Confucian management thought has a distinctive humanistic color, which establishes a systematic human nature management mode, attaches importance to the morality of management, establishes a whole set of talent management theory system with morality as the main management means, puts forward the social ecological balance of "harmony is precious" and the guiding principles of "combining rigidity with softness" and "combining leniency with severity", and establishes the methodology of "complementary yin and yang" as the guidance. So now many enterprises are using Confucian management ideas. In addition to the management thoughts of Confucianism, there are mainly the management thoughts of Legalists, Taoists, Mohists and military strategists, which still have reference significance for our modern enterprise management. For example, the management thought of Taoism is characterized by flexible management of "Taoism is natural" and "doing nothing without doing anything". The so-called "flexible" management is to manage things according to their own laws, without imposing people's subjective will on things and their processes, which is "governing by doing nothing"; Emphasize that "weakness is better than strength", and think that only weak things are vital things, and rigid things will soon go to the opposite side.
To understand a problem, people should not only look at the current situation, but also look at its development and future; Management should be like water, without profit, and everything goes smoothly. Although weak, it is extremely powerful. Legalists' management thought emphasizes the rule of law, heteronomy, the mandatory role of law, the authority of centralization, the use of management means and the sage. Legalists' management thought pursues efficiency and is full of strength, competition and strict control. Mohist management thought emphasizes "universal love", "Shang Tong" and "Shang Xian", at the same time, it also agrees with the rationality of division of labor in the process of labor and puts forward the principle of "from each according to his ability". Emphasizing "profit" and "strength" is another remarkable feature of Mozi's management thought. Mozi emphasizes "mutual benefit", "righteousness, benefit" and "everyone benefits from it"; "Where there is food, people look to it", "Without food, people can't do things". It also emphasizes "non-life" and believes that life should be competitive in the world. "Rely on the strong to live, and those who don't lose will not live", and we must fight against fate and nature. As long as people can exert their strength and fight against nature, they can survive.
Military strategists attach great importance to the application of strategy in management. The correct use of management strategies and tactics is the key to successful management, and they also emphasize the management environment, that is, the use of weather, geography and people. The above management thoughts are the precious cultural wealth of our nation and should be the object of our in-depth study and research. Only by correctly understanding and profoundly understanding the essence of national management culture and creatively applying it to practice can we create enterprise management with China characteristics.
As Mr. Cheng Junyi thinks, in fact, we have always had a deep misunderstanding about management. For China people, this misunderstanding is to deny their own history and culture and artificially set China's 5,000-year history against a so-called century-old civilization. This opposite way also leads us to criticize our own history and culture without a correct understanding. In this way, people in China can only learn from the west when they understand management, but they can't see the ancient things, and they are more accused of being backward.
So we will find it ridiculous to call a foreigner "the father of management". "Management" Perhaps many people pay too much attention to "management" and think that it will be chaotic anyway. In fact, too much management can easily lead to chaos. Management lacks material foundation and humanistic foundation, and it is bound to fail. Without the foundation of material environment, advanced management means and consciousness can only be castles in the air; Without humanistic consciousness and transcendental management means, it is impossible to be accepted by the times. In China society, enterprises and the government are the same. You can only grasp one degree. If it is loose, it will be scattered, and if it is stiff, it will be brittle.
Humanized management is the long-term solution, and the way to get the best management method is communication. Through communication, we can get to know employees and create a working environment for which employees are willing to work hard for a long time. In this way, it is easy to manage, and even the managers themselves will have a good time and work smoothly. Genghis Khan was a soldier all his life, and his army of fighters swept across Europe, Asia and Africa. But his "management mode" is only suitable for building an army with strong combat capability, but not for ruling a vast territory. Not only because of the differences in management nature between the army corps and the state, but also because of culture and the lack of timely and targeted management theoretical models.
From running the army to running the country, the management goal has changed, and the nature of the management goal has changed. The person being managed is not only his own person, but also the humanity of the person being managed has widened, and the management mode has also changed. If you don't "transform", you will encounter failure. If Genghis Khan uses the idea of running the army to understand the actual needs of state governance, size up the situation and change the "management" mode, he may have a chance to achieve great governance.
In China's traditional management theory and method, its essence is a theory and method with universal significance. These universal theories and methods are applicable not only to China, but also to all management processes. Starting from the need of establishing modern enterprise management in China, we must also inherit and carry forward the national management culture.
Management is a kind of culture, and enterprise culture is the highest achievement of modern enterprise management innovation. Only by studying hard and deeply understanding the essence of traditional culture can we carry out management innovation on the basis of inheriting traditional culture.
China has a very heavy history and various successful or unsuccessful experiences. China thus gave birth to splendid civilization and accumulated rich wisdom. -There is no doubt about it. The question today is: How to interpret the local wisdom of China, especially the wisdom of governing the country and society, and apply it to the current management process.
Many people insist that China's native management thoughts are mainly concentrated in the ancient pre-Qin period. Indeed, the pre-Qin philosophers' influence on China's social development and China people's way of thinking may be unmatched by any later age. In a sense, these thoughts are also the source of "China tradition".
