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Guanxi has long been an important characteristic of conducting business in mainland China and since the evolution of the Chinese market economy began to gather pace in the 1980s the characteristics and antecedents of producing guanxi in the State Owned Organisations have begun to evolve. This study in south-west China investigates the evolution of organisational guanxi in Chinese state owned enterprises and in an operational context focuses on the Roaring Dragon Hotel and other organisations in Yunnan Province. Specifically, three main topics are investigated: the roots and characteristics of organisational guanxi, the role of the danwei in the evolution of this type of guanxi and organisational guanxi in operation. Written between 1999 and 2005, Dr. Stephen Grainger investigates the changes occurring to the organisational guanxi phenomenon at a critical time in Chinese history. Arguments regarding the declining significance of guanxi are analysed and compared with a number of new conclusions and comparisons being formulated.

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Stephen´s research is into guanxi and how the antecedents of producing guanxi in Chinese business are changing due to the evolution of the Chinese market economy. Currently Senior Lecturer in International Business at Edith Cowan University in Australia, he has also lectured in Singapore, Malaysia, China, Canada, Taiwan and Indonesia.

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