BRINGING ETHICS BACK TO MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVES FROM CONFUCIANISM & DAOISM ALICIA HENNIG, SOUTHEAST UNIVERSITY, NANJING, CHINA MATTHIAS NIEDENFÜHR, CHINA CENTER, EBERHARD KARLS UNIVERSITY TÜBINGEN, GERMANY OVERVIEW 1 BACKGROUND: BAD MANAGEMENT THEORIES 2 INTRODUCTION TO CHINESE PHILOSOPHY 3 CONFUCIANISM 4 DAOISM 5 DIFFERENCES & COMMONALITIES 6 OUTLOOK BACKGROUND 1BAD MANAGEMENT THEORIES “scientific” – Ghoshal “quantitative” – Peters & Waterman “mechanistic”IDEOLOGIES – Visser UNDERLYING“value-free” – Ghoshal “rationalistic” MANAGEMENT– Peters & Waterman THEORIES INTRODUCTION 2CHINESE PHILOSOPHY PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE 2018 CHINA – THE MIDDLE KINGDOM SOME HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Xia 夏朝 2183 – 1752 BC Ancient China Shang 商朝 1751 – 1112 BC Zhou 周朝 1111 – 249 BC Spring & Autumn Period 春秋时代 722 – 481 BC Warring States Period 战国时代 403 – 222 BC Qin 秦朝 221 – 206 BC Imperial China Han 漢朝 206 – 220 AD … Source: Chan 1963 “ The humanistic doctrine of Confucius, and the naturalistic ideas of Laozi are the two towering cultural forces. ” – Bettignies et al. 2011 ?! PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE 2018 CHINESE PHILOSOPHY SOME HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Two major strands of indigenous Chinese philosophy both building on previous ‘non-categorised’ works, like the Yi Jing 易經 (Book of Changes), the Li Ji 禮記 (Book of Rites) and the Shi Jing 詩經 (Book of Odes) amongst others. Categorisation of all philosophical/religious strands in China happened only ! under the Han (206 BC – 220 AD). PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE 2018 CHINESE PHILOSOPHY TWO MAJOR STRANDS Confucianism 儒家 • Social philosophy è family relations and family as the backbone and background of society • Moral self-cultivation è in accordance to what is seen as morally appropriate in society • Strong emphasis on humanism è “Becoming human” (Tu Weiming) Representatives: Confucius, Kong Zi 孔⼦ (551–479 BC); Mencius, Meng Zi 孟⼦ (372–289 BC), Xun Zi 荀⼦ (313–238 BC) Daoism 道家 • ‘Natural’ philosophy è appropriate behaviour modelled after nature • Self-cultivation in a ‘natural’ sense è removing constraints by society è realising one’s own nature è becoming one’s natural and spontaneous self which is in accordance with dao Representatives: Lao Zi ⽼⼦ (6th century BC); Zhuang Zi 莊⼦ (365–290 BC) TWO ‘AGES’ ‘CREATIVE AGE’ (CONFUCIUS – 1st CENTURY BC) ‘INTERPRETATIVE AGE’ (SUBSEQUENT! TWO MILLENNIA) WHY DO WE FIND IT SO INSPIRING? PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE 2018 WHY DO WE FIND IT SO INSPIRING? SOME INPUT • Chinese philosophy is ‘real-life’ philosophy focused on solving daily problems è pragmatic and inherently tied to practice è intuitive, based on common sense • Holistic è Weltanschauung based on the unity of cosmos, earth and the human being • Relational è due to the interdependency and interconnection of cosmos, earth and human being, and among human beings • Capacity for “Paradox”: Chinese philosophy allows for contrasting/diverging assumptions remaining unsolved (no forced synthesis) Two contrasting and at the same time complementing philosophies – A starting point for an alternative perspective on ethical values? CONFUCIANISM INTRODUCTION3 & MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE 2018 CONFUCIANISM 儒 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Confucius, Kong Zi 孔⼦ (551–479 BC) • Lived during the Eastern Zhou period (Spring & Autumn Period, 722–481 BC) • Court advisor, serving several dukedoms; teacher and educator • Already turbulent times with declining morals è turning back to classics of previous times representing a solid moral foundation • Challenged by Daoism and Buddhism Confucianism remained the main pillar of Chinese philosophy è institutionalised è driving politics • Important transformation during Song Dynasty (960–1279) through Zhu Xi 朱熹 è re-compilation of major works è Neo-Confucianism PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE 2018 CONFUCIANISM 儒 PHILOSOPHICAL BACKGROUND Important elements of Confucian Thought • ren 仁 – ‘human-heartedness’ (often simply: benevolence) • yi 義 – (having a sense of) ‘righteousness’ or ‘appropriateness’ • li 禮 – ‘proper conduct’ considering hierarchy and roles • junzi 君⼦ – The exemplary person or moral role model • Reciprocity, zhong shu 忠恕 è ‘Golden Rule’ • The ‘middle way’, zhong yong 中庸 è Balance and moderation as guidance PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE 2018 CONFUCIANISM 儒 MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS Confucian Entrepreneurship ru shang 儒商 Merchants for a long time did not have a high social standing in Chinese society. They were assigned the last of four classes shi nong gong shang ⼠农⼯商. However, specific merchant groups like the Hui and Jin conducted their business according to Confucian ethical principles in the Ming Dynasty (16th to 18th century) These Confucian ethical principles are experiencing