Business relationships in China: Lessons about deep trust

Anton Kriz and Byron W. Keating

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: Trust is acknowledged as a central tenet of business relationships. Yet for all the attention it receives, rarely has trust been investigated in the Chinese business setting. This paper uses an emic approach to unearth some within-culture ‘truths’ about Chinese notions of trust in business exchange. The findings of this research suggest that deep trust (xinren), which is driven by reciprocal help and emotional bonding, is critical for doing business in China. A conceptual framework is provided to assist Western businesspersons to better understand the Chinese concept of trust as well as the interplay between its key antecedents.

Keywords: trust; xinren; guanxi; help; emotion; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F23 M31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010-07-22
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Published in Asia Pacific Business Review 16.3(2010): pp. 299-318

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https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/40429/1/MPRA_paper_40429.pdf revised version (application/pdf)

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