trois études de cas sur les parcs industriels de Jiuquan, de Shuangliu et de Shenzhen qui ont tous une orientation sectorielle vers la manufacture des équipements pour les énergies nouvelles (éolienne, solaire et nucléaire). L'essentiel de nos données provient des entretiens semi-directifs et des observations réalisés dans deux programmes de recherche soutenus par les gouvernements locaux de la province du Gansu en Chine. Nos études empiriques nous permettent notamment d'explorer la dynamique des parcs industriels chinois fondée sur les planifications (spatiale et sectorielle) et les réformes institutionnelles, l'importance des réseaux sociaux (Guanxi) au niveau local, la relativisation des dynamiques de coordination par la stratégie d'intégration et par la rivalité entre entreprises locales du même secteur. / As a crucial economic issue for developing countries, the industrial park has a significant importance in regional science literature. Since the 1980s, China's economic emergence is related to the massive construction of industrial parks throughout the entire national territory. The Chinese industrial park policy aims to promote economic growth and innovation by concentrating and networking the economic and technological actors. It refers to the issue of colocation and interaction, which is studied by the proximity approach about localized dynamics, and which is reinforced by an analysis of interpersonal and inter-organizational relations. Based on this approach, our thesis provides three case studies about industrial parks of Jiuquan, Shuangliu and Shenzhen who all have a sectoral focus on manufacture of new energy equipments (wind, solar and nuclear). Our data comes mainly from semi-structured interviews and observations that were conducted during two research programs with the support of local governments in Gansu Province. The empirical studies allow us to explore the dynamic of Chinese industrial parks based on planning (spatial and sectoral) and institutional innovation, the importance of social networks (Guanxi) at local level, the relativization of coordination dynamics by the integration strategy and rivalry between local firms in the same sector.

Comparativement à la somme des travaux accumulés dans les pays occidentaux, les recherches sur les réseaux personnels sont encore rares en Chine, malgré l’importance des relations interpersonnelles dans ce pays. La recherche présentée dans cette thèse avait pour objectif de répondre aux questions suivantes : est-il possible de transposer dans une ville chinoise une méthode complexe d’analyse de réseaux personnels utilisée entre autres à San Francisco et à Toulouse? Etant donné le poids important des familles dans la vie sociale de ce pays, observe-t-on des spécificités fortes dans la structure et la composition des réseaux personnels, ou au contraire, assiste-t-on à une convergence des structures relationnelles (du moins dans les couches sociales moyennes et en milieu urbain) avec celles observées dans les pays occidentaux ? Au-delà, comment les caractéristiques des réseaux sont-elles liées aux situations sociales des enquêtés (sexe, âge, niveau d’études, etc.) ?La thèse repose sur une enquête originale effectuée auprès d’une population des couches moyennes urbaines de Chongqing en 2014-2015 en adaptant la méthode des générateurs de noms qui avait été utilisée à San Francisco et Toulouse. Les résultats de l'enquête de Chongqing sont suffisamment cohérents avec les enquêtes prises comme exemple pour convaincre de la faisabilité de ces comparaisons. Cependant, ces résultats montrent également des différences. A Chongqing, les enquêtés ne citent pas plus de membres de la famille que dans les autres enquêtes, mais ils les citent en priorité pour la plupart des questions. Si le niveau d’études est le facteur qui explique le mieux les variations de la taille des réseaux personnels dans les enquêtes de San Francisco et de Toulouse, la profession et le revenu sont plus importants à Chongqing. / Compared to the sum of work accumulated in Western countries, research on personal networks is still rare in China, despite the importance of interpersonal relations in this country. The research presented in this thesis was aimed at answering the following questions: Is it possible to transpose a complex method of analysis of personal networks used in San Francisco and Toulouse to a Chinese city? Given the higher importance of families in the social life of this country, do we observe strong specificities in the structure and composition of personal networks, or on the contrary, there is a convergence of relational structures (at least in the middle social strata and in urban areas) with those observed in Western countries ? Beyond that, how are the characteristics of the networks linked to the social situations of the respondents (gender, age, level of education, etc.) ?The thesis is based on an original survey of a population of urban middle classes in Chongqing in 2014-15 by adapting the name generator method that was used in San Francisco and Toulouse. The results of the Chongqing survey are sufficiently consistent with the surveys taken as an example to convince the feasibility of these comparisons. However, these results also show differences. In Chongqing, respondents did not cite more family members than in other surveys, but they cited them as a priority for most questions. While education is the factor that best accounts for the variation in the size of personal networks in the San Francisco and Toulouse surveys, occupation and income are more significant in Chongqing.

