Performance in vegetable supply chains:: The role of Guanxi networks and buyer-seller relationships

Guanxi is the lifeblood of the Chinese society. It also becomes a hot topic for achieving business success in China. The primary goal of this exploratory study is to empirically investigate the effect of guanxi networks on buyer-seller relationships and market performance for the Chinese vegetable sector. We interviewed 167 vegetable farmers (i.e., sellers) and 84 vegetable processing and exporting companies (i.e., buyers) in Jiangsu Province, P.R. China. The path analysis results reveal that guanxi networks in China directly and indirectly affect buyer-seller relationships and market performance; however, guanxi networks have different effects for vegetable sellers and buyers. Results demonstrate that vegetable sellers and buyers follow different approaches to achieve superior market performance.