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2012 | Buch

Leadership through the Classics

Learning Management and Leadership from Ancient East and West Philosophy

herausgegeben von: Gregory P. Prastacos, Fuming Wang, Klas Eric Soderquist

Verlag: Springer Berlin Heidelberg

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Über dieses Buch

The unforeseeably complex socio-economic and environmental challenges of the 21st century must be tackled by placing faith in the power of mankind to integrate established wisdom and new knowledge, and in our ability to collaborate for a sustainable future. Departing from this, a global 2011 conference debating papers devoted to the impact of ancient philosophy, focusing on Confucius and Aristotle, in modern leadership and management was organized by Hanban, the Athens University of Economics & Business, and the University of International Economics & Business, Beijing, China. A rich sourcebook for a broad audience, this unique volume presents the wide array of conference contributions by international thought-leaders. Departing from a foundation of general concepts of ethics and leadership the book then delves into questions about how philosophy shape emerging economic and business systems, to end with direct lessons from ancient philosophy for contemporary business challenges.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Ethics and Moral Leadership

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. Values-Based Leadership: Enduring Lessons from the Aeneid

This paper explored the

Aeneid

, Virgil’s foundation epic of the Latin cannon, from a values-based leadership perspective, which is defined as the moral foundation underlying stewardship decisions and actions of leaders. Specifically, we juxtaposed the resonant leadership elements of vision, culture and values – and their corresponding equivalent Roman themes of

fatum, pietas, and virtus.

Using a thematic analysis approach, we coded the following eight values: integrity, good judgment, leadership by example, decision-making, trust, justice/fairness, humility, and sense of urgency. We found that while the

Aeneid

extols prototypical values, the epic instructs that truly effective leadership is not about being a monochromatic prototype. Rather, the epic reveals that the essence and privilege of effective leadership demands reflection on the dynamic relationship between the leader and the led towards a better, envisioned future.

Mark Ahn, Larry Ettner
Chapter 2. Plato, Business and Moral Leadership

This paper looks to Plato for guidance on business and business leadership in the twenty-first century. It focuses on three themes. The first is the concept of “the market” as an agora, a meeting place where economic, political and social themes, activities and values intersect and are engaged. The second theme revolves around the concept of a “social contract” that dominates Plato’s account in the Crito of the life, mission and responsibilities of Socrates faced with responding to a death penalty imposed at the conclusion of a judicial process in which Socrates was on trial for corrupting the youth. The focus of the final theme is Plato’s attempt in The Republic to understand the proper relationship between and among what he defines as the three functions essential to any organized human society, functions that today we would identify as government or political leadership, the generation of economic wealth and the task of protecting the state from attack by external military forces, where the goal is the creation of a just and harmonious society. The paper concludes that Plato provides indirect but persuasive reasons for the view that business and the generation of material wealth must be harmoniously interwoven with the social and political dimensions of society and government if a just society is to be realized. What Plato’s insights suggest is that to abstract economic markets from the wider sphere of human activity is bound to result in a misleading account of the nature of business and economic activity more generally, and, if put into practice, is likely to result in social conflict and social and political degeneration.

Wesley Cragg
Chapter 3. A Virtue-Based Approach to Business Ethics: Insights from Aristotle and Sociobiology

This paper starts from the Aristotelian premise that business people become good business people by doing business

well

. How do we become good at something, be it a craft, a technical skill, or an intellectual activity? Through practice, habituation, and experience, explains Aristotle in his

Nicomachean Ethics

. It is no different where our character is concerned: we become good people by performing good actions. Managers at all levels are no exception to Aristotle’s theory about the importance of practice. Of particular interest here is the fact that business people are called “good” not just because of their amoral, strictly “technical” or managerial skills, but because of a combination of these skills and their moral integrity.

Rosa Slegers
Chapter 4. Sage-King and Philosopher-King: A Political and Moral Approach to Confucius’ and Plato’s Leadership

Confucius and Plato suggest with their Sage-king (sheng ren 聖人) and Philosopher-king theory, respectively, a model of political management which dissociates from the old political example and introduces new elements on governance. Descent, power and wealth seize to constitute criteria for participating in governance. By introducing virtue, education and value for those who are called to assume leadership positions, they advocate the coupling of power and knowledge through ethics.

