Innovation Governance in Chinese Family Business: A Case Study

Corporate innovation governance can be defined as a systematic approach to align goals, allocate resources and assign decision-making authority for innovation, across the company and with external parties. While the dos and don’ts of innovation governance approaches in non-Asian firms are fairly well researched, little is known about the Chinese way of governing innovation in Asian family firms. This paper provides insights into the innovation management capabilities of Qian Hu, an integrated ornamental fish service provider incorporated in Singapore in 1998. Based on half-structured interviews with its Executive Chairman and MD Mr. Kenny Yap, we exemplify the key components of Singapore’s Innovation Excellence Award (I-Award) and how Qian Hu made them work. The paper attempts to shed light on some of the unique innovation management approaches in Chinese family-owned enterprises, e.g. with regard to ‘family involvement in boards’ which divert to some extent from formal business excellence standards. The paper is part of an on-going research project aimed at examining the specifics of innovation governance in