Understanding International Entrepreneurship Through Ethnic Business : The Case of Chinese Business Networking Across the Globe

Entrepreneurs enter the global business scene with a global mindset and trust in business partners around the world.While the global mindset is attained as result of reflection based on international experience, trust develops through existing social structures that sometimes transcend national borders, particularly if they are distinctly ethnic social structures.Entrepreneurs, then, may enter the global scene with a global mindset and add trust-based relationships as they gain encouraging experiences with international business partners, or they may enter with trust and develop a global mindset as they engage in international activities. Ethnic business networking operates primarily on trust-based relationships.Created by immigrants over a long period of time, these networks are traditionally confined to localities. More and more local and national co-ethnic networks, however, are supplemented by international co-ethnic networks in larger regions.Chinese-owned firms and networks, which have experienced globalization at three distinct levels, illustrate the growing global interconnectedness of ethnic businesses as the overall trend. Although ethnic entrepreneurs generally maintain strong ties with business partners at the same geographical level and weaker ties with partners across the levels, observations of partnerships such as that between Silicon Valley and Taiwan suggest that ethnic business networking also involves collaboration between global-minded ethnic entrepreneurs and more traditional ethnic entrepreneurs in other parts of the world.In addition to local, ethnic partnerships, entrepreneurs may eventually take on more and more global, non-ethnic partnerships. (SAA)