discussion topic that you might consider for this week.

Hi Folks. Here is another discussion topic that you might consider for this week.

Guanxi is a system of personal relationships involving long-term social obligations and favors, which is instrumental for doing business in China. Gift-giving is one of the guanxi norms that serve to express respect, honor, and gratitude. Chinese culture, heavily rooted in values of paternalism and power distance, prescribes that in dealing with a Chinese firm, the leader should receive a better gift than subordinates. 

According to Steidlmeier (as cited in Rosenblatt, 2012), these types of cultural scripts and rules may result in organizational corruption and nepotism. Luo (as cited in Rosenblatt, 2012) remarked that Western companies in their attempts “to win contracts, dominate domestic and foreign markets, or gain larger market share,” often put themselves in danger of “overemphasizing the gift-giving and wining-and-dining components of a guanxi relationship, thereby coming dangerously close to crass bribery’’ (p. 245). 

What are your views on gift giving as a means of entering foreign markets? What should a company do to keep things in balance between satisfying strategic objectives and opening the door to acceptance by the host culture?