The 36 Stratagems

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Contents

•  Western  philosophical  founda2ons  and  values  •  Chinese  philosophical  founda2ons  and  values  •  36  Stratagems  •  Rhizomes  

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Introduc2on

•   The  Symbols  of  Yin  and  Yang  

Ø   Yin  represents  darkness,  the  earth,  moon  and  the  female  Ø   Yang  represents  light,  the  sky,  sun  and  the  male  Ø  Both  elements  complement  one  another    

 -­‐  one  cannot  exist  without  the  other    

•   Book  of  Changes  

Ø  Dates  back  to  ~  500  -­‐  100  BC  Ø  One  of  the  oldest  Chinese  classics,  oracular  statements    Ø   The  number  36  symbolizes  Yin  (6)  and  Yang  (9)  –both  are  lucky  numbers  in  China  

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Comparison  Yin  and  Yang    

with    Western  thinking  of  good  and  bad  

Einführung

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Theodor  Heuss:  (former  German  President)  

„There  are  three  hills  from  which  the  Occident  derived  its  origins:  Golgotha,  the  Acropolis  in  Athens  

and  the  Capitol  in  Rome.  They  all  formed  the  Occident’s  intellect  and  we  can,  we  have  to  see  all  

three  of  them  as  one  unity.  “  

Foundations of Western culture

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1650-1800  

Enlightenment

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Enlightenment

•  Age  of  Enlightenment  -­‐  Also  called  “Age  of  Reason”  1620-­‐1789.    •  Began  with  Francis  Bacon’s  publica2on  Novum  Organum.      •  During  this  2me  the  new  urban  class  sought  to  develop  their  own  individual  

poten2als.    

•  Scien2fic  revolu2on  –  Views  were  based  on  reason  and  human  understanding.    

•  Radical  Philosophers  advocated  a  philosophical  ra2onalism  deriving  its  methods  from  science  and  natural  philosophy.  

 •  Replaced  to  a  large  extent  religion  as  the  means  of  understanding  nature  and  

des2ny  of  humanity.    

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Enlightenment

Important  Events  (examples):    

•  United  States  Declara2on  of  Independence  1776    adopted  by  the  Con2nental  Congress  on  July  4,  1776  

•  French  Revolu2on  1789-­‐1799    Radical  poli2cal  and  ideological  change  from  an  absolute  monarchy  to  a  republic  based  on  the  values  of  the  Enlightenment:  liberty,  equality  and  brotherhood  

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Enlightenment

Implica2ons:  

•  New  belief  in  progress  and  the  development  of  science  •  The  growth  of  secular  humanism  and  poli2cal  and  economic  

liberalism    •  An  intellectual  framework  for  liberalism  and  democracy  was  

created  •  Influence  of  churches  declined  

 

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Enlightenment

Influen2al  Scien2sts:  •  Galileo  Galilei  (1564-­‐1642)    

first  systema2c  studies  of  uniformly  accelerated  mo2on  and  improved  astronomical  observa2ons  

•  Edmond  Halley  (1656-­‐1742)    discovered  the  proper  mo2on  of  stars  and  the  periodicity  of  comets  

•  Isaac  Newton  (1643-­‐1727)    His  most  famous  work  ”Philosophiae  Naturalis  Principia  MathemaEca”  explained  his  law  of  universal  gravita2on  and  three  laws  of  mo2on  

 

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René  Descartes  (1596-­‐1650)  “Father  of  Modern  Philosophy”  Dualism:  Separa2on  of  Body  and  Soul   René Descartes an intellectual biography

by Stephen Gaukroger (Cover)

Enlightenment

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Descartes‘    Discourse  on  the  Method:    „cogito  ergo  sum“  I  think,  therefore  I  am    New  ideas  and  theories  have  to  be  based  on  arguments  and  evidence.      

Enlightenment

Tree of Knowledge

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Enlightenment

 This  was  the  founda2on  for  Decartes‘  metaphysics  to  proof  the  existence  of  God.  

   The  approach  has  influenced  sciences  and  Western  thinking  un2l  today.  

 .  

