Managing complexities, extending Singapore’s national defense strategy of “auftragstaktik” to its socio-cultural fabric

Posted on by Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Cheryl-Marie-Cordeiro-by-Alen-Cordic-2012-1581I read with interest, Peter Ho’s RSIS working paper no. 248 on “Governing for the future: what governments can do”.

It is a paper based on an adaptation of his speech delivered at the Australia-New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) Annual Conference 2012 in Wellington, New Zealand on 26 July 2012. Mr. Peter Ho is Senior Advisor to the Centre for Strategic Futures and Senior Fellow in the Civil Service College. He serves as an Adjunct Professor with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. He is a Senior Fellow of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, and was formerly the Head of the Civil Service in Singapore.

In brief, Ho outlined in his paper, how accelerating changes in the 20th century, for example such as population growth, rapid urbanisation in combination with technological innovation has come to result in complex interconnected environments that in turn give rise to unpredictable trajectories and “wicked problems” (Horst and Webber, 1973) or interesting problems that have no immediate / obvious solution.

Globally, there are many international diplomatic talks that revolve around “wicked problem” issues such as climate change, food, water and energy supply, all preferably within a sustainable economic development framework. At a local level in Singapore, Ho cited the example of the complex nature of extremist religious pursuits that led to the need for new warfare strategies that counter forces both material and cognitive in order to keep the nation secure and how Singapore was under the constant challenge to disarm extremist ideologies.

But whether facing global political-economic environmental changes or ideological extremism, Ho’s point was governments that have the agility and capacity to act swiftly in such circumstances will benefit and thrive in today’s complex environments. And my perspective is that it is in this aspect that Singapore’s regional geo-political position and albeit seemingly contradictory socio-economic policies have most of the time benefited the country and its people on multiple levels.

As a national security strategy in coordinating counter-terrorism for example, Singapore has continuously worked towards and adopted a multi-layered, integrated and holistic “Whole-of-Government” (WOG) approach, leveraging on the diverse strengths of existing agencies and ministries at various levels from strategy and policy to operations.

Gödel’s theorem and executive education: reflections from the Chinese automobile industry’s strategy in talent management

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Part of what makes being in academia so exciting for me is the very incompleteness of each project as expressed in Gödel’s theorem [1], here not referring strictly to its origins in mathematical logic of incomplete axiomatic systems, but rather used in a general linguistic sense of how research by definition, lies in a perpetual state of unfinish, the completion of which would warrant it redundant.

It is this continuous dialogic and dialectic process of thought, creativity and innovation of ideas, a journey that continuously reveals and uncovers what was previously obscure or even unknown that I find oddly comforting – finding familiarity in the unfamiliar, a constant in the flux of things.

As part of a collaborative publishing effort with friends from the IESE Business School in Barcelona from the International Faculty Program (IFP) of 2011, where colleague Peter Zackariasson was an editor, I contributed a chapter to the book entitled, New Perspectives in Management Education (Amann et al. eds, 2012) entitled “Chinese Wisdom. World Quality” Looking East for brand innovation and change management: reflections from a study on Geely automobile 2007-2011. It was a paper that reflected upon brand innovation and change managment in China’s Geely automobile from the years of 2007 to 2011.

It was also during this time that Geely acquired Volvo Cars from American Ford in 2010, landing China the single largest foreign acquisition, at the same time (McDonald 2010, Wang 2011) setting up several technological and knowledge platforms for China that lent support to the country’s efforts in the aggressive acquisition of knowledge in general.

Although American owned, Volvo Cars continued to carry a strong Swedish heritage in quality and branding where many of their engineers continue to sit in Sweden today. This meant that the acquisition of Volvo Cars by Geely was under sharp and curious observation both East and West, not in the least by Swedish academics and researchers from the disciplines of management science and international business (IB).

Having previously studied the Swedish management style in comparison to the Singapore Chinese management style (Cordeiro-Nilsson 2009), a hypothesis of mine with regard to Geely’s acquisition of Volvo Cars was that the strict vertical hierarchy and authoritarian leadership style of the Chinese might end up severely clashing with the more lateral, egalitarian and consensus seeking leadership style of top level Swedish management, even if under the steering of American Ford. It made interesting observation to see how these differences in management ideology of which one had its roots in centuries of authoritarian dynastic rule, compared to the more individualistic developments of the occidental cultures, might be construed and subsequently manoeuvred in a cross-cultural setting.

But two collectives of events took place with Geely’s acquisition of Volvo Cars that made the hypothesis redundant, the first was a change of Volvo Cars’ core executive management to a more global oriented team and the second, a juxtaposed strategy of old (going back to its scholastic roots) and new (a fairly hands-free approach to the acquisition) strategic concepts applied to the management of the enterprise taken by China with regards to its acquisition of Volvo Cars:

“I want to emphasize that Volvo is Volvo and Geely is Geely — Volvo will be run by Volvo management. We are determined to preserve the distinct identity of the Volvo brand.”
~ Li Shufu, Chairman of Geely (Bradsher, New York Times 2010)

That China realized its authoritarian rule over its western acquisition was not optimal led to it taking what could seem a radical move – autonomy to Volvo Cars to continue being, Volvo. It then turned towards its scholastic roots, to become ‘student’ in this aspect, observing business and management practices whilst at the same time, educating itself on various technological and knowledge platforms with the purpose of going beyond replication, of becoming forefront innovators themselves.