Guanxi plays an important role in Chinese entrepreneurial networking activities, especially for micro entrepreneurial firms in China. Due to limited information and resources available to micro firms, micro firms are more dependent on entrepreneurs’ guanxi networks to get access to the necessary resources. Previous literatures have particularly discussed the impacts of guanxi networks for foreigners successfully doing business in China. Nevertheless, there are scant literatures that study on the role of the guanxi in Chinese entrepreneurship. The purpose of this study is to provide a better understanding of the role of guanxi in Chinese entrepreneurship. This study employs the relevant guanxi concepts, Western social capital theory, and network-based entrepreneurship as the main conceptual framework to examine how Chinese entrepreneurs utilize their guanxi networks during the development of micro firms. Furthermore, this study is based on ten case studies in China. Empirical Data are collected from semi-structured interviews with ten Chinese entrepreneurs in micro firms. The results show that guanxi networks are highly important for Chinese entrepreneurs to develop their business. Firstly, Chinese entrepreneurs make use of different guanxi governance mechanisms--qinqing, renqing and jiaoqing to acquire different information and resources for the development of their firms. The obtained information and resources constitute the social capital, which can be used to complement insufficient capital within the firms. Secondly, Chinese entrepreneurs intentionally enlarge their guanxi network size to obtain more resources. Moreover, Chinese entrepreneurs benefit from strong guanxi ties and closure network structures to obtain the cohesive social capital. While Chinese entrepreneurs gain greater benefits from weak guanxi ties and spare network structures for acquiring additional information, resources and business opportunities. Thirdly, guanxi-networking activities are different from Western social networking activities, as guanxi-networking activities put more emphasize on keeping harmony and mutual reciprocity. Furthermore, Chinese entrepreneurs are proactive to build and maintain guanxi networks through various approaches for their business development. Lastly, even though guanxi networks play important roles in the development of micro entrepreneurial firms, they cannot be sustainable competitive advantage in the long term. Indeed, the core competences such as high quality of products and services, advanced technologies and marketing channels could be sustainable competitive advantages for the entrepreneurial firms in today’s increasingly fierce competitive market.

Cette thèse vise à étudier l’impact du guanxi sur la gestion de la chaîne d’approvisionnement. Dans un premier temps, nous examinons historiquement l’évolution de guanxi et discutons ses impacts sur les performances de l’entreprise. Ensuite, en utilisant des données d'entretiens qualitatifs et une enquête quantitative auprès d'acheteurs chinois en France, nous créons une échelle de mesure guanxi pour la relation acheteur-fournisseur Sino-Française et montrons que l'impact du guanxi sur la performance de la chaîne d'approvisionnement est positif. De plus, grâce aux données d'enquête de 200 fabricants chinois exerçant des activités à l'étranger, nous démontrons que la relation médiatisée entre le guanxi et la performance de la chaîne d'approvisionnement est modérée par la culture individuelle. Nos résultats de recherche non seulement prouvent empiriquement l’importance du guanxi sur le marché international, mais révèlent également que l’efficacité des différents types de guanxi dépend de l’orientation culturelle du partenaire. / This thesis aims to investigate guanxi’s impact on supply chain management. As a first step, we historically review guanxi’s evolution and discuss its impacts on business performance. Next, by using data from qualitative interviews and a quantitative survey collected from Chinese buyers in France, this thesis creates a guanxi measurement scale for Sino-Franco buyer-supplier relationship, and reveals that guanxi’s positive impact on supply chain performance is mediated by supply chain collaboration. Furthermore, through draw on the survey data of 200 Chinese manufacturers with overseas business, this thesis demonstrates that the mediated relationship between guanxi and supply chain performance is moderated by individual culture. Our research results not only empirically prove guanxi’s importance in the international market, but also uncover that the effectiveness of different types of guanxi that depends on the partner’s cultural orientation.

