Three Dimensions of “Guanxi” Revealing the Covert Self-Organizing Dynamics in Contemporary China
Jixuan Hu and Wenjun Du
Wintop Consulting Group
Shanghai, China
Duques Hall 359
8:30 to 10 p.m. Monday, October 29, 2007
Multinational company executives and OD practitioners doing China-related business frequently find themselves banging their heads against what is called the “Chinese Way.” In various management areas and organizational development efforts, whatever works well in a Western context seems not to work effectively in the Chinese context. This session explains what is going on by revealing the covert organizational dynamics, i.e., how the overall concept of “Guanxi” can be analyzed in three dimensions – Political Trickeries (QuanMou), Personal Loyalty (YiQi) and Favor Accounting (RenQing), and how these anti-modernization traditions, playing die-hard roles, influence various organizational processes in contemporary China. This presentation will describe conceptual tools and suggested approaches for dealing with these organizational phenomena. These methods are useful not only for practitioners interested in working with China but also for scholars interested in applying Organizational Behavior and Development in societies with high “internal organizational friction.”
Contact Information:
Jason Jixuan Hu, (+86)21-6402-2416
Jason Jixuan Hu, Ph.D. and Wenjun Du, M.S.
WINTOP Organizational Learning Laboratory
General partner(JJH) and Trainer(WJD)
588 Jin-hui Road, Bldg. 8, Suite 201
Shanghai, 201103, P.R.China
n Jason Jixuan Hu
General Partner of WINTOP Consulting Group (Washington DC) and President of WINTOP Management Consulting (Shanghai) Ltd., Jason earned his Doctorate in Management and Organization from The George Washington University in 1995.
Before focusing on promoting facilitation methods to organizations in China, he served as the Chief Operating Officer/Vice President for the multinational education enterprise Apollo International (1999-2002). He worked on technology transfer projects and joint-venture development between U.S. and China (1996-1998); taught at California State University (1995-1996), The George Washington University (1993-1994), Beijing University (Summer 1994) and Tsinghua University (Summer 1999).
Jason has pioneered the theory of Communicatics which is related to the spirit and the practice of facilitation since 1993. He has coordinated an international team consisting of members of WINTOP, Institute of cultural Affairs (ICA), and International Association of Facilitators (IAF) to design and develop the first business oriented facilitation skills training course “Roundtable Leadership”, based on ICA’s Technology of Participation (ToP)® from 2002 to 2003. The course is localized in the Chinese language and cultural context with the registered trademark WINTOP Facilitation™. The course is currently being delivered to and receiving warm welcome from the business community in China. Jason is also an ICA USA certified facilitator trainer since 2003.
n Wenjun Du
Wenjun is an investment partner of WINTOP Consulting Group, which has a mission to promote facilitation concepts, skills and methods in China to strengthen Chinese corporations’ cooperation and collaboration capacities. Before joining WINTOP, Wenjun worked as project manager and senior software engineer for Topdown Systems for seven years. She earned her MS degree at John Hopkins University, and has been a certified ITOP trainer with ICA, the oldest facilitation organization operating in multiple countries. She is one of the development team members for the WINTOP Facilitation™ training product, which is currently being delivered to businesses in China and receiving positive comments.
Wenjun organized a team to translate a series of facilitation books into Chinese, including Winning Through Participation, The Art of Focused Conversation, Consensus Workshop, and The Facilitative Way. She is also the editor of the bilingual “China Facilitation eNewsletter”. Wenjun is IAF member since 2004.