Sustaining the family enterprise in the 3rd millennium: Perception of selected Filipino-Chinese family business entrepreneurs

The study aims describe the factors that Filipino-Chinese entrepreneurs perceived as the reasons for their current sustainability, the threats that may affect their sustainability as well as the strategies that they will implement to overcome these threats to their family business. Information was gathered through interviews with 15 Filipino-Chinese family business entrepreneurs. The researchers found that the Filipino-Chinese family business entrepreneurs attributed their current sustainability to the location of their family business, the personal traits of the Chinese, industry boom, product quality and price as well as good customer relations. The external threats that may affect them are government policies of lowered tariff which encourages foreign competition, increase in minimum wage, and the present economic situation that made customers become price conscious. The advancement of technology and kidnapping have not hastened the operation of Filipino-Chinese businesses. Internally, they have problems with labor, succession of the business and conflicts among decision-makers. The strategies that they will implement would be to diversify their businesses, motivate and promote employees to do their best, communicate with conflicting parties, and have a succession plan. They also have some cultural strategies to maintain sustainability by worshipping Chinese gods and their ancestors, by using of Chinese lucky charms as well as Feng Shui. In general, the Filipino-Chinese family business entrepreneurs are confident that their businesses will continue in this century as they try to think of ways of overcoming the threats to their business sustainability. There are those who are not sure because of the many things and changes that may happen which are very unpredictable