New Asian Emperors

As a Thai and a top manager (of a US MNC) of Overseas Chinese descent I approached this book skeptically. Much has been said about the Overseas Chinese - much of it rumour and innuendo. This book breaks the mould. It interviews unapproachable top CEOs of Overseas Chinese firms (how did the authors get access? This book is the only one on the market to do so and the results are amazing!). It develops a systematic theory of strengths, weaknesses, and competencies -- and draws implications for managers and competitive practices both for the East and for Western MNCs. Kudos! This book has given me much to think about and I heartily recommend it.

The Asian crisis has come and gone and so have so many books on Asian management. However, I agree with Industry Week Growing Companies' recent appraisal (October 1999) that this book is an essential resource for any one doing business in the region. The authors shed light on the way business worked before the crisis, works during the crisis, and probably will work after the crisis is a memory.

A good, well-written often counter-intuitive book with some real insights by scholars who know Asia and Asian business. This book is now required reading in my corporate divisions in Asia and the USA.

I read this book on an overnight flight from San Francisco to Singapore -- on my way to an assignment that had stumped my company for a while. New Asian Emperors helped me and my company score a winning agreement by helping us finally understand where our Asian partners are coming from. It should help us weather any future storms together. Need I say more?!

These well-known academics have done a great job of communicating their extensive understanding of Asia. This book analyzes complex phenomena with style and finesse. New Asian Emperors is actually fun to read and gave me the information to interpret various dealings with regional businesses and goverments, and with the Overseas Chinese that control these economies.