This paper examines the managerial limitations, mostly concerning those business groups whose headquarters are in Taiwan and the group-affiliated firms are investing in China. We used cross section data on China-oriented investment undertaken by 194 business groups from 2008 through 2012 to test the hypotheses. The empirical results indicate that business groups face a different degree of managerial limitations in various locations, and in particular, that the smallest managerial limitations occurred in Central China. Moreover, (1) when business groups invest in many areas at the same time and (2) the equity stake in group-affiliated firms held by business-group headquarters is low, the Penrose effect would be low. Finally, when business groups have rich diversified experiences, the Penrose effect owing to business groups' growth in Chinese market would be weakened.