Guanxi and Wasta: A comparison

Abstract

China has a business culture based on strong family connections secured in guanxi networks, while the Arab World's is based on strong family connections secured in wasta networks. This article compares guanxi, wasta, and the role of trust, family, and favors in underpinning these traditional modes of interpersonal connections and networks and considers the continued relevance of these practices as these regions of the world internationalize and modernize. The article provides insights for Western managers in their subsidiary operations in China and the Arab World. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Leveraging symbolic capital: the use of blat networks across transnational spaces

“…Existing research outlines the use of jeitinho in Brazil (Ardichvili et al 2012), 'pulling strings' in English-speaking countries (Smith et al 2012), and guanxi -the 'interpersonal linkages with the implication of a continued exchange of favours' (Michailova and Worm 2003: 510) -in China, which plays a key role in the everyday 'doing' of Chinese business organizations (Chen et al 2012;Luo et al 2011). In the Arab world, wasta, which 'involves social networks of interpersonal connections rooted in family and kinship ties and implicating the exercise of power, influence, and information sharing through social and politico-business networks' (Hutchings and Weir 2006: 143), plays a vital role in everyday transactions (Hutchings and Weir 2006). Despite the diversity and scope of informal practices across different countries, the main purpose of these forms of informal behaviour is similar, namely to circumvent formal rules and provide beneficiaries with selectively redistributed favours and services (Aliyev 2017;Smith et al 2012).…”

“…Across the globe, the practice of using personal connections to 'get ahead' and, often, to circumvent formal rules and regulations, remains a common social practice; called wasta in the Arab world (Hutchings and Weir 2006), guanxi in China (Chen et al 2012;Luo 2011), jeitinho in Brazil (Ardichvili et al 2012), 'pulling strings' in English speaking countries (Smith et al 2012) and blat in post-Soviet spaces (Ledeneva 2009(Ledeneva , 2013. The aim of this article is to contribute to the advancement of knowledge in this area by evaluating critically the use of blat, not in post-Soviet spaces, but across transnational spaces, exploring how Eastern European migrant entrepreneurs living in the UK access, construct and maintain blat social networks using resources in both their home countries and in the UK.…”

Electronic Reverse Auctions: Spawning Procurement Innovation in the Context of Arab Culture

“…Like guanxi, wasta relies heavily on family connections. Wasta represents a social networking phenomenon with a long and important-yet seldom studied-history in the MENA region; this case study answers the call to document how Eastern cultures adapt Western business practices, as well as what Western managers can learn from Eastern traditions (Hutchings and Weir, 2006). This case presents the successful implementation of a new procurement practice (eRA's) that conflicts with accepted business traditions in both Western and Eastern managerial traditions.…”

“…The Arab-speaking world has grown in economic and political influence (Hutchings and Weir, 2006). The Arab World encompasses diversity comparable to Europe's, with a range of annual per capita income from Qatar ($137,200) to Yemen ($3,800), and a rich diversity of histories as ancient as Egypt's Cairo to the modern skyscrapers of Dubai, yet Western managers tend to view the Arab World as homogeneous.…”

Understanding marketing innovativeness in Asia: a research agenda

“…This focus makes sense given the global economic significance of China, and of wider Chinese culture among the extensive Chinese diaspora. There have more recently been efforts to include other non-Western cultural concepts into the business, management and marketing literature; notably, Arab concepts such as wasta and et-Moone have received growing attention (Hutchings and Weir 2006;Abosag and Naudé 2014;Abosag and Lee 2013). However, from a research-design perspective, the emphasis remains largely on identifying how Western theories need to be adapted to incorporate insights into non-Western cultural concepts.…”