Where the theme of executive management education comes in is, with the support of the Chinese government, Geely had in 2000 set up Geely University with a mission to train individuals in the practical skills needed to build the company to its full potential of being a global player. By 2010, the company had an extensive talent management education program, offering in-house training and education opportunities in collaboration with Beijing University at all human resource levels from frontline factory workers to its top executive management teams that included doctors in research and development for Geely technology.

Today, the Beijing Geely University is one of China’s top ranked, largest private universities (Forbes 2010) that offers a range of subjects across disciplines from Humanities to Science and Engineering.

From the talent management strategies of multinational corporations then comes the question of the role of Business Schools in executive education – what lies ahead for business schools and executive management of the future? Where do Business Schools see themselves fit in and what / how can they meaningfully contribute to this changing demographics of the education of a workforce in a trend where business acumen is necessary but not a sufficient variable in the required range of skills of a workforce that needs to be trained across different levels of expertise?

Since management and organization is an applied science with theory and practice ideally combined in such a manner as to be practically applicable in the corporate world, such realities of executive education in multinational corporations could be argued to have put pressure on business schools in realization for a need to evolve with current corporate happenings and trends.

In the field of IB for example, while the call for a more interdisciplinary approach to the field has been going on for the past two decades, it is more so today that scholars are beginning to take that call seriously, seeding as it were, the beginnings of a review of the role of business schools and what perspectives they can offer for corporate practicalities in future that includes executive education.

Kuta pasar, after hours, Badung, Bali

Posted on by Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Late morning marketing at Kuta market, Bali.
Text and Photo © JE Nilsson and CM Cordeiro 2012

If you live in Southeast-Asia, a piece of information you neeed is the opening or business hours of the morning wet markets. Some beginning as early as 05:30 hrs in the morning, where by late morning at about 10:00 hrs, business is concluded, the stalls washed and goods neatly stashed for the next day’s trading.

In search of pulot hitam at Kuta market, near one of the almost invisible entrances.

Having had some requests for specific goods only to be found in Indonesia and likewise, Bali, I conveyed my brief shopping list to a local taxi driver, who was happy to be our guide to the island. He quickly settled where to go and so we were off towards one of his favourite markets – Kuta pasar – though I had gathered from what he told, I would need to improvise with my spattering of the Malay language since Balinesian and Indonesian languages differ, in order to do my shopping as no one in this market would speak English.

Cleaning up for the day at Kuta pasar.

True to marketing times, when we arrived in the late morning at Kuta pasar, the floors were being washed, and the white tiled counters cleaned. It took a brief moment to orientate ourselves, across language barriers, I managed to locate the stall that sold most items I had wanted to purchase, including pulot hitam, that is black glutinous rice that they call nasi hitam, and gula Bali, a variant of palm sugar produced right on the island.

This narrow corridor leads to houses behind the market. On the left and out of sight, food stalls that cater to the local area.

The ground floor to this market is compact, with stalls selling wet goods situated in the center of the square and shops selling dried goods and vegetables, lining the outer rim of the square.

Through one of the back lanes, a narrow path leads to the village houses where two or three stalls selling food can be found. We were invited to try their variety of food from nasi campur (rice with mixed food) that included ikan goreng (fried fish) to mee ayam (chicken noodles).

Kuta pasar, Badung. The sign to look for.

Compared to the enormous wet market at Denpasar well equipped with supply chain outlets running as arteries towards the main centre of activities, I think I’m most grateful to the taxi driver for introducing us to this little market square, as another peek into the lives of the locals of this island.

Pura Puseh Desa Batuan, Bali

Posted on by Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Residing in Batuan village and founded in c. 1020 AD, the Batuan Temple is a conflux of Indian Hinduism with Indus architecture.
Text and Photo © JE Nilsson and CM Cordeiro 2012

The surprising aspect of this temple visit is the realisation of how accessible local religion and philosophy is made to you as visitor in order to partake of their song, dance, rituals and daily activities that mean a lot to them. One could of course reason that it is all part of the tourism industry here in Bali, but at the same time, there’s the feeling of there being something more to it. There is nothing imposing in the Balinesian behaviour towards visitors, rather it is their subtle invitation and hospitality that make you feel all at once at home on this island even if for a few days.

A walk through Pasar Badung, Denpasar, Bali

Posted on by Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Along the side streets towards Pasar Badung in Denpasar, off Jl. Gajah Mada, you’ll find a small curry shop passionately preparing the foundational ingredients to many local dishes.
Text and Photo © JE Nilsson and CM Cordeiro 2012

The daily trading activities in Southeast-Asia (SE-Asia) are still focused around the centrally located wet markets. Located as they often are at traditional crossroads of land and waterways, they are the natural center of the community with space for religious ceremonies as well as today, offering convenient parking lots for cars and mopeds. Around these markets are also the arteries of the supply chain of all kinds of supplies that will go into the products offered at the market.