Les investissements par des fonds dans les capitaux propres des entreprises non cotées sont devenus une institution majeure du capitalisme du XXIème siècle. Cette thèse constitue une étude approfondie sur les développements et les caractéristiques des fonds d’investissement opérant en Chine. Elle s’applique dans le cadre d’analyse institutionnelle et suit la logique de la variété des capitalismes tout en utilisant une méthode pluridisciplinaire. Nous développons une étude comparative entre les fonds chinois, français et anglais s’appuyant sur les différences institutionnelles parmi les modèles économiques des trois pays. Notre analyse relève que la spécificité du développement économique de la Chine est surtout liée au rôle de l’État chinois, à l’importance du guanxi dans la sphère des affaires et à une grande complexité du marché créée par le “chemin de dépendance”. En conséquence, pour les fonds d’investissement en Chine on remarque une plus forte influence de l’État chinois, l’impact extensif du guanxi, l’utilisation plus diversifiée des sources d’information, le choix plus limité des outils financiers, et la préférence des entrepreneurs chinois à garder le contrôle de leur entreprise. Notre analyse économétrique indique que la rigidité du marché de travail, l’ouverture économique et la taxation sur les bénéfices ont le plus grand impact sur l’activité des fonds et qu’en comparaison avec la France, l’Angleterre et les Etats-Unis, la Chine a des coefficients plus importants concernant la croissance de PIB, la croissance de consommation par foyer, la stabilité politique et l’infrastructure. / Investments by funds in the equity of non listed companies represent a crucial activity of capitalism of the 21st Century. This thesis provides a thorough study on the development and the characteristics of private equity funds operating in China. It applies the framework of institutional analysis and follows the logic of the varieties of capitalism while using a multi-disciplinary approach. We develop a comparative study on Chinese, French and British private equity funds based on the institutional differences among the economic models of the three countries. Our analysis suggests that the specificity of the economic development of China is mainly related to the role of the Chinese state, the importance of guanxi in the sphere of business and the great market complexity created by the “path of dependence”. Accordingly, for private equity in China we observe a stronger influence of the Chinese state, an extensive impact of guanxi, a more diverse use of information sources, a more limited choice of financial tools, and the preference of Chinese entrepreneurs to keep control of their firms. Our econometric study indicates that the rigidity of labor market, economic openness and taxation on company profits have the greatest impact on the activity of the funds and that in comparison with France, the UK and the US, China has stronger coefficients for the factors of GDP growth, household consumption growth, political stability and infrastructure.

China has blossomed from going from one of the poorest economies to a financial leader. The private consumption in China has grown 8,3% annually the last two decades. The dining out expenditures have grown 10,2%, and is an exciting market for foreign entrepreneurs to establish themselves in. Previous research has suggested that foreign Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises should join forces with a Chinese counterpart in order to get access to market experience and network contacts, in order to succeed in the Chinese market (Wilson and Brennan, 2003). Deng (2001) claims that the most popular investment vehicle Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise increases in popularity among all company sizes.   This dissertation aims to investigate to which extent MSME foreign entrepreneurs use networking and guanxi, depending on ownership registration. A qualitative research method was used with an abductive approach and an interpretivist research philosophy to explore this phenomenon. The results of this thesis show that foreign entrepreneurs can start up successfully both as WFOEs and JVs. WFOEs and JVs share many of the same contacts, but networking activities and usage of guanxi has some influencing factors. The Registration Status of company influence strategic networking decisions, the perception and expectation of the nature and benefits of guanxi and perceived necessity of gift giving also affected the networking activities.  JV owners perceive guanxi contacts to be necessary to succeed in China and finds cultivation and utilization of it to be beneficial.  Entrepreneurs who establish Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprises both use and have a more “Western” approach to social networking, and almost exclusively don’t have guanxi contacts. The Investment Vehicle Network Scheme shows that JVs have more complex networks than WFOE, since they receive Chinese guanxi and networking contacts through their partners. The Guanxi Network Ownership Model shows the network intensity during the startup phases of the companies. The research also indicates that guanxi smoothens out the start-up process for the entrepreneurs who enter JVs.

