Public Relations Review, 26(2):219 236 ISSN: 0363-8111

Copyright 2000 by Elsevier Science Inc. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

Yi-Hui Huang

The Personal Inuence Model and Gao Guanxi in Taiwan Chinese Public Relations
ABSTRACT: Research has proved the existence of a personal inuence model of public relations in Far Eastern countries. The literature also suggests that the personal inuence model is often performed in an unethical manner. Based on the discussion on the practice of the personal inuence model and its unethical implication, this article aims to develop a contemporary Chinese philosophy of public relations. The premises of this article in exploring this topic are 1) public relations in China must achieve status and recognition as a legitimate profession, and 2) a sound philosophical cornerstone is essential to achieve professionalism. In this article, I explored the way in which Chinese culture contributes to the development of the practice of the personal inuence model, especially in relation to the employment of guanxi. Then, I reviewed the Western theory of global public relations, focusing on the concept of a symmetric worldview. Last, the contemporary Chinese philosophy of public relations was developed. I make ve suggestions: 1) introduce the notion of holism and expand the purview of the extended family to society; 2) highlight social responsibility and public interest; 3) emphasize disclosure, 4) reemphasize the old tenet, Jen; and 5) highlight equality. Yi-Hui Huang is an associate professor at the Department of Advertising of the National Chenchi University in Taiwan.

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The purpose of this article was to develop a contemporary Chinese philosophy of public relations. The premises of this article in exploring this topic are 1) public relations in China must achieve status and recognition as a legitimate profession, and 2) a sound philosophical cornerstone is essential for achieving professionalism. Public relations scholars must be aware of the philosophical problems that public relations practitioners encounter these days. It is also crucial to ponder the old Chinese wisdom about life and the world and let it shed light on the contemporary problems in this ever-changing world. The case of Taiwan was examined as a basis for exploring the contemporary problems of public relations in Chinese societies for three reasons. First, considered by international society as a renegade province of China, the Island China has anointed itself the actual and legitimate heir of Chinese tradition and Chinese culture.1 Meanwhile, Taiwan has taken a different path from that of the mainland, both politically and economically. The process of democratic transformation has uncovered several thorny problems that all Chinese public relations practitioners are facing today. In this sense, the case of Taiwan not only demonstrates the problems that traditional Chinese culture may have to cope with, but also reveals the problems that would fashion the modern Chinese society. Second, the cultural, political, and social backdrop of Taiwan, compared to that of most other countries, is unique and worth exploring. As Berman indicated, each country has its own cultural path,2 and no other country would be likely to choose going through what Taiwan experienced. Basically, all of the specic variables identied in the theory of global public relations, such as culture, political-economic system, media system, and so forth, have their unique respective inuences on public relations practice in Taiwan.3 In this sense, the case of Taiwan generates valuable insights into relevant theoretical arenas. Third, the suggestion made by Redding and Wong was followed. They chose to focus on the organizations of overseas Chinese rather than on those in China when they examined the psychology of Chinese organizational behavior. Redding and Wong maintained that the organizations in China are currently changing with such speed that most of our received knowledge of them is out of date and a review of it could be misleading.4

ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC RELATIONS IN TAIWAN

Unlike the evolution of public relations in the United States, the origin of public relations development in Taiwan rst took root in governmental and public sectors rather than in private industry.5 The public relations in the Republic of China (ROC) government can rst be traced as originating in the 1950s. The Executive Yuan (functioning like U.S. executive branche) established the Ofce of Spokesman in 1950 and renamed it the Government Information Ofce in 1954, to be responsible for the public relations practice of the government. In 1946, all of the postal ofces were required by the government to
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set up public service departments.6 In 1979, all the departments in the Executive Yuan simultaneously set up the designated spokesperson system as required by governmental regulations.7 The effect of the political system on the development of public relations in Taiwan is very obvious. On July 15, 1987, the ROC lifted the 39-year-old martial law. The nationalist government has since transformed itself from an authoritarian regime to a more democratic one. This change of political system also resulted in the change of governmental control over the media. Before June 1987, the media were merely a political tool and propaganda vehicle for the government. However, after the lifting of martial law, many laws and regulations that subjugated the press to government control were rescinded. The relatively free press became a eld that all public and private organizations tried to inuence. In keeping with this new freedom, the practice of public relations developed rapidly. The number of public relations rms increased at the rate of seven rms per year. Until 1992, the public relations companies totaled between 35 and 45. Compared to the number in 1987 (total of four), public relations rms had grown 10-fold in 5 years.8