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Values of the Enlightenment

individuality

relativity

rationality

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Values of the Enlightenment

Before  

•  Spirituality  •  Dependence  

New    • Responsibility  • Tolerance  • Transparence  • Openness  • Verifiability  • Ra2onality  •  Individuality  • Rela2vity  

Today  •  Reliability  •  Accessibility    •  Transparence  •  Honesty  •  Reputa2on  •  Trustworthiness  

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But  the  weaker  the  forces  become  which  are  under  the  command  of  strategy,  so  much  the  more  they  become  adapted  for  stratagem,  so  that  to  the  quite  feeble  and  li:le,  for  whom  no  prudence,  no  sagacity  is  any  longer  sufficient  at  the  point  where  all  art  seems  to  forsake  him,  stratagem  offers  itself  as  a  last  resource.  The  more  helpless  his  situa?on,  the  more  everything  presses  towards  one  single,  desperate  blow,  the  more  readily  stratagem  comes  to  the  aid  of  his  boldness.  Let  loose  from  all  further  calcula?ons,  freed  from  all  concern  for  the  future,  boldness  and  stratagem  intensify  each  other,  and  thus  collect  at  one  point  an  infinitesimal  glimmering  of  hope  into  a  single  ray,  which  may  likewise  serve  to  kindle  a  flame.          Clausewitz,  Prussian  Military  Theorist  (1780  –  1831)    

                     -­‐  CARL  V.    

One  Consequence  from  of  these  values:    Western  contempt  of  cunning  

Values of the Enlightenment

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Values of the Enlightenment

Clausewitz’  prejudices:    

•  Cunning  should  only  be  used  as  ‘ulitma  ra2o’  •  Cunning  is  a  result  of  intui2on  and  has  nothing  to  do  with  

wisdom  or  intelligence  •  Cunning  is  generally  asymmetric  and  not  expected  from  

regular  opponents  

 

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…what  about  China?  

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Foundations of Chinese Culture

For  a  long  2me  Chinese  society  and  its  values  were  mainly  influenced  by  two  major  philosophies:    

•  Daoism  based  on  the  Daodejing  by  Laozi  

•  Confucianism  based  on  Confucius’  Analects  (Lunyu)  

 

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Daoism  

Central Element: dao (tao) Way, principle, direction, path, doctrine, line The dao can be described as the order/ flow of the universe, everything that exists.

道

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道生一，一生二，二生三，三生万物。万物负阴而抱阳  

The  way  begets  one;    One  begets  two;    Two  begets  three;    

Three  begets  the  myriad  creatures.    The  myriad  creatures  carry  on  their  backs  the  yin    

and  embrace  in  their  arms  the  yang.  Laozi,  Daodejing  Chapter  42  

Daoism

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Daoismus  

Other  important  daoist:    

•  Sun  Tzu  551  -­‐  479  BC,  military  general    most  influen2al  work:  Art  of  War    in  the  Art  of  War  Sunzi  formulated  the  4.stratagem:  „Await  the  Exhausted  Enemy  at  Your  Ease  “  

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Confucianism  

Confucius:  551-­‐479  BC.    He  advocated  morality,  social  order  and  perpetua2on  of  tradi2ons.  He  is  regarded  as  the  founder  of  Confucianism.    There  are  no  known  works  that  were  wrioen  by  Confucius  himself.  The  famous  “Analects”  (Lunyu)  were  wrioen  by  his  scholars.    

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Confucianism  

5  Virtues:    •   義 Righteousness  •   仁 Humanity  •   禮 Ritual  •   信 Integrity  •   智 Knowledge  

5  Rela2ons:    •   ruler  –  subject  •   father  –  son  •   husband  –  wife  •   older  brother  –  younger  brother  •   friend  -­‐  friend    

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Confucianism  

zhi    One  of  the  five  Confucian  Virtues    Meaning  :  wisdom,  intelligence,  can  also  be  used  as  other  word  for  stratagem  

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Yin  and  Yang  

Both Daoism as well as Confucianism aim at the Yin (light, good). Nevertheless, in contrast to occidental culture, they also acknowledge the constant existence of Yang (dark, bad).

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•  What  are  stratagems?    

•  How  are  they  applied?    

•  How  to  understand  stratagems  within  the  intercultural  context?  

