AN ANALYSIS OF CHINESE TALENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGY: EMPHASIS ON CAO CAO’S COMPETENCIES FROM THE RECORDS OF THE THREE KINGDOMS LU KUICHENG A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE STUDIES IN HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT FACULTY OF EDUCATION BURAPHA UNIVERSITY MAY 2018 COPYRIGHT OF BURAPHA UNIVERSITY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the many people who supported and helped me in the completion of this study. For my worthily principle advisor Associate Professor Dr.Chalong Tubsree, I send my heartfelt thanks for his patience and guidance in helping me. In the process of composing this paper, he gave me much academic and constructive advice, and helped me to correct my paper. Without his enlightening instruction, impressive kindness and patience, I could not have completed my thesis. His keen and vigorous academic observation enlightened me not only in this thesis but also in my future study. At the same time, I would like to express my appreciation to my Co-advisor, who gave me useful literature knowledge and information in this paper. She is Assist. Prof. Dr. Wilai Limthawaranun. I am very grateful for her patient guidance in the course of my thesis writing. Finally, I would like to thank the teachers who helped me during my entire study process in the International Graduate Studies Human Resource Development Center of Burapha University. Dr. Watunyoo Suwannaset, Dr. Chalermsri Chantarathong and Rattanasiri Khemraj in the IG-HRD office, thank you for taking care of me meticulously for the last three years. Lu Kuicheng iv 57820032: MAJOR: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT; Ph.D. (HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT) KEY WORDS: LEADERSHIP ATTRIBUTES/ ATTRACTING TALENTS/ RETAINING TALENTS/ THREE KINGDOMS/ CAO CAO LU KUICHENG: AN ANALYSIS OF CHINESE TALENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGY: EMPHASIS ON CAO CAO’s COMPETENCIES FROM THE RECORDS OF THE THREE KINGDOMS. ADVISORY COMMITTEE: CHALONG TUBSREE, ED. D., WILAI LIMTHAWARANUN, Ph.D., 186 P. 2018. The objective of this study is to explore how the leadership attributes of Cao Cao attracted talent, retained the talents, and the method of talent management according to the Three Kingdoms approach. This research used mixed methods for the study. The researcher used document analysis and content analysis for the qualitative part. The researcher read the Records of the Three Kingdoms. The researcher studied and analyzed the leadership attributes of Cao Cao; how did Cao Cao attract talents; how did Cao Cao retain talent at the end of Eastern Han Dynasty. The researcher designed a questionnaire based on the results of the qualitative part. This questionnaire was used for current managers in Qingdao City. The results show the leadership attributes are foresightedness, strategic planning, conscientiousness, strong cognitive ability, and good management skills. The company and organization that wants to attract and retain talent should have a leader that is good at identifying and using the talents; good at emotional control; understands how and when to reward and punishment; creates a good reputation; provides good and clear career paths; assures justice and mercy; and utilizes good payment. CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT...…..……………………………………………………….…….…. v CONTENTS…………………………………………………………….…....... vi LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………………..….... vii LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………… viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………... 1 1. Background of the Study.………………………..……..….……... 1 2. Statement of the Problem …………………………..….………… 4 3. Research Objectives …………………..……….………….……... 5 4. Research Questions……………………………………….....…... 5 5. Scope of the Study…………………………..…...…..………….. 5 6. Definition of Terms…………………………..…...…..…………. 5 7. Significance of the Study………………………..……..…..….… 7 8. Conclusion ……………………………………………………..… 7 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE...………………………………….….... 8 1. HRD Activities and Function………………………………………… 9 2. People Management……………………………………………… 16 3. Records of the Three Kingdoms………………………………….. 30 4. Leadership Attributes…………………………………………….. 53 5. Talent Management………………………………………………. 56 6. Conclusion…………………….………………………………… 69 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY……….………….…..……………… 70 1. Research Paradigm …………………….………………………… 70 2. Research Method.………………………..……………………….. 71 3. Data Collection……………………………………………..…….. 75 4. Data Analysis…………………..………………………………… 77 5. Conclusion ……………………………………….……………… 79 vi CONTENTS (CONTINUED) CHAPTER Page 4 RESEARCH RESULTS....………………............…………….……. 80 1. Result of the Qualitative Study……..………………………… 80 2. Background of the Eastern Han Dynasty and Cao Cao………. 85 3. Leadership Attributes of Cao Cao…………………………...