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Study of Entrepreneurialship in Developing Countries: The Development of One Chinese Concern in Indonesia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

J. Panglaykim  and
I. Palmer
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Extract

In the past many of us have been accustomed to visualizing developmental analysis as taking an inventory of physical resources, distributing them (or merely imagining them) in different fields of production, and then, according to preconceived ideas of technical coefficients, calculating future output. This might be termed the “skeleton” of economic theory. But the real meat of development lies in the efficiency of implementation of decisions, whether planned or laissez-faire. The efficiency of implementation depends on the quality of entrepreneurship; again, whether in publicly or privately owned establishments. This quality of entrepreneurship is determined by the attitude of management and labour leaders to supervision, morale and workers, breakdowns in machinery, commercial risks, and all uncertainties which cannot be effectively programmed. We believe it is taking an inadequate and misleading view of economic development to regard technical coefficients as reliable indicators of the fruitfulness of investments. For instance, a $10 million investment in steel in China might have quite a different impact on a range of economic indicators than the same investment in India.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies , Volume 1 , Issue 1 , March 1970 , pp. 85 - 95
Copyright
Copyright © The National University of Singapore 1970

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References

1 We have benefitted very much from an article written by DrsTjong, Tjoa Soe, “OTHC-100 Jaar — Een Stukje Economische Geschiedenis van Indonesia,” Economische-Statistische Berichten, 06 1963, Nos. 2394,2396 and 2397Google Scholar; complemented with interviews.

2 Nearly all Chinese immigrants to Indonesia came from Fukien and Kwantung. The Hokkians from South Fukien were the dominant members of the Chinese community in Indonesia, and were renowned for the strong mercantilist background in China. (See Skinner, G.W., “The Chinese Minority”, in McVey, R. (ed), Indonesia, Yale University Press, 1963, p. 102Google Scholar.)

3 The principal crops which were started under the System were indigo, sugar, and coffee. (R. van Niel, “The Course of Indonesian History,” in R. McVey, op. cit., p. 284.)

4 Soen, Sie Kwat, Prospects for Agricultural Development in Indonesia, Centre for Agricultural publishing and Documentation, Wageningen, The Netherlands, 1968, p. 8Google Scholar.

5 Coffee was to remain under government control until 1917. (R. van Niel, op. cit., p. 288)

6 “Kongsi” is the term applied to a business partnership. It comes from the word “compagnie” pronounced “kungpanya.”

7 In 1902 in his budget speech, the Colonial Minister, Captain Idenburg, diagnosed the main cause of low income as the growth of population and the diminishing returns to agriculture (Furnivall, J.S., Netherlands India, A Study of Plural Economy, Cambridge University Press, 1944, p. 233Google Scholar).

8 D.S. Pauw, “From Colonial to Guided Economy,” in R. McVey, op. cit., pp. 159–160.

9 J.J. Polak observed that between 1920 and 1930 export earnings and rice imports of the Outer Provinces were closely correlated. (Polak, J.J., The National Income of the Netherlands Indies, 1921–1939, Institute of Pacific Relations, New York, 1942, pp. 10 & 60Google Scholar).

10 He sent all his own children to university.

11 This was Tan Tek Peng, one of the most successful chief managers Kian Gwan ever had. He made mistakes but most of the time was successful.

12 These included Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij (Royal Packet Navigation Company), Rotterdamsche Lloyd, Stoomvaart Maatscahppij Nederland, Blue Funnel Line, Union Insurance Company of Canton, and Nederlanden van 1845, in one or another cartel form.

13 However, at time of his death his youngest wife was expecting a child which later became the son who eventually led the Concern through its dangerous third generation. The education of this boy, Oei Tjong Tjay, was directed by his mother who appears to have an imaginative and forceful character.

14 The Japanese case means there will be no inbreeding as the choice is on a nation-wide basis. Once a suitable candidate was found he was requested to marry one of the daughters of the family and to adopt the family name of his wife. This system enabled Mitsui and Mitsubishi to remain a solid world wide organisation after hundreds of years.

15 Willmott, D., The National Status of the Chinese in Indonesia, 1900–58, Monograph Series, Modern Indonesia Project, Cornel University Press, 1961Google Scholar.

16 Allen, G. C. and Donnithorne, A., Western Enterprise in Indonesia and Malaya, Allen and Unwin, London, 1957, p. 237Google Scholar.

17 Lindetevis was one of the biggest Dutch firms operating in Indonesia and it specialised in heavy equipment, setting up factories and general technical implements. Such an organisation needs to employ an after-sales service department which requires a good deal of skill to operate efficiently. During the 1950s when assistance was given to the indigenous importing group (known as national group) it was soon that few succeeded in becoming importers of equipment: they preferred imports like textiles. Capital goods imports do, of course, require a good deal of attention in matters of type, size, care in handling, spare parts and so on. But there could not have been a very large market for them in Indonesia at that time with so much machinery already lying idle. Nevertheless, it is relevant to point out that experience in exporting agricultural produce might not be of great help in importing sundry goods.

18 G. W. Skinner, “The Chinese Minority,” in R. McVey (ed), op. cit., pp. 112–14.