36  Stratagems  

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36  Stratagems  

What are stratagems? •  Another word for cunning (incl. deception) •  Many Chinese are aware of these stratagems •  Managers in China should have a fundamental knowledge of stratagems to better assess their opponent

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36  Strategeme  

Differentiate:

Stratagem <> Strategy <> Tactic

•  Stratagem:    a  more  neutral  word  for  cunning  •  Strategy:      long-­‐term  planning  •  Tac2c:        short-­‐term  planning,  cunning  

         is  not  necessarily  included  

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36  Stratagems  

1   瞒天过海   Deceive  the  heavens  to  cross  the  ocean  

2   围魏救赵   Besiege  Wei  to  rescue  Zhao  

3   借刀杀人   Kill  with  a  borrowed  knife  

4   以逸待劳   Leisurely  await  for  the  laboured  

5   趁火打劫   Loot  a  burning  house  

6   声东击西   Make  a  sound  in  the  east,  then  strike  in  the  west  

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36  Stratagems  

7   无中生有   Create  something  from  nothing  

8   暗渡陈仓   Openly  repair  the  gallery  roads,  but  sneak  through  the  passage  of  Chencang  

9   隔岸观火   Watch  the  fires  burning  across  the  river  

10   笑里藏刀   Hide  a  dagger  behind  a  smile  

11   李代桃僵   Sacrifice  the  plum  tree  over  the  peach  tree  

12   顺手牵羊   Take  the  opportunity  to  pilfer  a  goat  

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36  Stratagems  

13   打草惊蛇   Stomp  the  grass  to  scare  the  snake  

14   借尸还魂   Borrow  a  corpse  to  resurrect  the  soul  

15   调虎离山   En2ce  the  2ger  to  leave  its  mountain  lair  

16   欲擒姑纵   In  order  to  catch  one  must  let  loose  

17   抛砖引玉   Tossing  out  a  brick  to  get  a  jade  gem  

18   擒贼擒王   Defeat  the  enemy  by  capturing  their  chief  

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36  Stratagems  

19   釜底抽薪   Remove  the  fire  wood  from  under  the  pot  

20   混水摸⻥鱼   Catch  a  fish  while  the  water  is  disturbed  

21   金蝉脱壳   Slough  off  the  cicada’s  golden  shell  

22   关⻔门捉贼   Shut  the  door  to  catch  the  thief  

23   远交近攻   Befriend  a  distant  state  while  aoacking  a  neighbour  

24   假道伐虢   Obtain  a  passage  to  conquer  the  State  of  Guo  

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36  Stratagems  

25   偷梁换柱   Steal  the  beams  and  replace  the  pillars  

26   指桑骂槐   Point  at  the  mulberry  tree  while  cursing  the  locust  tree  

27   假痴不癫   Feign  madness  but  keep  your  balance  

28   上屋抽梯   Remove  the  ladder,  when  the  enemy  has  ascended  the  roof  

29   树上开花   Deck  the  tree  with  false  blossoms  

30   反客为主   Make  the  guest  and  host  exchange  roles  

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36  Stratagems  

31   美人计   The  stratagem  of  a  beau2ful  person  

32   空城计   The  stratagem  of  an  empty  fort  

33   反间计   The  stratagem  of    discord  

34   苦肉计   The  stratagem  of  ailment  

35   连环计   The  stratagem  of  chaining  

36   走为上   If  everything  else  fails,  retreat  

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36  Stratagems  

 Stratagems  are  usually  categorized    

•  According  to  the  player’s  posiYon:  i.e.    Superior  posi2on,  confronta2on,  aoack,  confusing  situa2ons,  for  war  allies,  desperate  situa2ons    

•  According  to  their  purpose:  i.e.  concealment,  pretence,  disclosure,  exploita2on,  refuge,  (chaining)  

•  ….  

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36  Stratagems  

No. 27 Feign Madness but Keep your Balance

•  Agents  from  Air  China  want  to  nego2ate  a  deal  with  Boeing  •  At  the  beginning  they  pretend  to  be  willing  and  able  to  order  a  

completely  insane  number  of  planes;  finally  such  a  framework  agreement  is  closed.  !  Feign  madness  

•  The  agreement  gives  Air  China  the  right  to  place  orders  for  very  small  quan22es  each  order  at  a  very  acceptable  unit  price  (what  they  intended  ini2ally).  !  Keep  your  balance  

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36  Stratagems  

No. 28 Remove the ladder when the enemy has ascended to the roof

•  The  owner  of  a  glass  boole  factory  accepts  a  one-­‐year  order  for  specially  shaped  booles  without  gaining  much  profit  à  Opponent  ascends  the  roof  

•  Ater  one  year  the  owner  raises  the  price  tremendously  •  Producing  company  filed  the  boole  shape  for  copy  right/trademark  and  

since  the  special  shape  of  the  boole  can  only  be  produced  in  this  factory  and  it  is  already  well-­‐known  and  popular  among  consumers,  the  client  has  to  accept  the  price.  à  Remove  the  ladder  

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36  Stratagems  

No. 36 If everything else fails, retreat. •  In  the  Six2es  KFC  (Kentucky  Fried  Chicken)  entered  the  Hong  