Among the pre-Qin philosophers, there are mainly Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism, Military strategists and other thoughts closely related to management behavior. We will extract the most essence and modern ingredients from the above four companies in a very brief form, hoping to provide some reference for today's managers. In the wave of "economic globalization", China has shown great development potential more and more. Whether as a manager, or as a managed person, partner or competitor, it is certainly beneficial to know the local cultural background of China. There is a premise here: our goal is not only to "win" to death, but also to "win-win". )
First, Confucianism. The core of Confucian management thought is "benevolence". "Benevolence" literally means caring about interpersonal relationships and physical and mental harmony. In modern language, Confucian management is based on human nature. Accordingly, the management means is "rule by virtue". Even in the implementation of the law, we should not forget the combination of moral education, always emphasize the functions of caring for human nature, edifying and persuading ethical affection, and attach importance to the cultivation and shaping of qualities such as honesty, faithfulness, loyalty and forgiveness. Confucian management is "cultivate one's morality, keep one's family in order, govern the country and level the world". It is believed that managers must set an example, starting with self-management, and then going to family management, state management and social management. The relationship between these processes is reflected in gradual evolution and mutual penetration. Generally speaking, Confucian management emphasizes self-responsibility, harmony and overall interests. In recent decades, Japan is the most successful example of using Confucian wisdom. Shibusawa Eiichi, known as the "father of modern Japanese enterprises", wrote "Lectures on the Analects of Confucius" to explain Confucian management thoughts and personally teach them to employees, thus forming the core of corporate culture. In Japan, many entrepreneurs consciously study Confucian classics and try to turn them into their own use. In fact, Confucianism has always been the main thread of China people's thoughts, behaviors and temperament. Regardless of advantages and disadvantages, it always shapes and influences the development of China in various forms, either implicitly or explicitly.
Second, Taoism. Taoism attaches great importance to the understanding and grasp of management laws, and puts forward that "Taoism is natural", that is, management must follow objective laws and everything must conform to nature in order to achieve good management results. In terms of management methods, Taoism believes that the highest realm is "governing by doing nothing". Managers should not act reluctantly or exceed their authority when exercising their management responsibilities, but should make use of the situation to create a relaxed atmosphere of delegating power to subordinates. On the surface, managers seem to have done nothing, nothing, but their own organizations are in order by putting them in order. At the same time, Taoism has also created a set of management arts, such as waiting for change, using weakness to control softness, knowing surplus and weakness, being modest, arguing without dispute, seeing the micro-knowledge, wanting to take the first place, seeking perfection with joy, hiding without revealing, and being content with happiness. There are subtle similarities between "governing by doing nothing" of Taoism and "automatic management" and "minimum cost-maximum income management" advocated in modern western management theory. They are also committed to avoiding interference, advocating freedom and encouraging subordinates to exert their creativity and enthusiasm. From the management mode or style of Taoism, we can see the respect for scientific management, the respect for individual creativity and the pursuit of management performance. Taoist management arts, such as "seeing the micro-knowledge" and "taking the lead", are often talked about by business people.
Third, legalists. Legalist management takes "law" as the core of management system and pays attention to the perfect combination of "law", "potential" and "technique" as management system, management authority and management skills. Legalists clearly agree with the "rule of law" and oppose the "rule of man", arguing that everything must be strictly followed by established laws and regulations at any time, and never rely solely on the subjective judgment or personal likes and dislikes of managers. Legalists believe that even ordinary people can manage successfully as long as they adhere to the rule of law; But if we abandon the legal system, talented people will inevitably face failure. Legalists also see that "law is not enough to stand on its own feet", and only management system, without strong and flexible implementation measures, will not work. So management authority and management skills are also necessary. Legalists divide management authority into "natural trend" and "artificial trend". The former refers to the authority obtained by managers under established conditions (such as appointment), while the latter refers to the authority created by managers themselves by using various resources. Legalists pay special attention to make full use of and strengthen the "natural trend", actively create the "artificial trend", and take this as the backing to ensure the implementation of the management system. Legalists usually pay little attention to people's moral cultivation and social ethics, and are often suspected of "doing whatever it takes to achieve their goals", but their management skills are richer than those of other schools. Legalists provided an excellent example for ancient management in China from theory to practice in the aspects of organization setting, post setting, personnel selection, authorization, supervision and inspection. Historically, most representatives of Legalists have rich experience in ruling and management. Although these characters have different reputations, Legalism has never been forgotten. Even today, we can still seek inspiration from it.
Fourth, the military strategist. The field of military strategist management mainly lies in the military, but the management strategy, strategy and general plan contained in it are undoubtedly valuable to other fields. In terms of management strategy, military strategists pay attention to strategic planning, emphasize managers' assessment of the situation, have a clear and correct understanding of the external environment and internal organizations, and make judgments and decisions accordingly. In terms of management strategy, military strategists put forward "winning by change", emphasizing the factors of "change", requiring managers to respond to all kinds of changes in time, actively innovate and seek change, always take the initiative everywhere, and not be controlled by others. In terms of management strategy, military strategists put forward the principle of hierarchical management: if you want to manage many people as easily as managing a few people, you must rely on the role of organization and establishment; In order to form an efficient organization, it is necessary to carry out layer-by-layer control with strict discipline and laws, supplemented by ideological education, to be reasonable and emotional to subordinates, to form a specific hierarchical system, and to be consistent from beginning to end. Military strategists are concerned by economic and business circles because they are good at calculating, predicting and emphasizing variables. Some people think that in today's market economy (especially the market has not been fully standardized), the military strategist's thought will be of great use. Some foreign companies set foot in China market really put military theory in an important position when they pay attention to China's cultural background.
It should be noted that the discussion of the above four ideas in this paper is only part of my personal understanding and interest, and it is by no means the whole picture. Moreover, in the practice of governing the country for thousands of years, the theories of Confucianism, Taoism, France and the military are by no means completely separated and isolated. They are often used together, enriching each other and absorbing each other. What we are going to investigate and study today should not stop at the division of various theories, but should strive to integrate the wisdom of these sages into practical management concepts and methods.