Questioning the Appropriateness of Examining Guanxi in a Wasta Environment: Why Context Should be Front and Center in Informal Network Research. A Commentary on “De-Linking From Western Epistemologies: Using Guanxi-Type Relationships to Attract and Retain Hotel Guests in the Middle East

n this commentary we reflect on Shaalan, Eid, and Tourky’s (2022)article in which they investigated the Chinese concept and practice of guanxi in the Middle East1, a region in which wasta represents the common way of informal networking. While we encourage and welcome research into informal networks, we have serious concerns about the conceptual and methodological approaches taken by Shaalan et al.(2022) in investigating informal networks in the Middle East and we explain herein why we do not believe guanxi should have been used in place of wasta. In this commentary, we commence by introducing wasta,the dominant concept in the Middle East, which Shaalan et al.(2022) disregarded. Then we reflect on the conceptual approach of researching an indigenous network construct in a foreign environment of a different culture which already has its own informal networks. In the commentary we also point out areas of concern in relation to research design and
methodology. Finally, we provide suggestions for future research on informal networks, and we explicitly encourage further debate which draws on our commentary.