Entrepreneurs’ Networking Styles and Normative Underpinnings during Institutional Transition

Zhang Chenjian (), Wang Tao () and Ahlstrom David
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Zhang Chenjian: School of Management, University of Bath, Bath, UK
Wang Tao: Graduate School of Economics, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
Ahlstrom David: Business School, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Entrepreneurship Research Journal, 2024, vol. 14, issue 2, 457-489

Abstract: Existing network research has mainly adopted functional and/or structural approaches to study the instrumental goals behind entrepreneurs’ networking as well as the influence of personal position on access to resources and eventual performance. The variety of entrepreneurs’ networking styles and their normative underpinnings have not been adequately explored. Contextualized in China, this study asks: How do entrepreneurs’ understandings of social norms shape their networking styles? Through an inductive comparison of two entrepreneur generations in China, we identify three networking styles: guanxi-oriented networking, market-based networking, and mixed networking. We theorize that three types of norms shape these styles: market-inferred norms, dyadically formed norms, and identity-induced norms. This study provides new insights into the understanding of Chinese entrepreneurs’ distinctive networking styles and their normative underpinnings. Further, it suggests implications both for the wider study of entrepreneurs’ networking behaviors in transition economies, and for practitioners wishing to enhance their network building in China.

Keywords: Chinese entrepreneurs; networking; norms; guanxi; institutional transition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1515/erj-2021-0200

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