Living, today, in an ever changing world where the phenomena of poor financial management, corruption, lack of transparency and ideals, negative moral models and reduced moral resistance are constantly increasing, and the skills of those who are called to assume leadership positions are placed under questioning, the need for a moral reconstruction of our society becomes a de facto dominant issue.

In this context, the return to the origins of the Eastern and Western civilization can offer an activation of thought and a new political approach that always remains inseparable from ethics. Both Confucian and Platonic thoughts could contribute to the renewal of political thought in the West and the East and the commencement of a meaningful dialogue between two distinct worldviews.

Elena Avramidou
Chapter 5. Ancient Ethics and Contemporary Systems: The Yamas, the Niyamas and Forms of Organization

The ethics of yoga (yamas and niyamas) are ancient ideas, perhaps 5,000 years old, roots of Hindu and Buddhist philosophies, but universal and eternal in sentiment and appeal. This article matches each of these ten ethics with modern management or leadership theory. Then, systems theory is considered, specifically Boulding’s (Boulding 1970) three types of organizing systems (Threat, Exchange, and Integrative) to determine which of the yamas and niyamas might function where. Finally, the yamas and the niyamas are reviewed in the context of types of power and organizing systems. The yamas and the niyamas have a place in contemporary management systems. Therefore, this article contributes to the leadership and management literatures’ considerations of power by examining the ethics of yoga from an organizing systems perspective.

Andrea Hornett
Chapter 6. The Christian Notion of Αγάπη (agápē): Towards a More Complete View of Business Ethics

Business Ethics, significantly developed over the last three decades, generally does not consider the notion of ἀγάπη (

agápē)

which is central in Christian ethics. This article analyses the meaning of

agápē

in the Christian Bible and argues that this Greek word can be translated as “love”, in the sense of a self-giving love, and including the sacrificing of one’s own interests for the good of others.

Agápē

is a virtue which inspires all other virtues in the Christian tradition. Philosophically speaking,

agápē

means “love of benevolence”, a notion which is not too far from the Confucian notion of

ren

, generally translated as “benevolence” or “loving others”. The article moves on to discuss how

agápē

can be introduced in business ethics and argues that a business ethics theory which includes the consideration of “love of benevolence” is more complete than others which ignore it.

Domènec Melé
Chapter 7. Ethics as Practice Embedded in Identity: Perspectives on Renewing with a Foundational Link

This paper explores the link between ethics and identity in the form of a theoretical working proposal. I show that this link, in spite of being at the core of a foundational conception of ethics, has been largely overlooked in business ethics literature. Renewing with it appears as essential both for the thought and particularly for the practice of ethics in organizations. I begin by exploring the genesis of a common misconception of ethics, visible in the contemporary debate on the difference between ethics and morals. The etymology of the word ethics reveals in itself an ambivalence which links it to the notion of being, or ethos. This is explained through the case of organizations, and the link between ethics and organizational identity. In the second section, I show that the ethos of ethics has been split through an organizational separation, where ethics resides either in CSR departments and is expressed by discourses and ethics statements (fundamental ethics), or in Compliance departments where it becomes a normative constraint (applied ethics). I draw on contemporary philosophers’ developments to propose a theoretical frame which would allow bridging both perspectives, through what I call the ontological or identity dimension of ethics. In the final section I discuss the implications – philosophical as well as managerial – of renewing with the original link between identity and ethics and dress the outlines of a research agenda to pursue this path.

Mar Pérezts

Philosophy in Leadership

Frontmatter
Chapter 8. Advancing with Time: Yijing Philosophy of Management and Leadership

Given that the human world is presently confronted with three kinds of global crises, the ecological, the economic and the ethical, due to respective aspects of malfunctioning of human society, this article proposes a deep search for a new approach to management and leadership as forces for renovating and innovative re-orientation in which the cosmic and the human, self-interest and equity, knowledge and value, technology and wisdom must be integrated on interrelated levels of global productivity. This new approach is founded and derived from a creative interpretation and presentation of the core insights of the Yijing as an onto-generative cosmic philosophy which identifies creativity on two levels, the cosmic creativity and the human creativity. I shall show how we come to understand these creativities and their close relationship in light of five senses of change

