Ever since Putnam’s remarkable revelation of the differences in societal structure between northern and southern Italy, and their implications for civil society, for economic structures and for the contrasting nature of ideals of cooperativeness that shape much social action, awareness of this powerful, intangible influence has been at the leading edge of much social science. It has been constantly reinforced by 30 years of the World Values Surveys. Studies of the exploding growth of East Asia in recent decades have confirmed two important social facts: across the region there is strong dependence on specific interpersonal relationships beyond family in making economies work; and the way this happens itself varies within the region. Asia cannot be treated as one category of social structure. Having said that there is still a fundamental cross-cultural difference globally between one large block of societies that are essentially collectivist and hierarchical, and another that are individualist and egalitarian. It may well be that, fortuitously for social science, Putnam had unwittingly discovered part of the global boundary between them running across the Italian peninsula.
Business people coming into the Asian region for the first time are usually told ‘it is all about relationships’. They are not always told why, because people at the interface may know the fact, but not its origins, or even how its workings rest on a particular social psychology. Nor that the psychology varies between cultures, and why it does so.
This collection opens up such issues to view, as a contribution to understanding a powerful force in international business. Such an influence needs to be acknowledged by those responsible for work that blends the logics of such matters as market demand and cost effectiveness, with the less visible logics of special kinds of trust. The Western world tends to rely on trust in institutions and laws, plus some assistance from interpersonal reciprocities. In Asian cultures, for perfectly understandable reasons, it is the other way round, and the reciprocities come first. This is especially relevant in industries such as services where the personal aspect of transactions, such as qualifications, experience, contacts and reliability, are key to many success stories.
This collection of studies has the virtues of being grounded in reality, and also being varied enough to demonstrate that Asia Pacific is an area that repays attention to local traditions and ideals in the context of globalization.
Note on contributor
Gordon Redding is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Hong Kong.
Professor Emeritus, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
[email protected]