IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/iburev/v31y2022i1s0969593121001141.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Challenges confronting the ‘One Belt One Road’ initiative: Social networks and cross-cultural adjustment in CPEC projects

Author

Listed:
  • Mukhtar, Arshia
  • Zhu, Ying
  • Lee, You-il
  • Bambacas, Mary
  • Cavusgil, S. Tamer

Abstract

The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the flagship program of China’s ‘One Belt One Road’ initiative, created to boost economic cooperation between China and Pakistan. The aims of economic efficiency and enhancement of national interests are widely acknowledged in the literature. Yet, critical issues of developing the capabilities of cross-cultural management in general, and cross-cultural adjustment through cross-cultural understanding and network building in particular, have been largely overlooked. The current research investigates the challenges confronting cross-cultural adjustment among the Chinese and Pakistani employees participating in the CPEC projects. Through a rigorous analysis, we highlight the importance of acculturation experience, cross-cultural networking (i.e. heterophilic), networking behaviour (i.e. guanxi vs. hawala), and factors influencing cross-cultural adjustment, which would enhance the overall performance of the CPEC projects. Our aim is to contribute to the understanding of contextual and condition-driven networking behaviour for cross-cultural adjustment, particularly the need for cross-cultural networking. We contend that organisations in cross-cultural/cross-border projects should encourage cross-cultural mentoring and facilitate cross-national networks to increase the efficacy of such collaborative projects.

