The impact of Guanxi on Chinese managers' transactional decisions: A study of Taiwanese SMEs

Abstract

Guanxi is an important source of competitive advantage; managers in Chinese enterprises have especially placed enormous emphasis on it. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between managers' initiative toward a Guanxi formation and their transactional decisions within the network. Findings of this study suggest that managers' initiative in setting up a Guanxi network has important impact on their perceptions toward members in the network; and in turn, the perception has an impact on their transactional decisions within the Guanxi network. More specifically, managers would employ relational mark-down and compensatory mark-up to differentiate Guanxi members from non-Guanxi members in making transactional decisions.