The economies of Malaysia and China have become increasingly integrated through trading and investment linkages. This article focuses on one aspect of this relationship, examining Chery, a Chinese car maker, and its internationalisation strategy and its localisation efforts in Malaysia. It does this by analysing Chery’s interaction with the host government, local partners and suppliers. Using an in-depth case study, it was found that Chery’s experience in navigating a set of complex state–society relations in Malaysia resulted from an adaptation of its business strategy to address protectionist and institutional constraints found in Malaysia. However, while relations between Chery, the local partner and government agencies have grown strongly, few interactions have evolved between Chery and local suppliers and national research and development facilities, limiting collective learning processes and production collaboration in Malaysia. The evidence also suggests that Chery’s present conundrum of low sales in the country could be solved through negotiations with the Malaysian government so as to evolve mutually beneficial partnerships with national automotive makers. The Malaysian government may also consider easing its protectionist measures to allow more foreign participation into the auto sector to stimulate growth and competitiveness.

Southeast Asia with its historical concentration of ethnic Chinese remains an important economic hub encouraging cross-disciplinary inquiries on themes relating to businesses. In industrialising Malaysia, there is little research on their capacity to develop tacit knowledge of the founding generation mostly inherited from China, before starting a business in Malaysia. This assessment of four thriving Malaysian Chinese family SMEs in food production evaluates how a new generational change has innovated their traditional food products. Interestingly, tradition may enable these Malaysian Chinese firms to innovate by building on more reliable knowledge and resources, extensively validated over time, and hence reduce development and utilisation costs. The well-trained second and third generations have been innovating tacit knowledge to elicit strong and positive feelings of ‘Chinese’ identity, increasing the value of new products through R&D by embedding past knowledge and facilitating the legitimacy of innovative functionalities and obtaining market acceptance.

The family business literature in developing countries suggests that their organizational features inhibit innovations that create niche products. In industrializing Malaysia, where family small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) are undergoing a generational shift, there is little research on their capacity to develop the tacit knowledge of the founding generation. This assessment of 29 thriving family SMEs in plastics and food manufacturing evaluates how a new generation has nurtured innovative management, manufacturing, and marketing techniques. By adopting a business history approach that appraises the development of tacit knowledge, this study validates the need for family SMEs to institute organizational reforms to codify knowledge and therefore ensure long-term sustainability.

This article examines the effect of academic qualifications and networking ties towards the evolvement of micro, small-medium, and large ethnic Indian enterprises in Malaysia. The study is based in multicultural Malaysia, where certain policies were implemented in favor of one specific ethnicity. Research indicates that better academic qualifications through transgenerational succession affect how entrepreneurs form connections with their families, co-ethnic networks, and inter-ethnic networks to develop their businesses. This article explains that while micro and smaller firms are choosing to remain in their ethnic identity, medium and larger corporations are willing to shed their ethnic identity for the rapid growth of their businesses. A framework is built from the understanding of literature and past evidence on ethnic Indian entrepreneurship in Malaysia. This article demonstrates the disparities of Malaysian Indian businesses that have progressed differently over the generations, due to the impact of human and social capital.