Aspects of Culture are the Guanxi and Mianzi - Term Paper Example

Student Name: Course Name: Tutor: Date: Introduction The Chinese culture has got various aspects that are observed in business. These are very important since most factors of the Chinese culture are business oriented. Among these aspects of culture is the guanxi and mianzi. Guanxi is a Chinese word that refers to personal networks or relationships. Mianzi is also a very important aspect of Chinese business culture is. This is another term for “face”. This means reputation, prestige, honor and social standing. Guanxi (relationship) and face in china Guanxi refers to the notion of creating relationships so that one can obtain favors through these relationships. This is concept that is found within their culture and forms a complex, persistent relational network that the Chinese people nurture energetically, delicately, and imaginatively. It also includes aspects such as inherent common obligations, promises and understanding. Generally, guanxi implies personal relationships which are supported by constant exchange of favors. It is therefore not a mere friendship or any relationship; there must be a responsibility to maintain mutual exchange of benefits. There exist several interpersonal relationships in China, but unlike other relationships, guanxi is a special kind of a relationship that is observed every where and it plays a very important role on every day lives. It is a very common activity in offices, among college students and also in entrepreneurship (Wong, & Leung, 68). People of China highly value how they look in public. This brings in the concept of the face (mianzi) where they can do anything to avoid looking bad in public. This is often seen in how unwilling they usually are in openly admitting that they have done nay wrong. They do not care how petty the issue may be. This may also be explained by the character of the Chinese students’ reluctance in participating in class because of the fear of making mistakes in front of their colleagues. The Chinese people believe that mianzi is a strategy that is used in protecting one’s respect for self and also personal identity. Activities done to save the face are among those rites used as protective in one’s role in a guanxi. Mianzi is therefore used in maintaining the guanxi. It preserves one’s social status and the identity. According to the Chinese, telling lies is considered obvious especially when one does not do it intentionally. They therefore agree that one can lie in order to safeguard from being associated with wrong doing. Word of mouth is also another very important concept in guanxi. This is because it is the channel for exchange of information which is a major necessity in a guanxi. Communication by the word of mouth is important in influencing various aspects such as awareness, influencing people’s perceptions, the intentions of their behaviors and also their expectations. It is also important in making purchases since the buyers can obtain information that is necessary for making decisions regarding a product. Research done on the Chinese culture has also shown that word of mouth was widely used between the Chinese and the White Caucasian but it was used more among the Chinese due to their culture of guanxi (Lam, & Lin, 14 Basis for the establishment of Guanxi For guanxi to be established there must be a guanxi base. A guanxi base is a common shared identity between two people or more. The basis may be founded on kinship or through common experiences. These two can facilitate the establishment of a guanxi but cannot pre determine the relationship. The basis for the formation of each guanxi is different depending on the situation. For example, a similar dialect may facilitate a guanxi between different firms but not more than how kinship may facilitate ownership and management of a firm (So Lun, & Walker, 74). The most common basis for a guanxi includes: Locality or dialect: this was seen when immigrant to China arrived from Singapore. Since they had no people of their own, they turned to those from their villages who had arrived earlier in China for food and shelter. They therefore formed groups based on their origin and their dialect. Dialects formed guanxi basis that were advanced into common assistance groups. However, a guanxi based on a dialect may dissolve in future as other generations may stop to recognize them. The other basis for guanxi is fictive kinship. The Chinese formed clans that they had based on common surnames. People who shared common surnames were made the kinsmen since they were believed to have similar origin. Another basis was real kinship where one’s immediate kin was related to the father by blood or by marriage. This was important especially in management of business or its ownership (Gold, Guthrie, & Wank, 45). Workplace can also be another basis for guanxi. People working together may form a guanxi which may grow strong as they continue working together. This can be very important when one of them starts a business. This is because colleagues know o9ne’s line of business and can be good partners of doing business with. Most of the private businesses in China are based on relationships of people who had been colleagues. Trade associations and social clubs have also been another important basis for guanxi. These offer interaction opportunities through dinner meetings and other activities. Through these gatherings, one can also create guanxi with likely buyers and suppliers. Friendship can also be a basis for guanxi where people belonging to different kins create relationships. They are however not considered strong basis for guanxi, it is just important for strengthening the guanxi (Mungenast, 13). Basically, these are the bases for guanxi in China and a person who has such bases has strong association with other people and is also important to them. With the minor ties that they may have, this may create a strong personal relationship that may have mutual benefits. These associations are just important in creating way for a guanxi. Principles of guanxi Creation, utilization and maintenance of the guanxi is done under various principles that see it a success. One of the principles is that guanxi if transferrable. This means that a person may be having a guanxi with one friend and that friend has a guanxi with others. This friend can therefore recommend one friend to the others on the other side. This means that the common friend transfers the guanxi between his or her two friends. However, for the guanxi to be easily transferrable, the two must be satisfied with each other. The two must also form friendship for their guanxi to succeed. Another principle is that it is reciprocal. This means that the benefits must be mutual. If a friend does not reciprocate the favour, he loses face (Mianzi) and may be considered untrustworthy. However, in most cases, a guanxi is formed between a weak and a strong partner. The weaker partner may therefore be receiving favors which he may not be bale to reciprocate. To maintain the guanxi, the two must work to ensuring that favors are equal (Reuvid, & Li, 284). The other principle is that the guanxi is intangible. One establishes the guanxi expecting endless favors and the guanxi must be maintained by showing