Business Ethics: Taoism, Leadership, and Philosophy

**\"Confucius believed that leaders were expected to practice virtue and moral excellence in order to have the potential to lead and influence individuals. If businesses are governed philosophically, they will succeed.\"**\ -- [*[https://www.workflowmax.com]*](https://www.workflowmax.com) **I. Conf...

**\"Confucius believed that leaders were expected to practice virtue and moral excellence in order to have the potential to lead and influence individuals. If businesses are governed philosophically, they will succeed.\"**\ -- [*[https://www.workflowmax.com]*](https://www.workflowmax.com) **I. Confucius** was a Chinese philosopher who lived in the 6th century BCE. His thoughts and teachings were the foundation of Confucianism. At present, it is evident that he did NOT only influence the Chinese culture but to a larger extent, he globally influenced mankind. **Some of the philosophy's practical applications in business:** 1. **Perceiving crisis -- planning and treating BEFORE worst case scenarios happen.**\ In business, it is very crucial to have early warning, right preparation, and without such, success is impossible. 2. **Valuing and sustaining interpersonal relationships -- building and developing trust and respect as you proceed in business.**\ It is key to have socially-oriented work and mindset. Six key procedures in this field:\ *"Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts?"* 3. **Discern**\ It is obvious that if the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps. **\"In Lao Tzu's view, the problem with virtue isn't that it's difficult or unnatural; it's simply that we resist the very notion of a path that might make us most content.\"** **II. Lao Tzu was a Chinese philosopher; also known as Laozi or Lao Tze. He was the guiding figure in Daoism also translated as Taoism. He was a record keeper in the court of the central Chinese Zhou Dynasty in the 6th century, and an older contemporary of Confucius.** He discovered the role of the Tao (the PURPOSE in life and the universe). Accordingly, if one knows what comes first and what comes last, then one is near the Tao (purpose). This purpose revolution philosophy significantly changed the way companies do business. Nowadays, it becomes a corporate social responsibility (CSR) to cultivate purpose to attain a more sustainable life. It directed business leaders to pursue not only to DO good but also to BE good. To make the world a better place, a growing consensus of leaders in the business industry considered the philosophy of \"purpose beyond profit\". The shift from \"for-profit\" to \"for-purpose\" model aims to do more than provide quality products, good services, good prospects, and gaining more profits. It focuses on doing something meaningful to employees and customers and acting as stewards of the environment and society as a whole. **Five core principles of Taoism** 1. **Self-awareness for mindful leadership** Leaders should deal with adversities with complete focus and clarity of mind. Therefore, one should NOT make important business decisions given a distracted mind. Remember that decision-making is supposedly a RESPONSE rather than a REACTION to a given situation. 2. **Self-cultivation for authentic leadership** Leaders should know how to examine their own strengths and weaknesses. To become an authentic business leader, one should lead by heart and knows how to render decisions without bias. 3. **Leading with humility for Level 5 leadership** The concept of Level 5 Leadership displays a leader with a unique combination of fierce resolve and humility. This was created by business consultant, Jim Collins. **4. Transcending ego for servant leadership** \"Rather than ego-driven leadership, author Matthias Birk suggests that transcending our ego\-- to see ourselves as part of a whole instead of separate from others\-- has major benefits for leaders, namely to see things more objectively and form deeper relationships.\" **5. Doing the right things right for sustainable leadership** This principle coincides with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are also known as the Global Goals as adopted by all United Nations Member States as the framework presented in Module 1. \"These core principles of Taoism serve as the foundation for businesses who would want to develop purpose-driven organizations. Hence, for Laozi, \'Why Heaven and Earth exist is that they do not live for themselves.\'\" **Image Quote**: \*"Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory: 1. He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight. 2. He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces. 3. He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks. 4. He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared. 5. He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.\"\* - *Sun Tzu* \**III. Sun Tzu was a Chinese general, military strategist, writer and philosopher who lived in the Eastern Zhou period of ancient China. He is traditionally credited as the author of The Art of War. Remember that in business, the battlefield is the market place. Nowadays, successful business leaders strategize using Sun Tzu's The Art of War, to defeat their competition and attain a bigger market share, because a business is a continuous love-affair with the customers, competitors, and other suitors, businessmen should master Sun Tzu's wisdom to out-compete the competitors and other suitors. That way, you remain on top of the game.* *"As Rick Wartzman, executive director of The Drucker Institute, wrote last year in Forbes, 'Ask businesspeople to peg the writer whose thinking is most clearly reflected in both military and corporate circles, and odds are that you'll hear the name Sun Tzu'."* - *Beyer, 2017* **Famous lines from Sun Tzu's The Art of War**\ *\"All warfare is based on deception.\"*\ *\"The general who understands war is the Minister of the people\'s fate and arbiter of the nation's destiny.\"*\ *\"Know the enemy, know yourself; your victory will never be endangered.\"*\ *\"Every battle is won or lost before it's even fought.\"* **Sun Tzu's Philosophies that can be applied in business** 1. **Winning without fighting.**\ Believe in yourself and the business you have established. Lead by example, and NOT by force. 2. **Capturing your market without destroying it.**\ Enhance quality of customer service to the highest level to improve your market reputation in the business industry. 3. **Avoiding strength, attacking weakness.**\ Reinforce your ability to detect the weak points of your competitors. Apply direct force to your advantage. Be aware of the dangers of overconfidence by preventing these to be used to your disadvantage. 4. **Strike when your competitors least expect it. and**\ *Maximizing the power of market information.*\ Gather factual information and intelligence while keeping it confidential.\ Example:\ *CORPORATION XYZ gathered information and intelligence before making a multi-million bid to buy CORPORATION ABC. With no pressure from leakage and all, CORPORATION XYZ did an excellent job keeping the bid intent confidential. Hence, successfully took the market by surprise.