Kong  market.  But  Hong  Kong  wasn’t  ready  for  American  fast  food  yet.  Ater  major  difficul2es  they  decided  to  retreat.  !  Retreat  

•  They  successfully  entered  the  Singapore  market  instead.  •  Years  later  KFC  tried  to  enter  the  Hong  Kong  market  again,  this  

2me  with  a  new  marke2ng  strategy.  The  market  was  ready  then    and  the  entry  a  huge  success.  !  Best  soluYon  

•     

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36  Stratagems  

No. 35 Stratagem of chaining Several stratagems are freely combined The combination of several stratagems can form a strategy

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36  Stratagems  

No. 12 Take the opportunity to pilfer a goat

No.14 Borrow a corpse to resurrect a soul

Example of a Chain:

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36  Stratagems  

•  A  shirt  manufacturer  couldn’t  sell  his  white  shirts  !  Soul  

•  That  year  the  Olympic  Games  took  place  !Goat  

•  He  printed  the  Olympic  Rings  on  his  shirts  à  take  the  opportunity  to  pilfer  a  goat  

•  Soon  aterwards  all  shirts  were  sold  out  à  “olympic  shirt”  =  corpse  

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36  Stratagems  

Manager visiting China – Stratagem of chaining •  General  manager  flies  to  China  to  complete  a  contract  à  

En2ce  the  2ger  to  leave  its  mountain  lair,    Stratagem  #15  

•  Picked  up  by  the  beau2ful  secretary  at  the    airport  à  The  stratagem  of  a  beau2ful    person,  Stratagem  #31  

•  Right  ater  arrival  a  dinner  is  organised  with  a    lot  of  Maotai  liquor,  the  next  morning  hard  nego2a2ons  à  Hide  a  Dagger  behind  the  smile,  Stratagem  #10  

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36  Stratagems  

Chain of Stratagems in the case of the Transrapid

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36  Stratagems  

•  Despite  of  more  than  a  decade  of  nego2a2ons  the  Transrapid  was  never  built  in  Germany.  In  2000  there  was  another  breakdown  in  talks.    à  Fire    

•  Suddenly  China  showed  interest  in  building  a  Transrapid  in  Shanghai  à  LooYng    

•  No.  10  Loot  a  burning  house  

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36  Stratagems  

•  China  is  very  interested  and  finally  the  Transrapid  –a  pres2gious  German  project  -­‐  was  going  to  be  built.    !  Germany  ascends  the  roof    

•  The  nego2a2ons  almost  broke  down  again  when  it  came  to  the  price.  Finally  the  German  government  offered  financial  aid.  !  remove  the  ladder      

•  No.    28  Remove  the  ladder  when  the  enemy  has  ascended  the  roof.  

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36  Stratagems  

•  Apart  from  the  financial  aid,  the  Chinese  side  also  wanted  to  take  the  most  important  selling  factor  away  from  the  Transrapid  and  asked  for  a  high  speed  reduc2on.  !  wood    

•  With  less  speed,  the  project  lost  a  tremendous  part  of  its  pres2ge  and  the  price  could  be  knocked  down  to  half  of  the  original  price.      

•  No.  19  Remove  the  firewood  from  under  a  pot.    

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36  Stratagems  

•  While  tes2ng  the  Transrapid  some  problems  occurred,  the  project  got  delayed,  and  as  a  result  prices  would  have  gone  up  !  Goat    

•  The  Chinese  party  took  the  opportunity  to  pressure  Siemens  and  ThyssenKrupp  into  more  on-­‐site  produc2on  in  China.  !  pilfer    

•  No.  12  Take  the  opportunity  to  lead  a  goat  away  

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36  Stratagems  

•  Since  China  had  a  higher  share  of  produc2on  ater  that,  the  Chinese  project  manager  pressed  for  a  technology  exchange  which  would  include  patents.  

