Chinese cultural values and the Asian meltdown

Despite the continuing interest in a concern for relationships between culture, management values and economic activity, there is a lack of empirical evidence about these relationships during the unprecedented economic transformations in Asian nations in the 1990s. This study evaluated variations in values that tapped concerns fundamental to the Chinese world view during the period of the Asian financial crisis of 1997. Data were provided by ethnic Chinese managers from Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore prior to and after the meltdown. The study findings demonstrate a number of the values changed significantly, which questions assumptions of the longevity of these values, which were identified in earlier periods of relative economic stability. These findings suggest the emergence of distinct managerial styles in each country, rather than the continuance of more common “Asian” or a Chinese way of doing business.