Content area
Full text
Abstract
In the past few decades, the economic growth and development of the Chinese and Overseas Chinese of East and Southeast Asia are very significant and highly remarkable. Although the causes of economic growth and success are complex and likely to vary from one country to another, the significance of cultural values has been emphasised by many researchers. Literature review and field research have revealed the causal link between Chinese cultural values and its managerial practices. However, the success is very much confined to family business enterprises. As the business grows from small to medium or large size, the weaknesses of a Chinese family organisational practice start to reveal their strengths.
Background
The Overseas Chinese or "hua chiao" is a term commonly used for Chinese in Southeast Asia. In a broad sense, "Overseas Chinese" refers to all Chinese who have departed from Chinese soil for the purpose of living and working abroad. The Chinese migration to Southeast Asia, particularly those who arrived between 181 century and mid-20t' century, was mainly for economic reasons and concentrated in economic activities related to employment and trade. Their prime motivation was to make a decent living (Chan & Chiang, 1994).
The Industrial Revolution in the 191 century coupled with the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 accelerated the penetration of the western countries in Southeast Asia and Asia at large. The economic boom in Europe not only expanded domestic demand for a wide range of products but the demand for raw materials as well. As such, the abundant natural resources and agriculture products of Southeast Asia were of considerable interest to western colonial industrialists. As a result, the development of medium and large size western enterprises was fairly rapid. The development created a demand of "intermediaries" to bridge the gap between the colonial exporters and the regional buyers.
The opportunities that arose out of the economic transformation initiated by the western colonial industrialists were very quickly taken up by the Chinese immigrants instead of the local or indigenous people. There were several reasons for this. These included high adaptability of the Chinese immigrants in foreign lands, the Confucian values system that the Chinese immigrants brought along with them (such as the ability to withstand hardship,...