Overseas Chinese Christian Entrepreneurs in Modern China

Tong, Joy

doi:10.7135/upo9781843313441

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Meanwhile, for the business leaders, a Christian corporate culture is highly conducive for sustaining Christian witness. In a study by Tong (2012) on overseas Chinese Christian businesspeople in Shanghai, personal piety was found serve as the foundation of business ethics and guide their dealings with Chinese officials, clients, business partners, and ordinary workers. In their study on trust among Protestant entrepreneurs, Tong and Yang (2016) found that Chinese Protestant entrepreneurs wanted to be more trustworthy and to be more trustful of others, after becoming Christians, and some of them thought that a major religion like Christianity would lead to better moral behavior.…”

Section: Spirituality and Religion In The Workplace: An Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Serving the Lord”: Christianity, Work, and Social Engagement in China

Lim

2019

Religions

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study examines how Chinese evangelical Protestant employees view work and the workplace, through the lens of their religion, and how they seek to influence the broader society, in a highly restrictive religious domain in China. Using the concept of everyday religion, I examined how these employees seek to integrate faith into their work and the workplace, and the issues and challenges they face in the process. While existing China-focused studies have mainly looked at the experience of the business elite and Christian bosses, I inquired into the experience of the employees, specifically the professional class. It was found that they did not see a clear boundary between the 'religious' and the 'secular' in the workplace. At the same time, they discursively constructed a distinction between their own Christian work ethos and that of their non-Christian colleagues. This discursive self-othering was double-edged. While it enabled the Christian employees to construct a distinctive workplace and social identity, it risked resulting in them being perceived negatively by non-Christian colleagues, as belonging to a "different kind" (linglei), thus, accentuating the social gulf and tension that might have already existed between the Christian and the non-Christian employees. Most regard the workplace as an important arena for the concrete expressions of their Christian faith and values in everyday life. In doing so, they seek a moral transformation of the workplace, as a way to transform the wider society. I argue that their effort to influence their colleagues and transform the workplace culture is an important kind of unobtrusive social engagement, without open mobilization in civil society.

show abstract

Section: Spirituality and Religion In The Workplace: An Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Serving the Lord”: Christianity, Work, and Social Engagement in China

Lim

2019

Religions

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…King (: 76–8) goes on to indicate the numerous ways in which guanxi avoidance might be achieved (see also Hwang, : 964–67). More recently there has been reported guanxi avoidance practiced by Christian businessmen and women in China (Tong, ). Distaste for guanxi is frequently expressed by mainland Chinese citizens precisely because it is particularistic, applied – if not designed – to circumvent rules and procedures, and because of its possible association with corruption.…”

Section: The Efficiency Of Guanximentioning

confidence: 99%

Dyadic characteristics of guanxi and their consequences

Barbalet

2017

J Theory Soc Behav

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Research on guanxi is conducted principally within the disciplines of anthropology, business studies and sociology. It typically takes the form of empirical case studies, applications of extrinsic theory and literature reviews cum trend reports. The present paper, on the other hand, provides an analysis of guanxi in consideration of its elemental relations, components and properties. Discussion indicates the limitations of treatments of guanxi in terms of trust, guanxi bases, tie-strength and the conveyance of influence and information. Having established the characteristic features of guanxi discussion then turns to how it may be an option or choice of commitment for persons and groups in contemporary China, its form and role in marketized exchanges, and how the efficiency of guanxi may be characterized.

show abstract