(yi)

in the philosophy of Yijing: change as identity, change as difference, change as polarity, change as exchange, change as harmonization. It is argued that it is through creative cognition and synthesis of these aspects of change in management and leadership that human creativity will emerge as a power of transformation of the human world and resolving global crises. This new approach to management and leadership will be also shown to have five characteristic unities of substance and function which can find great uses in all areas of human efforts: unity of the macroscopic and microscopic, unity of the source and system, unity of knowledge and orientation, unity of prediction and decision-making, and finally unity of cultivation and harmonization. We shall see how this new approach embodies an integration of ethics and management in an effort to integrate the best of Western insight into the world and the Chinese wisdom of the human self.

Chung-ying Cheng, Chung-ying Cheng
Chapter 9. Confucian and Aristotelian Ethics: A Global Model for Leadership

The paper focuses on a model for leadership inspired by Confucian and Aristotelian theories of the virtuous person. It addresses its descriptive and normative aspects and outlines the necessary training in order to become such a leader. Confucian and Aristotelian ideas of the cardinal virtues outline a recast profile for the contemporary leader that underlines both moral integrity and enhanced ability to act contextually. The leader’s conduct aims at creating the proper conditions for global harmony and collective and individual well-being. The training consists of empowering individuals to realize their interconnectedness with collective, even planetary, interests and acquiring the skill to implement their theoretical knowledge into creative works.

Marianna Benetatou
Chapter 10. Aristotle’s Theory of the Virtues of Temperance, Courage, and Generosity as Part of a Universal Model for Leadership Practices Today

Aristotle’s theory of the virtues of self-control, courage, and generosity are still applicable to good leadership practices today. These virtues are crucial in this context because they are connected to the most basic human drives: self-control in relation to eating, drinking, and sex; courage in relation to situations involving various fears; and generosity, the virtue in relation to sharing valuable things with others. Although these virtues tend to be considered personal, they play a crucial role in the development of every social and political institution, including large and small businesses. Aristotle’s model of human excellence is one good starting point for developing a universal model of good leadership.

Martha C. Beck
Chapter 11. Blending Greek Philosophy and Oriental Law of Action: Towards a Consciousness-Propelled Leadership Framework

This paper uses action research methodology for systemically developing leadership in an automotive component manufacturing organization. Identifying gaps in leadership development that emerged from practice, and subsequently also realizing that grey areas existed in literature related to leadership and philosophy, the paper proposes a consciousness-propelled leadership framework that is derived from developing a model titled Integrated, Unified and Systemic Model of Consciousness, which is proposed to be fundamental to cosmology. The model reconceptualizes the paradigm of cosmos by incorporating the Pythagorean concept of kosmos, which includes the material, biological, cognitive and spiritual domains; and proposes a multi-dimensional fused field titled S

2

P

2

field instead of a four-dimensional physical spacetime field. The S

2

P

2

field holds the promise of broadening the scope of science and propelling global development that is socially enriching, ecologically sustainable, and spiritually emancipative. The proposed consciousness-propelled leadership framework blends Greek philosophy, oriental law of action and new physics. It attempts to understand leadership from a causative perspective, as compared with the current focus of leadership theories to analyze a myriad of leadership effects.

Vikas Rai Bhatnagar
Chapter 12. A Comparison of the Political Thoughts of Confucius and Plato

This paper compares the concepts of “Ruler of Saint” of Confucius with “Philosopher King” of Plato as well as Confucius’ ideology of Ratification of Names with Plato’s Justice. It reveals the huge gap between the two thinkers in their seemingly similar political thoughts. The basic duty of the Ruler of Saint is to educate, while the basic duty of the Philosopher King lies in fundamental reform and the process of selecting and cultivating the successors. The concept of Ratification of Names is conservative and reactionary while the idea of justice is revolutionary and radical. Although both the two great thinkers stress on the virtue of people, one cannot jump to the conclusion that they simply replace the idea of Rule-of-Law with the idea of Rule-of-Men.

