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Hiring of Personal Ties: A Cultural Consensus Analysis of China and the United States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2015

Xiao-xiao Liu ,
Joshua Keller  and
Ying-yi Hong
Xiao-xiao Liu*
Affiliation:
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Joshua Keller
Affiliation:
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Ying-yi Hong
Affiliation:
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Beijing Normal University, China
*
Correspondending author: Xiao-xiao Liu, S3-01B-73, PhD Office, Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, 639798. Email: liux0041@e.ntu.edu.sg, Tel: +65-84343968
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Abstract

Although employees react negatively when employers hire individuals with whom the employers have personal ties, the practice is prevalent worldwide. One factor contributing to the discrepancy between reactions to the practice may be differences in cultural beliefs and institutions regarding perceptions about hiring decisions. To examine cross-national differences in perceptions about hiring personal ties, we conducted a consensus analysis on the perceived fairness, profitability, and overall evaluation of hiring decisions in China and the United States. We find cross-national differences in consensus levels as to whether people believe it is fair or unfair to hire moderately qualified candidates with employer ties (kinships or close friends with the employer) and whether people positively or negatively evaluate the hiring of unqualified candidates with stakeholder ties (ties to business associates or government officials). We also find contrasting areas of consensus about whether hiring unqualified candidates with stakeholder ties is profitable. Implications for research on cultural comparisons of perceptions of hiring practices and guanxi are discussed.

Keywords

consensusculturehiringfairnessprofitability
Type
Special Issue Articles
Information
Management and Organization Review , Volume 11 , Issue 1: Special Issue Behavioral Ethics, Organizational Justice, and Social Responsibility , March 2015 , pp. 145 - 169
Copyright
Copyright © The International Association for Chinese Management Research 2015 

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