ABSTRACT
It has been argued that strong entrepreneurship is one of the defining characteristics of Chinese business firms in the Asia Pacific region. To date, however, entrepreneurship has received relatively little attention in international business studies. We know little of how entrepreneurship plays an important role in the internationalization of Chinese family firms, in particular those well embedded in regional social and business networks. In this paper, I take up this emerging issue in international business studies and Chinese business research by examining the role of entrepreneurship in transforming the management of a traditional Chinese family firm across borders — Eu Yan Sang International Holdings Pte. Ltd. based in Singapore. 1 Eu Yan Sang was first opened in Perak, Malaya in 1879 by Eu Kong, the father of Eu Tong Sen (a very famous philanthropist in Southeast Asia) and the great grandfather of Richard Y.M. Eu, now Managing Director of Eu Yan Sang International Holdings Pte. Ltd. From a small Chinese medicine shop in Perak some 120 years ago, Eu Yan Sang has now grown into a leading modern transnational corporation (TNC) specializing in the production and retailing of traditional Chinese herbs and medicines in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. It has further plans to expand its operations into Europe and North America to become a truly global TNC specializing in Chinese traditional medicine.