CHINESE CULTURE AS ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK

Confucianism The importance of Confucianism on Chinese culture can be discussed from the following three aspects. First, as suggested in Yum,9 in the philosophical and cultural history of East Asia, Confucianism has prevailed as the basic social and political value system for over 1,000 years. Second, Confucianism has long been regarded as a secular religion, a teaching, or a doctrine of human wisdom that philosophically guides people toward fulllment and perfection. Third, and the closest related to the topic of this article, Confucianism is regarded as a philosophy of human nature that considers proper human relationships as the basis of society.10 Specically, Kahn suggested four traits consistent with Confucian ideology that have remained constant and that have signicant impact on present-day organizations in overseas Chinese. These are 1. 2. 3. 4. Socialization within the family unit in such a way as to promote sobriety, education, the acquisition of skills, and seriousness about tasks, job, family, and obligations. A tendency to help the group (however it might be identied). A sense of hierarchy and of its naturalness and rightness, A sense of complementarity in relationship which, combined with the sense of hierarchy, enhances perceptions of fairness and equity in institutions.11

Without question, Confucianism exerts numerous positive impacts on the Chinese population. For example, Confucius contributions to the rapid economic
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development of East Asian countries are evident.12 Many scholars attributed Taiwans economic success to the authoritarian regime and stable political system that are derived from Confucianism. Hofheinz and Calder suggested that the hierarchical bureaucracy of Taiwans political system may have contributed a rather efcient system that is crucial in a highly competitive global market.13 Given the fact that Confucius teachings play a prominent role in Chinese behavior, some negative inuences of Confucianism, in certain respects, should be acknowledged. A critical perspective was adopted in this article, viewing that some of the contemporary problems of communications and public relations are related to Confucianism, especially its asymmetric worldview. The basic assumption is that the characteristics of Chinese culture and Confucian traditions that emphasize authority, order, harmony, loyalty, and personal relationships,14 could explain the nuances and complexities of Chinese public relations practice, especially in relation to the practice of the personal inuence model. The characteristics of Confucianism from three aspects will be discussed, following the framework of analysis depicted in Table 1, that is, relationship orientation, norms of interaction patterns, and problems and criticism. Relationship Orientation: Relation Oriented and Emphasis on Relationship Hierarchy and Closeness Chinese culture can be characterized as relation oriented or social oriented.15 In essence, the most notable characteristic in East Asia is the emphasis on social relationships.16 Having analyzed the social psychology of Chinese people, Bond and Hwang maintained that fundamental Confucian teachings assumed people existed in relationship to others.17 They elaborated, the Western starting point of the atomic individual is alien to Chinese considerations of mans social behavior, which see man as a relational being, socially situated and dened within an interactive context.18 Thus, Hwang dened such a society as relation orientation:
A person is the center of a unique network composed of ones particular social ties. Other persons in this network also have their own reticulum of social relations; hence, the overlapping and intersecting of these reticule result in an extremely complicated network of social relations.19

In the same vein, Yang characterized Chinese peoples relations with the society as social-oriented.20 Yang dened social orientation as
A predisposition toward such behavior patterns as social conformity, nonoffensive strategy, submission to social expectations, and worry about external opinions in an attempt to achieve one or more of the purposes of reward attainment, harmony maintenance, impression management, face protection, social acceptance, and avoidance of punishment, embarrassment, conict, rejection, ridicule, and retaliation in a social situation.21
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TABLE 1

Comparison between Confucianism and the Theory of Global Public Relations and Toward Contemporary Chinese Philosophy of Public Relations
Theory of Global Public Relations 1. Individualism oriented 2. Symmetric worldview: a. Equality b. Autonomy c. Innovation d. Responsibility e. Conict resolution f. Interest group liberalism g. Interdependence h. Open system i. Moving equilibrium j. Decentralization of management k. Holism 1. Universalistic Norm 2. Symmetric norms: a. The use of the twoway symmetrical model of public relations b. The use of the symmetrical system of internal communication c. The acceptance of diversity embodied in all roles d. The concerns of ethics and social responsibility 1. Value-free concept 2. Normative notion 3. Unrealistic/impractical Toward Contemporary Chinese Philosophy of Public Relations Relation oriented

Confucianism Relationship Orientation 1. Relation oriented 2. Emphasis on relationship hierarchy and relationship closeness: Five Cardinal Relations and Three Relationship Ties

Norms of interaction patterns

1. Emphasis on harmonious interpersonal relationships and hierarchical order 2. Situated-centered/ particularis tic norm 3. Asymmetric norms: a. Superior-to-subordinate relationship: Jen, wisdom, moral purity, and leadership b. Subordinate-to-superior relationship: Loyalty, obedience, respect, service, and li 1. Gao guanxi (Exploit human relations) 2. Inequality of Power

1. Introduce the notion of holism Expanding the purview of extended family to society 2. Highlight social responsibility and public interest 3. Emphasize disclosure 4. Reemphasize the old tenet Jen 5. Start to highlight equality

Problems and criticism

Under such a culture in which both relation orientation and social orientation play important roles, traditional Chinese decide their relationships with others from two aspects: relationship hierarchy and relationship closeness.22 In other words, people dene human relationships depending on the extent to which they are hierarchically and closely related to others, and then, they decide the patterns for interacting with these people. In relationship hierarchy, from a Confucian viewpoint, society is hierarchiSummer 2000 223

