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In preparing managers for the uncertainty, threats and opportunities posed by the challenge of frequent and unexpected changes in organizations and markets, an alternative to a traditional Western viewpoint is a holistic approach that embodies balance and harmony, sees more subtle relationships and avoids the tensions of opposites. The purpose of this paper is to report the derivation and application of six holistic principles for management development (quieting the mind, harmony and balance, relinquishing the desire to control, transcending the ego, centeredness, and the power of softness) derived from a non‐Western philosophy.

The six principles were implemented in a management development program in a small high‐tech company. The reported effects upon the managers' role perceptions and behaviors were captured in immediate and delayed evaluations by means of face‐to‐face interviews.

The analysis of the interview data identified four underlying values that managers reported emerging from their involvement in the program: emotional awareness, shared perspectives, interpersonal sensitivity and benevolence and fulfilment.

The research is an action‐based single case study which was evaluated longitudinally using participants' perceptions. Further work is now required to apply these principles more widely and assess them using pre‐ and post‐test measures of attitudes and behaviors and upward/360 degree assessments.

The broader impact of a holistic approach for management development in terms of personal and spiritual fulfilment as well as its significance of corporate issues is discussed.

The paper presents a challenging and innovative approach to developing managers holistically and provides a counterbalance to the predominant approach of much management education and development.

Any university library classification scheme must be capable of dealing not only with those subjects which are being taught but also with those which might be added to the curriculum in the future, and ideally it should arrange them in a way which is related to the needs of the teaching departments.

The purpose of this paper is to address several challenges faced by organizational management in the contemporary context, and how managers can better reply to management challenges by integrating oriental and occidental philosophy and wisdom.

The paper first describes the characteristics of the contemporary management context and identifies challenges that managers are likely to encounter. The paper then investigates how oriental and occidental philosophy and wisdom reply to these management challenges, whilst also considering the relative advantages and disadvantages of both traditions. Based on the complementarity of these two traditions, the paper finally proposes a framework that integrates both oriental and occidental wisdom by HeXie Management Theory to better respond to management challenges.

The contemporary organizational environment is characterized by four key salient components: complexity, change, ambiguity, and uncertainty (CCAU). Managers are challenged by problems of determining causality, managing holistically, and adaptation to rapid change. Western philosophical approaches to confronting management challenges arising from CCAU, inherent in the wider economic environment, emphasize standardization and rational design on the basis of science, law, and religion. Conversely, Oriental philosophical approaches to management challenges oppose such rigid systems in favour of flexibility and adaptability which emphasize harmony and morality. Essentially, whereas western thought intends to limit the occurrence of unpredicted events through the development of scientific systems, oriental thinking aims to provide a flexible and fluid system which absorbs the effects of CCAU, thus limiting and using its impact. These two perspectives both have their own advantages and disadvantages when facing management challenges in the context of CCAU. By integrating these two complementary approaches, the authors propose HeXie Management Theory (HXMT). HXMT establishes a clear vision and mission to direct the development of organizations; to organize an integrated management system through the HeXie Theme and HeXie Coupling, and to apply the component “He Principle” and “Xie Principle” as basic mechanisms to cope with management challenges.

This study contributes to research on relationships between organizations and environment by providing a holistic analysis, and adds knowledge about how to reply to management challenges by constructing ambidextrous organizations based on HeXie Management Theory.

Considers the application of oriental philosophy Lao Tzu′s Tao Te Ching – to real estate marketing management, in order to enhance the effectiveness of the manager′s leadership role.

The mundane and expanded marketing mix concept has an important role in Western marketing literature for both tangible products and intangible services. The nine Ps – namely promotion, product, price, place, process management, personnel, physical facilities, public relations and power – are now the foundation for strategic planning in many companies. While the marketing mix concept remains an important framework for the Western world, its contribution towards the latter′s declining economic prowess in recent years appears minimal. On the other hand, the East Asian economic powerhouse has grown from strength to strength. This can be attributed in no small way to certain oriental traditions and philosophies – not the least of which is Sun Tzu′s The Art of War. Although The Art of War is now more than 2,000 years old, it remains the cornerstone for strategic planning in the East. Attempts to integrate the Western marketing mix concept with The Art of War from the East using examples drawn from the construction industry in Singapore. The lessons to be learned therefore should be useful for strategic planners in the Western marketing community.

Indicates that literature on facilities management is written from a Western perspective with no reference to practices in the East: therefore suggests there is profit in integrating Oriental thinking with Western thinking. Takes the ideas of philosopher Lao Tzu and incorporates them with Western thinking to enhance the leadership effectiveness of the facilities manager. Concentrates on the text of the book Tao Te Ching and relates the ideas to management. Provides a summary of the main points of the 37 chapters in book I of Tao Te Ching and provides lessons from the 44 chapters of book II. Concludes that Lao Tzu′s teaching holds a wisdom for the modern team leader but suggests Western facilities management should take note as Western notions of ethics and leadership qualities have already caused erosion of Taoism and Confucianism in the East.