Changzheng Dai
Chapter 13. Iranian Mystical Leadership: Lessons for Contemporary Leaders

Iran, or Persia as it was known in the West until the early part of the twentieth century, was one of the great empires of antiquity with many celebrated leaders and a rich tradition of science, philosophy, and literature. Starting with Zoroastrian teachings dating back 2,500 years ago, through myths presented in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh (Book of Kings) in the tenth century, and Saadi’s Golestan (The Rose Garden) in the thirteenth century, the leadership themes have remained the same. They present the ideal of the courageous, caring, humble, and moderate leader-hero who rises to save the nation against various supernatural, foreign, or domestic evils, while showing unwavering loyalty to country, king, and family, kindness to the weak and his enemies, and caring for his followers. These leadership themes, their links to current leadership theory and other ancient philosophies, and their applicability to today’s organizations are explored.

Afsaneh Nahavandi

Role and Meaning of Business in Society

Frontmatter
Chapter 14. Maximization of What? Revisiting the Conception of Wisdom from a Buddhist Perspective

Self-interest is an important conception in Hobbesian political philosophy and classic economics. Both theories hold that rational choice to maximize interests is the best strategy to generate optimal outcome. This paper presents three arguments leading to the conclusion that the business goal set to strive for maximization of self-interest is nonmoral. What is characterized as immoral is business action that causes others harm, or fails to help others under certain morally-relevant conditions. The first argument explicates a modified stakeholder framework that enables us to explore the nexus of self- and others-interest at three different yet interconnected levels. The second argument proposes that the maximization of wisdom is the best strategy to maximize authentic self-interest in the light of Buddhist philosophy. Wisdom can be expressed as cause management, a managerial capability that needs to be cultivated not only to enhance individual lives but to wisely foresee business outcomes. The last argument provides two basic principles founded on karma theory and corresponding rules to cultivate maximization of wisdom, which can enhance the lives of individuals and positive value of businesses.

Wen-Chin Kan
Chapter 15. The Social Role of the Firm: The Aristotelian Acting Person Approach

In this paper, I am adopting the point of view of the first person as a generator of positive actions. It presents human’s freedom in the search for excellence in action. Aristotelian ethics is structured in a system of goods, norms and virtues that is configured by means of individual action in the institutions of a particular culture. In this view, the firm’s role as a social institution is presented, whereby its social responsibility is to encourage the ability of individuals to create new ends and means of action in the reality around them. Good entrepreneurial practice (

eupraxia

) occupies a central position, defining the paradigm that each society and culture sets as the model of economic life.

Javier Aranzadi
Chapter 16. Stakeholder Management, Sustainability and Phronêsis

In this conceptual paper I address the question of how business should approach issues of sustainability. I present a theoretical perspective marrying three elements: First, the realization that economic metrics alone are an inadequate basis for environmental choices. Second, I contend that management should adopt stakeholder theory which views the corporation as a vehicle to improve the welfare of all those affected by its actions. Finally, I contend that leaders holding stakeholder views are best served by the Aristotelian notion of practical wisdom –

phronêsis

.

Phronêsis

is a quality of character that applies well in the case of managerial attitudes to environmental concerns, since incorporating sustainability imperatives into corporate decision-making requires practical discernment and leadership in addition to technical skill. I will briefly illustrate my case by examining the values exhibited by Ray Anderson, CEO of the international carpet manufacturer, Interface.

Kevin Gibson

Philosophy and the Shaping of Economies and Business Systems

Frontmatter
Chapter 17. Confucianism and Market Economy

The fast economic growth in East Asian economies has attracted much attention from the world to their background culture – Confucianism. Many, like Max Weber, think that Confucianism is not suitable for generating capitalism or economic modernization whereas others hold that the economic take-off and the economic miracle achieved in East Asia should be attributed to Confucianism. Too positive or too negative an attitude is not realistic. This paper focuses on the interaction between culture and economic development. It is becoming quite necessary to re-think and re-evaluate what elements of Confucianism and in which circumstances Confucianism would be conducive to the building of a market-oriented economy.

The study of the CEOs in five Chinese leading companies and the Confucian-values-based questionnaire survey in Haier, a leading company in home-appliances, reflect that Confucianism is still vigorous and influential in the business world of China today. Meanwhile, Confucianism is also being transformed in the course of their development. In this sense, the five successful enterprises have set up a good example in how to maintain the essentials of Chinese traditional culture while overcoming its backward aspects and let the past serve the present well.

