The dynamics of Asian business systems in a globalizing era

Globalization tendencies are transforming the nature and organization of bu siness systems. This is particularly the case in the Asia-Pacific region wh ere business systems are socially and institutionally embedded. In this art icle, I argue that the dialectical tendencies of globalization towards homo genization and differentiation have differential impacts on the configurati ons and dynamics of Asian business systems and their constituents. While th ese business systems tend to be relatively enduring over time because of th eir historical legacies and institutional embeddedness, major business firm s emerging from these national business systems may be much more susceptibl e to changes brought about by globalization tendencies. This is because act ors and elites in Asian economies are increasingly enrolled into global act or networks which in turn reshape how these Asian actors conceive and opera te their business firms and/or political-economic networks. It is possible that globalization has only Limited effects on Asian business systems at th e structural level but significant transformational impact on Asian busines s firms at the level of key actors. I show how the two-way enrolment of glo bal actors into/from Asian business systems can contribute to significant t ransformations in the dominant forms and organization of these business sys tems.