Industrial and social networks in Asian collectivist societies

Abstract

The success of collectivist Asian economies in recent years has sparked much interest in the operation of Asian firms. Multinational marketers are increasingly realising the importance of personal relationships when dealing with Asian and other collectivist societies. Research has highlighted the importance of the different modis operandi and the role of networks in Asian society. We examine Asian networks - in particular the Chinese notion of 'guanxi ' and highlight some of their unique characteristics. We then construct a matrix that integrates the individualist-collectivist society continuum with an individual vertical-horizontal dimension and use this to link it to the welfare-business types of objectives of organizations. This is used to propose the type of individuals that would be more prevalent in different types of organizations including Asia networks. Implications are drawn and a research agenda proposed for empirical work in the domain.