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Guanxi has been well documented for its critical business role in China but rarely has it been investigated for its important methodological implications. This article focuses on the ways in which researchers can utilise the sociocultural phenomenon of relational and guanxi-orientation as a tool for more effective Chinese-related data collection. This article arose as an unanticipated methodological outcome of a preceding qualitative study of Chinese perceptions of interpersonal trust. The article has empirical foundations but is largely conceptual in nature. One of the key aspects presented in the article is the construction and illustration of a researcher-developed guanxishu or tree of connections. Such insights are likely to prove invaluable to novice investigators interested in management research in Mainland China and overseas Chinese markets. Experienced researchers understand the importance in Chinese markets of accessing and utilising connections in the process of data collection. However, seldom has this process been discussed or comprehensively documented. The article identifies some of the important intricacies around using guanxi in management research.

AbstractGovernments have increasingly tasked the not‐for‐profit sector with supporting the provision of public goods and services. Alongside this role, not‐for‐profits have faced increasingly challenging external contexts, including heightened competition and tighter funding regimes. This makes effective innovation critical for the successful delivery of social goods within this setting particularly, and in other public service‐oriented organisations more broadly. However, we know little about how innovation occurs in such contexts and even less about the motivations of those who choose to expend the effort to drive innovation there. This study examines the motivations of a key innovation agent, the innovation champion, in the challenging and dynamic not‐for‐profit context. Via a multi‐case study, qualitative approach with 46 interviews, we utilise self‐determination theory to surface what motivates innovation champions to develop and drive new idea generation and implementation. The motivations for championing innovations in not‐for‐profits are varied, spanning intrinsic, prosocial, and other extrinsic drivers. With wider implications for public service‐oriented organisations, our work also suggests that champions in such contexts are variably motivated throughout an innovation project and appear to be simultaneously intrinsically and prosocially motivated. We also find that boredom, or its avoidance, can motivate champions toward innovative activities.Points for practitioners
Innovation champions, with their passion for change and desire for stimulation, are a valuable agent to foster innovation and combat organisational inertia.
Providing autonomous time, away from scheduled tasks and formal role requirements, can provide employees with the 'cognitive space' or 'slack time' required for innovative thinking.
Fostering innovation championing can contribute to enhanced employee engagement and a sense of fulfilment in one's role.
Innovation champions are not motivated in any one single way; their motivations span from self‐interest to contributing to a 'greater good'. Where consistency exists, such individuals share an underlying passion for change and a desire to avoid boredom.
Leaders can clearly articulate the organisation's mission as one way to enhance champion motivation, particularly where their work has longer term and/or indirect value to target beneficiaries.

Innovation is critical to organisational success and is a process steered, and potentially thwarted, by individuals. However, despite the importance of public sector innovation given the complexity of policy issues faced and the sector's specific contextual features, our understanding of innovation processes in government requires expansion. This study, using in‐depth case analyses of three Australian Public Service agencies, focuses on understanding the 'human component' of the innovation process by drawing on both innovation champion and promotor theories to explore, through the lens of organisational power, how multiple human agents progress public sector innovations. The results highlight the key, and often tandem, roles of individuals at multiple organisational levels who work to inspire and motivate others to progress an innovation (champions) and those with specific power bases who help overcome organisational barriers to innovation (promotors).