Chapter 5 Chapter Two Different Forms of Management System Spring and Autumn and Warring States

After the "collapse" of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the princes became independent one after another, and thus entered the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period with many countries.During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, small companies established independently by Zhou people's branches merged for a while.Take Qi State as an example. Its territory was originally only in the territory of today’s Shandong Province. However, after the collapse of the Western Zhou Dynasty and their independence, Qi no longer cared about favors, annexed many neighboring small countries, and established its own not-so-small territory, including not only the entire The Shandong Peninsula also extends to occupy the territory of the Yi people. Generally speaking, the territory of Qi State was established by merging small countries.When the territory reaches a certain level, Qi people can no longer use the original feudal system to manage the country, but must adopt a more streamlined management class.Therefore, compared with Lu, Song, Zheng and other countries that still follow the feudal system, Qi made a major reform of the management system in the era of Duke Huan of Qi.Duke Huan of Qi was the first overlord among the Five Hegemons, and he had a very important courtier Guan Zhong, who became the CEO of Qi State, that is, the executive officer.This phenomenon itself represents the destruction of the original system: Although Guan Zhong may not be lowly in blood, he is actually quite poor and must rely on his own ability to climb up step by step.

At that time, there were many princes in Qi State vying for the seat of the monarch of Qi State. In the end, Duke Huan of Qi won it, and Guan Zhong was the subordinate of his opponent, Prince Jiu.After Duke Huan of Qi obtained the status of monarch, he hoped to find a very capable minister to assist him. At this time, one of his ministers, Bao Shuya, was a good friend with Guan Zhong, so he said to Duke Huan of Qi, "I think Guan Zhong is very good." A suitable candidate, but I don’t know if you can accept your opponent’s subordinates.” Duke Huan of Qi said: “I can accept him, although he almost killed me once.” ——Guan Zhong once shot an arrow at Duke Huan of Qi Luckily, the shot only hit the shoulder strap of Duke Huan of Qi's military uniform on the chest.Even though Guan Zhong almost killed Duke Huan of Qi, Duke Huan of Qi still used him because he knew that Guan Zhong was a very talented person.In this way, Guan Zhong worked under Duke Huan of Qi and became the CEO of Duke Huan of Qi.The cooperation between the two of them was very close, and Duke Huan of Qi authorized Guan Zhong to reform the management structure of Qi State.The main reform is the system. Guan Zhong combined the management system and the market, turning the market into a resource.Guan Zhong divided the people of the country into 21 units (townships), of which six units were exempted from military service; they were producers, craftsmen and merchants, and they produced for the country full-time.The other 15 units are peasants, engaged in production, but also have to perform military service.Scholars are the grassroots cadres of the country.Guan Zhong thus divided the state into fifteen usable units—its "clients" who were also promoters.

Qi State opened up more new markets and conquered other countries, making Qi State not only have a large territory directly under its jurisdiction, but also a wider territory under its influence and command.Qi became the overlord, and many small countries were attached to Qi and became Qi's "subsidiaries".In this way, with the customer as the salesman, Duke Huan of Qi became the de facto ruler of North China. No matter which country had difficulties, even the Zhou Dynasty, which was only in name, Qi would help.Duke Huan of Qi once led five armies composed of fifteen units to conquer the east and west. The main task was to resist the invasion of Rongyi in the north and the expansion of Chu in the south, so as to preserve the peace of China in the north.North China has become his vast market. In this way, he has opened up dozens of times his original territory and established a new hegemony system. This is a very different way from the past.

In addition, industrial and commercial people in Qi State did not need to fight wars, but became specialized producers: salt production, pottery making, textiles, etc., and all other commodities that could be sold.Qi uses nearly one-third of the country's people to produce commodities. This is a new form, which is very different from the past when agriculture was the foundation of the country's economy.To explain it from the perspective of an enterprise, it is not only to open up the market, but also to find new raw materials and new production methods to increase its own capital.It employs specialized producers, grants them the privilege of being exempt from military service, and develops and produces commodities that are not only sufficient for self-sufficiency, but also for export.At that time, the salt, salted products, and textiles of Qi State were sold all over China.In this way, human resources were used to open up new territories, and economic resources were used to expand capital, which made the northern and Chinese countries at that time bow their heads.This is a new way of doing business.Qi's army is also formed in a new way. Instead of nobles as soldiers, civilians are used as soldiers. One soldier is drawn from each household, and the country has a pension system for the casualties.The expansion of the source of soldiers is tantamount to turning customers into shareholders. There is no such example in the current enterprises in Taiwan.When Ford was first established, it took its own workers as a new market and produced civilian cars so that the working class could afford their cars. It can be said that it is a similar example to position customers as its employees.

