Overseas Chinese family business in Southeast Asia and Indonesia: An interactionist, network and future perspective

In this conceptual paper we put forth the Overseas Chinese Family Business (OCFB) as a distinct business type and more recently as a multinational enterprise. Three important factors are presented as contributing to the rise and success of OCFB in the Southeast (S.E.) Asian region, namely, culture, paternalism, a bounded environment and the interaction of these factors, which in turn leads to familism and networking practices. This paper, therefore, conceptually addresses the link between culture to the dimensions of societal institutions and environmental factors that influence family business behaviors. Despite predictions that the OCFB may not be able to continue its familism practices, we argue that these practices will persist, at least in the S.E. Asian Region and in particular Indonesia since the conditions that fostered the OCFB still exist. The implications of these factors are discussed with regard to the future of the OCFB in the S.E. Asian Region.