Cuiping Zhang, Xiaoxing Zhu
Chapter 18. Ethics, Economic Organizations, and Human Flourishing: Lessons from Plato and Aristotle

This paper seeks to show the importance of the thought of Plato and Aristotle for today’s economics and business, especially in the light of the global financial and economic crisis. Our aim is twofold. On a general level, we illustrate the intrinsic connection between ethics and economic processes and organizations. On a more detailed level, we describe several specific values and principles highlighted by both Greek philosophers that can play a fundamental role in today’s organizations and business leadership. To this end, the first two sections examine Plato and Aristotle’s reflection on economics and riches and analyse how they relate to human flourishing (Sect.

18.2

) and social justice (Sect.

18.3

). Sect.

18.4

and Sect.

18.5

focus on several specific values and principles examined by Plato and Aristotle that can be key in enabling economics to foster the good of the individual and society. More specifically, Sect.

18.4

describes the notions of

virtue

,

self-moderation

and

excellence

, whereas Sect.

18.5

focuses on

self-knowledge

and

wisdom

, which are strictly interrelated. The concluding section shows how the values and principles described in the previous sections can play a fundamental role in today’s economic organizations and business leadership.

Benedetta Giovanola, Arianna Fermani
Chapter 19. The City-State of Ancient Athens as a Prototype for an Entrepreneurial and Managerial Society

In this paper we argue that a significant part of the wealth amassed by Athens in classical times emanated from the entrepreneurial incentives Athenians, rather consciously, instituted and applied in their city-state. To corroborate our view, we give a brief account of the political institutions and rules of governance of the city-state of Athens; we describe the economy within which entrepreneurs operated, and we explain the reasons why Athenians chose to establish an open society, based on international trade and incentives for almost everyone (including slaves) to pursue entrepreneurial activities. Lastly, we focus on a “protagonist of management science,” i.e. Xenophon, who developed explicitly the first principles and imperatives of managerial actions.

George C. Bitros, Anastassios D. Karayiannis
Chapter 20. Virtues, Ethics and Corporate Citizenship: The Exercise of Leadership in Turbulent Times

Theoretical and empirical research on cardinal virtues and effective leadership in the twenty-first century within the context of numerous ethical failures as well as the environment of recent economic crisis indicate the need to define properly terms such as ‘moral responsibility’, ‘virtue ethics’, ‘moral – transformational leadership’, ‘corporate citizenship’ and to find ways to implement them into daily business practice. Our paper is organized in four distinct parts. In the first one we set briefly the nature and aims of practical reasoning. In the second one we discuss Sophocles’s Antigone as an exemplary narrative relevant to our moral argument. In the third section we examine the notions of virtues and leadership from a philosophical point of view; whereas in the fourth part we consider the issues of transformational leadership and corporate citizenship from a more practical point of view, which is implied by management and strategy theory. We complete our paper by indicating the need to go beyond Corporate Social Responsibility approaches and adhere to the notion and practices of Creating Shared Value.

Iordanis Papadopoulos

Philosophy and Leadership Styles

Frontmatter
Chapter 21. Cleopatra: An Example for Modern Women Leaders?

This paper analyses Cleopatra VII, Queen of Egypt from a modern leadership perspective in the historical context. Cleopatra’s leadership behaviour is analysed through the lens of modern leadership practice. First her key leadership challenges are described: career management, managing Egypt’s joint venture with Rome, moving her country from loss to profit; and ensuring her own succession. Her behaviour in meeting those challenges is then analysed to see which and to what extent she used particular leadership competencies: Vision and Strategy Development, Overcoming Internal Competition, Leveraging Difference, Generating Positive Change, Stakeholder Management, Building and Maintaining a Network. Cleopatra was strongest in leveraging her difference as a woman and weakest in building and maintaining a network. Modern women can learn from Cleopatra's strengths and weaknesses in order to avoid pitfalls and follow those behaviours that fit today’s organizational challenges.