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cally structured and basically follows an asymmetric norm. In Chinese lore, Five Cardinal Relations (Wu Lun) characterized human relationships, that is, the relations between sovereign and subordinate, father and son, elder brother and younger brother, spouse and spouse, and friend and friend. To a Confucian, all human relationships in the society can be derived from one or combination of these ve fundamental relationships. Bond and Hwang held that these relationships, even those between friends, were constructed in hierarchical patterns.23 In fact, Confucianism, which emphasizes hierarchical authority and justies the unequal distribution of power and wealth, has been the major and most powerful source of legitimacy for the upper classes to rule Chinese society. The patriarchal nature of Chinese political culture is a good example that depicts the asymmetric relationships of Chinese. Confucius teachings advocated an authoritative and patriarchal ruler.24 The paternal authoritarian culture has developed a superior-subordinate bureaucracy where the paramount leader is the center of power. Pye held that Taiwan preserves a key component of the Confucian political culture: It remains elitist and paternalistic, and its leaders are still convinced that they know what is best for their state.25 Shuang described the political system in Taiwan, especially during the time before martial law was lifted, in a vivid way.26 He wrote, government has been seen as the patriarch, a role that was almost like a father to his children, in that he disciplined and rewarded, and was responsible for the livelihood of his children, but also can take away from those who disobeyed his order.27 With respect to the extent of relationship closeness, Hwangs model of face and favor in Chinese society (Figure 1), which categorized human relationship into three types on the basis of their expressive and instrumental components, provides a clear picture.28 The rst category is expressive tie, and the most important expressive tie in Chinese society is the relationship between members in a family or other congenial groups. According to Hwang, the governing rule in this tie is the need rule: People have the responsibility to strive for resources to satisfy the legitimate needs of each member.29 The second tie, mixed tie, characterizes the guanxi outside an individuals immediate family. In the mixed tie relationship, people often share some commonality with others. For example, people may have a common birthplace; lineage; surname; or may bi involved in shared experience, such as attending the same school, working together, or belonging to the same organization. To be specic, the relationships in this tie occur chiey among relatives, neighbors, classmates, colleagues, teachers and students, people sharing a natal area, and so forth. Hwang maintained that the rules of renqing (favor) and mianzi (face) are the means that people use the most in this tie to expand their human network and obtain resources from resource allocators. The third category is instrumental ties. In this category, an individual establishes temporary and anonymous relationships with people, such as customers, salesperson, taxi drivers, and so forth. The rule of thumb for a Chinese in interacting with a person in an instrumental relationship is equity rule. Hwang sug224 Vol. 26, No. 2

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Figure 1. Human Relationships Based on Relationship Closeness (Adopted and Revised from Kwang-kuo Hwang, Face and Favor: The Chinese Power Game, American Journal of Sociology 92 (1987), pp. 944 974).

gested, in an instrumental relationship, a person often uses social exchange theory as a rule of thumb:
How much reward can I obtain from the opposite side? How much must I pay in order to obtain the goal? Is my nal benet comparable to that of the other sides after the cost is subtracted from the reward?30

