CEOs and organizations, even with an understanding of the cut-throat
competitive environment. The Confucian view of organizations is
one of community than one of machines for profit and productivity.
He would insist on evaluating leadership and organization on the
standard of humaneness and benevolence rather than purely on finan-
cial performance on the stock market. Similarly, Confucius would
lament and protest against how employees collectively are relegated
to be the less, if not the least, important stakeholders compared to
shareholders, the top management, or the customers. Confucius gave
the top management a lot of power and status but he also required
them to serve, not just to employ, the rank-and-file employees. When
organizations are competing to innovate in today’s era of change or
perish, Confucius would want business leaders, in collaboration with
governments, to make arrangements so that displaced workers are
treated humanely. Confucius would be quite perplexed by some of
the disorderliness of today’s organizations such as the flattening of the
hierarchy, the lack of a clear chain of command, and the increase in
ambiguity of roles. However, our prediction is that he would adjust
well because, for one thing, he valued benevolence more than hier-
archy. And he valued education without discrimination, and his philo-
sophy of the rule of virtue, education, and relationship-building
would do well in a dynamic organization where some of the rigid
Weberian rules cannot be established or consistently applied. Despite
the flattening of the hierarchy, Confucius nevertheless would hold
leaders accountable for problems under their supervision and he
would be appalled at the corporate scandals in which CEOs abuse
their authority to benefit their self-interest at the expense of employees
and shareholders. He would point out that under his benevolent
leadership philosophy, such scandals would be rare because such
people would not get to the CEO positions in the first place and,
should they be there, they would not survive long in a culture of
benevolence.
References
Ames, T. A., and Rosemont, H. 1998.The analects of Confucius: a philo-
sophical translation. New York: Ballantine.
Cheung, C.-K., and Chan, A. 2005. ‘‘Philosophical foundations of eminent
Hong Kong Chinese CEOs’ leadership’’,Journal of Business Ethics60:
47–62.
Confucian and Mencian philosophy 49