The Value of Relationships in a Chinese-Western Business-to-Business Context: An Investigation on Relationship Bonds, Adaptation, Trust and Commitment

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The purpose of this study is to improve the understanding of the dynamics behind Chinese-Western buyer-supplier relationships. The study takes on a partially inductive approach by commencing with exploratory in-depth interviews. The main body of the study consists of a cross-sectional survey. Data has been collected through an on-line questionnaire. The theoretical review consists of industrial relationships with specific accounts on the role of adaptation, trust and commitment; a stream of literature in cross-cultural relationships deriving from Hofstede??s culturalist legacy with specific reference to Chinese-Western relationships, including studies on relationship bonding, and the role of guanxi. Three in-depth interviews have been conducted with two international consultants and a senior purchasing executive. 37 on-line questionnaires from Chinese supplier firms based in China have been collected. The findings conclude that a Chinese firm??s exposure to Western customers leads the former to partially adapt to a Western approach to inter-firm relationships. The strength of inter-firm bonds is found to link to trust. The level of adaptation undertaken by the exchange parties appears to directly affect the intensity ...