The purpose of this article, based on the Indian philosophy of Karma that all individual actions have the power to bring joy or sorrow based on the nature of action, is to propose a new construct, salesperson's Karma Orientation, and discuss its antecedents and outcomes.

The paper reviews literature on oriental philosophy of Karma yoga, and on self‐leadership, and self‐control to propose the new construct, its antecedents, and consequences in a sales context.

The paper puts forward four dimensions of Karma orientation of salespersons: work as selfless action, work as duty towards others, detachment from work‐related rewards, and equanimity under environmental influences. Salesperson's Karma orientation is useful for developing relationship with customers, enhances selling effectiveness, ethical behaviors, and spiritual well‐being, by providing the salespersons with a sense of duty, and ownership towards their work.

The concept of Karma orientation would be useful for stressful jobs such as sales, and managers would find it useful as a coping strategy, as well as for improving performance of employees.

The paper proposes a new construct of Karma orientation at an individual boundary spanning sales employee's level. The paper also propose its important antecedents and outcomes.

This study aims to evaluate the correlation of Chinese philosophy to the process of tourism development. The current Chinese philosophy involves three influential ideologies: Chinese Confucianism, Chinese communism and Western capitalism, which significantly affect people's perspectives, behaviors and importantly, the whole tourism system.

This study conducted 47 semi‐structured in‐depth interviews through field visits, in order to understand people's perspectives and social interactions in the tourism development process. The case study is based on the Hubin Street Project of Hangzhou, China.

The study finds that all three ideologies in Chinese philosophy have strong influences in the decision making processes of tourism development. They result in a relatively centralized decision‐making power centre, and increasing decentralized needs from the society.

This research helps to understand the reasons for social actions in China's tourism development from a different perspective, the philosophy. The study gives implications for other researches to further explore the relationship between ideologies and behavior.

The influences of Chinese philosophy to social actions could be even more complicated. More case studies could reflect different situations and more in‐depth views.

Paradox theory looks at ambidexterity as a set of paradoxical yet interrelated demands. A form of response to such paradoxes is transcendence. Currently, there is limited understanding of the concept among researchers. Using concepts from the Indian philosophy of Advaita Vedanta, this paper aims to provide a deeper understanding of transcendence, highlight some of the epistemological challenges it presents and suggest ways in which the concept can be used by practitioners and ambidexterity researchers.

The paper uses concepts and theories from advaitic episteme to look at concepts of paradox and transcendence. The method of adhyaropa–apavada is introduced as a way to help individuals get a transcendental perspective of paradoxes. The application of the method is demonstrated using secondary data from published research on ambidexterity management.

It is postulated that transcendence is an “intuitive experience” born out of reflexive thinking. The dialectic of adhyaropa–apavada (affirmation followed by recension) is suggested as a pedagogical tool that can promote reflexive thinking.

The paper significantly adds to the theoretical understanding of paradoxes and transcendence in ambidexterity literature. The paper also makes a strong pedagogical contribution to literature by suggesting the dialectic of adhyaropa–apavada that can be used by managers to promote reflexive thinking among subordinates when faced with paradoxical situations.

This paper aims at building up a comprehensive framework for integrating existing leadership theories from the perspective of Taoism, the well‐known oriental philosophy, characterized by a dialectic thinking system. With sufficient evidence demonstrated, it argues that a Taoism‐oriented model of leadership offers a complementary lens, through which leadership insights can be deepened, and may serve as an effective tool for adaptive leaders in a world where change is the only constant.

Through an in‐depth analysis of the principles of Taoism, and the concepts of leadership studies, it establishes a Taoism‐oriented model of leadership to integrate the current major schools of leadership studies.

The model of traits of successful leaders based on Taoism has satisfactorily solved the conflicts between different perspectives of leadership studies and provided a dynamic framework to guide leaders to keep up with the organizational changes.

The paper is only a rudimentary one that needs further exploration: for example, when external contexts of leadership are introduced, the current model would appear, in different patterns, to accommodate greater contextual complexities.

The model of traits of successful leaders based on Taoism will contribute to a greater understanding of an organization for different leadership styles. It will potentially serve as an effective tool for the selection of appropriate leaders for an organization and for building up an effective leadership team to accommodate the rapid changes of the organization.

This paper is an initial attempt to bridge leadership studies of east and west via the perspective of Taoism, which contributes to an integrating framework to accommodate different schools of leadership studies.