ABSTRACT
Chinese culture has always been a fascinating subject for social science research. At least two recent success stories, we believe, have contributed to a strengthening interest in Chinese business culture. First, the Taiwanese economy has undergone spectacular growth for three decades. This success is all the more striking given that Taiwan started off as a typical Third World poor country. 1 To make sense of the Taiwanese success, a great deal of scholarly research calls attention to Chinese business culture. Second, with the remarkable and resilient boom of the mainland Chinese economy since the 1980s, the rapid expansion of international trade and foreign investment connected with this emerging giant economy has heightened the demand for an understanding of Chinese business culture. If there is a distinct Chinese business culture, any multinational corporation (MNC) doing business with China will have to know it and master it.