Norms of Interaction Patterns: Emphasis on Harmony and Order, Situated Centered, and Asymmetric Norms In essence, Confucian teachings underscore a harmonious and orderly organism.31 People are encouraged to maintain hierarchical order and harmonious interpersonal relationships in a relatively stable and permanent social fabric. For example,
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Shuang found, in examining the relations between media and government before martial law was lifted in Taiwan, that, in effect, the press instrumentally provided a forum for compromise of the controversial issues among conicting political parties to seek harmony.32 More often than not, the press tried to build a consensus and constructed an apparent, or sometimes seeming, consensus in support of the political authorities.33 Hwang analyzed the social psychology of Chinese and concluded that Chinese tend to adopt multiple standards of behavior for interacting with the different persons around them.34 Hwang explained, when one person interacts with another, the rst question he or she would carefully consider is What is the guanxi [relationships] between us? and How strong is our guanxi? Following the same argument, Yum characterized the ethics of human relationship under Confucianism as particularistic, in contrast to universalistic under Western culture.35 He maintained that the ethics in Confucianism are contingent on relationships and situations rather than on some absolute good. Similarly, Hsu denoted it was a situation-centered norm.36 Given a particularistic norm, Yum identied four Confucian principles and suggested that right conduct arises from these four: jen (humanism), i (faithfulness), li (propriety), and chih (wisdom or liberal education).37 Shihs asymmetric norms provided an even more insightful explanation for the norms of particularistic relationships.38 Shih maintained that asymmetric norms apply to the daily activities when a Chinese views himself or herself in a superior-subordinate relationship. When a Chinese perceives himself or herself to be in such situations, the notions of loyalty, obedience, respect, and service will be expected of the subordinate by the superior. On the contrary, the notion of jen, wisdom, moral purity, and leadership will be expected of the superior by the subordinate.39 According to Shih, within such a normative system, an individual could acquire a sense of security. He further elaborated, horizontally, he is clear about his relationship with other people around him. Vertically, and most importantly, he knows social and behavioral origins and his social and behavioral roles.40 To be more specic, in a superior-to-subordinate relationship, jen and chih are the right norms. According to Yum, jen (humanism) sums up the core of Confucianism.41 Fundamentally, the actual practice of the embodiment of jen in peoples daily lives is closely related to the concept of reciprocity. In Confucian teaching, practicing jen would require not doing to another what you do not want done to yourself. Therefore, Shih maintained that jen characterizes the basic norm that the superior should adopt to treat the subordinate.42 Meanwhile, chih, wisdom and education, is also what the subordinate would expect from the superior. On the other hand, loyalty, obedience, respect, and service,43 or li (propriety, rite, and respect for social forms),44 would be the norms that are expected of the subordinate by the superior. As an objective criterion of social order, li was perceived as the rule of the universe and the fundamental regulatory etiquette of human behavior.
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Problems and Criticism In summary, from a positive viewpoint, Confucianism provides human beings with a society in which people can quickly recognize the reality (the specic relationship with certain others) and can easily adapt themselves to their changing environment. Classical Confucian dogma assumes that all will be right with the world if everyone conscientiously performs ones assigned role.45 From a critical perspective, however, in such a society where relationships among parties have been clearly dened, the Chinese further developed a unique cultural characteristic that conveys a negative, unethical connotation and implication,46 that is, gao guanxi (exploit personal relations). Gao guanxi (the exploitation of personal relations or human networks) is an activity that the suppressed class often uses to show their association with power and to solve their practical, daily life problems. In traditional Chinese society, both harmony and order are emphasized. These two concepts, however, are constructed on an asymmetric, hierarchical structure of human relationships. Bond and Hwang pointed out that the potential for disharmony was particularly troubling because the cardinal relationships involved considerable inequalities of power.47 They further elaborated
Having evolved from an agricultural society where the major social resources were controlled by a few powerful gures, traditional Chinese developed a complicated cultural system focused on li (courteous ritual) .The Chinese cultural norm of li demands that an individual interact with people across different guanxi in accordance with various standards of social exchange. Thus, the manipulation of interpersonal relationships has long been a strategy for attaining desirable social resources in Chinese society.48

In essence, Hwangs model of face and favor in Chinese society helped to explain the context in which, and the techniques by which, the practice of the personal inuence model and the behavior of gao guanxi would occur.49 In Hwangs theory, to strive for social resources controlled by a particular allocator (e.g., money, goods, information, and status), an individual may adopt several strategies to enhance his or her inuence over the allocator. Scholars suggested that the most popular strategy for strengthening guanxi in China is to deliberately increase the social interaction between two parties, by means of visiting, giving gifts,50 and inviting the other person to banquets on such occasions as weddings, funerals, or birthday parties in ones family and festivals in ones home village.51 In Hwangs model, the employment of guanxi (personal relations), renqing (favor) and mianzi (face) occur most often in a mixed tie relationship.52 When an individual is barely acquainted with a resource allocator, he or she may pull or work the connections (la guanxi or gao guanxi) by asking an intermediary of high social status to introduce the petitioner to the allocator and to solicit a favor from the allocator on his or her behalf.53 Once the strategy of using guanxi has been successful, people generally say that the back door has been opened.54
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Latent Culture In Confucianism, to ensure an orderly society, individual rights, needs, and freedom of some particular positions or classes were often ignored. A typical Chinese, in such a context, cannot get rid of Confucianism, which renders an important part of the meaning of life, but the unpredictable superior behavior often fails to provide him with a stable environment for selfactualization.55 Under these circumstances, people turn to the other isms and seek solutions. Taoism and Buddhism provide different worldviews for suppressed people, although these two teachings also directly or indirectly contribute to the preservation of the status quo. On the one hand, Taoism teaches the suppressed class a sense of worth by directly associating them with nature.56 According to Shih, Taoism provides consolation to the lower classes in that the noble Confucian ofcials are not really viewed as unique in essence and in that the wealth and power they have are not represented as being really that attractive.57 On the other hand, Buddhism suggests the concept of an afterlife as another way of thinking. The legends and folk stories of a culture often reveal central preoccupations that circumscribe day-to-day behavior.58 Unlike Taoism and Buddhism, folk novels create a completely different paradigm for the rank-and-le people, that is, a rebellious norm, although the antiauthority sentiment has never been institutionalized in historical rebellions (before 1987). The unique theme in folk novels has been that heroes seek equality for the suppressed classes, suggesting a sense of liberation from the constraint of the status quo. According to Shih, the popularity of folk novels illustrate a cynical attitude toward the upper classes and the rebellious sentiment hidden behind.59 Shih further indicated the popularity of the norms of equality shown in folk novels, as well as in historical rebellions, suggest that a widespread dissatisfaction with the Confucian order has indeed existed.60