As the CEO of Qi State, Guan Zhong's policy is to reduce the privileges of nobles and employ a large number of people with expertise.He has trained many people with special talents around him, some are good at fighting, some are good at planning, and some are good at sending missions. Every time he implements a policy, he will discuss it with the people around him, that is, he organizes a cadre The team helps the CEO.The chairman Qi Huangong also granted Guan Zhong full authority to carry out these reforms.At this time, the state of Qi explained the legitimacy of its hegemony by using the slogan of "respecting the king": Heaven sent the mandate to the king of Zhou, and the king of Zhou recognized the status of the overlord, that is, the mandate of heaven was indirectly handed over to the overlord through the recognition of the king of Zhou.This is the orthographic trademark he got, and he also got the exclusive right at that time.

After the Qi State dominated for a generation, the succeeding Jin State fully accepted the Qi State's model, and since then there has been a so-called hegemony.What is the reason for Qi's failure?Duke Huan of Qi used Guan Zhong so much, but he did not give him the status of a nobleman, but paid him very high, so Guan Zhong was quite rich and luxurious.Guan Zhong's reform also offended the nobles of Qi.After Guan Zhong's death, there was no suitable candidate to replace Guan Zhong.Guan Zhong originally trained a successor, Xi Peng, but unfortunately Xi Peng died early.When Guan Zhong was seriously ill, Duke Huan of Qi asked who could take his place. Although Guan Zhong was dissatisfied with the candidates of Duke Huan of Qi, he thought they all had shortcomings in moral character, but he couldn't propose a suitable candidate.Therefore, after Guan Zhong's death, Duke Huan of Qi had to use those experts to replace the all-round Guan Zhong, but nothing happened.After the death of Duke Huan of Qi, none of the five sons was trained as a successor who could inherit the throne, but all of them wanted to snatch the throne of the monarch.The princes fought, and even Qi Huangong's body was covered with maggots, but no one buried it.In this way, neither the general manager nor the chairman had a suitable successor, and Qi's dominance collapsed.

From this we can know that for a company to operate for a long time, it is very important to train successors.Most entrepreneurs don't think of this. The general manager always regards the deputy general manager as a threat, but he doesn't think that he is the person who will take over his position in the future.Therefore, finding a second general manager and second chairman early is something that all companies should be vigilant about. Although Qi State lost its hegemony status, the economic foundation established before that has made Qi State a very prosperous and powerful country. It has always been the second largest country in Northern China, and it is also the only one that can say "no" to Jin State, the leader of the Central Plains. nation.In Qi State, the internal organization has always been quite tight.In the state of Qi in the late Spring and Autumn Period, there was a Yan Ying, a native of Dongyi in Shandong, who was born in a humble family and was valued for his talent. He once served as the prime minister of the three dynasties.Yan Ying lived a frugal life with high moral character.In "Zuo Zhuan", there is a short story about Yan Ying in the 20th year of Zhao Gong.At that time, there was a favorite minister of Qihou, and Qihou liked him very much. He once told Yan Ying that he got along very well with this person, which means "harmony" in ancient Chinese. Yan Ying replied, "That's not 'harmony', it's 'same' , what the king says, he says, it is not good for the king. Just like we don’t add salt to the cooking, it doesn’t all taste the same, and we don’t just use the same scale when listening to music. We hope that the dishes are different Music has different scales, and the policies of the DPRK and China also have many different opinions and ideas. Only by gathering everyone’s opinions can we make the best decision. A beautiful song, this is 'harmony'. If you say something today, everyone agrees, this is 'sameness'. Everyone has only one opinion, and the national policy will not be perfect, so there must be people who are harmonious but different in the DPRK and China. It is the foundation of the king’s governance.” Harmony without diversity is a very important concept in business management.It is necessary to accommodate opinions from various aspects and angles, so that the questions can be answered satisfactorily.

Yan Ying is famous for his love of talents, and he also respects talents very much. Once he saw a man tied up for debts on the street——Yue Shifu. After talking with him, Yan Ying found that he was very A talented person immediately redeemed him with his own horse and recruited him by his side.But Yue Shifu didn't go to visit Yan Ying, and Yan Ying didn't visit Yue Shifu either.Suddenly one day, Father Yue Shi said that he wanted to break off friendship with Yan Ying. Yan Ying was quite surprised, and he redeemed Father Yue Shi, but why did he say that he wanted to break off friendship? Could it be that he had done something impolite?Yan Ying hurried to ask Father Yue Shi why.Father Yue Shi said: "You didn't know me at first, and you didn't know that I was a talented person, so you could ignore me, but now you know that I am a talented person, but you don't listen to what I think, so I want to be with you. You break up the relationship." Yan Ying immediately invited Father Yueshi to sit up and listened carefully to his views on the country's political affairs.Therefore, it is very important to use talents. You can be eclectic, but you must respect talents and have proper courtesy.If a talented person does not have self-respect and self-respect, he may not be a real talented person.Today, many entrepreneurs hold the mentality of "I will reward you with a bite" when recruiting talents, and lack fundamental respect, so that they cannot recruit real talents.

