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Low Sui Pheng School of Building and Estate Management, National University of Singapore, Singapore Ben S.K. Lee School of Building and Estate Management, National University of Singapore, Singapore
States that much of the existing management literature was written entirely from a Western perspective without any reference to practices in the East. Explains that, in the booming East Asian market, project managers from the West would need to pay special attention to Oriental beliefs, cultures and philosophies. Attempts, for the purpose of integration, to put together the managerial grid framework from the West with an ancient Chinese strategic treatise written by Zhuge Liang 1,600 years ago. Suggests that there are many similarities between the Managerial grid and Zhuge Liangs Art of management when used to resolve problems related to project management.
may be handicapped by their lack of relevance when applied in the Eastern context. The aim of this paper is to provide an insight into how effective project management can be achieved by integrating Zhuge Liangs Art of management with the Managerial grid propounded by two management theorists from the West, namely Blake and Mouton (1964). It seeks to examine the basic principles of the ancient Art of management and the Managerial grid for integration and establish their relevance for project management. In the process, it will apply these two works to problems commonly encountered in project management.
Introduction
The Chinese expression Shang Chang Ru Zhan Chang is translated to mean the marketplace is a battleeld. Because the marketplace, in the eyes of the Chinese, is a battleeld, military strategies are held in high esteem for guiding business operations. Many of the principles enunciated in military strategies are, in fact, already commonly applied in Chinese societies, among which are the 16 strategies found in Zhuge Liangs Art of management. Zhuge Liang was a prominent statesman during the period of the Three Kingdoms (AD220-280). Since Zhuge Liangs philosophy follows the Taoist concept which portrays interrelatedness and relativity, according to which there is no absolute good or bad thing in the world, this would mean that his strategies are not limited only to military affairs but are equally applicable in many different elds, including project management. Similarities which may be drawn between project management and military strategy include: organizations must be well organized and managed; organizations and wars require strategies and tactics; the leadership of an army and an enterprise has an important inuence in shaping success; they both need high quality and committed people; they both thrive on information. Zhuge Liangs Art of management contains specic strategies for governing a country . This can be used to overcome the obstacles one would encounter when ruling a country just as a project manager would face obstacles in managing a project. Lau (1996), in examining the management styles of indigenous bumiputra contractors in Malaysia, has suggested the adoption of Zhuge Liangs 16 strategies by these contractors in overcoming their weaknesses. It is the contention of this paper that much more could be gained if Western management wisdom could be cross-fertilized with Oriental thinkings and philosophies. Without this integration, Western management principles
Management Decision 35/5 [1997] 382391 MCB University Press [ISSN 0025-1747]
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Low Sui Pheng and Ben S.K. Lee Managerial grid and Zhuge Liangs Art of management: integration for effective project management Management Decision 35/5 [1997] 382391
20 years, he devoted himself ardently to internal reforms with an attitude of sincerity, strict in manner but merciful in action. With an emphasis on the penal code and economic development, the nation under the governance of Zhuge Liang grew rapidly . To seek unity, he rst pacied the disturbance in the south and then undertook several expeditions to restore central China. Although he did not succeed in reviving the Han Dynasty, he achieved considerable distinction as an outstanding statesman and military scientist. He also invented a distinguished attacking and defending formation known as Ba Zhen Tu. Apart from his royal virtues, Zhuge Liang exercised tremendous inuence in the political, military and literary history of China. In his life time, Zhuge Liang wrote many articles, among which Jiang Wan Wu Shi Pian (Fifty traits of a general) and The art of management sixteen strategies were two well-known military and political treatises (Wang, 1995).
sounds ignored. A wise ruler must, therefore, be able to pick out details from very small matters and be able to identify grievances behind a simple complaint. The idea is to use the stability of the internal to achieve the peace for the external and vice versa. An ability to see the brightness of daylight but not the suffering of subjects is not seeing. The same goes to being able to hear the thunder and not the crying of subjects is not hearing. Hence, the art of running a country is to be able to listen to the views and opinions of subordinates and ponder over them before committing to any actions. There is a saying that a wise man would not have any xed thinking, but adopt the views of others as his own. This does not mean that a ruler should be ckle-minded but rather he needs to have his own priorities and standards.