* 5. **Employing deception and foreknowledge.**\ To have a feel of the business battlefield, try to understand the basics of the overall trends of this competitive industry. As such, according to Sun Tzu, *\"Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril.\"* 6. **Using speed and preparation.**\ As a competitive advantage, maximize the use of speed (speedy delivery of goods or services) without sacrificing the quality. Similar to what Confucius philosophized, \"Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.\" To fully understand how the art works in business, watch this short-clip: *THE ART OF WAR APPLIED TO BUSINESS BY SUN TZU,* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnZidmD0cDo]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnZidmD0cDo). After which, share your thoughts in class by highlighting the four key ideas mentioned in the video. 7. **Using speed and preparation.**\ As a competitive advantage, maximize the use of speed (speedy delivery of goods or services) without sacrificing the quality. Similar to what Confucius philosophized, *\"Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.\"* To fully understand how the art works in business, watch this short-clip: *THE ART OF WAR APPLIED TO BUSINESS BY SUN TZU,* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnZidmD0cDo]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnZidmD0cDo). After which, share your thoughts in class by highlighting the four key ideas mentioned in the video. **Socrates believed in an ethical system based on human logic and reason.** He developed the \"Socratic Method\" where he would get a person to make a hypothesis and then ask a series of questions in order to test the logic of their question. **IV. Socrates** was a Greek philosopher who lived in Athens in the 5th century BCE. He was admired by his followers for his integrity, self-mastery, profound philosophical insight, and great argumentative skill. He believed that philosophy should achieve practical results for the greater well-being of society and pointed out that human choice was motivated by the desire for happiness. He conceptualized the Socratic method, a way of thinking that allows individuals to define their own purpose of learning and explored its purpose through ongoing inquiry into what they hold to be true. **Some of Socrates Famous Philosophies**\ *"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing."*\ *"I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think."* - *"Because we know nothing then learn to question everything and keep your mind open to other possibilities."* - *"Dare to disagree."*\ *Likely, applying this philosophy in corporate governance is quite dangerous because of questions of morality and the possibility of interpreting it as a form of insubordination.* **The following questions might be a useful checklist to determine if this principle is being practiced at work:** Does your company\... 1. encourage independent thinkers? 2. allow you to give critical feedback? 3. allow you to follow your conscience? 4. open opportunities so you can report incidents of bad behavior? **"Be kind and courageous, and you will always win the day."**\ -- *[[www.worksxtream.com]](http://www.worksxtream.com) PLATO* **V. Plato** was a Greek philosopher in the c428-348BC. Because he was a student of Socrates, he adopted many of his master's teachings most specially the Socratic dialogue. He founded the Academy of Athens, the first institute of higher learning in the Western world. Plato's academy would go on to teach Aristotle, who would become the advisor to Alexander the Great. Sadly, it was shut down as it was considered a threat to Christianity. Plato originally considered joining politics, but gave up when Socrates was executed. His master's death left him feeling rejected by politics. Plato wrote many dialogues on history, philosophy, science, metaphysics, politics, religion and other subjects. The most famous is *The Republic*, which contains his philosophy, whose key point is "Justice is desirable because of its connection with the present." For Plato, *"Courage is knowing what not to fear."* **Applying Socratic dialogue/method in business** Use Socratic dialogue in a business meeting. For example, two individuals can discuss the same idea using the same words yet each may suggest different associations and meanings. Somehow, the discussion will lead them to derive different observations and inferences. Enabling members to share their thoughts would open to variation of possible solutions to a given problem. Socratic Method can also help the members of the group to understand difficult principles in business. For example, the business manager may pick employees at random and quick-fire them with questions the entire meeting. At the end of the day, the group will be able to gather varied authentic responses from the ground. **"If you love what you do, it will reflect in your work."**\ -- *[[https://www.workflowmax.com]](https://www.workflowmax.com) ARISTOTLE* **VI. Aristotle** was a Greek philosopher in the c384-322BC. He was a student of Plato\'s Academy and the tutor of Alexander the Great. Like the previous philosophers, he was also very concerned with ethics, which led him to invent a new scientific study called *CAUSALITY* -- the study of why things happen. According to him, *"Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all."* He emphasized that *"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."* Therefore, the heart should be the center of every business. Aristotle viewed businesses as self-created mini-societies, which are geared toward one goal which eventually will serve the larger goals such as the community, state, and society as a whole. He was also interested in defining principles in terms of the ethics of leadership. He believes that the ethical role of a business leader is NOT to enhance his or her own power but to create an environment where all members of the organization are given the opportunity to realize their own potential. Aristotle did raise a set of ethical questions directly relevant to corporate leaders who wish to behave in ethical ways. Here are some of the questions which might still be applicable today: - Am I behaving in a virtuous way? - How would I want to be treated if I am a member of this organization? - What opportunities are given to all employees to fully develop their talents and potential? - Are employees allowed to participate in decision making that may affect their work? **Applying causality in business**\ Understanding the connections of different variables, the causal relationship is something that can be used by any company. **Examples**: 1. Correlation between ice cream sales and temperature. Obviously, areas with warmer weather will reflect more sales. 2. During the extremely dry season, beverage sales spiked only experiencing downturn at the beginning of the wet season.