a revival being applied by so called Confucian Entrepreneurs. Source: Ip 2009 Woods &Lamonds 2011, Chan 1963 PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE 2018 CONFUCIANISM 儒 MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS Confucian Entrepreneurship as the “building blocks of a Chinese model of management” (Warner 2016) or “new Chinese management” (Niedenführ 2018) • Developing principles compatible with the reality of business today • Reconciling making profit with righteousness yi 義 In practice • Contributing to/benefiting the community • Practicing ren 仁 to build trust and lasting relationships with all stakeholders • Moral leadership, leading by example based on “uprightness, sincerity, unselfishness, and loyalty” (Liu 2018) è rather teaching than judging • Lenience, empathy and education instead of sacking employees • Deep dedication to constant learning è self-reflection and self-cultivation DAOISM INTRODUCTION4 & MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE 2018 DAOISM 道 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Lao Zi ⽼⼦ (6th century BC) • His name was supposedly Li Er (or Lao Dan) • Kept the records at the court of Zhou • Supposedly senior contemporary of Confucius • First information on his existence only in Sima Qian’s Shiji 史記, Records of the Historian, in Han Dynasty è reliability of this information is questioned today • Supposedly writer/composer of the Dao De Jing 道德經 Zhuang Zi 莊⼦, Zhuang Zhou 莊周 (4th century BC) • Potential contemporary of Mencius, Meng Zi 孟⼦ • Wrote the “inner parts” of the Zhuangzi, which, compared to the Laozi, is based on story telling Source: Chan 2013; Hansen 2014 PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE 2018 DAOISM 道 PHILOSOPHICAL BACKGROUND Important elements of Daoist Thought • yin-yang 陰陽 pairs/opposites • dao 道 – “way”, “guide”, “path”, also “path of behaviour” more concretely • de 德 – “virtue”, “potency” • ziran ⾃然 – “self-so”-ing, in the process of becoming “what is so in itself” or “what is naturally so” • wuwei 無為 – “no(t) doing”, no active planning/doing, no interference Daoist Thought is further influenced by water as a ‘model’ due to China being a “water kingdom” and the rhythm of the seasons, which provides structure and ‘logic’. PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE 2018 DAOISM 道 MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS The Laozi was written to provide the ruler with guidance on how to rule or ‘manage’ a country and is based on specific normative ideas like ‘laissez-faire’ and ‘anarchy’. In a corporate context, these ideas could • Potentially promote more democratic structures in organisations • Enable interplay with self-management BUT this also requires an wuwei (humble, kind and supportive) leadership style enabling autonomy, continuous improvement (learning), self-responsibility and self-development (ziran), which in turn could lead to • More meaningful engagement due to reflection involved in ziran • Innovation and outside-the-box thinking DIFFERENCES 5& COMMONALITIES PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE 2018 CONFUCIANISM & DAOISM DIFFERENCES & COMMONALITIES Confucianism and Daoism both emphasise individual (moral) self-cultivation as the fundament of a stable state è a stable, sustainable company BUT the idea of what self-cultivation entails differs Moral self-cultivation (Confucianism) based on rites and conventions vs. ‘natural’ self-cultivation (Daoism) freeing oneself from social conventions è ‘active’ (Confucianism) vs. ‘passive’ (Daoism) style Different outcomes regarding management Virtuous entrepreneurship reconciling ethics and profits (Confucianism) è vs. Virtuous ‘passive’ leadership enabling a team to flourish (Daoism) OUTLOOK6 PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE 2018 CONFUCIANISM & DAOISM OUTLOOK Both Confucianism and Daoism values and virtues can provide guidance in a modern (business) context although it is important to always keep the original context in mind: • Agrarian society highly dependent on the seasons and general weather conditions • Family structures as means of organisation, as a starting point for self-cultivation and values è Both philosophies are only useful when applied ‘holistically’, as a belief system which is grounded in continuous learning in the sense of self-cultivation and self-refinement as the ultimate purpose ANCIENT ‘WISDOM’ IS NO “READY-MADE” MANAGERIAL! KNOWLEDGE PHILOSOPHY OF MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE 2018 3 TAKE AWAYS FROM BOTH APPROACHES 1 SELF CULTIVATION Cultivating oneself, may it be in social/moral or ‘natural’/ spontaneous manner, is the corner stone in both philosophies. 2 CONTINUOUS LEARNING Learning is an essential element of both philosophies. Whether it is ‘social’ learning in the sense of understanding one’s role in society and acting accordingly or whether it is ‘unlearning’ social conventions by understanding one’s own ‘nature’ and following it, both philosophies insist on continuous