of the interviewed business leaders reported that they tried to be
sincere. In fact, honesty pays in the long run, according to those
who endorse it. For example, an executive from a private company
said that he always paid his debts on time and being honest allowed
him to be credible and to get support from others who trusted him,
which had helped him and his company overcome many difficulties.
On one occasion, he could not repay a debt to a bank because of a
shortage of cash, but one of his suppliers lent him the money without
his asking.
Pursuit of excellence (zhui qiu zhuo yue)
Pursuit of excellence means that a company should provide its
customers with the best products and services, and make an effort
to achieve the best performance and sustain continuous develop-
ment. The interviewed leaders illustrated this notion in the following
terms: ‘‘building a hundred-year-old shop [a long-lasting company]’’;
‘‘insistence on making every effort to be the No.1 in the industry’’;
‘‘developing the firm bigger and more fine-grained’’; ‘‘making the
enterprise larger and stronger’’; ‘‘solving problems for customers.’’
Twenty-one of the interviewed participants (60 percent) reported this
philosophy.
Several leaders from private enterprises said that they had dedicated
their resources to develop their companies into ‘‘centennial enter-
prises.’’ The CEO of one mobile phone manufacturer said, ‘‘the last
generation of entrepreneurs successfully sold Chinese products in
international markets. Our generation should attempt to develop
some renowned product brand with a global reputation. Enterprises
should spare no effort to improve the image of their brands, to
improve the quality of their products, to minimize the cost and thus
be able to sell high-class products to foreigners. My goal is to build
up internationally renowned Chinese brands, changing people’s per-
ception that there is no excellent brand in China.’’ It is worth noting
that excellence here is conceived in terms of business scope (large
corporations) and longevity (enduring if not immortal) both of which
are in the vision of being a global business organization.
Pursuit of excellenceis also interpreted as searching for better
products and services which can better meet the market and create
more value for customers. The CEO from a company that had devel-
oped software products for financial services said the management
Chinese traditions and Western theories 245