commitment to the rest in the network. The codes of reciprocity and equity that govern them are not written neither are they told. It just happens obvious so long as there is the relationship. A person who ignores the commitment may spoil his or her reputation and this may suffer humiliation and loss of his face. Another principle is utilitarianism. This means that guanxi is utilitarian and not emotional. Guanxi connects tow people through the favors offered but not the emotions experienced. It is not always necessary to form the relationships with friends although it is encouraged. For the guanxi to survive for long there must be mutual benefit and this must extend from individual relationships to organizational relationships. Employees may het rewards such as those of promotions and bonuses when they extend the guanxi to their organizations where they work. This is because the organizations can also benefit when the employees have guanxi. Another principle is that it is contextual. The relationship involves interactive medium between the two individuals. Offering gifts may in one context be considered acceptable culture of giving gifts for example where one gives to his boss or to the spouse. In another context for example where one is aiming at a promotion, it may be considered as instrumental while in some cases where a relative need s a job, it may be seen as bribe. Since it applies different in various contexts, it is sometimes hard to find the right approach in fulfilling its relations. The other principle is that it is long term. It is believed that the relationship is built on long term basis. In this context, it is believed that the mutuality is inbuilt in all life aspects. It is not a thing that can be broken that easily. People assume that it is a stock that is kept when there is abundant and used when there is great need. Some of the guanxi never end and are continued over several generations (Worm, 117). Philosophies of guanxi Many aspects of guanxi have come into light due to increased privatization of Chinese business. Guanxi in one way operates under the Confucian philosophy which is based on the Confucian social theory. This theory looks at ways of establishing harmony in the secular order in this world that is centered on man. The Confucian philosophy therefore explains that human beings can never be isolated and cannot survive as separate entities. This is because they are interactive social beings. Guanxi was however not based in the Confucian classics but applied the concept of lun. This concept is based on the delineation of human beings and the type of relationship that they can form. The Chinese people have been operating in clan like networks where at the center are the family members, then relatives who are a distant from the family, then classmates and eventually the friends and the acquaintances at the end. This arrangement is therefore based on how close people are to each other and how much they can trust each other. However to be able to keep distant relationships, one must invest enough time and energy. Where one is faced by a business situation that is above his or her ability, the entire network is mobilized so that the key decision maker can assist in achieving the required results. Being a social philosophy, Confucianism tries to establish a social chain of command which has the ability to coordinate a large and complex network of important individuals (Luo, 13). Another valued philosophy is the mianzi, or the face. This is the public image that an individual attains by doing things in public that are well recognized by other people. The Chinese people consider the face in quantitative terms where the amount of face that a person has is determined by his guanxi network. The more strong the guanxi, the more powerful are its members, the more the face that one has. To be able to build other guanxi networks, one must have enough face. Mianzi also offers one the influence that is required in enlarging and controlling a guanxi network. The Chinese traditions equate losing a face with the physical loss of one’s nose, eyes, and the moth. According to them, Mianzi is an indefinable social currency and an individual status that is determined by one’s social status and his material wealth. Another important philosophy in a guanxi is the reqing. This means unpaid responsibilities as a result o f raising a guanxi. It is a type of social capital that can give one authority during the exchange of favors in the guanxi. It is important to have renqing before one forms the guanxi since it places one at an advantage. When the Chinese starts the guanxi, they also create networks of renqing obligation so that they may start enjoying its pay back in the near future. Basically, renqing offers a moral responsibility for one to reciprocate the favors in the guanxi. It is like securing a commitment that the favors will continue to be equally reciprocated so long as the guanxi continues. However, the guanxi and lenqing changers in value over time as people continue to interact and give mutual benefits (Ambler, & Xi, 112). Guanxi also operates under the principle of Xinren which is also closely related with ganqing. Xinren increases with increase in the ganqing. Xiren is therefore a Chinese word for trust. The Chinese people form guanxi that are based in the family or the clan because hey lack trust for people who are not members of their families. Those formed between other parties under the basis of social factors must be maintained by full reciprocation of the favors. It is through this that they can prove to be trustworthy and reliable. Trust is very important since it proves that one is competent in doing business (Fang, 119). Conclusion Chinese people highly value all these aspects that contribute to a strong guanxi since they are very important for the success of their business lives. Guanxi brings people together, mianzi helps in maintaining a good public image while others such as reqing and Xiren helps in keeping the guanxi strong. Guanxi is also formed under different basis, all of which bring people together. It also operates under various philosophies all of which contributes to making it successful. Works Cited Wong, Y. and Leung,Thomas . Guanxi: relationship marketing in a Chinese contex. New York:Routledge, 2001. So Lun, Ying. and Walke, Anthony. Explaining guanxi: the Chinese business network. London: Taylor & Francis, 2006. Reuvid, Jonathan. And Li, Yong. Doing business with China. London: GMB Publishing Ltd, 2005. Worm, Verner. China: business opportunities in a globalizing economy. Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School Press,2008. Luo,Yadong. Guanxi and business. New York: World Scientific, 2000. Lam, Desmond. and Lin Xiaoli. Marketing in International and Cross-Cultural Environments:GUANxi and Word-of-Mouth. University of Western Australia. Mungenast, Hannes. Chinese Business Culture. New York: GRIN Verlag, 2007. Ambler, Tim. And Xi Chao. Doing Business in China. London: Taylor & Francis, 2008. Gold, Thomas., Guthrie, Doug. and Wank, David. Social connections in China: institutions, culture, and the changing nature of Guanxi. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Fang, Tony. Chinese business negotiating style. London:SAGE, 2000. Read More