The Bamboo Network
What is the ‘bamboo network’?
The bamboo network refers to the conglomerates propelling Southeast Asian economies which started as small family businesses run by overseas Chinese. The businesses are managed by the family of the founder, and are run with strong Confucian values. The combined output of the 55 million overseas Chinese is equal to a good-sized country, or close to $600 billion. Chinese expatriate workers are integral to economic success in countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
Most of these conglomerates are started by Chinese expatriates who move country and start out with little or no savings, work hard and earn enough to start their own businesses, and constantly reinvest to maximise their cash. Typically, a successful family will own many businesses spread over a number of countries. Control of the business is general passed from generation to generation, and since for the most part the receivers of the business have already had an active managerial role, the transitions tend to be quite smooth, as opposed to the western idea of a big takeover with sweeping changes and redundancies all round.
Li Ka-Shing is a prime example of a Chinese expat in the bamboo network. Li’s father died when he was 15 so he dropped out of school and got a job labouring at a plastics company to support his family. He worked there for 16 hours per day. Eventually, he had saved enough money to start his own business, Cheung Kong Industries, which specialised in the manufacture of plastics. He then expanded the organisation into a leading real estate investment company, and eventually acquired Hutchison Whampoa, a company with the world’s biggest port and telecommunications operations, and Hong Kong Electric Holdings Limited. Li Ka-Shing’s son, Victor Li, serves as managing director and deputy chairman of Cheung Kong Holdings Limited.
Y.C. Wang is another example, with his Formosa Plastics Group. Each of his 10 children holds an executive position in the family business, and his brother is president of Formosa Chemicals and Fibre.
How are businesses within the bamboo network structured?
Most, if not all managerial positions within a company in the bamboo network will be filled by family members. This means that there is a significant amount of trust at the top of the company, as well as loyalty and flexibility. It also means that the top business executives are more likely to sit and have a conversation to plan company strategy or discuss issues rather than handing each other paperwork or arranging formal meetings.
Hung Liu was born in Changchun, China in 1948 and grew up during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, when she was sent to the countryside to be “Re-educated” by the Maoist regime. She immigrated to the US in 1984 to
He has served as director in over 40 public companies and also serves as a
Feng Ru worked hard on improving aviation in China as it states in the story he “rarely finished work before 3 A.M”(Maskel). This quote shows that he worked tirelessly to be China’s aviator to impact his country. In Feng Ru’s story the Father of Chinese Aviation it states that “San Francisco’s massive earthquake and resulting fire forced him to relocate to Oakland instead”(Maskel). “Feng erected his workshop—a 10- by eight-foot shack”(Maskel). These quotes show that he was forced to deal with a small work space but he would not give up no matter what. Through all of Feng’s up’s and down’s he fought through it and became the father of Chinese aviation by working hard just like Melba Pattillo
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With the development of China, the economy of China has become the World’s second largest after the US. On the other hand, the ...
Introduction In the reading "A first time expatriate's experience in a joint venture in China" we have come to understand the nature and structure of the joint venture between the U.S.A. and China and the role that James Randolf played in strengthening and maintaining the international partnership. Controls Inc. was a subsidiary of the parent company Filtration Inc. and so was shielded from any outside competition. When Controls Inc. was given the charter to pursue its own business, they realized the need for being cost effective as a result of which they started an operation in Singapore with the name Controls Asia-Pacific with the prime objective to have a presence in the region and to study and evaluate any possibility of a joint venture. James has been an employee of Controls Inc. for the past 23 years with experience in managerial positions of about 15 years.
According to Teagarden & Cai (2009) Chinese companies have expanded abroad for three reasons. Firstly, ‘to secure natural resources to satisfy the demand of their home costumers for raw and fuel; secondly to identify and secure foreign technology and know-how; finally, to escape home market saturation and ruthless price wars’ (Teagarden & Cai, 2009: 73). In addition, Teagarden & Cai (2009) noted that in order to become multinational firms, Chinese companies followed a pattern of four phases:
...inues to grow not only because of the poor corporate governance styles but also due to the concerned authorities’ reluctance to solve the crisis. The elite families have created strong networks with influential personalities from across the world. This form of modern slavery means the underprivileged families cannot compete favorably with the elite families for the limited economic and social opportunities. Like the proletariat of the 19th century, the modern low-income American families lack capital, land and adequate entrepreneurial skills to start their businesses. As a result, most of these bottom 25% of the income distribution are always willing to accept the low paying jobs. Whereas the chief executive officers, managing directors and major shareholders create policies that allow them to gain lucrative compensation packages, dividends and other profit shares.
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China's development is praised by the whole world. Its developments are not only in the economic aspect, but as well in its foreign affairs. Compared with other developed countries, China is a relatively young country. It began constructing itself in 1949. After 30 years of growth, company ownership had experienced unprecedented changes. Entirely, non-state-owned companies can now be more involved in sectors that used to be monopolized by state-owned companies.
Nonetheless, those who are not direct members of the family can also handle a family business. Family members are frequently taking active involvement in the business operations, and members of the family tend to take up top positions within the organization, but this is dependent on the succession strategy within the business. Some family businesses turn into public companies in order t...
In the mid 1970s, it had ventured into shipbuilding, but Lee’s death made it to be separated into four business groups that include: Samsung Group, Hansol Group, CJ Group and Shinsegae Group which has driven it into immense growth making it the one of the best companies today.
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