For any organisation it makes sense to understand how people think in this region, what of sort of consumer practices do they have, how do indigenous organisations within this region facilitate those consumer needs, do they do something different, do they employ people in a different way and etc

It's collectively found within the Asian continent which means that they're significant players whereas economic output is concerned at a global level.

According to the International Monetary Fund, some of the tiger economy as well as PRC's has slowed down economic growth over the past few years compared to the really high levels that was found ten years ago, it still stands to deliver almost 2/3 of global economic growth, so without this region the world as a whole will not grow at a significant rate, so it's important to ensure that any organization especially those who are in the business of making profits understand what this region is like, how people work in this region as it could have a significant impact on their bottom line.

One of the unique thing about this continent now is that it attracts the largest amount of foreign direct investment, so this is FDI coming into countries residing within Asia out perform as well as attracting FDI compared to all other continents in the world.

Historically, this was mainly found or the highest amount of foreign direct investment was found within Europe initially and in North America, but this has shifted now to Asia, so most of the money or investors who are looking to put their money into better use tend to direct it to a firm space within Asia or projects or equivalent to over a half trillion US dollars annually so this is a large number of money.

The general living standards have been a significant focus for a large number of countries in this region which had historically suffered from very extreme poverty, this is not to suggest that there isn't poverty in this region, its widespread poverty in this region however the % of widespread poverty has come down all the past 35 years

If Australia is being compared where there's only 20 million people or 20-23 million residing and of that you know people with purchasing power is even less, you're talking about 3 billion people, this is a huge market and the engine of both regional as well as global economic growth for Australia in particular given the proximity to Asia as a continent compared to Europe or North America, it makes a lot of sense for Australian organisations and those working within Australian organisations to take an interest and try to understand our business is transacted in this region as it'll make a huge difference with regards to the growth of Australian base if you have the right relationships with businesses in Asia, you've got a better chance of growing in the future due to the proximity of the landmass to the Australian landmass.

Over the past decade, the region's total greenhouse gas emissions grew faster than the global average

It is directional rather than specific so it provides the general direction in which the organization is heading but it has inbuilt mechanisms to have flexibility to alter the plan depending on changes to external environment

They also attempt to minimize risk through product or service diversification. Large organisation tend to be inferior in different types of business, it could be creating consumable consumer electronics by the same time creating automotive vehicles, it could be creating consumer electronics but also operating in the steel industry

The idea behind this is that if there's a downturn in one product area for a specific period, you're able to cover the losses associate with that product area by drawing upon the profit margins that you'd make another product area

They are a significant value to the government of this region which is quite unique to the East Asian blocks, there's a large number of people who reside 4.4 billion people end of that almost 3 billion of it reside within the East Asian Block so it's important to remember that you need to ensure that there are jobs available for these people as without jobs people fall into poverty, and once you get into extreme poverty, it's quite easy for people to radicalize people to move into forms of revolution and armed conflict because people see as there's no other way out of the way that they're living in.

The growth of these organizations run almost parallel to the economies of these countries and this is in part due to the close relationship found between decision-makers of these organizations and the decision makers of the political elite in these countries as well, it gives them significant control and access to resources.

It's unusual for people working for each other to know personal details about each other so one way in which business relationships are established is initially by understanding individuals engaging business transactions at a personal level which is very different to the way business is transacted in places like Australia, NZ, or US, where it;s very much a business relationship and you tend to talk business rather than personal matters whereas in Southeast Asia, it's not unusual to have these personal discussions as that is how trust is initially established and without trust you're not going to have any form of business relationship

It's the important characteristic in this relationship so even if you're a representative of an Australian organization you're engaging in discussions with a organization in China or in South Korea, your counterpart might say I'll think about it about an idea that you have pitched but in reality what they really mean is that they're not interested but they don't say it to your face because they believe that no one should be faced with that kind of situation where your toes to your face, so it's very much indirect in the way communication is transacted, these are high context cultures where non-verbal cues play a significant part in the way people communicate, understand each other, so for someone coming from outside this region, sometimes you may not actually have that understanding hence why it's important to talk to your colleagues who come from this part of the world to say what does it really mean when someone's acting or behaving in this manner or saying this these particular things

High morals, ethical conduct, and loyalty to each others are stressed

Three key teachings - loyalty, reciprocal obligations, and honestly may lower cost of doing business

So if you're educated, you acquire a certain number of technical and other types of skills which is pretty much the limit so if you look at what Japan at the end of World War 2, where the economy was in the pits what they did was they invested heavily in education because they understood that if we invest in education in 20/30 years time, the people we have invested in would then start being creative coming up with new innovative business practices, innovative ideas and products & services

Being respectful for senior figures especially seniority that's derived from age and respecting individuals in decision making positions due to hierarchy rather than competence is an important factor and that's coming through cultural values found within the region

Important but doesn't mean you have to maintain relationship with everybody because not everyone is going to get along with everybody so you have to be selective in the way you establish relationships, if you're establishing distance relationships in the context of it, Asia might be worthwhile establishing business relation with people that you actually do get along at personal level which is different to say the Western view where you establish a business relationship