AN EXPLORATION OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS IN 2 TAIWANESE COMPUTERFIRMS

This study provides a fuller description of some of the ways businessp eople relate to each other and their customers in Taiwan. Through ethn ographies and extended interviews, relationship patterns in two Taipei computer companies are shown to be influenced by Chinese traditions w hich view human emotion and orders of relationship as the basis of soc iety. Taiwanese employees, particularly salespeople, are shown as adep t at fusing functional and emotional elements to flexibly manage inter personal relationships in complex and dynamic Taiwanese social, politi cal, and economic contexts. It is concluded that relationships, as soc ial resources, manifest themselves in various levels of business condu ct, influencing the functioning of Taiwan firms in the modern business environment.