Strengthening marketing initiatives of ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs in Melbourne: a financial and business growth model perspective

The focus of this thesis is ethnic entrepreneurship in general and ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs in Melbourne in particular. It adopts an interdisciplinary approach to investigate the entrepreneurial practice of ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs in the broader economic structures. The theoretical approach taken stresses the importance of placing these ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs within the history of immigration in Australia and the socio-economic environment that shapes these entrepreneurs’ lives. This thesis presents the data from interviews with a group of 14 ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs who were born in six countries and who have settled in and own and operate businesses in Melbourne. Selected by a purposeful snowballing sampling method, the ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs, who were born in Australia (1), China (4), Hong Kong (2), Indonesia (3), Malaysia (3) and Vietnam (1), agreed to a detailed, semistructured interview. A combined qualitative and quantitative approach was used to interpret and analyse these interviews in an attempt to investigate the complexities and dynamics of ethnic Chinese entrepreneurship in Melbourne. This thesis reviews the literature on entrepreneurship and identifies gaps in the research on ethnic entrepreneurship. The answers to the research questions in this thesis help to sharpen the theory of ethnic entrepreneurship. The questions are: Who are ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs? Why did they venture into business? What resources did they have at business start-up? What contributions do they make to Australian society? What marketing strategy have they used in their businesses? In this thesis, a multi-disciplinary approach to study the entrepreneurial process of a group of 14 ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs living in Melbourne. The majority of the ECEs who arrived in Australia were between 20 and 40 years of age. They are well educated as most had completed their school and higher education qualifications and would have had some work experience. Most of the ECEs entered Australia with skills that Australia was looking for and came under the business skills, employer nomination and independent visa categories. The ECEs had established a broad range of businesses, the majority of which were in property and business services, retail trade and communication services. Opportunities had the greatest impact on the decisions made by the ECEs in starting up business. This confirms the saying that Australia is a land of opportunities. Some ECEs ventured into business because of dissatisfaction over employment and the desire for independence. They also believe that by being Chinese, they have inner motivation to be entrepreneur. The need for personal achievement is also one of the reasons for the ECE went into the business. They were depended highly on family sources and personal savings as against bank financing and friends. In addition to lend money to the ECEs, the family members also sometimes co-invested in the ECEs’ businesses. Most of the ECEs did not even approach a bank for financing. They believed they would not qualify or they did not want to spend too much time filling in the forms and/or revealing their personal information. The ECEs were making economic contributions to Australia. Overall, the majority of the ECEs created new businesses at start-up. The ECEs employed more people than the average in Australia. There is sufficient qualitative evidence to suggest that the ECEs contributed to the Australian tax system and were proud of their ability to do so. The ECEs whose major customers were their co-ethnic group had developed a marketing strategy based on Chinese cultural values. They had been successful entrepreneurs. The implication is that non-Chinese Australian companies should understand Chinese cultural values if they are to develop effective marketing strategies to serve the largest consumer market in the world. This thesis found that the ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs have made substantial economic contributions to Australia and to their community. The story of these ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs in Australia helps to consolidate our understanding of the ethnic entrepreneurship phenomenon. Lastly, understanding Chinese cultural values can assist Australian firms to sharpen their marketing strategy to serve the world’s largest consumer market.