•  Further  deals  are  promised  on  condi2on  of  technology  exchange  à  Brick  

•  The  Chinese  receive  informa2on  on  patents  à  Jade  gem    

•  Nr.  19  Tossing  out  a  brick  to  get  a  jade  gem  

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36  Stratagems  

•  The  manufacturer  would  only  guarantee  full  func2onality  if  the  tolerance  of  the  ferroconcrete  girder  was  less  than  the  tenth  of  a  millimetre.    !  facade  

•  As  these  girders  were  very  expensive  to  produce,  1000  Chinese  engineers  developed  a  new  “adap2on  system”,  which  allowed  bigger  tolerances  of  the  girders.  !  Steal  beams  and  replace  pillars    

•  Nr.  25  Steal  the  beams  and  replace  the  pillars  

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36  Stratagems  

•  Germany  was  leading  in  magne2c  levia2on.    !  pot  

•  Ater  gaining  access  to  German  patents  which  allowed  a    further  development  of  the  track  technology  and  vehicles  (by  product  inves2ga2on),  China  became  the  leading  producer.    !  remove  the  firewood    

•  No.  19  To  remove  the  firewood  from  under  the  pot  

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36  Stratagems  

•  In  this  case  the  applica2on  of  seven  stratagems  were  shown.      

•  During  daily  coopera2on  more  stratagems  were  applied  for  sure.      

•  These  difficul2es  are  based  on  intercultural  differences  and  different  mentali2es,  ways  of  thought.  

 

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36  Stratagems  in  China  

36 Stratagems are general knowledge in China

They are conveyed by children‘s books and computer games

22,300,000 results appear on Baidu.com (chin. search engine) if you enter 三十六计 (36 Strategeme)

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36  Stratagems  in  China  

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Way of thinking

•  Stratagems  are  not  applied  according  to  numbers  or  categories,  but  intui2vely.    

•  China  did  not  have  a  development  in  history  which  is  comparable  with  Western  Enlightenment.  

•  This  way  of  thinking  contrasts  to  Decartes’  theories  on  structured  thought  since  the  Enlightenment.  

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Rhizomes

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Rhizome

•  Botanic  Defini2on:    is  a  characteris2cally  horizontal  stem  of  a  plant,  oten  sending  out  roots  and  shoots  from  its  nodes.    

•  Philosophical  Defini2on:  according  to  Deleuze  and  Guaoari,  Rhizomes  are  a  metaphor  for  new  structures  in  contrast  to  old  hierarchies  which  are  tree  shaped.    

 

 

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Rhizome  

We’re tired of trees. We should stop believing in trees, roots, and radicles. They’ve made us suffer too much. All of arborescent culture is founded on them, from biology to linguistics. Nothing is beautiful or loving or political aside from underground stems and aerial root, adventitious growths and rhizomes.

Gilles Deleuze (1925 – 1995)

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Way  of  thinking  

New approach: The 36 stratagems are not compatible with Western hierachical thought and virtuousness. To understand stratagems and how they are used one should try to think in new dimensions. One possible approach would be the idea of rhizomes. Also a certain degree of self reflection and criticism of the „good west“ can make it easier to understand the context.

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Way  of  thinking  

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Conclusion

•  Western  thinking  is  influenced  by  ra2onality,  aspira2on  for  clarity  and  disregard  for  nega2ve  aspects.    

•  Chinese  thought  is  more  adapted  to  a  given  situa2on,  oten  neglec2ng  an  aspira2on  for  perfec2on.  

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Conclusion

•  In  China  one  can  find  different  approaches  to  solve  a  problem  or  deal  with  challenges  than  in  the  Western  world.  The  36  stratagems  are  one  example  which  illustrates  this.    

•  Intercultural  competence  is  therefore  crucial  for  people  who  wish  to  cooperate  in  some  way  with  China.  

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End  

Thank you for your attention!

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Literature  

•  Wanner,  Dominik/Maurus,  Moritz:  Flow  with  the  water  –  können  starre,  abgeschlossene  Kategorien  die  Realität  im  heu2gen  China  beschreiben?,  Zeitschrit  für  Controlling  und  Management,  Sonderhet  1/2011  

•  Müller,  Eva:  Mit  List  und  Tücke,  managermagazin  09/2010  •  Von  Senger,  Harro:  36  Strategeme  für  Manager;  Piper  Verlag  GmbH  München,  

2006    •  千艺 (Hrsg.):  活用三十六计-­‐Make  flexible  Use  of  ‘Thirty-­‐six  Stratagems‘  –  

Chinese-­‐English  edi2on,  Shanghai  University  Press  2006  (4.Aufl)  •  Guo,  Lanfen:  Die  ‘36  Strategeme’  in  der  chinesischen  und  westlichen  

WirtschaUsliteratur;  Harrassowitz  Verlag,  Wiesbaden,  2008  •  Klein,  Magdalena:  The  relevance  of  the  36  stratagems  for  doing  business  in  China;  

Diplomarbeit,  Dortmund  University  of  Applied  Sciences  and  Art,  2010