THE THEORY OF GLOBAL PUBLIC RELATIONS

Drawing from both quantitative and qualitative data from the 10-year International Association of Business Communicators Excellent study, which began in 1984 and examined more than 300 organizations in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, J. Grunig, L. Grunig et al. developed a generic theory of global public relations,61 which prescribed 10 principles that are generic to excellent public relations on a global scale. In other words, these principles should be normative factors of effective public relations. Table 1 compares the theory of global public relations from the following three aspects: worldview, norms of interaction patterns, and problems and criticism. The existing research demonstrated that the symmetrical presuppositions of an organization can contribute to achieving the other Excellence characteristics, such as meeting the concerns of ethical propriety and social responsibility and the
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empowerment of public relations in the dominant coalition.62 The concept of a two-way symmetrical communication, however, arouses more fervent debate than most other aspects in the generic theory of public relations. For example, rst, Leichty and Springston argued against Grunigs one-best style and the underlying value-free concept of excellent public relations.63 Leichty and Springston rst questioned the effectiveness of an organizations consistent use of the same public relations model across publics over time. They contended that public relations models should be measured at the relational level, rather than being aggregated across publics and relational stages and globally characterized as an organizations overall public relations practice.64 Leichty and Springston argued that, in fact, most organizations practice a combination of the four models and that the original contingency approach to the models makes them more practical.65 The second contention relates to the normative value of this model. Shung argued that the two-way symmetrical model only prescribes what an organization should do, without actually describing the reality.66 She maintained that with a cost-benet assessment, public relations practitioners always serve corporate interests. Also, she pointed out the slim possibilities of an organization actually practicing a symmetrical model. Likewise, Murphy, equating the two-way symmetrical communication model to a pure cooperation model in game theory, held that symmetrical communication is difcult to nd in the real world.67 Along the same lines, Van der Meiden criticized a symmetrical worldview as unrealistic, inasmuch as it disconnects its communicative activities from its immediate or removed interests.68 Third, several scholars, adopting a rhetorical perspective, argued against the idea that persuasion might be inherently unethical. Nelson raised the question when is persuasion unethical? Bivins distinguished between the ethics of counselor (symmetrical practitioners) and advocates (asymmetrical practitioners).69 He suggested that an advocate has an inherent problem in that it leads public relations practitioners to act only in the client organizations self-interest. However, Bivins held that an ethical standard can be met if the public relations practitioner reveals the motives (reasons) that underlie asymmetrical publicity. Likewise, Heath contended that persuasion could be ethical if it meets three rhetorical principles: (1) standards of truth and knowledge, (2) good reasons, and (3) perspective.70

