ABSTRACT
Not surprisingly, this whole set of Confucian tenets translates easily and naturally into the corporate sphere. The family setup is especially important, and is often cited as being the key competitive asset for business success. Power is centralized in the father or parents, who have the authority to command members of the extended family (often nested within a single department) to pool their labor and to allocate these resources for collective security and benefit (see also Lim, 2000). The centralization of decision-making power in the patriarch or the family holding company is held to facilitate quick decision making and implementation, as well as flexibility and risk taking. The “typical” Chinese senior executive thus tends to be relatively power centred and secretive, considering “openness” a weakness in the serious struggle of business competition. Loyalty, obedience and respect are expected in
strictly ordered hierarchical relationships and there is close supervision and a high degree of control over subordinates. Young managers are predictably rare.
