Post-Crisis Trends in Asian Management

Abstract

This article reviews recent major changes of management practices among Asian companies and analyzes trends of development. The 1997 financial crisis, combined with the ‘Information Revolution’ and globalization, brought unprecedented pressures on traditional Asian companies to change. Japanese keiretsu, Korean chaebol, ethnic Chinese family businesses and even China's state-owned enterprises have begun to transform themselves, though the pace of such transformation varies from country to country.

One Western concept of management that has uniformly received attention from these Asian management systems is that of shareholder value, as most Asian companies previously cared much less about building up shareholder value than increasing market share and pursuing rapid growth. Asian business practices are Asian companies' reaction to a relatively unique business environment in Asia. Without that environment being fundamentally changed or modernized, it would be unthinkable for Asian companies to completely transform themselves from what they have been. Nor is it necessary for them to completely shed their traditions. Their practices led to growth in the past and in some situations could continue to permit short-term growth.