Rating: 
Summary: Reading this book will be well rewarded...
Review: (Excerpted review from Asia Pacific Management Forum at http://www.apmforum.com/review/fr16.htm). One could be forgiven for assuming this is an academic book. For the authors are well known management academics, George Haley and Usha Haley being Associate Professors at several schools in the US, Singapore and Australia and Chin Tiong Tan the new Deputy Provost of the new Singapore Management University. However, the authors have done a remarkable job in transforming authoritative academic research into an extremely readable and practical account of the influence of the overseas Chinese in Asia, particularly in South East Asia. The authors have taken on an extremely difficult task. Chinese business people, at least in this reviewer's opinion, are a fairly reticent lot. However, these authors confront these research problems positively and sensibly with masterful use of small case studies, instructive tables and maps, and a concise and elegant writing style. While the writing style makes for an excellent introduction, seasoned managers and Asian strategists will find new information peppered throughout the book, or known information analyzed in a different and thought provoking way. Even though you may have worked with the Chinese for a lifetime, this book will still help your understanding. For those just starting to work in South East Asia in particular, it is essential reading. Putting aside half a day to read this book will be well rewarded...And it deserves a permanant place on your bookshelf for revision and reference.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent practical insights grounded in theory
Review: I give this book 5 stars! I do agree with the "Economist"'s review that this is an important book. I will go so far as to say that this is an essential book for understanding how the Overseas Chinese companies operate. They are family companies --but a lot more and that's the ground this book covers.I disagree with Boris B's review below. I certainly did not read the book he did! Other than the opening quotes for each chapter, I very much doubt he read the book! I found this book extremely clear and straightforward. I also thought all theories were presented as simply as possible (sometimes the concepts are complex) and well-backed up with examples from the authors' extensive business practice and research.
Rating:
Summary: A book that is borrowed but rarely returned...
Review: I notice that this book has generated a lot of talk and I would like to add my two cents. I am currently based in Hong Kong and travel and do business through South East Asia. I picked up this book on the airport as I deal regularly with the Overseas Chinese. I had planned to read it and discard it -- I have re-read it several times; my original, thumbed copy was "borrowed" and never returned. I have since bought another copy which I do not display in my office. New Asian Emperors covers some very profound aspects of doing business with the Overseas Chinese and East Asians generally. However, it does so in a non-intimidating and straight-forward fashion. This is a beautifully written and polished book. Actually, I never did locate the sentence on "Taosim" to which one of the reviewers below referred. I was particularly impressed by the chapter on Confucianism: I received a degree in East Asian philosophy and wish some of my text books had communicated the concepts so simply. East Asian philosphies and ethics emphasize duality and ambiguity. The economist who wrote the review seems unable to comprehend that this is the terrain with which the authors had to deal. Many of the concepts first introduced in New Asian Emperors have been covered since in the popular press and "borrowed" by other authors with little or no credit given (see Frank-Jurgen Richter and Ming Jer-Chen). It's a credit to this book, its ideas and their exposition, that it still remains the leader in explaining how to do business with the Overseas Chinese, that continue to dominate the important markets of South East Asia. It's also the book most found on the book shelves of executives that are dealing with East Asian operations -- when it not borrowed ;-). I have been informed by clients and employees that they read it at university in Singapore, Hong Kong, the USA and China. This book has value.
Rating:
Summary: A book that is borrowed but rarely returned...
Review: I notice that this book has generated a lot of talk and I would like to add my two cents. I am currently based in Hong Kong and travel and do business through South East Asia. I picked up this book on the airport as I deal regularly with the Overseas Chinese. I had planned to read it and discard it -- I have re-read it several times; my original, thumbed copy was "borrowed" and never returned. I have since bought another copy which I do not display in my office. New Asian Emperors covers some very profound aspects of doing business with the Overseas Chinese and East Asians generally. However, it does so in a non-intimidating and straight-forward fashion. This is a beautifully written and polished book. Actually, I never did locate the sentence on "Taosim" to which one of the reviewers below referred. I was particularly impressed by the chapter on Confucianism: I received a degree in East Asian philosophy and wish some of my text books had communicated the concepts so simply. East Asian philosphies and ethics emphasize duality and ambiguity. The economist who wrote the review seems unable to comprehend that this is the terrain with which the authors had to deal. Many of the concepts first introduced in New Asian Emperors have been covered since in the popular press and "borrowed" by other authors with little or no credit given (see Frank-Jurgen Richter and Ming Jer-Chen). It's a credit to this book, its ideas and their exposition, that it still remains the leader in explaining how to do business with the Overseas Chinese, that continue to dominate the important markets of South East Asia. It's also the book most found on the book shelves of executives that are dealing with East Asian operations -- when it not borrowed ;-). I have been informed by clients and employees that they read it at university in Singapore, Hong Kong, the USA and China. This book has value.