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committed in their endeavours. Likewise, when punishing a subordinate, he should also understand why he is being punished. In this way, people would be loyal to the ruler and adhere to his instructions.
Strategy 11 on emotions
A ruler should be dignied and not irascible. He should constantly be conscious of his own bearing and be in full control of himself. This means that he may still show his indignation but not lose his head. The essence of this strategy is such that the ruler must control himself both in times of happiness and anger. He may therefore be joyous but not frivolous. He should not jeopardize the countrys interest just for the sake of venting his personal grievances. Neither should he be preoccupied with his personal affairs so much so that he forgets about state administration.
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likely factors would affect the plan, one would be able to take the necessary precautions to prevent these factors from happening again. This is especially true of the ruler as all hopes of his subjects are on him. If he does not strive for advancement or plan ahead, the rest of the country will have to suffer under his poor leadership.
Strategy 16 observation
The essence of this strategy is that one should be observant in order to be able to compare and understand the characteristics of different people or environment so as to make the best out of them. For example, one need not go to a river to bathe as long as one can wash the dirt from ones body or to have a sage as a minister or a general as long as he is intelligent and capable. This means that a ruler should be able to put the talents of various people to good use so that they can contribute their best to the country This is because dif. ferent people have different experiences and capabilities. A clever leader should make use of the talents of various people to overcome difficulties.
ve are being distinguished as being of key importance. These are: 1,1 Impoverished management. Managers in this position have little concern for people or productivity, avoid taking sides and stay out of conicts. They do just enough to get by . 1,9 Country club management. Managers in this position have great concern for people and little for production. They avoid conicts and concentrate on being well liked. Their goal is to keep people happy . 9,1 Authority-compliance. Managers have great concern for production and little for people. They desire tight control in order to get tasks done efficiently They consider . creativity and human relations unnecessary . 5,5 Middle-of-the-road management. Also known as organization man management. Managers in this position have medium concern for people and production. They attempt to balance concern for both but are not committed to either. 9,9 Team management. This leadership style is considered ideal. Such managers have great concern for people and production and work to motivate employees to reach the highest levels of accomplishment. They are exible and responsive to change, and understand the need to change. Blake and Mouton (1964) concluded that the leadership style at grid position 9,9 (team management) is the most effective for organizations. The following sections examine the behavioural elements and principles of the 9,9 grid position and how these may be applied to project management.
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Figure 1 Managerial grid styles Concern for people 9 8 7 6 5 4 Impoverished management (1,1) 3 Effective production is unobtainable because people are lazy, apathetic and indifferent. Sound and mature 2 relationships are difficult to achieve because (human nature being what it is) conflict is inevitable 1 1 2 3 Concern for production 4 5 6 Dampened pendulum (5,5) (middle of the road.) Push for production but dont go all out. Give some but not all; be fair but firm Team management (9,9) Production is from integration of task and human requirements
Country club management (1,9) Production is incidental to lack of conflict and good fellowship
Task management (9,1) Men are a commodity just like machines. A managers responsibility is to plan, direct and control the work of those subordinated to him 7 8 9
that the various project team members are able to question regarding areas beyond their expertise. This would enable the project team members to view the problem from different perspectives and to solve it efficiently . Advocacy. Convictions are developed and expressed, and reservations are discussed in a logical and convincing manner. Strong advocacy increases the likelihood that every viewpoint receives the attention it merits. In this case, ideas and information would be presented quickly This approach . would enable the project manager to gain wide respect for his convictions, opinions and values which are being held unless there is contradictory evidence. Nevertheless, the project manager should also be open to alternative points of view so that he would not be viewed as being arrogant or rigid. Decisions. Decisions may be reached and made known in a way that appears almost off-hand, the reason being that by thorough inquiry and advocacy, a decision is selfevident rather than the leaders sole possession. When the decision affects various people, a 9,9 decision seeks understanding and agreement from the relevant people.
Critique. A 9,9 orientation includes the idea of feedback but goes beyond it to incorporate the larger concept of critique. Critique refers to the continuous examination and re-examination not only of decisions but also the how and why Continuous examina. tion ensures that the process is effective at all points. In the 9,9 orientation, critique is not restricted to the leader telling others what is being done well.
