向在地震中遇难的同胞表示沉重的哀悼
对于在灾难中失去亲人,朋友的同胞表示深切同情
祝福幸存的同胞们自强不息,努力创造奇迹,重建家园
言语在这一刻感觉微不足道,只希望能够尽绵薄之力,为同胞们恢复生活,恢复生产给以支持。
I.
Introduction: The Problem of Fragmentation (Disintegration)
In recent years we have been developing an
approach to social and economic transformation that builds on an integrated
perspective. Through this approach we aim to integrate the level of the
individual, the organization, and the society, as well as the four societal
(organizational) dimensions of:
• Nature (animate)• Culture (civic)• Politics
(public)• Economics (private/business)
[Source: The Practice of Transformation].
It is an approach that is equally rooted in the
four corners of our world (South, East, North and West) [Source: Four World
Approach], which means that we root our educational programs as well as the
transformational projects that go along with them, in their local context
before tapping into global knowledge. It is this development of an integrated
perspective (conceptually and practically) that we call genuine Social and
Economic Transformation.
We purposefully talk about transformation, not
about change. Take, as an illustration, the case of the butterfly. Here,
transformation is the process of a caterpillar transforming gradually into a
butterfly, arriving at a totally different stage. Change, to stay with this
metaphor, is the small caterpillar growing into a big one. We argue that mere
change -- a bigger caterpillar, as it were -- is not enough. Rather, we need to
work towards a new organizational and societal form, where the formerly
fragmented perspective of organization, self or society on the one hand, or the
sectoral fragmentation into either economics (private business), politics
(public), culture (civic) or nature (animate) on the other hand, is altogether
overcome.
All too often today there is a tendency to use the
terms economy and society as equivalent terms, in which case we overlook the
other equally important aspects of society, which are its environment (nature),
its culture (civic sector), its public (political) sector and, of course, its
economic (private) sector. This common oversight is a clear expression of how
far we have come in defining ourselves, our organizations and societies in
purely economic terms.
We are suffering from a fragmented perspective on
the world as a whole, where the West, at least in the past few hundred years,
took the lead. The result is totally unbalanced globalization that is dominated
mainly by the west and chiefly by economics. And we are painfully aware,
especially today, where we are missing out in relation to our environmental,
cultural and political dimensions. Samuel Huntington's Clash of
Civilizations is only one of the scenarios that seems to have become all
too true.
We have, up to now, been mainly building on case
studies of organizations based in the Middle East (e.g., Sekem, Egypt; source:
Abouleish, Sekem), the USA (VISA; source: Dee Hock, Chaordic Organization and
One From Many), South Africa (e.g. Cashbuild; source: Koopman), Bangladesh
(Grameen Bank; source: Yunus) and in Japan (Canon; source: Canon).
So far, we have not come across a major
organization in

The Daoist Principle of Yin and Yang is perhaps
the most powerful and well known example for a philosophical perspective that
aims to dynamically balance opposing forces. According to Daoism, the world is
made up of two energies: There is the male (Yang) and the female (Yin), the day
(Yang) and the night (Yin). These two energies are opposite forces but deeply
rely on each other.With Broad Air Conditioning we have identified a
powerful case of an organization that strives to stay in balance with its
different inner and outer dimensions, in an organizational (micro) context, and
in a societal (macro) context as well. It shows that if an organization builds
on its local wisdom and is rooted in local nature and culture, it can
contribute strongly to a sustainable development not only of its economy, but
to society as a whole.
It is time now to introduce our integrated
perspective on organizations in more depth before we turn to our case.
The case of a Chinese organisation integrating
its private, public, civic and environmental activities, and, from there,
contributing to an integrated global perspective
If Broad Air Conditioning were a Western company, it would be extraordinary by triple-bottom-line standards. That it is a $2.2 billion (in assets) privately held Chinese company makes it remarkable sui generis by world standards.
Chinese culture is all about balanced relationships. Balance extends from the metaphysical to the physical to the interpersonal to the intrapersonal. For example,
Chinese medicine is based on the balance of energy flowing through corporal meridians that in turn flow from the Earth through a person and into the ether.
Clearly, the West has moved out of balance: hence the rise of the sustainability
movement. In their pall mall frantic rush to 10% economic growth, the Chinese too have moved dangerously away from this equilibrium. They are doing what we have done, only faster.
This is the case study of a unique, visionary leader with a profound philosophy.
Broad is the world leader in its category, creating products that are not only environmentally neutral, but actually positive.
In coming decades we can anticipate the Chinese will have the power to export
their ideas, not just their manufactures. What can you glean from Broad Air Conditioning now?
Content Overview
I. Introduction: The Problem of Fragmentation (Disintegration)
II. From Fragmentation to Integration:
A Four-Fold Model of the Integrated Enterprise
III. Fourfold in Action:
Broad Air Conditioning as a Chinese Case for an Integrated Enterprise
IV. A Broad Conclusion:
The Integrated Organization, Rooted in Local Identity and
Reaching for Global Integrity
Introduction another Co-author
Dr. Alexander Schieffer is managing partner of
This blog aimed to share what I've
seen and discovered the stories of establishing a good, successful business in
After studied in Economic and
Business in Business School in UK, I would never thought one day I would got myself
into the field of experiencing Internet applications and technologies applied
in different markets with the cultural conflicts arising, those just sound very
complicated, However, by chance, I've got this job that was to provide investment
opportunity research and consultancy to an international venture capital firm focus
on Internet and tech industry, also assistant them to manage their portfolio and
ongoing projects in China. Once touched this area, I felt the excitement and
creativeness to encourage further research on this field, there are so many
people in different life stages, work very hard to develop good technology and
create cool applications on Internet and wires in
Learned knowledge for me has four
layers, top soil (technology, application), sub soil (economy), bedrock
(society, culture) and core (culture spirit, human nature), making up the truth
and the energy of underlying egg-caterpillar-pupa- butterfly transformation, I
hold this blog as a place of discovering truth, interacting thoughts, and
collectively creating new knowledge, although I may not be the best person to
talk about the secrets of having a successful business and of course the
language here is imperfect, I will be motivated to blog what I have seen and
experienced in China with your support. Hey! Transying, this URL comes with the
wishes that my life will be transforming with this blog.