ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the key characteristics of business leaders and leadership in Singapore through a qualitative investigation using secondary data and in-depth interviews with relevant business leaders in two categories: multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in Singapore, and local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It presents detailed findings of key themes such as historical and cultural tradition, and the impact on business leaders, foreign influence on developing modern practices of business leadership through their foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country. The chapter provides the economic, social and cultural contexts relating to the mix-and-match of Western and Eastern leadership styles in modern Singapore. Singapore's leadership style clearly derives from its Chinese traditional background. In this respect, it is similar to Hong Kong and Taiwan. Due to a strong focus on education, Singapore is home to some of the best formal leadership training and development programmes in the region.
