Chinese Businesses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Chinese Businesses - Essay Example Over the centuries, these socio-economic affiliations helped ties the Chinese and Filipino in a strong spirit of affinity. In the 21st century, mutual trade and investments provide a solid pillar in the long-standing, friendly relations between the two nations (Philippine Embassy Beijing 2004). In Singapore, there was a phenomenal influx of Chinese migrants during the nineteenth century. Multitudes of Chinese migrants filled the island for commerce and work with the institution of Singapore as a colony of Britain in 1819 (Ee 1961). During this time, secret societies emerged that Chinese migrants became associated with. These secret societies contributed to the development of Chinese businesses in Singapore in early days. Chen (2001) narrated that around 60 million Chinese people have built communities in countries other than China. They cover a range of ethnic and linguistic subdivisions bound by their common origin, and are collectively known as the Overseas Chinese (Weidenbaum 1996). Although rather small in terms of the entire population of their host countries, they play a vital role in the economic setting of South East Asia, where they dominate a majority of the firms' wealth in the region (Yeung, 1996). According to Tsang (2002 p. ... Most of them are into small and medium enterprises; however, play a significant role in the economy of the Philippines. Some of these entrepreneurs hold large companies and are valued as some of the most well-known Philippine' business tycoons. According to Wong (1985), the traditional Chinese family business (CFB) is "a small-scale, domestically oriented, form of business organization that originated in China several hundred years ago and was dispersed throughout South East Asia by emigrating Chinese minorities in the 19th and 20th centuries". Shapiro and Erdener (2003) modernly called them as the Chinese family enterprise (CFE) in which they defined as "the larger, internationally active, family-owned Overseas Chinese enterprise that evolved from the traditional CFF outside China". Yeung (1999, pp.106-11) narrated that some of CFB turned into CFE that have become famous international conglomerates are Fortune Tobacco under Lucio Tan in the Philippines and the Far East Organization under Ng Teng Fong in Singapore. "Among the Overseas Chinese, family business was evolving in new directions that deviated from tradition and paved the way for international expansion". As they internationally expand, CFEs typically created powers and capabilities in their host markets as the basis for competitive advantages in the foreign country environment. In some South East Asian countries where ethnic discrimination is at large by the dominant cultural group, the CFB expanded their business network beyond the family. This led them to form unions with national governments. The main advantages of the CFE based on characteristics over other form of business structures are listed below. According to Chen (1995), the main lead of the CFE is its capacity to grab commercial portals of