Jag har genom en förberedande fältstudie, litteraturgenomgång och enkätintervjuer undersökt svenska och kinesiska företagsrepresentanters upplevelser av det interkulturella mötet, med utgångspunkt i svenska företag som opererar på den kinesiska marknaden. Det var uppsatsens syfte och jag har utgått ifrån frågeställningen: Hur upplever svenska och kinesiska företagsrepresentanter det interkulturella mötet? Subfrågor till denna är: Vilka kulturella faktorer skapar det kinesiska sättet att kommunicera? Hur upplever svenska företagsrepresentanter det interkulturella mötet med den kinesiska marknaden? Hur upplever kinesiska företagsrepresentanter det interkulturella mötet med svenska företagsrepresentanter? Vilka av studien framkomna faktorer skulle kunna underlätta det interkulturella mötet för svenskars fortsatta affärer i Kina? Det är gjort genom att identifiera skillnader mellan den svenska och kinesiska kulturen för att förklara de bakomliggande faktorerna till att vi uppfattar varandra som vi gör, och genom det belysa ett urval möjligheter och fallgropar som den kinesiska kulturen kan medföra för svenska företag som opererar på den kinesiska marknaden. Det teoretiska ramverket utgörs av teorier inom publika relationer samt interkulturell kommunikation. Litteraturgenomgången fokuserar på faktorer såsom mianzi, lian, guanxi samt filosofiska influenser som har inverkan på kommunikationsmönstret. Jag har använt mig av exempel på hur andra svenska och internationella företag anpassat sitt PR-arbete till den kinesiska kontexten för att skapa ytterligare en dimension. Vidare belyses respondenternas svar ur skenet från Hofstedes dimensioner kollektivism, maktdistans, maskulinitet, osäkerhetsundvikande, tidsorientering samt Halls teori om låg och hög kontext. Min slutsats är att interkulturell kommunikativ kompetens snarare rör sig om social kompetens och förståelse, vilket grundar sig i att lyhördhet, ödmjukhet, självinsikt och självkännedom är ledord för all kommunikation – oavsett om det är intra- eller interkulturell sådan. Skillnaderna i kulturerna skall inte överdrivas då människor i grunden är ganska lika. Majoriteten av de svenska och kinesiska respondenterna har aldrig råkat ut för något större problem på grund av kulturella skillnader. Sverige och Kina är inte så långt ifrån varandra som mycket litteratur insinuerar. I ljuset av den förberedande fältstudien, enkätintervjuerna och viss litteratur vågar jag påstå att stora delar av litteraturen präglas av ett närapå sensationsjournalistiskt angreppsätt med dualistiska perspektiv som exotifierar och mystifierar Kina.     Seeing is believing! Vi ser inte Kina som det faktiskt är, utan som vi hoppas, tror eller fruktar att det är. Frédèric Cho, Senior Adviser, Handelsbanken Capital Markets / I have through a preparatory field survey; literature review and survey interviews examined Swedish and Chinese business representatives’ experiences from the intercultural meeting, based on Swedish companies operating on the Chinese market. It was the purpose of the essay and I have started from the question: How has Swedish and Chinese business representatives experienced the intercultural meeting? Underlying questions are: What cultural factors create the Chinese communication style? How does Swedish business representatives experience the intercultural meeting with the Chinese market? How does Chinese business representatives experience the intercultural meeting with Swedish business representatives? Which of the study presented factors could facilitate the intercultural meeting of the Swedes continued business in China? This is done by identifying differences between Swedish and Chinese culture with the aim to explain underlying factors to why we perceive each other as we do, and through this highlight a selection of opportunities and pitfalls that the Chinese culture may have on Swedish companies operating on the Chinese market. The theoretical framework consists of theories in public relations, and intercultural communications. The literature review focuses on factors such as mianzi, lian, guanxi and philosophical influences that have an impact on the communication pattern. I have used examples from Swedish and international companies that have adapted their public relations work for the Chinese context to create an additional dimension. Moreover, the respondents’ answers are elucidated in the light of Hofstede’s dimensions of collectivism, power distance, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, time orientation and Halls’s theory of low and high context. My conclusion is that intercultural communicative competence, rather are social skills and understanding, which is based on responsiveness, humility, self-awareness and self-knowledge – keywords in all aspects of communication whether it is intra- or intercultural such. Differences in cultures should not be exaggerated since people are fundamentally quite similar. The majority of the Swedish and Chinese respondents have never encountered any major problems due to cultural differences. Sweden and China are not as far apart as much literature insinuates. In the light of the preparatory field survey, survey interviews and some literature I venture to say that much of the literature is characterized by an almost sensational journalistic approach with dualistic perspective exotifying and mystifying China.     Seeing is believing! We do not see China as it actually is, but as we hope, believe and fear it is. Frédèric Cho, Senior Adviser, Handelsbanken Capital Markets