TOWARD THE CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

The trend of modernization, globalization, and the establishment of international companies in Taiwan has given rise to serious challenges to public relations practitioners in modern society. Chinese society has been changing from the traditional agricultural type to the modern pluralistic one.71 Two points merit discussions. First, the collectivistic aspect of the traditional society have been gradually losing its inuence in terms of structural strength and functional importance.72 Hwang suggested that individualistic standards have
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been gradually replacing social orientation and served as an intuitive guide and source of motivation in daily life.73 Second, multinational companies have introduced the universalistic norms (rather than particularistic norms), such as efciency, autonomy, and diversied social role, as guiding rules for peoples behavior. As a result, people in modern Chinese society have obtained more individual autonomy and become less social oriented.74 Under this circumstance, the traditional hierarchical structure of human relationships that was established to preserve the status quo and dene interactive expectations among people, indeed, has faced tremendous challenges in modern society. In essence, imposing Western ideas on top of Chinese culture is not suggested in this article. On the contrary, after having closely examined the traditional Chinese culture and the current challenges it is facing, I consider that the suggestions made in this article should reect the needs and directions of a typical Chinese philosophy of public relations. In brief, introducing Western notions into Chinese philosophy is an ethnocentric idea (from the Western perspective). Likewise, not every society must have uniquely different patterns of communication. On the contrary, a culturally appropriate philosophy is one that takes roots from its own culture but adapts ideas from other cultures that serve its needs in coping with different conditions. In brief, the principle held in this article is that we must adjust to changing times, hold to unchanging principles, and adjust impertinent dogma.75 Based on the above discussions, in the traditional Chinese culture, ethical problems that resulted from the employment of quanxi are most likely to occur in areas of mixed tie relationship and subordinate-to-superior relationship,76 in which people often manipulate guanxi and renqing to expand their human networks and obtain various sorts of resources. Given this fact, it is not practical to completely eradicate the asymmetric relationship structure or merely ignore this cultural element. Instead, the philosophy should be rooted from the Chinese culture but adapt relevant Western notions that meet its needs in coping with the challenge in modern society. Under this assumption, the following key dimensions are suggested. Introducing the Notion Of Holism and Expanding the Purview of Extended Family to Society First of all, expand human orientation from the traditional notion of extended family to a more modern concept, that is, society, to lessen the asymmetric relationship structure and shorten hierarchical distances. To be more specic, the notion of extended family should be considered not merely as the kingship or the persons with the same surname. On the contrary, the notion of society should be taken into account. The inclusion of the notion of society into that of extended family in the modern society has the following implications. Vertically, an organization should be regarded as having a duty or loyalty to the society, per se.77 Horizontally, an organization is expected to expand the traditionally narrowly dened concept, that is, people with same family
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name, to the society as a whole. Under this assumption, the related ideas implicit in the concept of holism in the theory of global public relations are also embedded in the suggestion. Highlighting Social Responsibility and Public Interest Following the expansion of the traditional notion of extended family, an introduction of the concepts of social responsibility and public interest becomes logical. As suggested by Shu, social responsibility has become a critically important concept to organizations in the Taiwanese society in the 1990s.78 Amba-Rao indicated social responsibility has been dened variously in different contexts by scholars.79 The concept generally involves decisions, actions and outcomes regarding the issues and, stakeholder and the society at large.80 Among the various denitions and suggestions, Donaldsons ideas of minimal duty and maximal duty would be appropriate for consideration.81 In practice, public relations professionals should at least meet the bottom-line standards of minimal duties for an organizations stakeholders, that is, community, employees, customers, and so on, and further endeavor to fulll the maximal duty, an act of corporate good citizenship.82 Naor suggested that social responsibility satises the social needs and would promote public welfare.83 In Carrolls pyramid of corporate social responsibility, the highest level is philanthropic responsibilities, which suggests being a good corporate citizen, contributing resources to the community, and improving the quality of life.84 In summary, a more socially constructive force of advancing public relations to the status of being a good corporate citizen should be urged so that public relations would function in a socially responsible manner. Under the concept of holism that was previously suggested, an emphasis on public interest should also be a critical tenet. In traditional Chinese society, in which paternal authoritarian culture dominated, public relations has long been regarded as an advocate for the status quo, a tool serving emperor, government, and elitist interests rather than the public interest. The notion of public interest, however, should become a signicant guideline requiring special attention today. In essence, a public relations practitioners in contemporary society should conduct his or her professional life in accord with the interests of his or her clients or organization as well as the public interest as a whole. As Bivins stated, public relations should develop articulate guidelines and a proper mechanism by which the issues important to society are dened and presented to the public for open, democratic debate.85 Emphasis on Disclosure As suggested earlier, it is not practical to suggest merely removing the act of gao guanxi in the modern Chinese society. Instead, it should regard the use of interpersonal relationships as a regular and legitimate characterSummer 2000 231

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istic of public relations activities in Chinese society. In view of the fact that gao guanxi often conveys a negative connotation and implication, however, highlighting an important communication ethic, that is, disclosure, becomes critical. As suggested by Bivins, revealing motives (reasons) for communications can secure ethical standards.86 Reemphasis on Jen For a traditional superior-to-subordinate relationship, as far as the potentially negative effects of employing guanxi are concerned, jen, the central concept of Confucian philosophy, should serve as a yardstick for managing guanxi. The essence of Confucianism hinges on the fundamental assumption that human society should be constructed on the basis of humanism, that is, Jen. According to Leung, jen is the ontological ground of communication and understanding.87 In other words, jen manifests itself as the action of self-reection and communication with others. Leung indicated, Confucius asks people to look within and reect upon your own self. To a great extent, the processes of self-understanding and self-disclosure can diminish the negative consequences of exploiting guanxi that downplays the professionalism of public relations. Starting to Highlight Equality The concept that has been rooted in latent Chinese culture for centuries, that is, equality, also should be introduced to adapt to the changing environment. As suggested by Shih, the norms of equality shown in folk novels are widespread, which reects the need of the suppressed classes to free themselves from the constraint of the status quo.88 Important factors involving the concept of equality should include: fairness, rights, justice, and reasonable and appropriate distribution of costs and benets of a corporate or societal action. Amba-Rao suggested that the rights principle emphasizes the prevention of harm to, or protecting the rights of, individuals affected by corporations.89

CONCLUSION
In summary, a critical perspective was adopted to examin the ethical problems of public relations that result from the practice of the personal inuence model in modern Chinese society. Moreover, to develop the contemporary Chinese philosophy of public relations, it is considered crucial to reconstruct the old Chinese wisdom about life and the world and let it shed light on the contemporary problems in this changing world. Five suggestions are made: 1) introduce the notion of holism and expand the purview of the extended family to society; 2) highlight social responsibility and public interest; 3) emphasize disclosure; 4) reemphasize the old tenet, Jen; and 5) highlight equality.
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Acknowledgments: This article was adopted and revised from the paper Toward the Contemporary Chinese Philosophy of Public Relations, which was presented to the Division of Public Relations, the 47th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, Quebec, Canada, 2226, 1997.

