New Asian Emperors

New Asian Emperors: The Overseas Chinese, Their Strengths and Competitive Advantages, George T. Haley, Usha C.V. Haley and Chin Tiong Tan, Butterworth-Heineman, 1998

In international business, specifically in Southeast Asia, the Chinese seem to be the dominant players. They own, or have an interest in, everything from construction to hotels to media. The major lists of the richest people in the world contain many Chinese names. This book looks at the reasons for their success.

Confucianism prefers conciliation and compromise to confrontation. Under traditional Chinese law, merchants were forbidden to "show off" by wearing fine clothes or jewelry in public; they also had to walk everywhere, concepts that are still important today. An important part of Chinese business is the network; it can be based on family, dialect or the part of China that the members are from. It builds trust, helps build customer satisafction and speeds decision making.

Overseas Chinese are known for speed of decision-making (they don't wait for Western-style business analysis), control of information (through networks and informal talking with friends) and guanxi (concepts of trust). They can also be blindsided by unforeseen events, and away from their home turf there is less intimate knowledge of the local market. Also, an Overseas Chinese company can only grow as far as the limits of the family, another important part of Chinese culture.

This is a very specialized book, but also a very good book. For anyone doing business in Asia, this book is must reading.