New Asian Emperors: The Business Strategies of the Overseas Chinese [Paperback]

George T. Haley (Author), Usha C. V. Haley (Author), Chin Tiong Tan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 29, 2009

Southeast Asia has a population of more than half a billion, yet its economy is dominated by about 40 families, most of Overseas Chinese descent. Their conglomerates span sectors as diverse as real estate, telecommunications, hotels, industrial goods, computers and sugar plantations. New Asian Emperors shows how and why Overseas Chinese companies continue to dominate the region and have extended their reach in East Asia, despite the Asian financial and SARS crises of the past decade. The authors base their conclusions on in-depth structured interviews spanning a decade with the often elusive Overseas Chinese CEOs including Li Ka-shing, Stan Shih, Victor Fung, Stephen Riady and Sukanto Tanoto, as well as on the strategic information that their companies use.

The analysis of the New Asian Emperors’ present-day management techniques and practices draws on the history, culture and philosophical perspectives of the Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. In the midst of today’s global economic crisis, this book also takes a fresh look at the role and management practices of the Overseas Chinese as they continue to create some of Asia’s wealthiest and most successful companies.

New Asian Emperors explains:

• The sources and characteristics of Overseas Chinese management
• Whether Overseas Chinese management practices will spread in the same way that Japanese management did in the 1970s
• Whether Western management technologies have found themselves outmaneuvered in Asia’s post-crisis arena
• The Overseas Chinese managers’ strategies for the informational black hole of Southeast Asia and what Western managers can learn from them
• The New Asian Emperors’ unique strategic perspectives and management styles revealed through exclusive, in-depth interviews
• The implications for successfully co-operating and competing with the Overseas Chinese of Southeast Asia

New Asian Emperors offers key insights into the Overseas Chinese and the important role that cultural roots play in their dominance of Southeast Asian business.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Southeast Asia has a population of more than half a billion, yet its economy is dominated by about 40 families, most of Overseas Chinese descent. Their conglomerates span sectors as diverse as real estate, telecommunications, hotels, industrial goods, computers and sugar plantations. New Asian Emperors shows how and why Overseas Chinese companies continue to dominate the region and have extended their reach in East Asia, despite the Asian financial and SARS crises of the past decade. The authors base their conclusions on in-depth structured interviews spanning a decade with the often elusive Overseas Chinese CEOs including Li Ka-shing, Stan Shih, Victor Fung, Stephen Riady and Sukanto Tanoto, as well as on the strategic information that their companies use.

The analysis of the New Asian Emperors' present-day management techniques and practices draws on the history, culture and philosophical perspectives of the Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. In the midst of today's global economic crisis, this book also takes a fresh look at the role and management practices of the Overseas Chinese as they continue to create some of Asia's wealthiest and most successful companies.

New Asian Emperors explains:

• The sources and characteristics of Overseas Chinese management;
• Whether Overseas Chinese management practices will spread in the same way that Japanese management did in the 1970s;
• Whether Western management technologies have found themselves outmaneuvered in Asia's post-crisis arena;
• The Overseas Chinese manager's strategies for the informational black hole o southeast Asia and what Western managers can learn from them;
• The New Asian Emperor's unique strategic perspectives and management styles revealed through exclusive, in-depth interviews;
• The implications for successfully co-operating and competing with the Overseas Chinese of Southeast Asia.

New Asian Emperors offers key insights into the Overseas Chinese and the important role that cultural roots play in their dominance of Southeast Asian business.

From the Back Cover

"This book is very timely as it examines in a serious but readable manner both the strengths and weaknesses of the Overseas Chinese business community, and provides a framework for understanding how this vibrant community will resurrect itself from the current crisis. Most books on the Overseas Chinese business community have veered between the extremes: either gushing with adulation, or portraying them as a semi-conspiracy. This book takes a balanced and holistic view, and waves in the ethical and cultural traits of the Overseas Chinese with their management practices." - Ho Kwon Ping

"Westerners have long assumed that there is one right way to organize and conduct large-scale business on a foundation of rationality, individuality and impersonality. this excellent traits on the business philosophies and practices o the powerful Overseas Chinese cannot fail to open Western minds to whole new ways of business thinking. This book is a must read for any business that wants to succeed in Asia. The authors have presents a masterly picture of how business is done by the Overseas Chinese. Many practices of multinationals need to be altered if they are to complete with, or work with, the Overseas Chinese. - Philip Kotler

"The Overseas Chinese represent what is arguably one of the most important economic and financial groups in the world, whose actions in the Pacific Rim and in other parts of the world have had profound effects on economic development, financial stability and instability, and the evolution of a wide range of industries in a global economic context. They also represent what is often a controversial economic and political force in countries dominated by other ethnic groups. This book provides a thoroughly authoritative and balanced assessment of the Overseas Chinese in terms of their roots, the role of family structures, management practices, and approaches to dealing with Overseas Chinese business groups - which themselves will have to evolve rapidly in the years ahead if they are to succeed as true multinational enterprises.." - Ingo Walter

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Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (June 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470823348
• ISBN-13: 978-0470823347
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,444,333 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A remarkable study of the Overseas Chinese business firms after the Asian financial turbulence, October 1, 2009

By 

Hubert Shea (Shanghai, China) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: New Asian Emperors: The Business Strategies of the Overseas Chinese (Paperback)

Haley et al maintain that the informational black hole remains to exist, although there have been significant evolutionary changes of the Overseas Chinese business firms in terms of business strategies after the two major crises, including the Asian financial turbulence in 1997 and the SARS crisis between 2002 and 2004.

