The bamboo network refers to the conglomerates propelling Southeast Asian economies which started as small family businesses run by overseas Chinese. The businesses are managed by the family of the founder, and are run with strong Confucian values. The combined output of the 55 million overseas Chinese is equal to a good-sized country, or close to $600 billion. Chinese expatriate workers are integral to economic success in countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
Most of these conglomerates are started by Chinese expatriates who move country and start out with little or no savings, work hard and earn enough to start their own businesses, and constantly reinvest to maximise their cash. Typically, a successful family will own many businesses spread over a number of countries. Control of the business is general passed from generation to generation, and since for the most part the receivers of the business have already had an active managerial role, the transitions tend to be quite smooth, as opposed to the western idea of a big takeover with sweeping changes and redundancies all round.