Guanxi, a two-edged sword! How Australian accounting professionals view the process within a moral framework

Abstract

Purpose-The purpose of this study is to determine how western business practitioners, specifically Australian accounting professionals identify with the Chinese value concept of guanxi and the impact of their perceptions of guanxi on their ethical decision-making. This objective is predicated by a belief that aspects of guanxi are similar to the western concept of social networking and would be identified by practitioners as an organizational process providing positive benefits to those associated with its application. Further it is anticipated that concepts of guanxi influence the way Australian accountants form ethical judgments and intentions, precursors to acceptable moral behaviour. Design/methodology/approach-Cross-sectional questionnaire based survey of 111 usable Australian accounting professionals completed during 2012. A confirmatory factor analysis was employed to validate each construct of guanxi before a path analysis was performed. Findings-Australian accounting professionals associate well with the favour-seeking aspects of guanxi, suggesting an affiliation with western concepts of social networking. Both groups (i.e., public accountants and private accountants) reject rent-seeking guanxi as clearly unethical. Rentseeking guanxi is seen to directly influence ethical judgment and intention; however, their favour-seeking guanxi attitudes do not influence ethical judgment or intention, regardless of employment type. Public and private accountants apply guanxi in a differential manner when determining moral intention. Public accountants are viewed as acting spontaneously without adequately considering the consequences (via the judgment phase), which appears to be a function of the nature of their personal association with the case study applied in this research. Originality/value-The research provides evidence that Australian accounting professionals relate to favour-seeking guanxi as representative of a broader notion of social networking. In this context, the guanxi instrument appears to be amenable to cross-cultural evaluations of group behaviour. Significant differences of opinion exist compared to the prior Chinese studies when unethical practices are considered. The guanxi instrument proves to be a useful tool when examining the group interactions involving western professionals and also helps establish differences in moral constructions based on employment types.

Perceived ethicality of moral choice

“…Finally, Han Fan et al (2014, p. 701) argued that “judgments are founded on attitudes and perceptions about a given situation, while intentions represent the desire to act on those attitudes and perceptions”. Despite the difference between moral judgment and moral behavior, the Theory of Reasoned Action (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980) predicts a positive relationship or a significantly high correlation between an individual’s judgment and his/her intention.…”

“…Despite the difference between moral judgment and moral behavior, the Theory of Reasoned Action (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980) predicts a positive relationship or a significantly high correlation between an individual’s judgment and his/her intention. Given such a positive relationship, we believe that individuals who make ethical judgments are likely to follow through with their intentions as a precursor to behavior (Han Fan et al , 2014). However, such a relationship was not assessed in the present study.…”

How ethical leadership cultivates healthy guanxi to enhance OCB in China

“…Rent‐seeking orientation relates to self‐interest rather than the benefit of an organization or society. Thus, it influences moral judgment and procedures (Fan, Woodbine and Scully ; Han Fan, Woodbine and Scully ). Therefore, rent‐seeking guanxi orientation may have negative effects on employee OCB.

Hypothesis 5: Rent‐seeking guanxi orientation is negatively related to employee OCB.

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