Culture and the Business Systems of Asia

This chapter of the Oxford Handbook of Asian Business Systems provides an overview of culture in Asia. Culture is defined as shared meaning interpreted in institutions in patterns that are best analysed through a complex adaptive systems framework. The understanding of the variety of Asian cultures begins with certain socio-economic givens, such as level of development. Data are then presented to reveal variations between societies in values, social axioms, and patterns of socializing. Clusters of countries are proposed, namely the Advanced Cities, Japan, the Advanced Northeast, the Emerging Southeast, and the Post-Socialist. The effects of culture on organizations are introduced via analysis of vertical order, horizontal order, and differences in rationale. This chapter contributes to the literature on business systems and varieties of capitalism as well as international management