Content area
Full Text
Asia Pac J Manag (2011) 28:715735 DOI 10.1007/s10490-009-9176-x
Examining the positive and negative effects of guanxi practices: A multi-level analysis of guanxi practices and procedural justice perceptions
Ying Chen & Ray Friedman & Enhai Yu & Fubin Sun
Published online: 20 October 2009# Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009
Abstract In this research, we compared and contrasted the effects of managers interpersonal level guanxi practice and group level guanxi practice on employees procedural justice perceptions. Results indicated that interpersonal guanxi practice was associated with increased employee fairness perceptions whereas group level guanxi practice (the sense that guanxi is used often to make human resource decisions within a management group) was negatively related to perceived fairness. Thus, while individuals may like the personal favors of managers interpersonal guanxi practice, their sense of justice is undermined by the broad use of guanxi. In addition, group level guanxi practice moderated the relationship between interpersonal guanxi practice and procedural justice such that this relationship was stronger in work units with high levels of group level guanxi practice. Thus, when employees see many others affected by guanxi, their sense of justice is even more strongly influenced by interpersonal guanxi practice.
Keywords Guanxi . Guanxi practice . Procedural justice
Y. Chen (*) : R. FriedmanOwen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University, 401 21st Ave. South, Nashville, TN 37203, USAe-mail: [email protected]
R. Friedmane-mail: [email protected]
E. YuSchool of Management, North China Electric Power University, Being, China e-mail: [email protected]
F. SunSchool of Management, Xian Jiaotong University, Xian, China e-mail: [email protected]
716 Y. Chen et al.
It is commonly recognized that the practice of guanxi is prevalent and important in Chinese society (e.g., Hwang, 1987; Xin & Pearce, 1996; Yeung & Tung, 1996). Previous work on guanxi has focused on linking guanxi and organizational outcomes. This previous research indicates that guanxi practice involves a social dilemma (Chen & Chen, 2009). On the positive side, supervisor-subordinate guanxi (that is, strong social ties between a supervisor and a subordinate) can bring benefits to the parties involved. Research has found, for example, that managers tend to give more bonuses to and are more likely to promote employees with whom they have good personal relationships (Law, Wong, Wang, & Wang, 2000). This practice of allowing supervisor-subordinate guanxi to...