The Tao Of Management

As the 72-year-old professor of management at the China Enterprise Management Association, which undertakes research and provides management tips to enterprises and government departments, Professor Pan is at the heart of the attitude changes that are taking place in China as it transforms itself from a command to a strong market driven economy.

A mechanical engineer by training, he has worked for four and a half decades as a management expert. But what really sets him apart is his attempt at adapting and using traditional Chinese wisdom to solve modern management problems.

One problem in modern China was the attempt by also-ran firms to copy successful companies which soon led to excessive replication. Here came in handy the philosophical verity which says that thinking is endless, like a river. Thence came the new wisdom: think about the customer and his potential needs, then the market will be limitless, like the flow of the river.

 

The founder of Taoism said 2,500 years ago that the universe is composed of material things which come from non-material things. Put this in the modern context and you see how hardware comes from software