To Haley et al, there are two important factors that affect business strategies of the Overseas Chinese family firms in South East Asia. The first one is Confucianism and the second one is the institutional environment. Analogous to other management research scholars such as Redding, Kao, and Hofstede, Haley et al suggest that traditional Chinese cultural values are influential in the Overseas Chinese communities in South East Asia. The key tenets of Confucianism praise frugal lives, diligence, social harmony, reconciliation and compromise, place emphasis on family as the basis of society, respect for authority, and personal trust but frown on perception of merchant classes and profit motives. Because of the cultural influence, it is not uncommon that the Overseas Chinese business firms are family-owned, authoritarianism and paternalism in management practices, diversified in investments in terms of geography and industry, and favor of illiquid assets. Since the overall institutional environment in South East Asia is less well-established than other more information-rich developed economies, the Overseas Chinese business firms make use of their business networks to detect discontinuities and garner "insider" qualitative information so that they can react to any changes in a speedy manner. According to Haley et al, this informational black hole weakens competitive advantage of Multinationals in South East Asia's domestic markets, yet they are still dominant in the global level playing field. In order to cope with the informational black hole and uncertain institutional environment, key decision makers in the Overseas Chinese family firms adopt different strategies in managing and growing their businesses, including speedy decision making process, emphasis of tacit knowledge/hands-on experience instead of explicit knowledge/pure research data, as well as establishment of trust-based relationships in their networks.

This book dispels the widely-held belief that business strategies of the Overseas Chinese business firms should follow their counterparts in Japan or Anglo-Saxon countries as economy becomes more globalized and governments in South East Asia continues to improve their governance level. Rather than viewing the Overseas Chinese business firms as dilettantism, Haley et al believe that they continue to preserve their successful business strategies and adopt the best management practices from the western world to maintain and grow their businesses. The last chapter of the book provides general and specific guidelines to managers from Multinationals about how to compete against and partner with the Overseas Chinese family firms.

This book provides great insights to managers and management researchers from the Western world about business strategies in non-western world. What this book remains unanswered pertinent to business strategies of the Overseas Chinese business firms is that for the recent 10 years, more and more sizeable players such as Lippo Group and Salim Group from Indonesia, Hong Leong Group from Singapore, and Kuok's Group from Malaysia have utilized their experience in the informational black hole to capture untapped and ample market opportunities in Mainland China. Diversification of their investments into the China market can compensate for their constrained market size in South East Asia's domestic markets and it can also be viewed as a viable business strategy to expand their businesses in a less information-rich but culturally-familiar markets which is not riskier than information-rich developed economies.

This book is highly recommended to readers who are interested in knowing more about business strategies of the Overseas Chinese business firms and the overall business environment in South East Asia.

4.0 out of 5 stars New Asian Emperors, January 14, 2012

By 

International Practicum - See all my reviews

This review is from: New Asian Emperors: The Business Strategies of the Overseas Chinese (Paperback)

The New Asian Emperors: The Business Strategies of the Overseas Chinese is a comprehensive overview of the changing business environment in Southeast Asia. The change is brought about by the fusion of a strong historic Chinese culture with the new challenges of a rapidly growing economy and population. The strong historic culture is analyzed as the philosophical and cultural roots of Chinese-born Southeast Asian business managers. This culture has lead to many of Southeast Asia's core business competencies. While these core competencies helped the society through the financial crisis of 1997 and the SARS epidemic of 2002, a rapidly growing population and economy as well as competition from multinational corporations has begun to introduce changes.

Due to the strong Chinese heritage in Southeast Asia, Confucius, Mencius, Buddhism and Taoism have a very strong cultural influence. This influence is seen as, "...a humanistic and philosophic outlook on life that believes in hard work, conservative adherence to traditional values, the dominance of society over individual and family over society, and a society in which there is a place for everyone, and everyone has his or her place and role to play in society." This culture is much of where the difference from the West is rooted. The Southeast Asia culture believes in Heavens, prescribed roles in relationships and an affinity between family and business whereas Westerners typically believe in Gods, individuality and separation between business and family. Southeast Asian societies also do not provide the access to information that Western societies provide. Although the Overseas Chinese have been very successful locally this culture and subsequent business environment provides a few competitive disadvantages that allow for new opportunities for competitors from outside Southeast Asia. The increase in competitive activity is forcing many Southeast Asian companies to alter their business practices to stay competitive. This fusion of a strong historic culture with rapid economic growth is creating a unique business climate driven by the Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia.