What's
important to note is that ‘guanxi' influences business interactions such as employment represents and
financial transactions and not just casual social interactions. The issue for MNE's here is that where in
the home-country HR practices such as selection may have been based on knowledge, skills and
competencies as well as pay and merit, ‘guanxi' influences become a barrier to strategic recruitment
and selection as local HR practices are guanxi-based and require that relationships to be built ahead of
time (Zhu, Thomson & DeCieri, 2008).