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access to the information that is pertinent to their interests and responsibilities. They can make maximum contribution only when the information required for sound thinking is made available to them. Complete, accurate and timely information is also necessary to co-ordinate the numerous operations in a project. The project manager would need to rely heavily on feedback from his project team members and thus if there is no liberal communication ow, the project manager would not be aware of what is going on. If information ows for a project can be streamlined, it also helps in the accumulation of detailed records to provide facts in case a dispute develops at a later stage. Conicts are solved by confrontation, with understanding and agreement as the basis of co-operative effort. It is inevitable that differences will arise when people get together to share ideas openly Choices must be nar. rowed and one selected from several. When conict becomes intense, mutual trust and respect can be severely eroded, communication distorted, and feelings of personal responsibility substantially reduced. Confrontation means taking a problem-solving approach to differences and identifying the underlying facts, logic or emotions that account for them. Conicts within a project team can best be avoided by careful planning. For example, the project manager must inform the project team where the project is heading, keeping the project team members updated on key decisions such as changes in objectives, changes in schedules or budget limits. With proper planning, the project manager can side-step the problem before it develops. Being responsible for ones own action represents the highest level of maturity and is only possible through widespread delegation of power and authority. The ability to make maximum contribution depends on one voluntarily and spontaneously exercising initiative. This is possible when the capacity for responsible action permeates through every level. Then opportunities to be more productive and creative can be acted on by those who see them. Shared participation in problem solving and decision making stimulates active involvement in productivity and creative thinking. This involves open, full involvement and commitment of ones resources. Participants feel that they have a stake in the outcome of a decision or an action, leading to the notion that people support what they help create. When team-wide understanding and agreement have been reached, a consensus is present, which is supported without reservations. Such shared participation stimulates the kind of creative
thinking that produces optimal solutions. Whitemore and Ibbetson (1972) indicated that the project manager should keep in mind that shared objectives and participation in decision making is the strongest motivation after money The project man. ager should initiate a policy that enables all his project team members to know the planning of work schedules and the technique of working. Thus the project manager is to enable the rest of the project team members to go beyond the project specication to the underlying reasons as to why the project is essential. Management by objectives (MBO). Management by objectives is the operational way of bringing a goals orientation into widespread use. This means that managers identify and agree on the goals that are to be pursued and set in motion concrete activities for achieving them. When commitment is attached to the goal, then one is drawn to it, seeks to achieve it, and makes the necessary effort to reach it. When MBO through goal setting is done in a sound manner, the goals of individuals and the goals of organization become more integrated and harmonious. Thus, in project management, the project manager should endeavour to formulate a common goal to be shared by all the project team members, so that all can view themselves as members of the same boat crossing a river. They would then be more likely to consider the difficulties faced as their own and be more willing to make personal sacrices when needed. Learning from work experience through critique. Critique is a process of stepping away from or interrupting an activity to study it in order to learn what is happening, or to see alternative solutions for improving performance and also, to anticipate and avoid activities that have adverse consequences. Critique is a natural way of reecting on what is happening or what has happened. When project team members have widespread understanding of and skills in utilizing critique, it becomes possible to accelerate the rate at which they learn and to progress. However, this may not be used if there is a crisis and the time needed for deliberation is unavailable.