NOTES
1. Ralph Clough, Island China (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1978). 2. Daniel K. Berman, Words Like Colored Glass: The Role of the Press in Taiwans Democratization Process (Boulder, CO: Westview Press 1992). 3. Larissa A. Grunig, James E. Grunig, and Vercic, Dejan, Are the IABCs Excellence Principles Generic? Comparing Slovenia and the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, Journal of Communication Management 2 (1998), pp. 335356. 4. G. Redding and G. Y. Y. Wong, The Psychology of Chinese Organizational Behavior, in Michael H. Bong (ed.), The Psychology of the Chinese People (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1986), pp. 267. 5. Kuo Jen Tsang, A Review and Prospect of the Development of Public Relations in Taiwan, The Advertising Annual of Republic of China (1988), pp. 7277. 6. Ibid. 7. K. Lee and H. Y. Lee, States, Markets and Economic Development in East Asian Capitalism and Socialism, Development Policy Review 10 (1992), pp. 107130. 8. Yi Hui Huang, Antinuclear Movement and the Communication Problems in the Controversy over the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, Theory and Policy 7 (1993), pp. 86 102. 9. June O. Yum, The impact of Confucianism on Interpersonal Relationships and Communication Patterns in East Asia, Communication Monographs 55 (1988), pp. 374 88. 10. Ibid. 11. G. Redding and G. Y. Y. Wong, op. cit., p. 272. 12. Thomas I. S. Leung, Communication and Hermeneutics: A Confucian Postmodern Point of View, Journal of Chinese Philosophy 19 (1992), pp. 407 422. 13. Roy Hofheinz and Kent E. Calder, The Eastasia Edge (New York: Basic books, 1982). 14. Ni Chen, Public Relations in China: The Introduction and Development of an Occupational Field, in Hugh Culbetson and Ni Chen (eds.), International Public Relations: A Comparative Analysis (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1996), pp. 121154; 15. Kwang-kuo Hwang, Face and Favor: The Chinese Power Game, American Journal of Sociology 92 (1987), pp. 944 974; Michael H. Bond and Kwang-kuo Hwang, The Social Psychology of Chinese People, in Michael H. Bond (ed.), The Psychology of Chinese People (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986), pp. 213266; Kuo-shu Yang, Social Orientation and Individual Modernity Among Chinese Students in Taiwan, The Journal of Social Psychology 113 (1981), pp. 159 70. 16. June O. Yum, op cit. 17. Michael H. Bond and Kwang-kuo Hwang, op. cit. 18. Ibid, p. 215. 19. Ibid., p. 952. 20. Kuo-shu Yang, op. cit.
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21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26.

27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38.

39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48.

49. 50. 51.

52. 53.
234

Ibid., p. 159. Michael H. Bond and Kwang-kuo Hwang, op. cit.; Xiao Tung Fei, Rural China (Guancha She: Shanghai, 1948); Kwang-kuo, Hwang, op. cit. Michael H. Bond and Kwang-kuo Hwang, op. cit. W. Pye, The Mandarin and the Cadre: Chinas Political Cultures (Ann Arbor, MI: Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, 1988). W. Pye, Asian Power and Politics: The Cultural Dimension of Authority (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 1985), pp. 228 236. George K. Shuang, Political Communication and Political Culture: Government and Press Relations in Taiwan, Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Maryland, College Park, 1993. Ibid., p. 238. Kwang-kuo Hwang, op. cit. Ibid. Ibid., p. 951. Lucian W. Pye, The Dynamics of Chinese Politics (Cambridge, MA: Oelgeschlager, Gun, and Halin, 1981). George K. Shuang, op. cit. Ibid., p. 282. Kwang-kuo, Hwang, op. cit. June O. Yum, op cit. Francis L. K. Hsu, Americans and Chinese: Two Ways of Life (New York: Schuman, 1953). June O. Yum, op cit. Chih-yu Shih, National Role Conception As Foreign Policy Motivation: The Psychocultural Bases of Chinese Diplomacy, Political Psychology 9 (1988), pp. 599 631. Ibid., p. 606. Ibid., p. 606. June O. Yum, op cit. Chih-yu Shih, op. cit. Ibid. Michael H. Bond and Kwang-kuo Hwang, op. cit.; June O. Yum, op cit. George K. Shuang, op. cit., p. 282 Michael H. Bond and Kwang-kuo Hwang, op. cit. Ibid., p. 216 Michael H. Bond and Kwang-Kuo Hwang, op cit., p. 223. Bond and Hwang also referred to Chien Chiao in this paragraph; Chien Chiao, Chinese Strategic Behavior: Some General Principles, Paper presented at the conference in honor of Professor John M. Roberts, Claremont, CA, USA, November-December 1981. Kwang-kuo Hwang, op. cit. Kuo-shu Yang, op. cit. Morton H. Fried, The Fabric of Chinese Society: A Study of the Social Life of a Chinese County Seat (New York: Octagon, 1969.); B. J. Jacobs, A Preliminary Model of Particularisitic Ties in Chinese Political Alliances: Ran-ching and Kuan-Hsi in Rural Taiwanese Township, China Quarterly 78 (1979), pp. 237273, quoted in Michael H. Bond and Kwang-kuo Hwang, op. cit., p. 225. Kwang-kuo Hwang, op. cit. Kwang-kuo Hwang, op. cit., p.225
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54.

