Abstract
The central questions dealt in this chapter are not whether the Chinese emphasize guanxi relations, but rather, what are the origins of this particular mode of doing business. How do you explain for the preference to do business with familiar people? How do you account for personalism in Chinese business dealings? The chapter argues that the historical, institutional, and environmental contexts that the immigrant Chinese businessmen found themselves in lead to a situation of distrust and subsequent dependence of family and kin to minimize risk and ensure business success through nurturing crucial “mutual dependencies”. The chapter elaborates on the different types of distrust, including systems distrust, racial discrimination, corruption, and unfair trade practices, as well as the business strategies used by the Chinese businessmen to overcome these risks and uncertainties.
This chapter was first published in the Journal of Asian Business, Volume 22, 2008. The author would like to acknowledge and thank the editor of the Journal of Asian Business for the kind permission to reprint the article in this volume.
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Tong, C.K. (2014). Rethinking Chinese Business Networks: Trust and Distrust in Chinese Business. In: Tong, CK. (eds) Chinese Business. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4451-85-7_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4451-85-7_6
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