Refer to 3 PPT slides, then discuss and argue "Renqing" and "Mianzi" in Chinese culture and compare with western culture.
Slide 1 * Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao * Communicating with China Power of guanxi: grease for the wheels of China Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao * * Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao * Question Imagine that John needs to undergo a brain cancer surgery, what do you suggest A doing now? List in bullet points Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao * * * Chinese saying Ni jing wo yichi, wo jing ni yizhang (你敬我一尺我敬你一丈) ‘You honour me a foot, and I’ll in return honour you ten feet’ ‘Ii you honour me, I’ll pay you back ten times’ * Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao * How is the guanxi game played in China: The good, the bad and the ugly What is guanxi: healthy vs unhealthy How to establish guanxi? How does guanxi work? Why is guanxi needed in China? Discussion and debate Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao * Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao * 1 What is guanxi? guan (關 , gate), xi (係, human tree) (Gate to a network of human beings) * Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao * I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine A much more complex concept and phenomenon than ‘relationship’ in English, ‘partnership’ Copyright © 2010 by Grace Zhang Curtin University * * * Guanxi: part of Chinese Harmony Theory (Chen, 2001) Adhere to expectations from others Through thick and thin, even against your own interest * Copyright © 2015 by Grace Zhang Curtin University * Copyright © 2015 by Grace Zhang Curtin University * Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao * Type of guanxi (graded) Friends, friend’s friends: daily/business contacts Old family friends, friends of generations (世交) Brotherhood (兄弟之交): huge trust, very good buddies/mates Friends to be sworn to live or die together (生死之交, Damon and Pythias ) * Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao * Government connections Uneven relation Find the problem, get to know someone who can help to cut through red tapes/shortcuts, huge difference ‘For every policy there is a way around it’ (disrespect rules, legal or illegal) e.g. tax issues Fatal if line up wrongly Copyright © 2010 by Grace Zhang Curtin University * * * Healthy guanxi Social and moral obligations to each other (no free lunch) Give and take to keep the wheels oiled Mutually beneficial exchange and cooperation In the place of a contract, people keep their words * Copyright © 2015 by Grace Zhang Curtin University * Copyright © 2015 by Grace Zhang Curtin University Copyright © 2010 by Grace Zhang Curtin University * * * Unhealthy guanxi Enter from the back door (e.g. family connections, pull strings) Bribery (e.g. gaining a contract) Corruption (e.g. pay for PS position) Question: Are the Chinese tend to ask for favours earlier in a relationship than Westerners do? * Copyright © 2015 by Grace Zhang Curtin University * Copyright © 2015 by Grace Zhang Curtin University * Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao * Guanxi and bribery (bad guanxi?) If you have good guanxi with sb, you don’t really need to bribe him If you have to bribe, then you don’t have a good guanxi with him It is not necessarily money, help each other Mis\How to build Guanxi.mp4 Copyright © 2010 by Grace Zhang Curtin University * * * How do we get guanxi estabilished Use intermediaries (Gao et al. 1998) Shengren (生人, raw person stranger/outsider) Shouren (熟人, cooked person, insider) Pengyou (朋友 friend) Guanxi: stranger (no) – insider (established) – family (by default) Caring for your partners Committed to your partners * Copyright © 2015 by Grace Zhang Curtin University * Copyright © 2015 by Grace Zhang Curtin University * Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao * Some common strategies - Same birthplace (a fellow townsman, e.g. from the same city Beijing) - Old university classmates Acquaintance through a third party with whom they both have guanxi - Change surnames? * Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao * Guanxi Maze A wants favour from D through B then C A asks B, B asks C, C asks D because D owes C C owes B B is A’s brother-in-law Very complicated, indirect and mythical networking Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao * Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao * Long term view: not overnight, take commitment/time to build up Ongoing, nurture it for future use ‘throw a long line to catch big fish’ (e.g. one wants to send his child to US) Breakable, renewable * Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao * How does guanxi work Reciprocity (Seligman 1999): tit-for-tat, two-way street, like play ping-pong Copyright © 2010 by Grace Zhang Curtin