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This pragmatic research in the marketing of industry‐specialised commercial systems operating upon mid‐range computers was carried out in the United Kingdom during 1987 with the purpose of studying how international computer hardware manufacturers use and manage third‐party channels comprised of independent software applications suppliers. Based upon direct response questionnaires and personal interviews with senior management it looks at the strategic marketing priorities of three major manufacturers and six of their independent value‐added resellers, and includes the buyers perspective by comparing these marketing priorities with the purchasing strategies of ten departmental end‐users representing a range of business types. In addition to the study of manufacturer‐intermediary co‐operation, channel power and conflict, and its resolution, the work compares channel members′ attitudes towards the management of marketing variables in a classic manner with their attitudes towards business relationships; and throws some insight as to where their priorities may lie. The intermediary′s role is appraised and some recommendations for the consideration of manufacturers indirect channel managers are discussed.

The shift in trading power which brings the economies of Southeast Asia more in balance with the Atlantic Rim societies brings challenges to business and industrial marketers in the region and elsewhere. Part of this includes the shift of the previous command economies into the world trading system: as exampled by Vietnam in a 1993 study. Because this has entailed a major policy shift from the command system network to the networks of the neo‐market, explains the concepts of industrial network research as a marketing tool. Presents the results of a multi‐unit embedded case study of the domain of eight Hanoi enterprises in production, service, and collaborative networks – in the state and private sectors. Reports on network time, mode of operation, products, clients and territory and describes the command network and the space of network relationships. This is part of a series of Southeast Asian Strategic Networks Studies.

The purpose of this paper is to study compatibility variations in buyer‐seller relationships between Mainland Chinese firms and Hong Kong Chinese buyer firms that act as intermediaries to markets in the West.

Data are drawn from 19 multiple in‐depth case study interviews with Mainland and Hong Kong Chinese firms and buyer firms from the West.

Compatibility dimensions that provide further evidence of factors that underpin the nature of classical‐type exchange arrangements, vis‐à‐vis relational relationships, within Chinese buyer‐seller interactions are identified. Compatibility variations based on political and legal factors are driven by interpretation and application of Chinese state laws at the business and provincial levels rather than at the national level. Mainland Chinese tend to exhibit authoritative vis‐à‐vis Confucian‐based practices and a short‐term orientation within interactions.

There is a need to expand the psychic distance composite to elucidate compatibility variations within the distinct provincial business regions of China. Quantitative studies to test for compatibility variability in China business practices across China are needed next. A better understanding of the nature of classical inclinations used by the Chinese is crucial, as is an understanding of how firms, both domestic and foreign, are able to leverage classical and relational relationships within Mainland China.

Uncertainty associated with the entrepreneurial behaviours of Chinese businesspersons and a varying emphasis on traditional Confucian values in business result in a hybridisation of interactions across classical and relational types. Guanxi may be evolving beyond traditional social and personal trust as Mainland Chinese business relationships have advanced from the smaller scale CFB stage to the state‐owned enterprise stage, and now to the larger and increasingly important world trade stage.

The paper challenges shortcomings in research that has centred exclusively on the relational nature of Chinese business interactions, and it builds on previous research to study compatibility variations underpinning these Chinese interactions. It predicts a hybridisation of interactions amongst Chinese actors and provides a foundation for future quantitative research to study compatibility variations, and also classical‐type business practices across China. Increased international market awareness may also be leading to the inclusion of an economic trust factor, driving classical‐type Chinese buyer‐seller relationships, as is more characteristic of arrangements found in Western exchanges.

The paper aims to analyse the nature of business communication and its influence on relationships development between Hong Kong Chinese intermediaries sourcing from Mainland Chinese sellers involved in manufacturing for sale to Western buyer firms.

A case study‐driven methodology with purposeful sampling is applied to yield maximum variation in the sampling to elicit underlying tendencies and generative mechanisms that exist within and across the multiple cases of relationships.

The paper finds that Mainland Chinese sellers and Hong Kong Chinese intermediaries tend not to have the close ties that might be expected. Mainland Chinese sellers constrained their use of social information, requiring Hong Kong Chinese intermediaries to use commercial information transfers to evaluate the trustworthiness of their Mainland Chinese partners. An ingroup/outgroup bias exacerbates the modesty bias of the Mainland Chinese and also hinders learning through the transfer of technical information within these Chinese interactions. On the other hand, Western buyers tend not to prefer social information interactions with their Hong Kong Chinese intermediaries, requiring these intermediaries to emphasise commercial information interactions to evaluate the trustworthiness of their Western buyers.

This research uses a restricted sample of case study respondents. Representative sampling across multiple contexts will assist in testing the generality of the findings.

For the West to source increasingly attractive manufactures from Mainland China, Hong Kong intermediaries will remain fundamentally important even though this creates further interactions. The aggregate of these multiple exchange arrangements is less problematic than would be the case if Western business were to deal directly with the Mainland Chinese.

This article sheds light on the nature of business communication interactions in a group of relationships between Hong Kong Chinese intermediaries and Mainland sellers, and buyers from the West. Implications for relationships development among the Chinese and Western actors are identified with propositions framed to guide further investigation.