Questioning the Appropriateness of Examining Guanxi in a Wasta Environment: Why Context Should Be Front and Center in Informal Network Research – A Commentary on ‘De-Linking From Western Epistemologies: Using Guanxi-Type Relationships to Attract and Retain Hotel Guests in the Middle East’

Sven Horak, Ibrahim Abosag, Kate Hutchings, Fadi Alsarhan, Sa'ad Ali, Arwa Al-Twal, David Weir, Fawaz Baddar ALHussan and Faten Baddar AL-Husan

Management and Organization Review, 2023, vol. 19, issue 5, 1040-1045

Abstract: In this commentary we reflect on Shaalan, Eid, and Tourky's (2022) article in which they investigated the Chinese concept and practice of guanxi in the Middle East,1 a region in which wasta represents the common way of informal networking.2 While we encourage and welcome research into informal networks, we have serious concerns about the conceptual and methodological approaches taken by Shaalan et al. (2022) in investigating informal networks in the Middle East and explain herein why we do not believe guanxi should have been used in place of wasta.

Date: 2023
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