ABSTRACT
Electronic technology represents what has been termed a “global management revolution,” one that will change the practice of business more than any communication technology has in the five and a half centuries since the invention of the printing press (Lazer and Shaw, 2000). Hardly a day goes by without a new report on the impact – current or potential – of developing electronic technology upon international management appearing in the business press. Yet this exploding body of comment and research centers almost exclusively upon the power and benefits of this “age of information.” There is a notable dearth of research pertaining to the influence and ramifications of societal norms upon the worldwide adoption and usage of these new working methods. In an attempt partially to address this lack, this chapter will explore the particular challenges encountered by foreign multinationals when seeking to impose computer-based technology in Southeast Asia. We shall also explore the methods by which MNCs have sought to address these problems in host-country markets, accounting for the compromises and adapted strategy plans they have had to rethink over time as a result. Here we shall deal almost exclusively with business issues internal to the corporation, leaving the marketing ramifications of the new technology for later chapters.
