當面對所謂重視人際關係的社會現象時，在台灣之法商公司執行長所進行之商業行為。
本論文的研究動機是希望能夠幫助法國投資者能夠在國際市場上，特別是在亞洲的台灣市場，能更加了解人際關係對於商業行為的重要性，並對該如何有效的建立關係網絡提出建議。本論文之焦點置於「關係」於市場上的運用，不論在台灣或中國，「關係」皆是很重要的文化及社會要素。所謂的「關係」深植於華人文化中的每個層面，但法國公司仍展現了在華人社會中建立關係的能力。本論文之研究架構是由關係理論實際應用發展而來。根據35位台灣臺北之法國籍公司執行長之訪談內容，可以明確發現「關係」對於商業及管理行為有所影響。
根據本質性研究結果可歸納出以下幾項結論：

a)	「關係」的概念也存在於法國的商業行為運作上，儘管是以所謂的“Réseau” 或 networking的名義呈現。
b)	以關係為社會核心的文化，呈現出凡事以關係為優先的文化本質。
c)	深入了解中華文化與價值觀，例如「和諧」之概念，將是建立有效關係網絡之重要課題。 

本研究對法國籍執行長之跨文化差異，及該如何於台灣市場中運用「關係」提供一概念性之參考。

The present study investigates the French Chief Executive Officers’ managerial behavior in Taiwan when faced with the social phenomenon of guanxi in Taiwan. The primary objective is to help the French practitioners in the international market to better understand the importance of the practice of guanxi and to advise them how to build an effective guanxi network in Asia and particularly in Taiwan.
This thesis focuses on the utilization of guanxi, which is an important cultural and social element in Taiwan and China. Although guanxi is embedded in every aspect of Chinese social life, French companies demonstrate capacity for guanxi building. 
A research framework was developed to theorize guanxi uses. The findings, based on 35 interviews with French CEOs in Taipei, Taiwan, provide strong support for the impact of guanxi in business and on French managerial behavior. In this qualitative research, the results show that:
a)	The concept of guanxi also exists in the French business practices, though under the different name of “Réseau” or networking. 
b)	The nature of guanxi transcends cultures; but its manifestations can be highly culturally specific.
c)	In-depth understanding of the Chinese culture and values, such as the “Harmony concept”, is an essential issue in order to build an effective guanxi network.

The research provides a practical reference to the French CEOs for cross-cultural effective adaptation to the uses of guanxi in the Taiwanese market.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 	I
中文提要	III
ENGLISH ABSTRACT	IV
TABLE OF CONTENTS	V
LIST OF TABLES	VII
LIST OF DIAGRAMS	VIII

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION	1
1. 1	OVERVIEW AND OBJECTIVE	2
1. 2	BACKGROUND	3
1. 3	KEYWORD DEFINITION	6
1. 4	RESEARCH QUESTIONS	8
1. 5	LEVEL AND SCOPE	8
1. 6	CONTRIBUTION TO THE LITERATURE	9
1. 7	RESEARCH OUTLINE	10

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW	12
2. 1	RELATIONSHIP MARKETING	13
2. 1. 1 TRANSACTION COSTS ANALYSIS	14
2. 1. 2 SOCIAL EXCHANGE THEORY	14
2. 1. 3 INTERACTION THEORY	16
2. 2	GUANXI BASES	17
2. 3	GUANXI ART	18
2. 3. 1 FEATURES OF GUANXI	18
2. 3. 2 ACTIVITIES IN GUANXI BUILDING	21
2. 3. 3 NORMS OF GUANXI	22
2. 4	THE BENEFITS OF GUANXI	24
2. 5	DEFENSE THEORY	26
2. 5. 1 THE DEFENSE	26
2. 5. 2 MISTRUST AND NETWORKS	26
2. 5. 3 AVOIDANCE OF CONFRONTATION	27
2. 5. 4 TRUST AND RISK MANAGEMENT	27
2. 6	COMPARISON BETWEEN THE FRENCH AND THE CHINESE CULTURAL VALUE	28
2. 6. 1 SPECIFIC VERSUS DIFFUSE RELATIONSHIP	28
2. 6. 2 INDIVIDUALISM VERSUS COMMUNITARIANISM	29
2. 6. 3 UNIVERSALISM VERSUS PARTICULALISM RELATIONSHIP	30
2. 6. 4 ACHIEVEMENT VERSUS ASCRIPTION	30
2. 7	CONTRAST BETWEEN THE WESTERN AND THE CHINESE VIEWS ON MANAGEMENT PRACTICES	32
2. 8	THE CONCEPT OF HARMONY	34
2. 9	HYPOTHESES	37
2. 10	RESEARCH FRAMEWORK	38


CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY	39
3. 1	RESEARCH SUBJECTS	40
3. 2	SAMPLING DESIGN	40
3. 3	RESEARCH INSTRUMENT	42
3. 3. 1 SURVEY AND QUESTIONNAIRE	42
3. 3. 2 SETTING THE BOUNDARY OF THE NETWORK	42
3. 3. 3 IMPLEMENTING THE GUANXI MODEL	43
3. 3. 4 ENHANCING THE EQUIVALENCE OF THE INSTRUMENTS	44
3. 4	DATA COLLECTION	45
3. 4. 1 PROCEDURE	45
3. 4. 2 METHOD OF ANALYSIS	46
3. 4. 3 DATA ANALYSIS	46

CHAPTER IV RESULTS AND DISCUSSION	47
4. 1	GENERAL CONCEPT OF GUANXI	48
4. 1. 1 THE IMPORTANCE AND BENEFITS OF GUANXI	49
4. 1. 2 GUANXI BASE	53
4. 2	HYPOTHESIS TESTING	58
4. 2. 1 FEATURES OF GUANXI	58
4. 2. 2 ACTIVITIES IN GUANXI BUILDING	59
4. 2. 3 NORMS OF GUANXI RELATIONSHIP	63
4. 2. 3 PARTICULARISM	66
4. 2. 4 LONG-TERM ACTION	68
4. 3	SUMMARY	70
4. 4	FRENCH CEOS’ PERCEPTIONS OF TAIWANESE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES	71

CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMANDATIONS	74
5. 1	CONCLUSION	75
5. 2	LIMITATIONS	78
5. 2. 1 THE LOCATION CHOSEN	78
5. 2. 2 THE IMPLEMENTATION OF GUANXI CONSTRUCT	78
5. 2. 3 STUDY SAMPLE	78
5. 3	RECOMMENDATIONS	79
5. 3. 1 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTITIONERS BASED ON CULTURAL VALUE DIFFERENCES	79
5. 3. 2 STRATEGIES TO BUILD AN EFFECTIVE GUANXI NETWORK	82
5. 3. 3 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACADEMIC RESEARCH	85

REFERENCES	86
APPENDIX I, English Version	91
APPENDIX II, French Version	100
APPENDIX III, Understanding the "Grandes Ecoles," the Réseau	110


 
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1.1 French Exchange with Taiwan in billion Euro	4
Table 2.1 Comparison of Cultural Values in French and Taiwan	28
Table 2.2 Contrast between Western and Chinese Views on Management Practices	32
Table 2.3 Confucianism: A System of Social Ideology and Order	34
Table 2.4 Confucian based Values and Some Implications for Managerial and Organizational Behavior	36
Table 2.5 The Research Framework	38
Table 3.1 French Companies Included in the Research Sample	41
Table 4.1 The Demographic Data of The Respondents	48
Table 4.2 The Reasons to Create Guanxi	49
Table 4.4 The Advantages and/ or Benefits of Guanxi	52
Table 4.5 Categorical Responses from Help from Taiwanese and French Counterparts			53
Table 4.6 Category of Guanxi Bases	54
Table 4.7 Categorical Responses on Which Occasion	55
Table 4.8 Category of Guanxi Art	58
Table 4.9 Category of Activity Pursued out the Business Hours	60
Table 4.11 Main Category of Activities for Strengthening and Maintaining Relationships	61
Table 4.12 Categorical Norm of Guanxi	64
Table 4.13 What Reasons To Help Guanxi Contacts?	65
Table 4.15 Categorical Long-Term Action Response	68
Table 4.16 Summary of Hypothesis Tests	70
Table 4.17 Mental Scheme of French versus Taiwanese	72

