This discussion on the patterns of business ownership and employment of Australia’s Chinese and Indian business diasporas reveals a number of features. While available data only shows a partial picture of the business diasporas activities, it does begin to show growth in the number and size of businesses owned by the diasporas in Australia.
Australia’s service industries are greatly benefiting from the participation of Chinese and Indian business diasporas, as they are mostly active in professional, scientific and technical; health; education; and ICT fields. They occupy roles that require business and leadership acumen, as well as qualification-based skill expertise. Proportionally speaking, they are key contributors in industries and occupations critical to the Australian economy.
Table 3.3: Main occupations for Temporary Work (Skilled) Visa (subclass 457) in 2010–11 and in 2013–14 for both China- and India-born applicants
China
2010–11 2013–14
Registered nurses (115)
University lecturers and tutors (89)
Software and applications programmers (79) General managers (56)
ICT support and test engineers (54)
Advertising and marketing professionals (286) Accountants (264)
Café and restaurant managers (236) University lecturers and tutors (226)
Advertising, public relations and sales managers (159)
India
2010–11 2013–14
Software and applications programmers (4,102) ICT business and systems analysts (845) Registered nurses (751)
ICT managers (488)
Database/systems administrators and ICT security specialists (298)
Software and applications programmers (3,301) Cooks (1,428)
ICT business and systems analysts (1,238) Café and restaurant managers (578) ICT support and test engineers (512)
Source: Department of Immigration and Border Protection, 2015a, 2015c.
While this account shows Australia’s Chinese and Indian diasporas are employed across most industries, and are participating in Australia’s domestic economy through arrangements such as franchises, this participation also has a transnational dimension. It has resulted in culturally-specific industries, involving transnational business networks, and various complex arrangements in the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services across national borders.
3.3 Transnational business
activities
The exploration of these arrangements is hampered by a data deficit on the transnational business activities that Chinese and Indian diasporas initiate, support and sustain. To understand the diaspora advantage
phenomenon more deeply, empirical research is needed to show the importance and wealth of diasporic networks. This requires an exploration of the number of businesses owned by the Chinese and Indian diasporas in Australia and overseas, including how they came to be, their location, and industries. Such mappings may identify overseas regional centres, industries and
business models that are emerging within the transnational economic space—a space that is possibly being used by other Asian diasporas to great, yet unrecognised, success.
However, anecdotal evidence indicates that enterprises established by the Chinese and Indian business diasporas in Australia do have a transnational component. The interviews for this project reveal how these are manifested in different ways. A majority of the interviewed diasporas indicated they are engaged in business activities overseas. This is mostly in their country of family origin and characterised by either an agent or distributor, a branch or a partner company in fields directly related to their Australian business. Personal and family networks are of great support in establishing these
operations and, to a certain extent, business colleagues in Australia. For example, a Chinese small business owner in Australia said:
It is not very practical to just focus your business just in Australia and being Asian. You should just leverage on your network back home or wherever you are from. The diasporas noted that their linguistic and cultural background is essential, as well as their business experience in Australia. Such dual embeddedness also seems to facilitate reciprocal
Box 3.2: Further examples of Australia’s Chinese and Indian business diasporas
In 2014 Ms Natasha Malani was included in The Advertiser’s Top 50 Rising Stars in South Australia. She currently serves on the Adelaide City Council and previous roles include the General Manager of the Australia India Business Council, President of the Australia India Business Council (SA Chapter) and Board Member of the South Australian Council for International Trade. Australian-born Ms Malani manages her own consultancy, Access India, supporting Australian companies wishing to enter India (Adelaide City Council, 2016; Access India, 2013). Ms Malani explains:
My father is from India. I have Indian heritage. I know that market. My heritage wasn’t something I really embraced when I was younger, but when I hit my twenties all of a sudden I recognised it was inherent in me. Going back to India at that time, I found a part of who I was … India [is] really changing and the economic opportunities were obvious. I decided that inherently there was something I could do commercially that could also stem my passion [for India] as well (Dindemic, 2013)
Chinese-born Ms Melissa Ran is a tech entrepreneur who came to Australia in the mid-1990s to start her secondary school education. She arrived with her mother who was part of the wave of Chinese students offered the opportunity to continue their studies in Australia. Her own business ventures include recruitment and coaching start-up
<GetThatGradJob.com.au> and project management software tool, Mijura. Ms Ran has been reported as saying: I do this [start-ups] because I get to create something from scratch and make my visions into reality and I get to chase after dynamic opportunities unique at this particular time in history. It’s faster moving, much riskier and uncertain, less financially rewarding (at least in the short term) and requires much harder work than a graduate job, but it’s also far more intellectually challenging and creatively satisfying (UNSW Australia Business School, 2016) Ms Ran is also an advisor and mentor with the University of New South Wales Innovations initiative. There she works with students and alumni in developing their start-ups, with a focus on how they can take advantage of opportunities in Asia. Independently, Ms Ran has organised and led delegations to the technology and talent conferences in China, including the Conference for the International Exchange of Professionals that targets foreign experts in technology and innovation (Ran, 2015; Parkanyi, 2013).