Paul Vanderbroeck
Chapter 22. Connecting Desired Leadership Styles with Ancient Greek Philosophy: Results from the Globe Research in Greece, 1995–2010

Is there an ideal leader? If yes, do the traits of this ideal leader vary by national culture or across time, or is leadership a uniform concept across cultures? In this paper, modal leader behavior patterns are explored in modern Greece, through the findings of a longitudinal research project carried out on 1000 middle managers. The identified as desired leadership traits are then studied under the light of ideal images of the leader, as depicted in the classic works of Ancient Greek thinkers, notably Plato. Believing that implicit fundamental values are, to their larger part, unchangeable, we assume that the Greek ideal leader remains the same across centuries. Our findings seem to support this assumption.

Nancy Papalexandris, Eleanna Galanaki
Chapter 23. An Ancient Business Success and a Medieval Business Failure: Lessons in Ethics from Old Business Approaches and Practices

An early success in business through the foresight of a brilliant individual created the foundation of a city state under a newly founded democracy, and the brilliant “marriage” of private initiative to a state mechanism created a new form of a state which went on to become the foundation of western civilization. This early form of primitive socialism under the guidance of enlightened individuals further created the first notable sea empire in Europe; but its origins went back to the policies of an individual who achieved a successful formula balancing wisely private and state finances, which ensured the employment of most of the city state’s poor citizens by guaranteeing an annual state salary through the state employment of the free but financially underprivileged citizens in the business of the state. The dawn of the classical age was thus based on a happy balance between the private individual and state employment.

Marios Philippides
Chapter 24. The Mandala Model of Power and Leadership: A Southeast Asian Perspective

The philosophy and religious tradition of Southeast Asia has not yet been considered in leadership theory. The philosophical strength of Southeast Asia is adaptation, change and flexibility. This article argues that modern leadership theory should include these strengths. It does so for the context of cross-cultural leadership, a context that requires empathy, ambiguity tolerance and the ability to change perspective. The contribution is conceptual: First, I present two Southeast Asian models of leadership, namely the mandala model of power and the model of substitutional harmony between micro- and macrocosmos. Second, I link them to cross-cultural leadership theory. From this, I derive the mandala model of intercultural leadership and draw conclusions for leadership theory.

Jasmin Mahadevan

Philosophy in Management Training and Development

Frontmatter
Chapter 25. Integrating Oriental Wisdom in MBA Education: The Case of Confucianism

The mainstream, hitherto Anglo-American dominated management education faces increasing challenge from both inside and outside the business circles in Europe and America. Instead of offering an ad hoc list of Confucius’ wisdom on management, the authors of this paper aim to build up a thesis on how Confucianism may help to counter balance the deviation. And it is found such interaction may be best presented on three levels: (1) ontology of the management discipline; (2) epistemology and related methodology of the management discipline; and (3) value and practice instilled in the management education.

Sompop Manarungsan, Zhimin Tang
Chapter 26. Assessing and Acquiring Ethical Leadership Competence

Leaders need the ability to handle any moral problem that may arise during their professional activities; they need ethical competence. Ethical skill is, in psychology and in accordance to the classical philosophical position, understood as the basis and the aim of ethical competence of leaders. Based on that, we can construct valid assessment tools and training programs that support the acquisition and use of ethical competence and skills.

Iordanis Kavathatzopoulos
Chapter 27. Aligning Business Education with Ancient Chinese and Greek Philosophy: The Andrews University’s Leadership Program

The Leadership Program at Andrews University is a 15-year experiment in graduate leadership education. It allows participants to create their own individualized course of studies to develop and demonstrate competency in specific areas associated with leadership. Undergirded by a philosophy that favors holistic learning by experience, the program embraces the paradoxical unity of theory and practice creating a rich environment for exchange of ideas, cultural values and perspectives, experiences and practices. A central feature of the program is the development and presentation of the 15 competency-based portfolio related to the every-day workplace of the participant. In this paper, dominant values and principles of ancient Chinese and Greek leadership philosophies were identified and compared with the Leadership program’s philosophical underpinnings and structure. The results indicate that the Program strongly reflects Chinese and Greek philosophical values, such as, self-cultivation and transformation through learning, reflection and practice, servant leadership, collectivism and love and inclusive care.

