Influence of guanxi on opportunistic behavior and special treatment at the organizational level: An empirical Study

This empirical research is among the earliest studies attempting to examine how guanxi influences the organizational behavior in transactions with SOEs of China. A model is proposed demonstrating the influence of guanxi on opportunistic behavior and special treatment. Data is collected from the salespersons of equipment in the oil industry. Partial least square (PLS) method is applied to analyze the collected data. Guanxi is found to negatively influence opportunistic behavior and positively impact behavior related to special treatment at the organizational level in a guanxi-intensive market in China. Our findings will help the members of the seller´s management team, especially foreign members, to better understand the behavior of their Chinese employees, and should also help purchasing managers to better understand how to manage the seller´s opportunistic behavior and how to get better support from the seller.