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Understanding China's economic success requires insights into its peculiar guanxi‐based market. Many scholars are confused about how to apply Western network theories to the guanxi‐based Chinese market. This paper aims to contribute to this comprehensive topic by theoretically exploring the differences among three fundamental network concepts: guanxi; structural hole; and closure.

Following Heide, the present paper categorises networks into three dimensions: network initiation, network maintenance and network termination, each based on different time phases. The three fundamental network concepts in every dimension are compared, laying out their similarities and dissimilarities in detail.

Although each of the three networks are initiated either naturally or artificially, guanxi is closely embedded in Chinese institutions. Unlike structural hole and closure, which can be applied at any level, guanxi is a special relation that only exists at the individual level. Structural hole and closure highlight the structures of the networks that bring them various benefits and constraints. Such merits are not evident in guanxi, in which favour exchange plays a crucial role in connecting entities. In addition, guanxi has special rules that affect the strength of ties.

The purpose of this paper is to articulate the differences among guanxi, structural hole and closure. The systematic framework provides a platform to scholars interested in applying the Western network theory to guanxi‐based markets. The study work also provides new insights to non‐Chinese actors doing business in China.

The purpose of this study is to determine how Western business practitioners, specifically Australian accounting professionals, identify with the Chinese value concept of guanxi and the impact of their perceptions of guanxi on their ethical decision-making. This objective is predicated by a belief that aspects of guanxi are similar to the Western concepts of social networking and would be identified by practitioners as an organizational process providing positive benefits to those associated with its application. Further, it is anticipated that concepts of guanxi influence the way Australian accountants form ethical judgements and intentions, precursors to acceptable moral behaviour.

A cross-sectional questionnaire based on a survey of 111 usable Australian accounting professionals was completed during 2012. A confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate each construct of guanxi before a path analysis was performed.

Australian accounting professionals associate well with the favour-seeking aspects of guanxi, suggesting an affiliation with Western concepts of social networking. Both groups (i.e. public accountants and private accountants) reject rent-seeking guanxi as clearly unethical. Rent-seeking guanxi is seen to directly influence ethical judgement and intention; however, their favour-seeking guanxi attitudes do not influence ethical judgement or intention, regardless of employment type. Public and private accountants apply guanxi in a differential manner when determining moral intention. Public accountants are viewed as acting spontaneously without adequately considering the consequences (via the judgement phase), which appears to be a function of the nature of their personal association with the case study applied in this research.

The research provides evidence that Australian accounting professionals relate to favour-seeking guanxi as representative of a broader notion of social networking. In this context, the guanxi instrument appears to be amenable to cross-cultural evaluations of group behaviour. Significant differences of opinion exist compared to the prior Chinese studies when unethical practices are considered. The guanxi instrument proves to be a useful tool when examining the group interactions involving Western professionals and also helps establish differences in moral constructions based on employment types.

The industrial buyer-seller relational process models from the Eastern and Western worlds have not been combined. The Western world has dominated the development of the models, while there exist only a very limited amount of guanxi development models from the East. This paper is exploratory in nature, focusing on combining the development of these two worlds into one intercultural model. Four case relationships verify the proposed model.

This paper focuses on only one cultural context outside of the West, that is to say, China. In order to justify the model to be completely an intercultural one, research in other cultural contexts is necessary.

Wonders whether companies actually have employees best interests at heart across physical, mental and spiritual spheres. Posits that most organizations ignore their workforce – not even, in many cases, describing workers as assets! Describes many studies to back up this claim in theis work based on the 2002 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference, in Cardiff, Wales.

The rise of emerging markets such as China, Brazil, Russia, and the Middle East has led to an increase in interest in understanding the nature and working mechanisms of informal networks (guanxi, yongo, wasta, blat/svyazi, etc.), which are instrumental in international business (IB) activities in these markets. Unlike Chinese informal networks, which have been researched extensively, studies on several other important informal networks remain sporadic and peripheral. From a theoretical point of view, it can be argued that the typical characteristics and behavioral ideals implied by social network theory do not fully reflect the networking ideals and practices in many non-Western countries. At the same time, international business practitioners may not have a thorough understanding of how to engage effectively in informal networking abroad or of how local managers actually network. Motivated by the wish to close this knowledge gap and work toward an inclusive and integrative theory of informal networks in international business studies, this paper suggests treating informal networks as an important type of social capital and informal institution of the respective business environment at the same time. As such, researching informal networks can be regarded a distinct research area positioned at the intersection of social capital, social network and (informal) institution theory. Finally, emerging theories are presented that indicate a path for developing informal network theory further in international business studies.

The purpose of this paper is to explain the culture‐driven role and effects of social capital in Japanese‐Western alliances. The authors move beyond narrow conceptualizations of relationship bonding (i.e. positive socio‐psychological aspects such as trust and commitment) to explore the broader role of social capital (e.g. in destructive act recovery processes) in such alliances.

The conceptual paper adopts a theory development approach.

The authors advance a process model and propositions that explain the way social capital networks and processes influence relationship‐based contracting and performance outcomes in alliances with the Japanese.

The study assists international marketers in their efforts to overcome cultural barriers to success in Japanese‐Western alliance relationships.

It can be argued that erosion of Japanese business culture potentially clouds the picture for implementing governance through social capital. The study furnishes managers with an understanding of how to take the cultural context of the partnership into account to build appropriate and productive social capital with Japanese partners.

The study is novel in addressing the issue of how to implement relational bonding mechanisms in complex cultural situations. As a result of cultural erosion, different types of Japanese partner, eroded versus traditional, may require different alliance screening and management strategies.