Intercorporate ties in Singapore

Sociological literature on corporate networks in the West has relied heavily on a resource dependency perspective. Research on inter-firm relations among Chinese firms in East and Southeast Asia has been guided by a Chinese network approach. Relying en a 1992 data set of 107 big Chinese firms in Singapore, I show that firm behavior of large Chinese companies is influenced by both Chinese business tradition and Western corporate culture. Exclusive attention to either the Chinese network approach or the resource dependency perspective may not produce an accurate estimate of the factors of interlocking in East and Southeast Asia. The best approach to take in studying Chinese business networks is a combination of the two theoretical frameworks, sensitive both to 'impersonal' market forces and the 'personal' nature of business conduct in Chinese culture.