A person who insults himself will not really do things for the country; a person who insults others will not really do things for the country. Yan Ying is also very good at admonishing Qihou with clever words.Generally speaking, it is not easy for a prime minister to persuade the king to be obedient. It takes skill to ask the king who is more than ten thousand to understand his mistakes.Yan Ying would often take the opportunity to express his opinions.Because Yan Ying was very poor, Qi Hou built a house for him, but Yan Ying moved back to his original residence after three days.Qi Hou was very puzzled and asked Yan Ying why.Yan Ying replied that he used to be very poor, so he paid attention to the market price, and living in his hometown close to the market would help him understand the current market price.Qi Hou asked Yan Ying how the current market price was, and Yan Ying replied: "Now shoes are cheap, but prosthetic limbs are expensive." This is because Qi Hou severely punished people's feet at that time.Yan Ying took the opportunity to let Qihou know his mistake.Therefore, it is also a science for the general manager to let the chairman understand his own mistakes. How to take care of the boss's emotions and face is to give advice with skills and methods, so that he can see his own shortcomings and correct them.

There should be a clear separation of power between monarchs and prime ministers.Almost everyone maintains that the sovereignty of the monarch is complete, but the sovereignty of the monarch should not be used to test administrative affairs.The sovereignty of the monarch means that when the government fails, he can decide to change the ruling team.The sovereignty of the monarch can only be used for supervision and should not be used directly for administration.No matter how sharp the blade is, it cannot withstand constant abuse until the sovereignty itself is blunted, has no credibility, and has no majesty.Therefore, there should be a difference in the division between monarchs and phases.No matter in terms of law, system, organization, or function, almost no school of thought claims that the master of sovereignty, Tongjun, is directly in power, so that there is no room for change.From the perspective of administrative theory, the upper levels cannot interfere with the lower levels, and those in power should obtain clear authorization. Within the scope of authorization, the higher levels cannot interfere.Good execution can be rewarded, and improper execution can be punished. Regularly assess whether the actions are in line with the authorization commitments and the powers that the position should have. Only in this way can there be a good division of labor.Otherwise, if one department infringes on the power of another department, or the higher-ups infringes on the lower-level powers, the parties concerned will not know how to do things.

Scholars of Legalism in ancient China often discussed that a state machine should have a clear division of labor between upper and lower classes and the same class; they also discussed how to assess and how to use experts to do specialized work.Using experts to do work that is not their expertise is not only a waste of talents, but also reduces the efficiency of the state machinery.These legalist theories are in line with the principle of "delegating due to power" in today's management theory.Looking back at today's society, people in the government often do not use what they have learned, and their talents do not match their positions.This kind of situation is usually caused by the person in power, who has the ability to fully manipulate if he wants to prove that Tianwei is unpredictable.The cooperation of many people must be more capable than one person, turning an effective machine into one person's speech. If the company does this, it will definitely collapse; if the country does this, it will consume all its strength and miss many opportunities.This is the fault of executives who use their own authority. The other form is the incompetent supervisor, who is afraid that others are more capable than himself, and afraid that others will do better than himself, so as long as he sees a person performing well, he will be replaced.Usually this kind of executive also listens to villains and likes flatterers.People who hold power in the world can't fall into the above two situations. One is that they are too capable, and one person manages the affairs of the world. As a result, he alone manages the affairs of the world, and others can't use them, and misses the affairs of the world; It is the incompetent who should not overcome the capable.Regardless of the situation, there are examples in Taiwan society today. The many remarks of the Legalists in the Warring States Period were a preparatory work, the last stage of the transition from the feudal system to the implementation of the civil service system in the Zhou Dynasty.Interestingly, these principles and ethics are almost parallel, some start from the administrative aspect, some start from the theory, scholars and administrators are exploring the same direction.They are all exploring how to maximize the effectiveness of their country's human and material resources in an era of fierce competition.We know that to maximize effectiveness, the most important thing is to use human resources. On the one hand, put talents in the best place, and on the other hand, reduce internal friction.The abilities of talents are used where they should be used, rather than being wasted on unnecessary gear belts of state machinery.Therefore, there must be a supervisor, and the supervisor should not create additional layers in giving orders.There should not be too many layers in the organization. Too many layers will cause delays, errors, and distortions in the order transfer process. The supervisor is preferably not a level in the executive hierarchy organization, but a volley.The two tracks of administration and oversight are preferably separate.Often a supervisor stays in one place for a long time and becomes the one giving orders, because the supervised are afraid that the supervisor will make a report that is not good for him, so they will naturally obey the supervisor's orders.It may be better to assign appointments in the form of special business inspections than long-term supervisors. This is a supervisory system that plays a very important role in the Chinese civil service system, and it is a track for evaluation and follow-up.This system appeared quite late in the history of Western European countries, but it is a very important point in modern organizational management.