Yu Dan VS Simon Chen: Encounter of Tao and Management

February 4th, a cultural feast was held in Shenyang --- Management Forum featuring "New Light on Nonclassical management". The cast included some famous figures such as Yu Dan, Professor of Arts and Media College, Beijing Normal University, and Simon Chen, Board Chairman of EVOC Group. Yu Dan is a household name in China for her unique interpretation of the Analects of Confucius. On the forum, she spoke glowingly of EVOC' s innovative management from the angle of Chinese traditional culture.

EVOC' s road to success is dotted with wits and wisdoms on innovation, including technological innovation, innovation of management theories, innovation on market strategy and corporate culture. EVOC-New Light on Nonclassical Management expatiates upon management theories and management approaches that have been adopted by EVOC throughout its history. With a viewpoint inside the company, the author carried out in-depth discussion on EVOC' s innovative management concepts, covering strategy, branding, marketing and human resource management, as well as the strategic transformation for EVOC to move into second-phase development. The release of EVOC-New Light on Nonclassical Management reveals the courage, insight and pioneering spirit of a homegrown enterprise in the face of financial crisis, and the book' s overwhelming popularity reflects the vitality of Chinese private enterprises.

Professor Yu Dan says, "You may feel there is nothing special about EVOC' s nonclassical management at first sight, but there are elements coming from Chinese traditional culture from beginning to end. One of them is what Taoists advocate: 'To manage by doing nothing that is against nature' ". Management guru Peter Drucker once said: "Management is a kind of practice, whose nature is implementing, not just knowing the theory; Management is proved by the results rather than logic; Achievement is the only yardstick to measure the success of management." EVOC' s nonclassical management is exactly the embodiment of this flexible and practical thinking.

Professor Yu Dan points out, "Corporate management is all about managing people. Bad management can often be attributed to the managers' insufficient understanding of human nature. Seemingly without a set pattern of management, EVOC is leading in the cause of "Created-in-China" for its revolutionary new concept of management. By the style and features of EVOC people, we can understand characteristics and culture of the company and even feel the pulse of the trend."

Since its founding in 1993, EVOC has been growing and expanding at fantastic speed, and has emerged as a representative homegrown hi-tech enterprise, and a domestic market leader engaged in R&D, manufacturing, sales and system integration in the embedded and industrial computing industry. EVOC Group has made remarkable contribution to the development of domestic IPC industry and set an example for independent innovation of Chinese private enterprises. Simon Chen, Board Chairman of EVOC Group, remarked, "For the past 17 years, EVOC has grown from an agent to what it is today, an innovation-oriented company. What I found in retrospect is that the nonclassical management of EVOC and the prevalent Chinese-style management happen to share some similarities. However, non-classical management is more suitable for homegrown enterprises, especially for a growing company like EVOC."

"Classical management" originated in the west where commodity economy was established earlier. From Taylors management theory to Peter Senges vision of learning organizations, management theories in the west have come a long way. An increasing number of Chinese enterprises have copied management models and practices of successful companies of the west. Some of them benefited, but more got lost. As opposed to classical management from the west, non-classical management is an update version made by Chinese enterprises to adapt to practical situations in Chinese market. Part of the content of non-classical management has never been covered by classical management theories, but has been proved effective and practicable.

During the event, there was a book presentation ceremony where Prof. Yu Dan signed on and presented copies of her books to her fans in Shenyang. Simon Chen also personally handed out copies of the book EVOC-New Light on Nonclassical Management for free to hospitable Shenyang audience.