55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62.

63. 64. 65. 66.

67.

68.

69. 70.

71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77.

78.

79.

Michael H. Bond and Kwang-kuo Hwang, op. cit., p. 225. Bond and Hwang cited Jacobs and Walder; J. Jacobs, op. cit.; Andrew G. Walder, Organized Dependency and Cultures of Authority in Chinese Industry, Journal of Asian Studies 63 (1983), pp. 5175. Chih-yu Shih, op. cit., p. 616. Ibid., p. 612. Ibid., p. 612. Michael H. Bond and Kwang-kuo Hwang, op. cit. Cited in Chih-yu Shih, op. cit., p. 614. Ibid., p. 616. Larissa A. Grunig, James E. Grunig, and Vercic Dejan, op. cit. L. Lauzen and David M. Dozier, Issues Management Mediation of Linkages Between Environmental Complexity and Management of the Public Relations Function, Journal of Public Relations Research 6 (1994), pp. 163184. Greg Leichty and Jeff Springston, Reconsidering public relations models, Public Relations Review 19 (1993), pp. 32739. Ibid., p. 334. Ibid. Shiou Huei Shung, Rethinking the the Model of Two-Way Symmetrical Communication in Public Relations Theory, Paper presented to the R.O.C. Academic Conference on Advertising and Public Relations, Taipei, November 1994. P. Murphy, The Limits of Symmetry: A Game Theory Approach to Symmetric and Asymmetric Public Relations, Public Relations Research Annua 3 (1991), pp. 115 31. Quoted in James E. Grunig and Larissa A. Grunig, Implications of Symmetry for a Theory of Ethics and Social Responsibility in Public Relations, Paper presented to the Public Relations Interest Group, International Communication Association, Chicago, IL, May 1996. p. 15. Thomas H. Bivins, Applying Ethical Theory to Public Relations, Journal of Business Ethics 6 (1987), pp. 195200. Robert L. Heath, Critical Perspectives on Public Relations, in Elizabeth L. Toth & Robert L. Heath (eds.), Rhetorical and Critical Approaches to Public Relations (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1992), pp. 37 64. Kuo-shu Yang, op. cit., p. 161. Ibid., p. 161. Kwang-kuo Hwang, op. cit., p. 969. Kuo-shu Yang, op. cit. The, original words come from President Jimmy Caters 1977 inaugural address: We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles. Kwang-kuo, Hwang, op. cit.; Chih-yu Shih, op. cit. Liang Wen Kuo, Environmental Movement and Communication in Taiwan, in L. W. Kuo (ed.), Public Relations Involving Environmental Issues in Taiwan (Taipei: Huge Wave, 1994). C. Shu, How Corporations Conduct Marketing Communications in Environmental Issues, in Liang Wen Kuo (ed.), Public Relations Involving Environmental Issues in Taiwan (Taipei: Huge Wave, 1994), pp. 17 40. Sita C. Amba-Rao, Multinational Corporate Social Responsibility, Ethics, Interactions and Third World Governments: An Agenda for the 1990s, Journal of Business Ethics 12 (1993), pp. 553572.
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80. 81. 82.

83. 84.

85. 86. 87. 88. 89.

Ibid., 1993, p. 5. Thomas Donaldson, The Ethics of International Business (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989). Thomas Donaldson specied the, minimal duty for multinational corporate social responsibility as enhancing the welfare of consumers and employees, respecting the rights and justice of the people in the society and minimizing harm or other negative effects such as misuse of power or depletion of natural resources. The maximal duty, on the other hand, would be an act of good corporate citizenship, such as support of Third World development programs or economic aid. The quote is in Sita C. Amba-Rao, op. cit., p. 5. Jacob Naor, A New Approach to Multinational Social Responsibility, Journal of Business Ethics 1 (1982), pp. 219 225. Archie B. Carroll, The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility Toward the Moral Management of Organizational Stakeholder, Business Horizons, Jul/Aug (1991), pp. 39 48. Thomas H. Bivins, Public relations, Professionalism, and the Public Interest, Journal of Business Ethics 12 (1983), pp. 117126. Ibid. Thomas I. S. Leung, op. cit. Chih-yu Shih, op. cit. Sita C. Amba-Rao, op. cit.

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