Informal ties in organization: is it culture-specific or culture-universal phenomenon?

Abstract

The given study is aimed to test cultural universality of the structure of informal ties in organizations in five different countries (Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Russia, UK, Brazil; N = 663). Study is based on the three-dimensional dynamic model of guanxi relations, which is specific to Chinese culture (Chen et al., 2009). This model suggests that guanxi includes the following aspects of supervisor-subordinate relationships: emotional  attachment,  personal  life  inclusion,  and  deference  to  supervisor. Using confirmatory factor analysis we proved that the given structure of informal relationships is cultural-universal. The partial metric invariance for these three scales is also given. Results potentiate farther comparative studies of informal ties in organizations, and their effect on different psychological variables as motivation, organizational commitment and others. Such studies can serve as a basis to develop training programs for managers to help them to consider the fact of presence of informal ties in organization, and to manage this resource properly.