This study compared major financial ratios between foreign-invested enterprises and domestic firms to analyze the managerial characteristics of foreign-invested enterprises. The sample consisted of 219 matched pairs of foreign-invested enterprises and domestic firms in the manufacturing sector. Domestic firms were matched with foreign-invested enterprises in terms of industry, main products, and firm size. This study further classified the detected managerial characteristics into performance characteristics and business condition characteristics, and attempted to assess the management status of foreign-invested enterprises during the analysis period of 1989–1990 by examining the relationship between performance and business conditions. During the analysis period, foreign-invested enterprises not only exhibited superior profitability—as measured by return on total capital based on ordinary income—compared to domestic firms, but also demonstrated higher per-capita productivity. These differences in management performance were found to be closely related to differences in business conditions between the two groups of firms. Specifically, foreign-invested enterprises received relatively more tax benefits compared to their domestic counterparts, utilized superior labor to maintain equipment-intensive production systems, maintained sound financial structures as reflected in equity ratios, and were particularly active in providing trade credit. A systematic relationship was identified between these differences in business conditions and management performance differences, leading to the interpretation that the differences in business conditions constituted the competitive advantages of foreign-invested enterprises.