China is known as being a modern super economic power; however, the philosophers by whom the businessmen in China follow are anything but modern. Chinese businesses have adapted the teachings of ancient philosophers and use their wisdom to transform themselves into excellent companies. Several Chinese companies are Fortune 500 companies - and these companies have gotten to their positions because of adapting these philosophies. Overseas Chinese are early adopters of the ancient Chinese philosophers have benefited and controlled the economies in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong, etc. One of the greatest transformational leaders in China was Admiral Zheng He. His experiences and lessons learnt have echoed down throughout history. His approach to peace, in a time of war, is actually utilized quite regularly in boardrooms albeit not as well known as Sun Zi. Zheng He is considered a business transformation guru and his techniques used to garner hundreds of fleet of ships and thousands of people to take the risk to travel with him in treacherous seas and faraway lands. And Zheng He left behind goodwill with all the countries that he visited. This is corporate transformation at its best. By gleaning from Zheng He, we can follow his footsteps for our business life. Zheng He, along with several other Chinese philosophers have transformed the way the Chinese do business. This book looks at his life and teachings, along with several other well-known philosophers' lives such as Sun Zi, Confucius etc, and shows how we can utilise these great teachers' techniques and teachings in our business life . May the wisdom and lessons of ancient Chinese teachings guide you and prepare you for business and beyond.
About the Author: Dr Mike Teng is the author of a best-selling book "Corporate Turnaround: Nursing a sick company back to health," in 2002. His book is endorsed by management guru Professor Philip Kotler and business tycoons Mr Oei Hong Leong and Dr YY Wong. He subsequently authored more than twenty seven management books. He was the national trainer appointed by the Singapore government to train displaced CEOs/ senior managers and deploy them to run Small Medium Size companies. He has more than 30 years of experience in starting new plants, strategic planning, operational management responsibilities in the Asia Pacific region. Of these, he held Chief Executive Officer's positions for 20 years in multi-national and publicly listed companies. He also used to advise several boards of directors of publicly-listed companies. Dr Teng served as the Executive Council member for fourteen years and the last four years as the President of the Marketing Institute of Singapore (2000 - 2004), the national marketing association. He is currently the President of the National University of Singapore MBA Alumni and the University of South Australia alumni as well as serving as the Chairman of the Chartered Management Institute, Singapore Branch. Dr Teng holds a Doctor in Business Administration (DBA) from the University of South Australia, Master in Business Administration (MBA) and Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering (BEng) from the National University of Singapore. He is also a Professional Engineer (P Eng, Singapore), Chartered Engineer ( C Eng, UK) and Fellow Member of several prestigious professional institutes namely, Chartered Institute of Marketing (FCIM), Chartered Management Institute (FCMI), Institute of Mechanical Engineers (FIMechE), Marketing Institute of Singapore (FMIS), Institute of Electrical Engineers (FIEE) and Senior Member of Singapore Computer Society (SMSCS). He is also a Practising Management Consultant (PMC) certified by the Singapore government.