such as Mu Qi Zhong, Zhou Zheng Yi, and Yang Bin. All of them were
once successful and became infamous due to their aggressive, unethical,
or even illegal business practices. With these negative examples, the
business executives emphasized the importance of following laws
as well as principles of economics. To the interviewees, illegal and
unethical profiteers disrupted the economic and market order, and
learning the lessons of the notorious entrepreneurs helped avoid
‘‘management traps’’ and ‘‘paying high tuition fees.’’
Foreign figures that our interviewees mentioned most included
successful executives such as Konosuke Matsushita, the founder of
Matsushita Electric Corporation in Japan and Jack Welch, the legend-
ary past CEO of General Electric. The participants said they learned
the latest management practices from the Western business leaders by
reading their biographies.
Business administration education and training
The executives also cited business education, management training
and consulting as their source of learning and understanding of
Western management thoughts and practices. Twenty-one of the
interviewees participated in business administration education or
management training, and they believed that contemporary business
education allows them to understand what management is about, to
be more keenly aware of the need to acquire knowledge of scientific
management, such as the importance of planning, having a systematic
way of doing things, and formal decision-making processes.
Beyondclassroomlearning,foreignmanagementconsulting firms gave
these business leaders a refreshing look at business by providing them
with ‘‘continuing education’’ in using tools of Western management.
The majority of business cases taught in Chinese business schools are
on Western companies. These interviewees thought that it is useful to
learn through these case studies what the best practices are. In addi-
tion, these cases helped them understand what made the companies
fall into crisis, how crises spread, and how to find ways to deal with
such problems. However, all interviewees highlighted that, in imple-
menting the management theory learned in schools, they had to take
into consideration the specific situation in China. These executives
stated that using management tools from the West without adapting
them to the Chinese business environment would only result in failure.
Chinese traditions and Western theories 259