about the book

Southeast Asia has a population of more than half a billion, yet its economy is dominated by about 40 families, most of Overseas Chinese descent.

Their conglomerates span sectors as diverse as real estate, telecommunications, hotels, paint, computers and sugar plantations.

New Asian Emperors shows how and why Overseas Chinese companies continue to dominate the region and have extended their reach in East Asia, despite the Asian Financial and SARS Crises of the past decade.

The authors, George T. Haley, Usha C. V. Haley & Chin Tiong Tan, base their conclusions on in-depth structured interviews spanning a decade with the often elusive Overseas Chinese CEOs and senior managers, including Li Ka-shing, Stan Shih, Stephen Riady and Sukanto Tanoto, as well as on the kinds and types of strategic information that their companies use.

They delineate the informational black hole for strategic decisions in Southeast Asia and how the Overseas Chinese have surmounted this obstacle. Their analyses of the New Asian Emperors’ present-day management techniques and practices draws on the history, culture and philosophical perspectives of the Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia.

In the midst of today’s global economic crisis, this book also takes a fresh look at the role and management practices of the Overseas Chinese as they continue to create some of Asia’s wealthiest and most successful companies.