Bing Fa (War Strategies)
Bing Fa is a form of strategic thinking that was first developed for military
purposes and has since been applied to almost all human interactions. It was writ-
ten down by Sun Zi in the fourth century BC. In his book Sun Zi Bing Fa, Sun Zi
discussed the five elements that must be considered in formulating a strategy
(Chu, 1995: 25–30): (1) the moral cause: the Daoaddresses the morality and
righteousness of a battle; (2) temporal conditions: heaven is signified by Yin
and Yang, manifested as summer and winter and the changing of the four
seasons; (3) geographical conditions: the earth contains far and near, danger
and ease, open ground and narrow passes; (4) leadership: the commander must
be wise, trustful, benevolent, courageous, and strict; (5) organisation and disci-
pline: organisation and discipline must be thoroughly understood. Delegation
of authority and areas of responsibility within an organisation must be
absolutely clear. The harmony of the five elements is of great importance to
success in any endeavour (Chu, 1995: 32). These elements are intangible, spiri-
tual, psychological and are more related to people’s mindset.
Implications for HRM practicesFrom the above review we can summarise the underlying elements that may be
responsible for the development of modern HRM concepts in Asia. The fol-
lowing key issues can be identified as the fundamental relational values that
determine the formation of managerial knowledge based on a combination of
types of Chinese traditional thinking.
1 The establishment of the fundamental virtue of Ren (heartedness/
benevolence) within the organisation. Under such influence, the con-
cept of ‘workplace is family’ is widespread among Chinese organi-
sations. It requires organisation/management to look after the interests
of fellow employees, while employees have high commitment to the
organisation. The outcome of implementing this relational virtue can
be reflected in management and individual behaviours, such as employ-
ment security, compensation and reward schemes, training (as part of
educational function) and development (including promotion) systems
from the management aspect, and high commitment, self-discipline,
and the blurred time boundary between work and leisure (more over-
time work) and so on from the employee aspect. The eventual goal of
such efforts is to achieve a peaceful and orderly workplace.
2 Collectivism and interdependent relational value: It is a well-defined
principle within Confucianism that an individual is not an isolated
entity. Therefore, the concept of family life as the basic unit in the society
is emulated in the work setting and with it the broader societal values
that ensure that social harmony and behavioural ritual are preserved
HRM in East Asia 199