Browsing by Author "Rutherford, Christine"
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Item Open Access Cultural adaptation between western buyers and chinese suppliers(Cranfield University, 2009-12) Jia, Fu; Rutherford, ChristineThere are undoubtedly multiple factors that may contribute to the failure of a relationship, such as product quality or supplier reliability; however, when Western buyers source from China and attempt to build partnerships with Chinese suppliers, it is highly likely that they and their Chinese partners will encounter relational difficulties rooted in cultural differences between China and the West. Cultural adaptation is proposed as a solution to this problem; however the process of how each partner in a China-West partnership adapts to each other over time is not clear. Furthermore, the causal relationship between cultural adaptation and the mutual benefits of partnership has not previously been tested, nor have the contextual factors influencing the cultural adaptation process been identified. A multiple case study method was selected to answer three research questions developed from the three gaps identified above. Four China-US/UK cross cultural partnerships were selected for case analysis, which involved the retrospective evaluation of how both parties in each partnership adapt. The main instrument of data collection was the semi-structured interview supplemented with questionnaires and observations. The research concludes that as a result of cultural adaptation by both parties, a hybrid culture forms at the interface between Western buyers and their Chinese suppliers and is a combination of Guanxi and Western rules and procedures. Organizations as a whole do not adapt culturally, but rather those individuals working closely with each other at the interface of the two organizations including those working for Western buyer IPOs (International Purchasing Offices) in China and those who are top or middle level management in the Chinese suppliers. Two emerging contextual variables including the ownership of Chinese suppliers and the structure of IPOs have been identified from cross case analysis. The research also concludes that the higher the level of cultural adaptation the greater the mutual benefits perceived by both parties of the relationship.Item Open Access Guanxi as a supply relational risk source in China: a systematic review of western forms of relational governance and Guanxi(2006-08) Jia, Fu; Christopher, Martin; Rutherford, ChristineIt is well known that China has become the world’s manufacturing centre in the past two decades. More and more Western firms outsource their products, semi-finished products, materials and services to China. In this process, some are successful while others fail. It is true that there are various reasons for failure but one of the most important ones is the cultural differences between the West and China. The question is: what is the rationale behind the success or failure of dealing with the cultural differences? Guanxi is one of the major dynamics in the Chinese society where business behaviour revolves around it. The objective of this paper is to review Western forms of supply relational risk management and compare them with Guanxi. First of all, a synthesized concept of supply relational risk is coined. Secondly, synthesized models of both Western forms of supply relational risk management and Guanxi are proposed. Ten sources of risk are identified based on the comparison; these are presented as assumptions to be tested through field research. The main differences between the Western and Chinese forms of relationship management are: 1) Affection is an element of Guanxi which is missed by the Western business relationship management; 2) Chinese are responsible for family, while Westerners are responsible for society. 3) There are no such concepts as face and renqing in the West, which originated from hierarchically ancient China and are the key elements of Guanxi. Risk implications derived from these differences are presented. Finally, the outcome of the review is the identification of two PhD research questions and limitations and learning points of this review.