Chinese Malaysian enterprises have mainly benefitted from the accelerated pace of globalisation during the last two decades, said an American university lecturer today.

Heng Pek Koon, from Washington DC, said the emphasis on export-orientated industrialisation, economic deregulation and liberalisation of the New Economic Policy (NEP) after 1986 have created a more conducive business environment for Chinese Malaysian businesses, both within and without the country.

"Several Malaysian Sino-capitalists have taken advantage of increased opportunities for geographical and product diversification offered by globalisation to transform their businesses into transnational corporations producing services and goods with global brand name recognition," said Heng at the International Malaysian Studies Conference in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

Heng, who is a member of the Inter-Disciplinary Council on Asia, School of International Service, American University, cited examples such as billionaire Robert Kuok's Shangri-La Hotel chain and the line of products manufactured by MUI head honcho Khoo Kay Peng's Laura Ashley and IOI Corp chief Lee Shin Cheng's Evelyn and Crabtree.

The three-day conference with the theme 'Malaysia in Transformation: Problems and Challenges' was organised by Malaysian Social Sciences Association in collaboration with the university's Institute of Malaysian and International Studies and Institute of the Malay World and Civilisation.

Heng said globalisation has inevitably brought changes to traditional Malaysian Chinese business practices that derived from Confucian cultural norms.

"While family ownership and control still dominate Chinese business organisational norms in Malaysia, the younger generation of Western-educated Chinese entrepreneurs are likely to conduct business increasingly outside 'the bamboo network'," she said.

This will occur, she added, while personalistic networking continue to facilitate intra-community business transactions with those who are less familiar with the culturally-embedded business practices of the China-born or first generation Malaysian entrepreneurs.

Resilience

Heng, who based her paper on interviews with Chinese Malaysian businessmen, business association officials and financial analysts, said this trend will be more marked as growth in both global and local economy becomes increasingly technology-driven.

"In the same way that Chinese Malaysian businesses have adapted to the challenges posed by the NEP and the Asian financial crisis, they have begun to lay foundations to become adept players on the Malaysian corporate state by seeking joint-ventures with foreign information technology leaders," she said.

Heng said in the latest phase of global and local economic development where growth and productivity will increasingly come from application of computerised business-to-business and business-to-consumer online transactions.

"The competitive edge that the Chinese family business has long derived from personalistic ties and culturally-embedded networks may well be lost," she said.

"However, given the resilience of the majority of Chinese entrepreneurs in facing the challenges posed by both the NEP and the Asian financial crisis, by continuing to innovate and modify current business practices, they are more likely than not to succeed in dealing effectively with the challenges posed by the New Economy," she added.