knowledge sharing and insights on Australian business opportunities. Similar experiences were indicated for Australian-born diasporas with business interests overseas. While their language and cultural capabilities may not be as strong as their immigrant counterparts, they were more actively engaging their existing networks to source support in these areas, to maintain momentum in seizing opportunities.
Simultaneous involvement in multiple businesses is common within the business diaspora. Examples of where they direct their entrepreneurial energy include start- ups based on opportunities provided from their connections, mentoring entrepreneurs, overseeing their own mature business operations, involvement in investments and board
directorships. Most of this activity appears to occur in, and from Australia.
Chinese and Indians representing commercial interests and multinational companies in Australia are also engaged in the transnational space. Of significance is the presence of global Indian information technology firms operating in Australia since the mid- to late-1990s, such as
Infosys, Tata Consulting Services, Tech Mahindra, HCL and Wipro. These firms have facilitated the deployment of a large number of employees, mostly from India, to work in their Australian operations and on Australian client projects. The need for their expertise has possibly been a key driver for temporary work visa applications for Indian applicants in the critical fields of information technology—clearly meeting a high demand for STEM expertise in Australian enterprises. These members of the business diasporas have new and different experiences of Australia and business in Australia that is often shared ‘back home’.
An Indian manager for a multinational company explained:
You need to learn Australian business culture quickly. India and Australia have different ways of doing business. We have different ways of negotiation and talking about money. I need to know when to be Indian, when it’s needed, and when to give an Indian point of view. I am a business interpreter … not just language … but really understanding the short and long term plans for both sides.
One Chinese executive mentioned:
You can’t do Asia with a Western head, with Western thinking. Australian businesses miss opportunities because of a mindset that ‘Aussies know best’. You can’t think as an Aussie in China. It just won’t work. Aussies need to change the way they think about their business. The Chinese will always find someone else to do business with.
The emerging dynamic business activities undertaken by the diasporas, encapsulate employment, networked business activity (such as franchising and licensing models), representing overseas business interests, and business ownership and investment. Within these business activities the diasporas are well-represented in knowledge-intensive and technology-intensive, service-orientated industries. This illustrates strengths and expertise in these fields (and subsequently highlights the deficiencies in local resources to meet demand). Seizing new opportunities and exploring ways to improve production and performance appears to be bolstered by insights and introductions made within their networks, and the diasporas act quickly on these opportunities. Combined with the business diasporas’ decision-making capacity and autonomy—either through occupational position (that is, management and professional roles) or as business owners and investors—this means they are well positioned to influence the public and private sectors in establishing greater economic links in, and with, Asia.
3.4 Enterprise in key
Australian industries
The industries selected for discussion are based on high demand exports to China and India, and industries where Australia’s Chinese and Indian business diasporas appear to be most active. Importantly, some of these selected industries have been signalled by the Australian Government as needing further invigoration in collaboration and commercialisation so they can ‘transition into smart, high-value and export focused industries’ (Department of Industry and Science, 2014, p. 3). Singled out in the Australia’s
Competitive Advantage report was the capacity of the health, education and professional services industries for further development to Australia’s benefit and advantage (Withers et al., 2015). A 2013 survey conducted by the Centre for Economic Development in Australia also found market potential with a high level of domestic competition within the agriculture, property and retail trade industries (amongst others) (CEDA- ACOLA, 2013). Financial and insurance services, international education and training, property, tourism, healthcare, retail trade, food and agriculture, mining, and the cultural and creative industries are highlighted below. The Chinese and Indian diasporas already contribute to these industries in some form, heightening their value as a resource for further accelerating Australia’s industries in the new economy and supporting innovation priorities.