University * * * Cultivation: need to maintain the relationship (conversation, meal, a favor) Loyalty and reliability: A can go out of his way to help B, B is expected to do the same for A Powerful and effective way to assert and protect an individual * Copyright © 2015 by Grace Zhang Curtin University * Copyright © 2015 by Grace Zhang Curtin University Copyright © 2010 by Grace Zhang Curtin University * * * Mutually beneficial obligations: Friend’s friend A, B, C, D, E, F Once in the group, keep going around and growing …. Chen, G. M. (2001). Toward transcultural understanding: A harmony theory of Chinese communication. In V. H. Milhouse, M. K. Asante, & P. O. Nwosu (Eds.), Transcultural realities: Interdisciplinary perspectives on cross-cultural relations (pp. 55–70). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. * Copyright © 2015 by Grace Zhang Curtin University * Copyright © 2015 by Grace Zhang Curtin University * * Status and respect are gained from knowing how to play the game, also the liabilities created by guanxi In the West, relationships grow out of deals. In China, deals grow out of relationships. The cultivation of guanxi is an integral part of doing business (Vanhonacke 2004) * 打人不打脸，骂人不揭短 * Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao * What can guanxi do? - What cannot? work wonders, much more powerful in China than in the West, almost everything and anything Know someone useful, especially princelings (most powerful) * * Question: Ethical or unethical? Westerners may see guanxi as “using” others which, according to Western morality, is unethical. In China, “using” a relationship creates an obligation to do something at a later date. As long as you eventually fulfil that obligation, you are considered ethical. * 打人不打脸，骂人不揭短 * Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao * Why is guanxi needed in China? Relation-based (China) vs. rule- based (Li, 2003). Chinese rely on guanxi for centuries without an well- developed legal system Traditions: look after your own Moral/ethical: grateful and repay favour Lack of a fair competition environment (transparency) Insider vs. outside * Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao * Positive impact Support and protection Get things done Negative impact Lead to corruption Unfair competition at all levels * Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao * Future of guanxi: less dominant? China’s rapid transformation New entrepreneurial culture More open and fairer competition Strengthened legal system - Improved transparency: job ads, interviews, less ‘back door’ A dynamic and diverse China, old and new mixed * Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao * So, is guanxi important? Most people think so Different voices, perhaps corresponding to China’s changing landscape This leaves something for you to debate further Here is a sum-up: Guanxi.mp4 * Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao * * * Conclusions - Based on reciprocity and mutual obligations, guanxi is powerful/suitable to Chinese culture and traditions Help people to get what they want, and gain correspondent status in society Positive/negative influences in social, political and business spheres Guanxi and standardized laws: harmonically control China Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao * * * Presentation + Essay Unit Outline Rubrics Guideline for presentation (Should put in same referencing just as you do with your essay writing) Contract cheating and plagiarism Discussion The differences between western networking and Chinese guanxi? Universal: maintain partnership guanxi more powerful in China some favour/nothing off the limit Long or short term, less expectations? Primarily business/career vs every aspects Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao * * * References Chen, G. M. (2001). Toward transcultural understanding: A harmony theory of Chinese communication. In V. H. Milhouse, M. K. Asante, & P. O. Nwosu (Eds.), Transcultural realities: Interdisciplinary perspectives on cross-cultural relations (pp. 55–70). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Gao, Ge and Stella Ting-Toomey 1998. Communicating effectively with the Chinese. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. (Chapter 4, pp. 53-68). Vanhonacker, Wilfried R. (2004) Guanxi Networks in CHINA: How to be the spider, not the fly. The China Business Review, May–June. 48-53. Slide 1 * * Communicating with China Renqing * * * Question If your good friend is getting married, what would you give him/her? * * Table of content 1 What is renqing? 2 How does renqing work? 3 Why is renqing so important to the Chinese? 4 Case study * Copyright © 2011 by David Zhao * 1 What is renqing? ren (人, human), qing (情，feelings) Favour, sympathy, sensibilities kindness * * * Chinese sayings Zhi’en tubao 知恩图报 ‘Be grateful for a