… 87 4. How Cao Cao Attract the Talents…………………….……….. 114 5. How Cao Cao Retained His Talents………………….……….. 129 6. Results of the Quantitative Study……………………………… 135 7. The Analysis Results………………………………………….. 136 8. Results of Exploratory Factor Analysis: Methods of Talent Management according to the Record of Three Kingdoms….. 140 5 CONCLUSIONS, DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS...… 144 1. Conclusions…………..………………………………..……… 144 2. Discussion………………….…….…………………..….……. 149 3. Recommendations………….…………………………….…… 157 REFERENCES………………………………………………………….……. 158 APPENDICES.……………………………………………………………..… 177 APPENDIX A…………………………………………………………..… 178 APPENDIX B…………………………………………………………..… 183 BIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………. 186 LIST OF TABLES Tables Page 1 Book of Wei…………………..…………..…………………………..… 31 2 Book of Shu…………………………………….…..………………...… 35 3 Book of Wu…………………………………….….…………………… 36 4 Leadership Attributes…………………………….…………………….. 136 5 Attracting Talent………………………………….……………………. 137 6 Retaining Talents………………………………………………………. 138 7 KMO and Bartlett’s Test………………………………….……………. 139 8 The Extraction and Component of Leadership Attributes….………….. 141 9 The Extraction and Component of Attracting Talents…………………. 141 10 The Extraction and Component of Retaining Talents………….………. 142 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 The Major Warlords of the Han Dynasty in the 190s, including Cao Cao …………………………………………………………….………… 50 2 Map Showing the Three Kingdoms as of 262 A.D.……………………… 51 3 Four Paradigms or World Views …….………………………………….. 71 4 Sequential Research Strategy……………………………………………. 73 5 Preparation, Organizing and Resulting Phases in the Content Analysis Process…………………………………………………………………… 76 6 Qualitative Research Method Strategic………………………………….. 83 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1. Background of the Study Twenty-first century competition is for talent compete (Beechler & Woodward, 2009). It is the talent war competition of talents (Cappelli, 2008). HRD is a process for developing and unleashing human expertise through organizational development, personnel training and development for the purpose of improving performance. HRD is a question of human beings functioning in productive systems, with focus on the resources that humans bring to the success equation—both personal success and organizational success (Swanson & Holton, 2001). In Human Resources Development, the selection, development, and application of talents is very important. Talent is the blood and power of the development of an enterprise or organization. A talent person is a person who has a special ability and this ability could help them to do something well. It distinguishes them from ordinary people. The labor market is constantly changing. The labor market is characterized by safety, increasing mobility, outsourcing, and organizational commitment. And these characterizations will lead to new challenges for the organization from the organization’s perspective. General organizational success will be increasingly attracting and retaining the talent individuals to make sure the organization meets the present and future needs (Florida, 2005; Frank & Taylor, 2004). Every year a lot of college and university graduates are added to the workforce, organizations are spending a lot of resources in order to acquire their needs for talent. But the number of talent is still inadequate, and this leads to a talent shortage (Beechler & Woodward, 2009). World economic development and the competition between the various parts of the world are no longer confined to regional competition. It has become competition of country and country. Different countries make their own policies to attract talent to join their country (e.g., the United States Immigration Acts of 1952, 1965, and 1990). It has laid the foundation for the immigration and the bow to talent strategy. These three immigration acts were for the highly educated and outstanding talent for all kinds of technical personnel of the immigration quota, which set priorities for all immigrants. 2 They made the United States get the urgent need of talents. Currently, talent has taken the place of natural resources as the world’s most important scarce resource. Convenient transportation and the developing of the Internet era transmission of information is more rapid. Talents finding jobs are not restricted to the local area and domestically. Multinational corporate development made the company as an internal organizational network. It not only gets the material of the product need or exploits the market, it also absorbs talents from the local area. It speeds up the flow of talent (Ghoshal & Bartlett, 1990). Talent flow is influencing social capital, and makes people management more and more complex. Many HR policies are imperfect (Pfeffer & Sutton, 2006). The first priority of the HR agenda is to attract