 
LIST OF DIAGRAMS
Diagram 4.3 Guanxi as a Key Success Factor	51
Diagram 4.10 Time Spend Per Week Outside Business	60
Diagram 4.14 Categorical Particularism Responses	66

Ang S. H. (2000). The Power of Money: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Business-Related Beliefs. Journal of World Business, Vol. 35(1).

Ambler T., Styles C., Xiucun W. (1999). The effect of channel relationships and guanxi on the performance of inter-province export ventures in the People’s Republic of China. International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol.16, 75-87.

Ambler T. (1994). Marketing’s third paradigm: guanxi. Business Strategy Review, 69-80.

Belliveau, Maura A., O’Reilly C. A., Wade J. B. (1996). Social capital at the top : Effect of social similarity and status on CEO compensation. Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 39, 6, 1568-1593.

Burt R. S. (1997). The contingent value of social capital. Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol.42, 2, 339-365.

Cheng B-S., Farh J. L., Chang H-F., Hsu W-L. (2002). Guanxi, Zhongcheng, Competence, and Managerial Behavior in the Chinese Context. Chinese Journal of Psychology, Vol. 44, No 2, 151-166.

Davies H., Leung T. K. P., Luk S. T. K., Wong Y-H. (1995). The benefits of « Guanxi » : The value of relationships in developing the Chinese market. Industrial Marketing Management, Vol.24, 207-214.

Fan Y. (2000). A classification of Chinese culture values. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 3-10. 

Fan Y. (2001). Questioning guanxi: definition, classification and implications. International Business Review, Vol. 11, 543-561.

Fan Y. (2002). Guanxi’s consequences: personal gains at social cost. Journal of Business Ethics, 371-380.

Jacobs, J. B. (1979). A preliminary model of particularistic ties in Chinese political alliances: Kan-ch’ing and kuan-shi in a rural Taiwanese township. China Quarterly, 78(June), 237-273.

Gabrenya W. K and Kwang K. H.. (1996). The Handbook of Chinese Psychology. Bond M.H, Hong Kong, Oxford University Press, 309-322. 

Guiheux G. (2002). Les grands entrepreneurs privés à Taiwan. CRNS édition.
 
Hotgetts/ Luthans/ Doh. (2006). International Management. McGraw-Hill International edition, 6th edition.

Hui C. & Graen G. (1997). Guanxi and professional leadership in contemporary Sino-American joint ventures in Mainland China. Leadership Quarterly, Vol. 8, 4, 451- 465.

Huang Y-H. (2000). The personal influence model and Gao Guanxi in Taiwan Chinese Public Relations. Public Relations Review, Vol. 26, No 2, 219-236.

Hwang K-L. (1987). Face and Favor: The Chinese Power Game. The American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 92, No 4 (Jan., 1987), 944-974. 

Li Chang W. & Lii P. (2005). The impact of guanxi on Chinese managers’ transactional decisions : a study of Taiwanese SMEs. Human Systems Management, Vol 4, No 18, 1-8.

Lee, K. H. and Lo, W. C. (1988). American Business people’s Perceptions of Marketing and Negotiating in the People’s Republic of China. International Marketing Review, Vol. 5, No. 2, 41-51.

Kao J. (1993). The worldwide web of Chinese business. Harward Business Review, 24-36.

Leung T. K., Wong Y. H., & Wong, S. (1996). A study of Hong Kong businessmen’s perceptions of the role “Guanxi” in the People’s Republic of China. Journal of business Ethics, 15(7), 749-758.


Lovett S., Simmons L. C., Kali, R. (1999). Guanxi versus the market: ethics and efficiency. Journal of International Business Studies, 231-248.

Luo Y. (1997). Guanxi: Principles, philosophies, and implications. Human Systems Management, Vol.16, Iss 1, 43-52.

