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"Guanxi" is far more than a form of "relationship marketing", a Western concept developed on the ground and then formalised by business schools world-wide. Relationship marketing is a relatively new concept: Guanxi has been practiced by the Chinese for centuries.

In the current economic crisis in Asia, guanxi has become more important, not less. Recessionary economies, in any country and time, threatens the assets and power base of those currently in power, and the reflex reaction is to stick together and trust only those close to you. Families always have that advantage.

In the APMF's Anbar Management Intelligence Article of the Month, the author contrasts the commonalities and differences between the two systems of relationship marketing and gaunxi from an academic and theoretical Western viewpoint, yet come up with some useful practical learnings for those who work within the system every day. The abstract follows:

A relationship marketing approach to guanxi
José Tomás Gómez Arias , Universidad de La Coruña, La Coruña, Spain, European Journal of Marketing, Vol 32 (1/2) 1998; pp. 145-156 ISSN 0309-0566

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In recent years there has been a growing interest in Asian business practices, in particular the use of social networks in China for business purposes. Because of its relational nature, some have identified guanxi with a traditional form of relationship marketing. We use the recent developments in relationship marketing theory to analyse guanxi. We find that understanding and managing guanxi is useful in the development of partnerships under the current economic situation in China, but does not support the other two basic strategic essentials of relationship marketing: service and process management. Additionally, we detect relevant changes in the structural conditions of China that make guanxi necessary in the access to the Chinese market.

Keywords: Business policy, China, Relationship marketing
Article Type: Wholly Theoretical
Quality Indicators: Research Implication **, Practice Implication **, Originality ***, Readability **

Access the pdf article from http://www.apmforum.com/asia.htm. If you do not have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your system, which is necessary to read many of the articles published on the Asia Pacific Management Forum, full instructions are provided on that page.