申请成功了的博士方案(PHD proposal)

PHD Research Proposal

Title:

The Extent of Guanxi between Chinese Suppliers and Their Western Customers

Submitted by:

Terry Ji Ruan

Table of Contents of this Proposal

1. Introduction

2. Aims and objectives

3. Topics justification/scope and limitations

4. Literature review

5. Methodology and data collection

6. Proposed development

Bibliography

1. Introduction

China started its economic reform since 1979 and now becomes the second biggest economy in the world due to the dramatic rise of Chinese economic development. More and more attentions have been focused on how the Chinese do business and how to cooperate with them through culture. Likewise, as for the Chinese businessmen, they are facing the outside word and need to learn more about other cultures. Therefore, Intercultural business communication becomes a big issue during the rising of the Chinese economic development.

Owing to the Chinese culture, Chinese businessmen spend a lot of time and money on establishing personal relationship with the domestic customers, which is called guanxi in China. Guanxi, a phase from Chinese PinYing, can be roughly translated as personal ties, which presents the totality of the relationship between two persons. It is so complicated and quite different from the Western business relationship (So and Walker, 2006).

In international business section, do the Chinese people do the same way as they do to their domestic customers? And does guanxi work? Because when we talk about guanxi, it usually refers to the relationship among the Chinese. In China, when a person has a lot of powerful guanxi, it will be easier for him or her to succeed in business. As for the international business section, is it conducive to the sale if the Chinese establish guanxi with their foreign customers by the Chinese ways, like big dinner, valuable gifts and big entertainment? What extent does guanxi exit between them?

Most of the researches have focused on guanxi in Chinese society, whereas

research on guanxi between the Chinese and the Westerners is scarce. More over, guanxi and cultural dimensions, these two areas of work, have never been brought together before. This paper will focus on the guanxi between the Chinese and the Westerners by the means of analyzing the cultural dimensions and so-called “guanxi dimension”. And a research will be carry on from the cooperation between the Chinese suppliers and their Western customers.

2. Aims and objectives

2.1 Aim(s) of proposed study:

Find a better way for the Chinese to build up relationship with their Western customers. Also give some suggestions for Westerners to cooperate with their Chinese suppliers.

2.2 Objectives

To find out what extent guanxi exits between Chinese suppliers and their Western customers? Also, establish a new theory named “ guanxi dimension”, which can specify the extent of guanxi between two cultures.

3. Topics justification

3.1Why I chose this topic?

I have been working for Chinese companies as a part-time interpreter and

translator for more than six years and negotiating and entertaining hundreds of foreign customers who are mainly from the Middle-East, Europe, Korea and America. Therefore I have plenty of experiences related to the topic which I like very much.

3.2 The originality of the research

Firstly, the research brings together areas of work that have not been brought together before, that is, guanxi and cultural dimentions. Secondly, this research will try to establish a new theory named “ guanxi dimension” which can specify the extent of guanxi between two cultures.

4. Literature review

4.1 Theory involved

This study involves some theory of guanxi and several cultural dimensions form Hall ,Trompenaar and Hofstede , such as

z Trompenaars’s culture dimensions, specific and defuse.

z Trompenaars’s culture dimensions, universalism and particularism

z Hofstede’s culture dimensions Power Distance

z Hofstede’s culture dimensions Individualism/Collectivism

z Hofstede’s fifth culture dimensions, long- versus, short-term orientation

Some relevant business network theory will be analysed in this research in order to compare the business network styles. Last but not least, some philosophies and religions will be deeply discussed to find out primary cause of the culture difference.

4.2 Guanxi in Chinese Business

4.2.1. What is guanxi?

Guanxi, a phase from Chinese PinYing, can be roughly translated as personal ties ，which presents the totality of the relationship between two persons. It is so complicated and quite different from the Western business relationship (So and Walker, 2006).

Guanxi is a central concept in Chinese society. It can include personal relationships, social and business network.

4.2.2. The essentiality of guanxi

A survey made by Chu and Ju(1990) in China, found that over 42 per cent of respondents regarded guanxi as very important in social-economic life, while nearly 50 per cent regarded it as important or somewhat important. The Chinese value guanxi very much because it plays an important role in a person’s life. Some Chinese people even say “Without guanxi you can not achieve anything.” According to my own experience of living more than thirty year in China, guanxi is an essential element for people to survive .If you have guanxi, you can find a better job, get promotion, sell your products easily and have majority to do everything. In business area, guanxi can reduce business risk, get more useful information, help the promotion of products and reduce costs. In China, people everywhere concentrate their energies to accumulating guanxi and mastering the art of using guanxi as a basic strategy for survival and mobility (Gold,,Guthrie and Wank, 2002).It is a rule that the larger one’s guanxi network, and the more diverse one’s guanxi connections with people of different occupations and positions, the better becomes one’s general manoeuvrability in society and with officialdom to obtain resources and

opportunities(Yang,1994).

4.23. Guanxi is special

Firstly, guanxi is always personal. The relationships formed by guanxi are personal and not transferable, which is different from the Western relationships. In Chinese society, personal relations dominate and are not separate from business relationships. While business relations in the West are more technical and company oriented (So and Walker,2006). guanxi is always personal，which always struck with two people. Although it can be business relationship between two firms, you will see the true fact that it is based on two important persons from the two firms. The deal is guaranteed by the two people. If the relationship between the two important persons break up, than the relationship between the two firms will definitely break up too. Even if an individual is running a number of separate companies, the counter-party considers himself as still trading with the same entity, the person with whom he has guanxi. He could not have different relationship with each company. For example, "One can bankrupt a limited liability company and start all over again but liabilities with the person terminate only at death"(So and Walker,2006:69).

Secondly, guanxi is always utilitarian. In the West, business relationships are based on a business culture and can be personal and personal or purely pragmatic (utilitarian). Other relationships e.g. social, family, have their own culture. But "guanxi is the totality of any relationship; it is indivisible, pragmatic, or personal and pragmatic, but essentially utilitarian"(So and Walker, 2006:3).

Thirdly, guanxi is always involved in some special emotion like ganqing,yiqi and renqing. Ganqing can be roughly translated as emotional affects which denotes the closeness of guanxi( Jacob,1982). If you have good ganqing with

somebody, usually, you have good guanxi with him or her. Yiqi is a Chinese “ethic of brotherhood.” It refers to the tight bonds of mutual aid, trust, and loyalty linking the members of a friendship or partnership in business. While renqing is a favour offering to a friend, which is expected to be returned in the future (Yang,1994).

But, do any ganqing,yiqi and renqing exist when the Chinese deal with the Westerners?

4.24The use of guanxi

Since guanxi is so important in the Chinese society. How do the Chinese develop and maintain guanxi? Firstly, they try to know more people, make more friends and get close to the people they know. And then, usually, they offer renqing to the people they know to get guanxi. "China is a world where what counts is not only whom one knows, but also who owes whom a favour." (Terry,1984) .When one owns others a favour, in China, people call one owns others a renqing, which is expected to be returned in the future. “Both parties expect to offer help when asked and both would try to repay the renqing debt at some later date and is an exchange without the sanction of law but the Confucian”(So and Walker,2006:69). "If there is guanxi between two businessmen, which seems willing to grant more favour terms to the other in business affairs so that deals are easily more struck between them" (So and Walker,2006:70). All in all, guanxi is often set up and maintained by the offering a favour by one party to another. So if the Chinese offer favours to their western customers, what would the westerners think of the favours?

More importantly, the Chinese also develop ganqing to maintain or strengthen their guanxi. As mentioned earlier, the more g anqing you get, the firmer guanxi