Asian Firms

Table 5.1 Management and Corporate Structures in Asia and the West :

25 Key Differences
from Asian Eclipse by Michael Backman, Page 78

Large Western Firm	Large Asian Firms
1. Short time horizons in decision making	Long time horizons in decision making
2. The company is driven by profits and/or market share	The company is growth-driven
3. Corporate direction determined by overall corporate "vision" and strategy	Corporate direction determined by opportunity
4. Highly structured	Often poorly structured
5. Wide ownership (institutions)	Narrow ownership (family)
6. Professionally managed	Family managed
7. More concentrated	Highly diversified
8. Invest on the basis of research	Invest on the basis of connections
9. Minority shareholders well treated	Minority shareholders abused
10. Dispersed decision making	Centralized decision making
11. Relatively small number of units/companies	Large number of units/companies
12. Prefer accrual accounting	Prefer cash accounting
13. Lots of contracting out and buying in	High degree of vertical integration; lots of internal transactions
14. Reliant on external funding	Prefer internal funding
15. Services are very important	Dislike services
16. R&D-intensive	Little or no R&D
17. Participative management	Patriarchal management
18. Senior management is relatively aloof	Senior management is hands-on
19. Well-defined career ladder for staff	Vague career ladder for staff
20. High priority given to transparency, auditing, and disclosure	Low priority given to transparency, auditing, and disclosure
21. Fringe benefits are generally a small part of total remuneration	Fringe benefits are a high component of salary (remuneration is paternalistic)
22. Staff training is formal and structured	Staff are trained informally and on the job
23. Employees tend to be promoted on the basis of their inherent productivity	Employees tend to be promoted on the basis of their connections and perceived loyalty
24. Job descriptions are precise and employees are encouraged to us initiative	Job descriptions are vague and employees work as directed
25. Staff initiative expected and rewarded	Staff initiative discouraged

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