Marion, B. (2006). Success with Asian People, Business and good manners. Edition d’Organisation.

Merrilees B. & Miller D. (1999). Direct Selling in the West and East: The Relative Roles of Product and Relationship (Guanxi) Drivers. Journal of Business Research, Vol. 45, 267-273.

Morgan, R. M. & Hunt, S. D. (1994). The commitment-Trust Theory of Relationship Marketing. Journal of Marketing, Vol. 58, 20-38.

Park S. H. & Luo Y. (2001). Guanxi and Organizational Dynamics: Organizational Networking in Chinese Firms. Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 22. 455-477.

Pearce II, J. A., Robinson, R. B. (2000). Cultivating guanxi as a foreign investor Strategy. Business Horizons, 31-39.

Raghu Nath, (1988). Comparative Management: A regional View. Cambridge, M.A: Ballinger, 126.

Redding, S. G. (1990). The Spirit of Chinese Capitalism. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Sacy, A. (2006). Taiwan, l’Art de la Paix. Vuibert édition.

Simmons, L. C. & Munch, J. M. (1996). Is relationship marketing culturally bound: a look at guanxi in China. Advanced in Consumer Research, 92-96.

Shesadri S. & Mishra R. (2004). Relationship marketing and contract theory. Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 33, 513-526.

Smart, A. (1993). Gift, bribes, and guanxi: A reconsideration of Bourdieu’s social capital. Cultural Anthropology, Vol 8(3), 388-408.

Standifird, S. S. & Marshall, R. S. (2000). The transactional cost advantage of guanxi-based business practice. Journal of World Business, 21-42.

Stanley Snell R. & Tseng C-S. (2001). Ethical Dilemmas of Relationship Building in China. Thunderbird International Business Review, Vol. 43(2) March-April 2001. 171-200.

Tsang Eric W. K. (1998). Can guanxi be a source of sustained competitive advantage for doing business in China? The Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 12, 2, 64-72.

Yang, M. M. (1989). The gift economy and state power in China. Comparative studies in Society and History, 31(1), 25-54.

Yau, O. H. M., Lee, J. S. Y.; Chow, R. P. M., Sin, L. Y. M, Tse, A. L. B. (2000). Relationship marketing in the Chinese way. Business Horizons, 16-25.

Yeung, I. Y. M., & Tung, R. L. (1996). Achieving business success in Confucian societies: the importance of guanxi. Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 25 (2), 54-65.

Yi, L. M. & Ellis, P. (2000).  Insider- outsider perspectives of guanxi . Business Horizon, Vol. 43(1), 25-30.

Wang X. & Ralston D.A. (2000). Strategies for Small and Medium-Sized U.S. Businesses Investing in China: Lessons from Taiwanese Companies. Thunderbird International Business Review, Vol. 42(6) 677-701.

Wee, C. H. (1994). Research on Chinese Management: Some Issues and Challenges, in Yau, O. (ed.), Proceedings of Symposium: Theorizing about Chinese Business and Management, Hong Kong: City Polytechnic of Hong Kong.

Westwood, R. R. (1992). “Culture, cultural difference, and organizational behavior”（ch.2）, In R. I. Westwood (Ed.) Organizational Behavior: A Southeast Asian Perspectives (pp. 27-61). Hong Kong: Longman.

Wong, Y. H. (1998). Key Account Management and Relationship Marketing. International Marketing Review, Vol 15(3), 215-231.
Wong, Y. H. & Yee-Kwong Chan R. (1999). Relationship marketing in China: Guanxi, favouritism and adaptation. Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 22,107-118.

Wong, Y. H., & Leung K.P. (2001). Guanxi: Relationship Marketing in a Chinese Context. International Business Press.

Xin K. R., Pearce J. L. (1996). Guanxi: Connections as substitutes for formal institutional support. Academy of Management Journal. Vol. 39, No 6, 1641-1658.


Internet Resources

Board of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Republic of China, 2005. http://www.moeaboft.gov.tw/

The French Institute in Taipei, Taiwan, Economic Department.
http://www.missioneco.org/Taiwan/