Dyadic characteristics of guanxi and their consequences

Research on guanxi is conducted principally within the disciplines of anthropology, business studies and sociology. It typically takes the form of empirical case studies, applications of extrinsic theory and literature reviews cum trend reports. The present paper, on the other hand, provides an analysis of guanxi in consideration of its elemental relations, components and properties. Discussion indicates the limitations of treatments of guanxi in terms of trust, guanxi bases, tie-strength and the conveyance of influence and information. Having established the characteristic features of guanxi discussion then turns to how it may be an option or choice of commitment for persons and groups in contemporary China, its form and role in marketized exchanges, and how the efficiency of guanxi may be characterized. Introduction Guanxi is a form of asymmetrical exchange of favours between persons on the basis of enduring sentimental ties in which enhancement of public reputation is the aspirational outcome (Lin 2001: 157). In this sense the benefits of guanxi exchanges are normative and reputational. Material advantages can also be achieved through guanxi exchanges when their realization is embedded in reputational enhancement. This is particularly clear in the case of business guanxi in which favours are directed to entirely instrumental purposes, but their achievement requires the maintenance of face (mianzi) and bonding feelings (ganqing) between participants (Osburg 2013: 42–5). It will be evident from this brief exposition that both cultural and institutional elements operate in guanxi, related respectively to expressive and instrumental aspects (Gold 1985: 659; Hwang 1987: 949–53). These latter are not opposed but complimentary in guanxi practices (Barbalet 2015: 1039–40). Networks of guanxi exchanges are a fundamental element of traditional Chinese social structure that continues to be pervasive in mainland China and Chinese cultural areas. Academic interest in guanxi can be dated from the late 1970s with Jacobs’ (1979) anthropological study of particularistic ties in political alliances in rural Taiwan. Since that time there has been a growing concentration on guanxi as an explicit field of research and scholarship in which is reported the incidence, form and significance of the type of personal connection or relation that is regarded as typical in Chinese cultural areas. Investigation of guanxi is conducted in the disciplines of anthropology, business studies (including management and marketing), social and cultural psychology as well as in sociology. The vast majority of guanxi studies are published in business, management and marketing journals (Chen, Chen and Huang, 2013; Liu and Mei, 2015; Qi, 2012). There is only limited cross referencing in the accounts of guanxi between these different disciplines. In spite of the relative disciplinary segmentation of guanxi research there are at least two common and seldom disputed elements underpinning the diverse accounts of guanxi. One of these is the assumption that in the binary or dyadic relations of guanxi trust functions as a means