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the East. Unlike the East, many authors in the West have examined the various traits and leadership styles of effective leaders. It may therefore be more practicable to link the strategies from the Art of management with the principles from the Managerial grid. Both the strategies and principles are then applied to resolve some of the problems that are commonly faced in, for example, a building project, and as identied by Bennett (1985). Figure 2 shows some of the major problems in project management identied by Bennett (1985). It also highlights the attempt at integrating the Art of management and the Managerial grid in resolving these problems
Differing perceptions
Perception is more than seeing. It involves seeing as. In other words, people interpret what they see in order to make sense out of it. As past experiences contain a vast amount of information, people tend to simplify and categorize what they can remember. From this, people tend to have a stereotyped view of a person based on past experiences with other people in that category This has seri. ous implications for professional relationships. Stereotyping of individuals based on professional labels would add to the difficulties that are hindering communication within the project team. Often, professionals fence around one another, trying to reach compromises, without openly discussing their views and concerns, and this often results in a failure to appreciate one anothers position. This can be seen, for example, in a meeting between an architect and a quantity surveyor to discuss the cost plan. The architect may perceive the cost plan by the quantity surveyor as an imposition on his design. He may feel that it is wrong for the quantity surveyor the only non-designing professional in the team to set the cost limits. However, the quantity surveyor may perceive that his cost plan will help the architect achieve a building that delivers value for money and with his all-round knowledge of construction, he should be able to make an impartial judgement on costs. Strategy 5 being perceptive indicates clearly that a ruler must be perceptive so that he may differentiate noise from melodies. It can be seen that different perceptions about the professionals may hinder the effectiveness of the project team. As mentioned in strategy 13 education and orders, the project manager should set good examples for the rest of the professionals to follow. Thus the project manager must be aware of what is happening in the project. Instead of just looking at the surface of conicts, he should ponder more deeply to seek out the actual reasons for the conicts. One of the ways is to listen attentively to the views of each professional and nd out the actual motive behind each move. Inquiry is also one of the ways of overcoming differences in perceptions. Moreover, inquiry under the 9,9 managerial grid style is often comprehensive and in depth. The problems faced would be analysed and this increases the chances of understanding the problem. This grid style would also enrich the quality of inquiry as it allows professionals to view the issue from each others perspective.
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Figure 2 Applying Managerial grid and Art of management for project management
Art of management Strategy one governing a country Strategy 14 dealing with difficulties
Differing perceptions
Lack of understanding
Inadequate co-ordination
Poor communication
the whole project. Different viewpoints from the professionals would prevent the project team from effectively working together. Thus, for example, architects are often criticized for being too concerned with aesthetics rather than buildability The quantity sur. veyor, on the other hand, is being criticized for taking a narrow nancial view of project
management. There are also considerable conicts and ambiguities in the professional roles. On the one hand, these roles may be rather rigid but they may also appear to be uncertain and subject to conicting pressures. There have been forces encouraging rigidity in professional roles such as the professional institutes, procurement methods
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and standard forms of contract. For instance, the standard form of contract lay down the roles precisely as to who is responsible to whom and for what. Thus, as a project manager, he would need to resolve this problem of lack of understanding among the professionals as it may lead to a series of technical problems that can be expensive and can delay the progress of the project. Strategy 6 managing people suggests that the project manager should educate the professionals on their roles and highlight what is expected from each professional. By educating and highlighting, it allows the professionals to appreciate each others role and respect it accordingly Similarly the principle of shared . , participation from the 9,9 grid style, may help to overcome the misunderstanding of the consultants role. Through shared participation, it can be ensured that the roles played by each profession are easily understood. Another way is through critique, where the project team members are able to move away from the happenings to view the project as a whole. This stepping away from an activity would enable the professionals to have a better understanding of the roles played by other professionals.
work sequences so that he would be able to foresee areas that need to be co-ordinated in order to prevent bottlenecks. Strategy 9 military administration states that any military move must be carefully planned and have the support of the people. It also implies that the project manager must have the support and understanding of his project team members before implementing any measures to enhance the co-ordination of works. In so far as the managerial grid style is concerned, the principles of shared participation and critique as applied above in lack of understanding are equally applicable here.
Poor communication
Professionals are frequently inundated with information. It comes in quickly, often poorly presented and requires a lot of time and effort to interpret it. In turn, the professionals are responsible for passing on the information such that it can be easily understood, accepted and acted on by the next person. Communication problems are compounded by differences in the knowledge, technical skills and vocabulary of the professionals. For example, the professional training of architects tend to emphasize design and its visual communication, whereas that of the building services engineers and quantity surveyors stresses quantitative techniques. Thus, from the outset of their careers, these professionals are learning different languages and communication barriers inevitably set in. Most of the responsibilities for building and maintaining real communication links lie with the project manager. There are a few ways in which the project manager can enhance project communication. One of the ways is that the project manager should be a good communicator, that is, he must recognize the importance of the interpersonal communication network within the project team. Adopting the principles of the 9,9 management grid style, he should ensure that there is open communication within the project team. To facilitate open communication, the project manager must recognize that communication is a two-way process. The project manager does not just give orders but rather, the project team must be able to understand and participate. Feedback is also necessary for continuing team effort. Applying the fourth strategy of Zhuge Liang acceptance of advice, the project manager must be able to listen and accept the comments from other members of the project team in order to ensure that there is effective communication. As stated in the strategy, if the project manager is not able to accept frank comments, then the other members would not give feedback to him.
