Asian Business Code Words | Lessons in Being Boss

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Review focus: Social, Respect, Business, greetings, New year, etiquette, authority, Sun Tzu, change management, executives
Boye Lafayette de Mente's Asian Business Code Words Boye Lafayette de Mente is one of our regular monthly columnists at the Asian Business Strategy & Street Intelligence Ezine. A noted author with over 30 years of experience in China, Japan, Korea and other Asian countries, Boye's tips on doing business in the region are both pragmatic and enlightening. Some material is taken from Boye's many books exploring Asian cultural and business Code Words, business etiquette, customs, and language.

Asian Business Code Words Index
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Quan - (Chuu-enn) October 1998

Lessons on Being Boss

Over the centuries the Chinese were so conditioned to obeying their social superiors and government officials without question that it became an ingrained habit, passed on from one generation to the next. Eventually it got to the point that most Chinese felt lost and virtually immobilized it they were not given precise duties and instructions by someone with quan (chuu-enn) or authority.
One of the many negative facets of this system was that it was dangerous to question the experience or ability of people in authority, so mediocrity often flourished unchecked on every level of government and commercial enterprise.
In his usual forthright fashion, however, military strategist Sun Tzu (5th century B.C.) took both incompetent generals and leaders to task, and laid down a number of principles for evaluating them that have been transformed into modern-day management and corporate take-over wisdom.
Among key points that Sun Tzu made and their application to business:

When a commander orders his army to advance or retreat without knowing what the results will be, he is a bad commander and should be removed. The same goes for a business manager who orders a move into or out of a market or a product line without knowing what the consequences will be.

A politician who tries to administer an army the same way he runs a bureaucracy is doomed to failure. The ex-bureaucrat or academic who tries to run a business without any experience in the market place is likewise courting failure.

Giving authority to military officers who are not familiar with the need to be flexible in the field, because of favoritism or any other reason, is a recipe for disaster. Misusing managers in this fashion in business can result in numerous mistakes and undermine the confidence of the entire organization.

Not staying in touch with his commanders in the field leaves a general blind and unable to make the right decisions. The same goes for top-level executives in the business world - especially when the "commanders" are stationed overseas and need to react quickly to circumstances.

The general who is primarily interested in advancement and fame puts his personal interests above that of his commander-in-chief and country, and is therefore a threat to the country. Business executives who behave like prima donnas or hired guns with big reputations to keep intact are a threat to the companies they head - as is so often demonstrated in the United States.

Summing up some of Sun Tzu's insights in the use of authority in business: executives who are ignorant of the product or market concerned should not make decisions concerning them; executives should not try to manage both staff and line functions with the same approach; executives should not assign tasks to individuals who do not have the experience to handle them.
Sun Tzu adds that it is critical for people with authority to be flexible and capable of managing change. He also advises that they be quiet, calm and mysterious - which is generally just the opposite of Western, especially American, business people and politicians.

This month's column is excerpted from China's Cultural Code Words, by Boye Lafayette De Mente available from NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company