Silas M. Oliveira
Chapter 28. Reflections from Indian History: Story-Telling for the New Age Mentor

This article seeks to trace the concept of ‘Mentoring’ as a channel of communication through a ‘Conversation Schema’ and a ‘Mentoring Story-Telling matrix through Indian Historical Cases/Traditions’. Although lot of work has been done in the past in silos, the author tries to draw newer interpretations of Indian classics for modern management education and Philosophy. Insights are offered into the practices adopted by some of the Indian Kings and Historical leaders to enhance individual competencies in various domains. We strive to highlight the development of ‘mentoring as a channel of communication’ in the Indian past and draw lessons to be learnt for the new age mentor. Some of the traditions and legends discussed in the article are indicative of the author’s effort to co-relate the evidence in the past Indian tradition to the modern management practice.

Lipi Das
Chapter 29. Professionalism in Business: Insights from Ancient Philosophy

Business schools have the responsibility to inspire professional culture in future managers. This means that they have to provide them not only with the expertise, knowledge and skills required in their field of specialization, but also with a sense of responsibility toward others and society at large. This need has been increasingly evident during the period of the global financial crisis, and a number of initiatives have been reported by business schools worldwide to address the issue.

In this paper we examine the issue of professionalism in business management from two perspectives: business practice, and relation to ancient philosophy. Drawing from the literature, we propose a framework defining professionalism as composed of three patterns: (a) possession of a systematic body of knowledge, (b) commitment to a good broader than self-interest, and (c) an overall ethical character of the activity and ethical conduct. We show how these patterns are reflected to the expectations that corporations have from business practitioners. We further demonstrate that substantial elements of business professionalism are strongly related to core values and principles introduced in the social and political thought of ancient philosophers, and thus suggest that ancient philosophy could be used as a means for inspiring professionalism in business managers.

Lila Despotidou, Gregory P. Prastacos

Concepts from Philosophy in Contemporary Management Challenges

Frontmatter
Chapter 30. Disorder and Management: Approaching Computer Software Through Lao Tzu, Heraclitus and Gorgias

We live within a time of intense flux and unpredictable change. It is doubtful whether our techniques of management deal with such times very well, as they tend to look for eternal truths and forms of action and control. This paper asks whether our situation might be improved by looking to pre-Platonic philosophical sources for guidance; in this case the writings of Lao Tzu, Heraclitus and Gorgias. After exploring this background the paper considers the ways that people manage software installations, as these are exemplars of chaotic systems with unintended and often disruptive effects. The conclusion is that these ancient philosophers have something to say to us about the way our attempts to create order actually create disorder. Order and disorder are not opposites which negate each other, but are intertwined in an ‘order/disorder’ complex.

Jonathan P. Marshall
Chapter 31. The Yin and Yang of Change: Systemic Efficacy in Change Management

Efficacy in change management is an issue. Western change management approaches are well elaborated in the mechanics of change. A broader perspective on efficiency and effectiveness is rare. The “Yin and Yang of Change” brings together systemic approaches and Chinese philosophy to draft a broader perspective on efficacy, sustainability and viability of change processes. The research on systemic efficacy in change management starts with the five Tai phases leading to Tai Chi and the model of Yin and Yang. The systemic counterbalance focuses on distinction theory in reference to George Spencer-Brown’s

Laws of Form

and Niklas Luhmann’s

Theory of Social Systems

(TSS). As a first result we can distinguish between:

Yin-Change: cold change, continuous improvement, integration

Yang-Change: hot change, innovation, transformation

Change management, as a conclusion to this first finding, needs to distinguish and to balance the two sides of change, innovation and continuous improvement, to realise efficacy, viability and sustainability.

Louis Klein, Thomas S. L. Wong
Chapter 32. How Managers Make Sense of CSR: The Impact of Eastern Philosophy in Japanese Owned Transnational Corporations

It is widely acknowledged that organisations are struggling to integrate their espoused Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) principles into business processes. There is cynicism of organisations which publicly state a commitment to society and environment but whose business behaviours are not aligned with the expressed CSR commitment. This paper draws from a two stage study with two global consumer electronics companies to explore the influence of Japanese business philosophy on how managers make sense of their organisation’s commitment to CSR.

The method adopted is a case-study approach using Conversation Analysis to analyse data collected from recorded interviews and focus groups.

