Guanxi, a two-edged sword! How Australian accounting professionals view the process within a moral framework

Purpose - – The purpose of this study is to determine how Western business practitioners, specifically Australian accounting professionals, identify with the Chinese value concept ofguanxiand the impact of their perceptions ofguanxion their ethical decision-making. This objective is predicated by a belief that aspects ofguanxiare similar to the Western concepts of social networking and would be identified by practitioners as an organizational process providing positive benefits to those associated with its application. Further, it is anticipated that concepts ofguanxiinfluence the way Australian accountants form ethical judgements and intentions, precursors to acceptable moral behaviour. Design/methodology/approach - – A cross-sectional questionnaire based on a survey of 111 usable Australian accounting professionals was completed during 2012. A confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate each construct ofguanxibefore a path analysis was performed. Findings - – Australian accounting professionals associate well with the favour-seeking aspects ofguanxi, suggesting an affiliation with Western concepts of social networking. Both groups (i.e. public accountants and private accountants) reject rent-seekingguanxias clearly unethical. Rent-seekingguanxiis seen to directly influence ethical judgement and intention; however, their favour-seekingguanxiattitudes do not influence ethical judgement or intention, regardless of employment type. Public and private accountants applyguanxiin a differential manner when determining moral intention. Public accountants are viewed as acting spontaneously without adequately considering the consequences (via the judgement phase), which appears to be a function of the nature of their personal association with the case study applied in this research. Originality/value - – The research provides evidence that Australian accounting professionals relate to favour-seekingguanxias representative of a broader notion of social networking. In this context, theguanxiinstrument appears to be amenable to cross-cultural evaluations of group behaviour. Significant differences of opinion exist compared to the prior Chinese studies when unethical practices are considered. Theguanxiinstrument proves to be a useful tool when examining the group interactions involving Western professionals and also helps establish differences in moral constructions based on employment types.