<p>If you look out the window today you can observe influences from all over the world. It seems like the world has shrunken and accessibility has gotten a bigger impact. We are talking about globalization and it can be said to diminish the boarders and unite people all over and contribute to more interactions between different countries and cultures, which in turn will lead to new challenges for companies. More companies can therefore meet in different contexts and for instance a company from Sweden where production costs are comparatively high will be attracted to markets like the Chinese because of their comparatively low production costs. The culture differences between these two nations are wide and will therefore cause implications like cultural clashes or misunderstandings. This is where our interest of the subject grew and hence our research question is:</p><p>“How can Swedes avoid incidents of a cultural descent when developing business relations with Chinese corporations?”</p><p>The main purpose of this study is to get a better comprehension on how businessmen perceive cultural differences in situations where business relationships are essential and how they avoid such incidents. In addition we have in this study divided the main purpose into three sub-purposes. These are: to gain a better understanding on how both Swedes and Chinese build relationships in business-to-business situations, to gain a better understanding of the differences in the Swedish and Chinese business culture, and to provide suggestions for Swedish entrepreneurs in becoming more aware of cultural gaps when entering the Chinese market.</p><p>Our study is based on an hermeneutic approach. We have used an qualitative research strategy where our empirics are based upon seven semi-structured interviews with businessmen today resided in Sweden but have experience from Chinese business interaction. In addition both Swedish and Chinese businessmen have been interviewed to obtain a more balanced data. The contextualization we have made is aligned towards an individual perspective.</p><p>Our theoretical frameworks consist of a wide range of theories such as: business relationships theories, relationship marketing theories, Guanxi theories, cultural theories, and culture clash theories. Based on our empirics we have been able to interlink many aspects to conclusions. These have mainly been differences in the two cultures, such as; difference in hierarchy level and how this has caused implications for Swedish businessmen. It was also showed that there are differences in approaching potential business proposals, where the Swedes tended to be direct in contrast to the Chinese who preferred a slower paste. In addition this study showed that what is referred to as Guanxi is far more linked to the Chinese culture than networking is in Sweden.</p><p>For a Swedish business man these findings can help prevent incident of diversifying range but raise awareness of other cultural aspects that needs to be considered before going to China in business purposes.</p>

If you look out the window today you can observe influences from all over the world. It seems like the world has shrunken and accessibility has gotten a bigger impact. We are talking about globalization and it can be said to diminish the boarders and unite people all over and contribute to more interactions between different countries and cultures, which in turn will lead to new challenges for companies. More companies can therefore meet in different contexts and for instance a company from Sweden where production costs are comparatively high will be attracted to markets like the Chinese because of their comparatively low production costs. The culture differences between these two nations are wide and will therefore cause implications like cultural clashes or misunderstandings. This is where our interest of the subject grew and hence our research question is: “How can Swedes avoid incidents of a cultural descent when developing business relations with Chinese corporations?” The main purpose of this study is to get a better comprehension on how businessmen perceive cultural differences in situations where business relationships are essential and how they avoid such incidents. In addition we have in this study divided the main purpose into three sub-purposes. These are: to gain a better understanding on how both Swedes and Chinese build relationships in business-to-business situations, to gain a better understanding of the differences in the Swedish and Chinese business culture, and to provide suggestions for Swedish entrepreneurs in becoming more aware of cultural gaps when entering the Chinese market. Our study is based on an hermeneutic approach. We have used an qualitative research strategy where our empirics are based upon seven semi-structured interviews with businessmen today resided in Sweden but have experience from Chinese business interaction. In addition both Swedish and Chinese businessmen have been interviewed to obtain a more balanced data. The contextualization we have made is aligned towards an individual perspective. Our theoretical frameworks consist of a wide range of theories such as: business relationships theories, relationship marketing theories, Guanxi theories, cultural theories, and culture clash theories. Based on our empirics we have been able to interlink many aspects to conclusions. These have mainly been differences in the two cultures, such as; difference in hierarchy level and how this has caused implications for Swedish businessmen. It was also showed that there are differences in approaching potential business proposals, where the Swedes tended to be direct in contrast to the Chinese who preferred a slower paste. In addition this study showed that what is referred to as Guanxi is far more linked to the Chinese culture than networking is in Sweden. For a Swedish business man these findings can help prevent incident of diversifying range but raise awareness of other cultural aspects that needs to be considered before going to China in business purposes.

Abstrakt Bakgrund: Sveriges största handelspartner i Asien är Kina och samarbetet har ökat då allt fler svenska företag etablerar sig på den kinesiska marknaden. Detta har lett till ett ökat samarbete mellan svenska och kinesiska företag där allt fler affärsrelationer etableras. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur affärskulturella skillnader påverkar affärsrelationen mellan svenska och kinesiska företag. Studiens syfte ska också leda till svar om hur guanxi påverkar affärsrelationen.    Teori: Den teoretiska referensramen utgår från teorier kring kulturella dimensioner, Affärskulturella dimensioner, Svensk och Kinesisk affärskultur. Metod: Vi har i studien utgått från en deduktiv ansats och använt oss utav en kvalitativ forskningsmetod. I metodavsnittet utvecklas senare i en beskrivning av våra andra metodval. Slutsats: Enligt studien har vi kunnat identifiera att det finns ett flertal affärskulturella skillnader mellan Sverige och Kina. Dessa leder till en påverkan på affärsrelationen gällande kommunikation, affärsbeslut och samarbete. Vi har även kommit fram till att guanxi kan påverka svenska företags affärsrelation med kinesiska.