The degree to which the extensive business networks of ethnic Chinese in Asia succeed because of ethnic characteristics, or simply because of the sound application of good business practice, is a key question of great current concern to those interested in business, management and economic development in Asia. This book brings together a range of leading experts who present original new research findings and important new thinking on this vital subject. Based on rich empirical research data and a multidisciplinary explanatory framework, this book assesses the role, characteristics and challenges of Chinese entrepreneurship and business networks in various East and Southeast Asian countries: the People's Republic of China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Australia. Chinese Entrepreneurship and Asian Business Networks demonstrates that Chinese network capitalism is contingent upon, for example, time, place, institutional frameworks, and that explanatory approaches of Chinese economic behaviour which stress culture and ethnicity are too simplistic.

Business Networks in East Asian Capitalisms: Enduring Trends, Emerging Patterns builds on the foundational studies conducted in the 1990s by gathering contemporary empirical and theoretical chapters which explore these themes in a comparative perspective. The book includes contributions from authors working on the relationship between personal and business networks in countries including China, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand. Authors emphasize enduring trends in social and business networks and/or track new emerging patterns, both within East Asian nations or between East Asia and other regions such as Europe, Africa, and the Americas. - Provides contemporary, up-to-date empirical material and theoretical interpretation, charting the influence of more recent globalizing trends and institutional change in the region - Includes studies of networks within PRC, between PRC and other regions, and in Chinese communities - Offers studies centered on Korean, Japanese, and South East Asian Networks - Includes a geographical scope that will be broader than other books, aiming to include studies of newly developing economies in South East Asia that share a common cultural heritage (e.g Vietnam)

Despite the current crisis, Asian economies remain an important market for firms around the world and continue to be stiff competitors in world business. One reason for the region's strength, and a predictor of Asia's endurance, are its business networks—^Ikeiretsus^R in Japan, ^Ichaebols^R in Korea, and other forms that connect single firms, entire industries, and which interlink the region as a whole. Richter and his contributors examine the origins of business networks, their effects on the economies, and the implications of their presence and growth in Asian economies. Corporate strategic planners, marketing executives, and other decision makers will find here an important contribution to their understanding of why Asia's economies will pick up again and how they will continue to grow. The book examines the promises of business networks and the role of transaction costs, interdependence, and membership commitment. The contributors do not automatically assume that past successes of these networks will mean future successes; rather, they define the outlines of new and innovative forms of networks, and see in their configurations an even better platform for further economic development in Asia and for the globalization of Asian multinationals. Contributors offer a critical approach to theory and practice of Asian networking, and because of their national diversity are able to provide a variety of viewpoints on them. Research-based and presenting the thinking of scholars and practitioners alike, the book supplies expert knowledge and a basis for academic discourse on managerial policy not easily found elsewhere.

The Asian economic landscape is dominated by various types of business group. Asian Business Groups provides a comprehensive review and introduction to the different types of business group. The origins and founding context of groups from particular national settings form the basic structure of the book. Emphasis is given to both the similarities and differences in group governance and performance and the implications for Asian international competitiveness are addressed. - Multidisciplinary framework that integrates managerial, sociological, and economic perspectives on business groups and permits analysis of both their positive and negative aspects - Comprehensive survey of empirical findings on the financial and market performance - Sensitivity to the changing historical context and major events that have shaped business group development and dynamics

In this book, Alexander Häntzschel presents the benefits of organized networks and provides a first-ever overview of German-Sino business networks. Based on more than 20 expert interviews and research of 30 different cases, the analysis covers the different forms of organization, their target groups and members, services and activities, and accessibility and membership fees. Complementary to the analysis, the results of a survey bring forward the experiences and expectations of professionals involved in such networks. With this Springer Brief, business professionals get a quick and useful overview of the leading networks such as the German Asia-Pacific Business Association, the German-Chinese Business Association, and the Asian Social Business Community.