Inadequate co-ordination
Projects frequently bring together many different kinds of work involving different technologies. It is not practical for any one organization to have detailed knowledge and practical skills in all areas of works. As a result, the industry tends to be fragmented into small specialized rms (Bennett, 1985). It is the task of the project team to ensure that the work of the specialized teams are well coordinated so that there would not be wastage and delay to the project. As an example, this is especially true when nominated sub-contractors are being used on building projects. Most of the nominated sub-contractors do their own design work and their drawings are often nalized much later. It is common to nd chases, holes and upstands in the nominated sub-contractors drawings but not on those used by the main contractor. This would lead to time wastage and costly cutting out. It may create conicts and frustration between the parties involved. Thus, there is a need for proper co-ordination by the project team members to make sure that such irregularities are minimized. According to Strategy 15 looking ahead, Zhuge Liang stated that a ruler should be far sighted and should plan carefully so that he would not have any short-term worries. Thus, one of the ways of ensuring proper co-ordination is to be able to look ahead and foresee which are the areas of work that require coordination. To be able to achieve this, the project manager must be well versed with
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Another strategy that is applicable is strategy 8 performance evaluation. Instead of evaluating the performance of the consultants, the project manager should evaluate whether there is effective communication within the team. Some of the variables that can be evaluated to determine if there is good communication include: Feedback this would determine whether the project team members have sufficient feedback from the ongoing project in order to be aware of what is happening. Feedback would also include those between the project team members themselves. Accuracy of information the information obtained from the communication channels should be sufficient to facilitate decision making. It should neither be too much or too little and it should be easily available to the person who needs it.
Conclusion
This paper highlights the strategic principles from Zhuge Liangs Art of management and Blake and Mouton (1964) Managerial grid for application in project management. According to Blake and Mouton (1964), there are a total of ve grid styles which the project manager may adopt as his leadership style. Only the most optimum style, the 9,9 managerial grid style, was adopted in this paper even
though a project manager may display more than one leadership style. The 9,9 managerial grid style was chosen because it is the most ideal style and it involves team management which is similar to that of project management. The 9,9 managerial grid style was analysed in two components: the behavioural elements of a manager who adopts the 9,9 grid style and the principles governing this style. Sixteen strategies from Zhuge Liangs Art of management were similarly highlighted for possible application in project management. The study shows that many principles of the Managerial grid and strategies from the Art of management are actually quite similar. As shown in Figure 3, most of the principles complement each other and may offer to the project manager a greater perspective when applying the strategies in the project. The principles are then applied to some of the problems that are commonly faced in project management in the hope of resolving conicts that occur quite frequently The extent to which Blake and . Mouton (1964) and Zhuge Liangs teachings can be applied to enhance the effectiveness and leadership qualities of the project manager will, however, depend very much on a good understanding of both the Managerial grid and Art of management.
References
Anderson, K.E. (1972), Introduction to Communication Theory and Practice, Cummings Publishing Co., CA. Bennett, J. (1985), Construction Project Management, Butterworths, London. Blake, R.R. and Mouton, J.S. (1964), The Managerial Grid, Gulf Publishing Co., Houston, TX. Lau, M.C. (1996), View and perception of nonbumiputra contractors over the weakness and success of bumiputra contractors, Master Builders Journal, Master Builders Association of Malaysia, second quarter 1996, pp. 32-6. Low, S.P. (1995), Lao Tzus Tao Te Ching and its relevance for project leadership in construction, International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 13 No. 5, pp. 295-302. Malain, P.J., Cooper, C. and Cox, C.J. (1989), Managing People at Work, The British Psychological Society and Routledge Ltd, London. Wang, X.M. (1995), The Art of Management: Sixteen Strategies of Zhuge Liang, Asiapac Books, Singapore. Whitemore, D.A. and Ibbetson, J. (1972), The Management of Motivation and Remuneration, Business Books, London.
Behavioural elements Advocacy Critique Strategy 5 being perceptive Strategy 12 controlling chaos
Application questions
1 Does military/philosophical/spiritual literature have a part to play in business thought and practice? 2 For western businesses, is work such as that of Zhuge Liang helpful in dealing with Asian markets?
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