COMBINING THE TRADITION OF BUSINESS PRACTICE BETWEEN EAST AND WEST ON THE EXAMPLE OF HONG KONG

ZAKIĆ Katarina (Assistant Professor at Graduate School of Business Studies. Director of Chinese Centre at John Naisbitt University),

The economic history of Hong Kong development shows that combining two seemingly unmatchable business traditions - British and Chinese (Western and Eastern), has resulted in one of the most successful economic developments in history. The first section of the paper deals with economic development of Hong Kong during the British rule while the second one addresses its development during the period from ‘return’ to China to the present day. It also looks into how the British colonial rule affected the Chinese system of business practice and how it complied with British practices. This is followed by the analysis of how Hong Kong business practice system changed during the period after the return to China. The last part is dedicated to proving the hypothesis that combining two business practices and two business cultures results in a creation of a new business culture which has the characteristics of both Chinese and British business cultures.

Keywords: Hong Kong, Eastern and Western tradition, economy, business culture