Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the sense and sensibility surrounding the perceptions and practices of business leaders, leadership and management in Asia, based on a cross-country comparative approach. It encompasses two major groups of Asian countries and regions. The first group includes advanced economies that have enjoyed better established economic structure, institutional framework and more experience of dealing with global issues. The second group includes socialist market economies where many emerging issues and uncertainties provide new thinking and new ways of developing capable leaders. The book then presents country-specific profiles detailing traditional normative values on leadership, influences of Western management practices, tensions and concerns of current business leaders, leader development. It also provides a comparative analysis of East Asian economies, as well as a comparison between East and West.