The cross model of guanxi usage in Chinese leadership

In the past 20 years, there has been a growing interest in the workings of Chinese management and organisation. Recent research has also focused on Chinese leadership. This paper examines an emerging issue uniquely important to the Chinese leadership setting – guanxi. A research process was initiated that included a ten‐case preliminary field study followed by a more extensive investigation of guanxi with 40 Chinese business leaders. Results revealed complex differences in the way guanxi is utilised in state‐owned and foreign‐invested enterprises. The differences are conceptualised using Falcione et al.’s notion of structuration, and developed into a “cross model” of guanxi usage.