Rating:
Summary: Very insightful book
Review: I really learned a lot from this book -- more about the culture and business environment of Asia than I thought I would from this slim book. I work as manager for Asian operations.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book!
Review: Pithy insights, powerful theories and great examples. These well-known professors have written a must-read book for anyone doing business in Asia.
Rating: 
Summary: Let's call them very successful family companies
Review: Popular business books try to sound more dramatic than they are. This one is no exception. The "new Asian emperors" of the title are simply the heads of family-owned conglomerates in South East Asia. The Asian financial crisis of 1997 has de-mystified many of them. There is no need to glorify or demonize them; they are smart businessmen who have learned how to prosper in a difficult environment. "The New Asian Emperors" is one of the most easily available books about the way the Overseas Chinese conduct business in South East Asia, and why they are as successful as they are. In a nutshell, the main factors of their success (in the business school jargon called "competitive advantages") are: (1) a network that provides reliable, informal information in an environment where information is hard to come by, (2) a strong work-ethic and mercantile mind-set, (3) high savings rates combined with the tendency to re-invest savings, (4) a short-term profit outlook with highly liquid assets, (5) an intuitive decision-making style well adapted to the "informational void" of Asia. I think this book gives a lot of helpful suggestions as to why the Overseas Chinese dominate the economies of countries as diverse as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Singapore, even though the Overseas Chinese are minorities in each of these countries except Singapore. Two things in particular make them more successful than most indigenous entrepreneurs: their work ethic and the way they cope with the lack of information. "Overseas Chinese, especially those in Southeast Asia, left China as coolies to work for Chinese and European traders, plantation owners, governments and semi-governmental authorities. They worked hard, lived extremely frugally and saved money until they could strike out on their own [...]. Once the[y] gained some degree of prosperity, they often moved into property-related businesses, and then into any business deemed profitable." Developing countries often have weak legal systems, lax enforcement of the law, changing policies of the government and a fast-changing economic environment with few reliable available data. Successful Overseas Chinese maneuver in this hazardous business climate by forming close networks of peers, tapping government information by all means available (to put it politely), by acting fast on qualitative rather than quantitative information, and by following-up small successes with more substantial investments in the same area. They don't "go boldly where no-one has gone before"; their success is based on their preference for familiar, regional business ventures. The book also provides information about the weaknesses of the classical family businesses of the Overseas Chinese: their lack of formal organization, their decision-making focus on the patriarch, their local strength and inexperience in the international arena, the lack of resources devoted to brand development - to name just a few. While it is informative, the book still needs some serious editorial work. Headlines that should refer to the ensuing paragraphs are sometimes out of context, the text is repetitious in various instances, and the part about the cultural roots of the Overseas Chinese is at times vacuous. What, for example do we learn from a sentence like "Taoism focuses on the paradoxical duality of all nature, and gaining an understanding of nature through knowledge of that duality and its implications"? If I replace "Taoism" by "Christianity", "duality" by "Trinity", and "nature" by "God", the sentence reads: "Christianity focuses on the paradoxical Trinity of God, and gaining an understanding of God through knowledge of that Trinity and its implications." This is a sentence that correctly describes one facet of Christianity, but does it help our understanding of Christianity? You guessed the answer. The weakest part of the book is the section about the philosophical and cultural roots of the Overseas Chinese. It is called "Confucianism +" with the "+" standing for Buddhism and Taoism. While Confucianism plays an important role for the work-ethic of the Overseas Chinese, its tenets could as well have hindered the Overseas Chinese from being economically successful. Confucianism is essentially a philosophy for rulers and bureaucrats, and it looks down on the profit motives of merchants who tend to be wary of bureaucrats and their taxation power. It exalts peasants (who stay in their place, can be taxed easily and forced to serve in the army), and it delegates the unruly and evasive merchants to the lowest class in the Confucian system. In this respect, a few explanations are required as to why the stay-at-home Confucian Chinese did not prosper and the Overseas Confucian Chinese did. As an economist I was duly impressed by one quote of an Overseas Chinese tycoon who said to his son: "'Remember that you are responsible to your ancestors, not just to yourself. Our ancestors are not honored by compromise; they are honored by responsible