With much of the Asian Miracle destroyed and much of the Western world's awe for Asian ways of management dissipated, organizations there are changing with such speed that most of our knowledge about them is quickly outdated. Richter takes stock of East Asian management practices, as they are perceived so far, and he discusses the strategies that others propose to help Asian management redesign itself for the future—including a long-term agenda for change based on the cultural heritage of Confucianism. He analyzes the cultural underpinnings of Asian management practices, evaluates the influence of the Asian economic crisis on them, and discusses their potential for guiding Asian firms to a sustainable competitive advantage. He then provides examples of how Asian firms shape up their organizations and describes a short-term agenda to fix the weaknesses in Asian management, at least temporarily. Throughout, Richter avoids talk about strategic management as merely a theory: he adopts a broader definition that includes a value system to guide East Asian firms as they re-emerge and redevelop. The result is a challenging, intensely pragmatic analysis for decision-makers at all levels, in all countries and cultures, and it is a new stone in the foundation of academic research and thought. Richter opens with a discussion of the legacy of Confucianism and its impact on Asian management practices. He then proposes three intrinsic characteristics of Asian management: networks, trust, and collectivism. He gives a history of the Asian economic crisis, highlighting the failures of Asia's economic development and the flaws that appeared in its management practices. The third section of the book evaluates management practices that have emerged since then, and how they are perceived so far. Then, in the concluding section, he presents a new perspective on Asian management, short-term goals (fixing current management weaknesses), and long-term goals (incorporating its long abiding strengths). Throughout, Richter draws on the management theory enunciated by Hofstede and includes examples and case studies of recent developments across the region, and he also includes his own theories as well as those of others. Mr. Richter's book will be a welcome addition to the literature on business and the culture of Asia.

It is predicted by some observers that the 21st century will be remembered as the Asian Century. Many of the countries in the region seem to be able to take the economic and trade baton when one of the others experiences problems. The region, in general, continues to grow economically, politically and militarily. The articles presented in this volume examine the current political and economic situations in nations across Asia, particularly focusing on economic developments.

This volume is excellent. Students who are interested in Asian business should read it and will find the comprehensive bibliography offered by the different contributors very helpful. In light of the recent global financial crises, it is time to re-examine the Asian miracles, as well as the Western models of business organizations and regulations. This volume offers great insights not just on Asian business but also on Western economies and business. It is also time to adopt an integrative approach recommended by Yeung through comparative research of businesses and economies in different institutions and cultures. Yifei Sun, Economic Geography An absolute must-have for college library reference shelves, filled cover-to-cover with keen analyses that any businessperson seeking to make inroads in an Asian market needs to study at length! Midwest Book Review This book serves as an important guide to the many fascinating research questions about Asian business waiting to be addressed. The study of Asian business has reached equality in importance to the study of business in Europe and North America. Researchers who study any of these regions have an incentive to follow the study of business in the other regions, if for no other reason than that many global firms from each region operate in all regions now. Nonetheless, the more important reason for knowledge transfer among researchers of each region is that these exchanges can only advance everyone s research. Henry Yeung and the contributors are to be thanked for setting out a rich agenda for research on Asian business that will elevate this study to equality with research elsewhere in the world. Eurasian Geography and Economics This book is extremely comprehensive and well researched. It will be of particular interest to scholars in the fields of international business, development studies, economic geography, regional studies as well as international and national policymakers. Science Technology & Society The rise of Asia as an important region for global business has been widely recognized as one of the most significant economic phenomena in the new millennium. This accessible and comprehensive Handbook brings together state-of-the-art reviews of Asian business in an expansive range of areas including: business organizations strategic management marketing state business relations business and development business policy issues. It is argued that whilst academic studies on Asian business have been in existence for over two decades, there is relatively little systematic integration of our knowledge and research on Asian business. The contributors, drawn from a variety of disciplines within the social sciences, aim to redress the balance with their lively, cutting-edge discussion. Serving as a timely overview of more than two decades of scholarly research, this Handbook will be an essential resource for academics, students and researchers interested in Asian business.

The 1997 Asian Crisis principally affected Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Korea, as well as other East Asian countries heavily dependent on intra-regional trade. Banks and other financial institutions quickly become insolvent, and heavily indebted industrial firms went bankrupt. Many of these firms were affiliated with the business groups of this region, yet most groups did not immediately collapse, indeed they proved remarkably robust, some surviving and even prospering. This book examines these East Asian business groups and their subsequent restructuring following the Asian Crisis. East Asian nations embarked on very different trajectories to this common external shock. The Asian Crisis affected the inter-relationships among the socio-cultural environment, the state, and the market of each country quite differently and had distinct effects on the operations of these countries' business groups. This slow yet divergent pattern of development provides evidence against theories of rapid global convergence. Yet East Asian business groups face an uncertain future. Foreign investors' influence has increased substantially since the crisis, as East Asian governments had to accommodate their demands to keep attracting foreign capital. Governments supervise banks more closely and have loosened restrictions on mergers and hostile takeovers, further strengthening the discipline of the market. Various entry barriers that had inhibited foreign multinationals from competing in national markets were lifted, exposing business groups to intensified foreign competition. Under these new conditions, business groups in East Asia should reconfigure their business structures and adjust their corporate governance systems to regain momentum for further growth. Business groups will continue to be important vehicles for the sustained future growth of this region, and this book presents a substantial amount of new data on this, which will be of interest to academics, researchers, and advanced students of East Asian business, and business practitioners working within the region.