Findings suggest that organisational culture, underpinned by Japanese philosophy, can impact on how managers make sense of CSR. However, what is not clear is what triggers alignment of managers’ sensemaking between business philosophy and CSR. Limitations to this study include a small sample in only two companies in one sector over a short time span. The recommendation of this paper is the need for further longitudinal study with a broader sample at multiple organisations to corroborate or refute these initial findings, and to explore the triggers for managers to link interpretation of CSR with underpinning business philosophy. The practical outcomes of this research can help address the management problem of how to embed CSR in business operations.

Sharon Jackson
Chapter 33. Developing Corporate Entrepreneurial Cultures: Inspirations from the Confucian Gentleman

This paper presents those corporate entrepreneurial cultural dimensions, which seem to have the greatest importance and relevance in explaining the differences in outcomes of productivity, satisfaction and motivation of the staff in different types of private and public organizations. The method used is a scientific concept analysis mixed with a constructive approach of business sciences. Referred literature indicates that the “Confucian gentleman” would still give remarkable inspirations for a present leader or corporate entrepreneur. As an outcome, we interpret that “motivating” organizations, where both corporate entrepreneurial aspects and cultural effects are apparent, best represent business cultures where the entrepreneurial consequences of innovating, risk managing and catalyzing are emphasized. As a result, we have also formulated a model for “motivating” organizations, to analyze and to further develop those entrepreneurial consequences in the orientation within the following dimensions:

Considered time period (long-term orientation – short-term orientation),

Preferred target (risk avoiding orientation – growth orientation) and

Cultural personality (external orientation – internal orientation).

With operational solutions, it will be possible to test these dimensions statistically. These can also be used as pragmatic tools for analyzing cultural aspects in expert organizations, both to discuss the business strategy and alternative development tendencies. This can be a step towards changing organizational culture when needed.

Lauri J. Tenhunen, Seppo E. Niittymäki
Chapter 34. Parallels of Diaspora Processes in Ancient Greece with Contemporary Greek Diaspora Centres: The Case of the Greek-Australian Diaspora

In antiquity, many Greeks migrated to new Hellenistic cities founded in Alexander the Great’s wake. The power of these cities was based on the spirit of

Alexander’s Oath at Opis

, as it was based on their ability to be connected more by language, culture, and history than by law or a hierarchical relationship (Burn 1948). Homonoia, the pursuit of order and unity, which had been a growing preoccupation among the Greeks for some time is the central axon of

Alexander’s Oath at Opis

. Xenophon’s statement that Homonoia was the greatest virtue inside a City is known to have prompted Isocrates to use the word to urge Philip of Macedonia to unite the Greeks against the barbarians (De Mauriac 1949). Alexander, Philip’s son, universalized the meaning of the word Homonoia by acting on his

Oath at Opis

. This approach was a significant contributor for Hellenistic cities in ancient times for the creation of social cohesion and the mobilisation of diversity, and paved the way for globalisation.

Today, important centers of the Greek Diaspora exist in New York, Chicago, London, Melbourne, Toronto, and other parts of the world. Multiculturalism, a significant contributor to diversity, is at the forefront of policy debates, including in Australian policy circles, driven largely by the Federal government’s objective of social cohesion (Parliament of Australia 2010). In this paper, we argue that the Greek Diaspora in the Australian multicultural landscape mirrors mechanisms that were developed in the ancient Greek states, and that there is considerable scope to utilise today’s dynamics of the Greek Diaspora more effectively by considering ancient developments and context, especially in the presence of the crisis of values emerging from the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008. This crisis has presented challenges for the irresistible forces of globalization, very much alike with challenges that Alexander the Great confronted when faced with the

Mutiny at Opis

in his pursuit of Homonoia consistent his

Oath at Opis

.

Graeme Hugo, Steve Bakalis, Therese Joiner
Backmatter
Metadaten
Titel
Leadership through the Classics
herausgegeben von
Gregory P. Prastacos
Fuming Wang
Klas Eric Soderquist
Copyright-Jahr
2012
Verlag
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Electronic ISBN
978-3-642-32445-1
Print ISBN
978-3-642-32444-4
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32445-1