behavior and hard work.'" This quote reminded me very much of Max Weber's thesis in his seminal work "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" (1904/05). Weber, a German economist and the father of sociology as a science, showed that the Protestant ethic was one of the necessary - but not sufficient - elements for the development of Capitalism in modern nations. Something similar seems to be going on among the Overseas Chinese. It seems that the "practical" Confucian ethic embraced by the Overseas Chinese is, at least in certain respects, quite similar to the Protestant ethic that fuelled the development of a capitalist society. Unfortunately, the book does not elaborate on this subject. Bottom line: There are many morsels of insight in this book, but it needs a much better organization to be enjoyable. The explanations for the success of the Overseas Chinese are convincing, except for the cultural/philosophical ones. Some more anecdotes to illustrate the anlytical points would have been helpful. Verba docent, exempla trahunt, as my high school Latin teacher used to put it - words teach, examples inspire.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutly recommended reading for business in Asia
Review: This excellent, concise and well structured book is a treasure of information on Overseas Chinese and business in South East Asia. It explains their origins, the different waves of migration, the principles that guide their actions (Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism), differences with Western principles (Christianity), how the networks are built, what are the relations within and without and how it allowed 10% of South East Asia's population to control 45 to 95% of its business. Authors compare Overseas Chinese and Japanese style of management. They investigate the informational void existing in South East Asia. For the same period, 1987-1995, the total of business articles written about South East Asia was only 4.3% to 2.3% of that existing for the United States. But South East Asia counts 530 million people while the US 280 million. Overseas Chinese adopted the right strategies to cope with it. Western multinationals rely heavily on data and are at a serious disadvantage in the region. Overseas Chinese companies use less staff than their Western counterparts because of a better integration between strategy, finance, planning, line management, market. Overseas Chinese senior management have experience and information on all the aspects. Subjects are documented with interviews from Overseas Chinese with global standing: Kuok of Hong Kong, Shih, the founder of Acer and other regional giants. They help to understand how Overseas Chinese make their decisions, why they are so fast (15 minutes for a joint venture decision) but also why they sometimes fail outside Asia. To conclude book reviews advantages and weaknesses of Overseas Chinese and foreign multinationals in the global market showing why Overseas Chinese have difficulty (except for Acer) to become global pointing at their weaknesses and why foreign multinationals have difficulty in South East Asia and how they can correct it. But change in Overseas Chinese top management is already occuring. A must-read for business in Asia.
Rating: 
Summary: Simply Overrated
Review: This is a good, but not a great book on the so-called Overseas Chinese, focusing on their business culture and strategy. Co-written by three professors, the work has an academic feel to it, but can also serve as a primer for businessmen wanting to learn about their SE Asian Overseas Chinese counterparts. This book does not deserve a five-star rating. It is simplistic, and likely to be of value only to the person who has no experience or knowledge of Asia and the Overseas Chinese. Some of the text is unnecessary. Why did the authors put in a rough history of early Chinese philosophy? It's too simple to be valuable and yet takes up too much room in an already short work. The book does have some good points. I enjoyed the sketches of certain Overseas Chinese business leaders, some of whom I knew nothing about. There is also some original research here on the business environment in SE Asia, specifically on the lack of information that helps the Overseas Chinese maintain an edge against outside competitors in their home markets.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Overrated
Review: This is a good, but not a great book on the so-called Overseas Chinese, focusing on their business culture and strategy. Co-written by three professors, the work has an academic feel to it, but can also serve as a primer for businessmen wanting to learn about their SE Asian Overseas Chinese counterparts. This book does not deserve a five-star rating. It is simplistic, and likely to be of value only to the person who has no experience or knowledge of Asia and the Overseas Chinese. Some of the text is unnecessary. Why did the authors put in a rough history of early Chinese philosophy? It's too simple to be valuable and yet takes up too much room in an already short work. The book does have some good points. I enjoyed the sketches of certain Overseas Chinese business leaders, some of whom I knew nothing about. There is also some original research here on the business environment in SE Asia, specifically on the lack of information that helps the Overseas Chinese maintain an edge against outside competitors in their home markets.
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