Suggested Citation

  • Mukhtar, Arshia & Zhu, Ying & Lee, You-il & Bambacas, Mary & Cavusgil, S. Tamer, 2022. "Challenges confronting the ‘One Belt One Road’ initiative: Social networks and cross-cultural adjustment in CPEC projects," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:iburev:v:31:y:2022:i:1:s0969593121001141
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ibusrev.2021.101902
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969593121001141
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2021.101902?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dulce Redín & Reyes Calderón & Ignacio Ferrero, 2014. "Exploring the Ethical Dimension of Hawala," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(2), pages 327-337, October.
    2. Rekha Rao-Nicholson & Liudmyla Svystunova, 2020. "Assessing the Role of Host Country Human Rights Protection on Multinational Enterprises’ Choice of Investment Strategy," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 177-209, April.
    3. Buckley, Peter J. & Tian, Xiaowen, 2017. "Internalization theory and the performance of emerging-market multinational enterprises," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 976-990.
    4. Burt, Ronald S. & Burzynska, Katarzyna, 2017. "Chinese Entrepreneurs, Social Networks, and Guanxi," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(2), pages 221-260, June.
    5. Han, Xia & Liu, Xiaohui & Xia, Tianjiao & Gao, Lan, 2018. "Home-country government support, interstate relations and the subsidiary performance of emerging market multinational enterprises," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 160-172.
    6. Jiing-Lih Farh & Anne S. Tsui & Katherine Xin & Bor-Shiuan Cheng, 1998. "The Influence of Relational Demography and Guanxi: The Chinese Case," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(4), pages 471-488, August.
    7. Koveshnikov, Alexei & Wechtler, Heidi & Dejoux, Cecile, 2014. "Cross-cultural adjustment of expatriates: The role of emotional intelligence and gender," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 362-371.
    8. Steve Lovett & Lee C Simmons & Raja Kali, 1999. "Guanxi Versus the Market: Ethics and Efficiency," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 30(2), pages 231-247, June.
    9. Chao C. Chen & Xiao-Ping Chen & Shengsheng Huang, 2013. "Chinese Guanxi: An Integrative Review and New Directions for Future Research. 中国人的关系: 综合文献回顾及未来研究方向," Management and Organization Review, The International Association for Chinese Management Research, vol. 9(1), pages 167-207, March.
    10. Sajjad Alam & Zhijun Yin & Ahmad Ali & Sikander Ali & Abdul Noor & Nadeem Jan, 2019. "A Comprehensive Study of Project Risks in Road Transportation Networks under CPEC," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-13, July.
    11. Peter Ping Li & En Xie, 2019. "The unique research on the informal ties and social networks in East Asia: Diverse perspectives and new research agenda," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 305-319, June.
    12. Yadong Luo & Rosalie L Tung, 2007. "International expansion of emerging market enterprises: A springboard perspective," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 38(4), pages 481-498, July.
    13. Ronald S. Burt & Giuseppe Soda, 2017. "Social Origins of Great Strategies," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(4), pages 226-233, December.
    14. Tiziana Casciaro & Sigal G. Barsade & Amy C. Edmondson & Cristina B. Gibson & David Krackhardt & Giuseppe (Joe) Labianca, 2015. "The Integration of Psychological and Network Perspectives in Organizational Scholarship," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(4), pages 1162-1176, August.
    15. Abdul Malek, Marlin & Budhwar, Pawan, 2013. "Cultural intelligence as a predictor of expatriate adjustment and performance in Malaysia," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 222-231.
    16. Chen, Chao C. & Chen, Xiao-Ping & Huang, Shengsheng, 2013. "Chinese Guanxi: An Integrative Review and New Directions for Future Research," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(1), pages 167-207, March.
    17. Zhao, Chenlin & Burt, Ronald S., 2018. "A Note on Business Survival and Social Network," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(2), pages 377-394, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hongjuan Zhang & Rong Han & Liang Wang & Runhui Lin, 2021. "Social capital in China: a systematic literature review," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(1), pages 32-77, February.
    2. Hongjuan Zhang & Rong Han & Liang Wang & Runhui Lin, 0. "Social capital in China: a systematic literature review," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 0, pages 1-46.
    3. Sven Horak & Markus Taube & Inju Yang & Katja Restel, 2019. "Two not of a kind: Social network theory and informal social networks in East Asia," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 349-372, June.
    4. Lee, Liane W.Y. & Sharma, Piyush & Barnes, Bradley R., 2022. "Adopting big data to create an “outside-in” global perspective of guanxi," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 614-628.
    5. Mengying Wu & Rongsong Wang & Peixu He & Christophe Estay & Zubair Akram, 2020. "Examining How Ambidextrous Leadership Relates to Affective Commitment and Workplace Deviance Behavior of Employees: The Moderating Role of Supervisor–Subordinate Exchange Guanxi," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-18, July.
    6. Li, Mengyu & Li, Jinglei & Yasin, Megat Al Imran & Hashim, Norliana Binti & Ang, Lay Hoon & Li, Fangyi, 2023. "Where do I belong? A study of associations between guanxi capital and local identity through WeChat use among Chinese youth," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    7. Lee, Liane W.Y. & Tang, Yiming & Yip, Leslie S.C. & Sharma, Piyush, 2018. "Managing customer relationships in the emerging markets – guanxi as a driver of Chinese customer loyalty," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 356-365.
    8. Chu, Zhaofang & Feng, Bo & Lai, Fujun, 2018. "Logistics service innovation by third party logistics providers in China: Aligning guanxi and organizational structure," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 291-307.
    9. Sven Horak & Yuliani Suseno, 2023. "Informal Networks, Informal Institutions, and Social Exclusion in the Workplace: Insights from Subsidiaries of Multinational Corporations in Korea," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 186(3), pages 633-655, September.
    10. Cui, Lin & Gao, Qiuling & Guo, Jinyu & Ma, Pengcheng, 2022. "OFDI performance of EMNEs: A review and recommendations for future research," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(3).
    11. Peter Ping Li & En Xie, 2019. "The unique research on the informal ties and social networks in East Asia: Diverse perspectives and new research agenda," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 305-319, June.
    12. Chen, Xiao-Ping & Ren, Han, 2023. "Indirect cronyism and its underlying exchange logic: How managers’ particularism orientation and the third Party’s hierarchical power strengthen its existence," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    13. Sven Horak, 2018. "Join In or Opt Out? A Normative–Ethical Analysis of Affective Ties and Networks in South Korea," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(1), pages 207-220, April.
    14. Isidoro Romero & Zhikun Yu, 2015. "Analyzing the influence of social capital on self-employment: a study of Chinese immigrants," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 54(3), pages 877-899, May.
    15. Xing, Yijun & Liu, Yipeng & Tarba, Shlomo Yedidia & Cooper, Cary L., 2016. "Intercultural influences on managing African employees of Chinese firms in Africa: Chinese managers’ HRM practices," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 28-41.
    16. Yanhan Zhu & Diwan Li, 2016. "Supervisor–subordinate Guanxi violations: Trickle-down effects beyond the Dyad," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 15(5), pages 399-423, December.
    17. Zejun Ma & Hira Salah ud din Khan & Muhammad Salman Chughtai & Mingxing Li & Bailin Ge & Syed Usman Qadri, 2023. "A Review of Supervisor–Subordinate Guanxi: Current Trends and Future Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, January.
    18. Huihua Chen & Cong Chen & Hujun Li & Jianshe Zhang & Zengke Yang, 2022. "A Simulation Study on the Processes of Intra-Group Informal Interaction Affecting Workers’ Safety Behaviors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-17, August.
    19. Cadsby, C. Bram & Du, Ninghua & Song, Fei & Yao, Lan, 2015. "Promise keeping, relational closeness, and identifiability: An experimental investigation in China," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 120-133.
    20. Dejin Su & Qixia Du & Dongwon Sohn & Libo Xu, 2017. "Can High-Tech Ventures Benefit from Government Guanxi and Business Guanxi ? The Moderating Effects of Environmental Turbulence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-17, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:iburev:v:31:y:2022:i:1:s0969593121001141. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/133/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.