New Asian Emperors: The Business Strategies of the Overseas Chinese

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xiii

Part I: The Foundations of Understanding

Chapter 1: Introducing the Overseas Chinese of Southeast Asia 3

Patterns of Chinese Migration 6

The trader pattern 6

The coolie pattern 7

The sojourner pattern 7

The re-migrant pattern 7

Who Are the Overseas Chinese? 8

What Is a Network? 15

The Role of the Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia 26

The Role of the Overseas Chinese Worldwide 30

Following Chapters 31

Chapter 2: Confucianism Plus: The Philosophical and Cultural Roots of the Overseas Chinese 33

Confucianism’s Influence on Chinese Trade and Economics 42

The Family 50

The Relationships and Ethical Behavior 54

Differing Ethical Concepts 57

Chapter 3: The Overseas Chinese Today: Not the Family Business, But the Family as a Business 61

What Is a Chinese Network? 62

Discontinuity 62

Hierarchical and dyadic ties 63

Uprightness 65

Contextual morality 67

Flexible boundaries 68

Historical and Environmental Effects on the Overseas Chinese Business Networks 68

Distinguishing Cultural Traits 79

Firm-related attributes 80

Loyalty-related attributes 82

Trust-related attributes 83

How Networks Permeate Formal Structures 85

Part II: The Foundations of Analysis

Chapter 4: Introduction to an Informational Void: The Black Hole of Southeast Asia 91

The Informational Black Hole of Southeast Asia 94

Operating in an Informational Black Hole 114

Hands-on experience 127

Transfer of knowledge 128

Qualitative information 130

Holistic information processing 132

Action-driven decision making 132

Emergent planning 133

Chapter 5: Strategic Management of the Overseas Chinese Business Groups: Deciphering Patterns 137

Tacit Knowledge and the Informational Black Hole 138

Strategic Planning and the Networks 141

Planning, classically 142

Developing core competencies 144

Crafting strategies 145

A Summary of Overseas Chinese Management Practices 148

The Overseas Chinese and crafting strategy 149

How the Overseas Chinese plan 151

The Overseas Chinese and their core competencies 158

Part III: The Implications for Business

Chapter 6: In the Aftermath of the Asian Crises: Revolution or Evolution? 169

The Path of Destruction 170

The 1997–1998 Asian financial crisis 170

The 2002–2004 SARS crisis 173

The Post-crises Evolution of Overseas Chinese

Business Groups 175

Competitive Advantages of the Overseas Chinese 180

Speed 182

Knowledge 183

Guanxi 185

Empowerment 188

Competitive Disadvantages of the Overseas Chinese 190

Home turf only 190

Susceptibility to blind-siding 192

Poor proprietary capabilities 193

x new asian emperors

Family limits 194

Lack of professionalization 196

Chapter 7: Competitive Implications of the Overseas Chinese: Doing Business with the New Asian Emperors 199

General Implications for Multinationals 200

Specific Implications for Multinationals 204

Strategic competitiveness 204

Human resource practices 206

Products and technology 209

Contract flexibility 211

Distribution 212

Promotion and pricing 213

Implications for Regional Governments 213

Implications for Researchers 219

Speculations About the Future 221

The Adaptive-Action Road Map 224

The road of knowledge 228

The road of speed 229

The road of action 229

The road of results 230

The road of relationships 230

The road of quality 232

The road of passion 232

The road of legacy 233

Bibliography 235

Appendix: List of Interviewees 245

Index 247