Pasar Badung in Denpasar, Bali’s capital, is one of the largest wet markets on the island with four storeys of goods that range from ready cooked food sold just outside the building, to fresh fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, preserved foods, spices, cakes, buns, biscuits, up to and including almost all items for the kitchen and household should you need them.

At the west end of the Lesser Sunda Islands

Posted on by Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

The trade winds blow cool in the mornings in the tropics of Sanur, Bali, where the full flavoured smaller apple banana variety is abundant and pleasantly enough included in abundance in the breakfast buffet.
Text and Photo © JE Nilsson and CM Cordeiro 2012

It took five security checks through the various airports from Scandinavia to Indonesia and though it has been about ten years since the Kuta bombing in Bali, security on the tourist island remains tight, the islanders looking apologetic for yet another security check even at the roadside. Considering the peaceful island’s serene philosophy and religion that is 80% Hindu with visible Buddhist influence, and that the small island’s main livelihood is tourism, one feels a tinge of sombre even as tropical sun rays streak across azure skies in this beautiful and untainted Southeast-Asian island paradise.

A perspective on the “Singapore climate” – a response

Posted on by Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Message by Ken (SME entrepreneur in Singapore) via FB, 3 June 2012.

If a govt’s role is to be a provider of a platform for businesses to conduct their business activities and at the same time foster entrepreneurship and helping various industries move up the value chain.

But i dont really see that here in SG or just half-hearted attempts that fizzle out after a few years like IT or Life Science.

What really bothers me is that GLCs are competing directly with local SMEs and subsequently monopolizing the relevant industries, even pawn shops are now.

I have read about China decentralizing and privatizing their state entities like the big four banks and airlines but in SG i see how govt through GLCs are consolidating and strengthening their stranglehold on the industries they engage in.

What is your outlook for SG’s economy and youths in the next 15-20 years, given this climate?

I always feel that we are a sprinter and not a marathon runner, and we lost the plot from the very beginning; as early as the 60s and 70s by not enforcing joint ventures with the foreign investors who set up their manufacturing facilities here and then allowing them to relocate in the 90s; while not having learnt anything valuable from them other than gaining a few decades of tax and job opportunities.

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Photo and Text © Alen Cordic and C Cordeiro-Nilsson 2012

Hi Ken,

I can see that we are not focusing on quite the same issues when talking, but I will try to address your question and point of view.

With my post of Paddy Ashdown’s TedsTalk on FB, the point of fascination for me relates to how global processes are right now forcing even academic theories in various fields to come up with more integrated theories in order to explain and understand current phenomena in the field of international business that relates to my work in research.

Your questions and concerns however, seem related more specifically to the role of the State, which in my view, is interesting only to the extent of how that role is currently being defined in relation to other agents of change on the global scene, and then again, back in relation to my field of research.

In other words, the matter of state governance is interesting but not primary to my interest with my posting of Paddy Ashdown’s talk.

When it comes to the governance of Singapore per se, I will need to say that this space is not intended for such debates – my FB page, albeit open to public, remains still a personal space, currently used as a means to keep in contact with my network of family and friends, and I would prefer to keep it as such.

There are however other forums of interest that you can find over the Internet that might prove more interesting and useful for your purpose – the Online Citizen for example is one such forum that you might be interested in joining (?).

But having said that, I could share my point of view on what you wrote and asked above, with regards to the ”Singapore climate”.

Leadership as a dependent variable – brief round table reflections

Posted on by Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Tonight’s read: “The Work of Managers: Towards a Practice Theory of Management”, edited by Stefan Tengblad, 2012. Oxford University Press.
Text and Photo © JE Nilsson and CM Cordeiro 2012

It was Professor Sune Carlsson who first published the book Executive Behaviour in 1951 that earned him recognition as one of the founding fathers of the field of Scandinavian management studies, his perspective being that management work is more an art rather than an applied science. The compilation of articles that Stefan Tengblad has put together in this book follows through on Carlsson’s point of view where managerial work that is often thought of as rational, organized and planned that numerous theories on management behavior have thus far argued for since the mid-1900s, is really revealing itself to be a process that is much more social and serendipitous in action and solutions to problems. And while the study of management lends itself to scientific analysis, what researchers in Sweden have found is that good managerial practices develop also rather independently from management science. It is also just about here that I realize again, how useful the Swedish fika as a session can be when it comes to even managerial work practices.

There is also a point of view of an effort to move away from the use of the word “leadership” in the Swedish academic circles of management studies, since the idea of studying leadership is much like studying the ethereal – the study of leadership does not come from studying ‘leaders’ or top managers of organizations per se but rather from the variables of the surrounding context that contribute to the concept. For example, a group of middle-managers tended to attribute ‘leadership qualities’ to the person in top management who was perceived to have made good decisions for the group as a whole. And a person in top management who was trustworthy with perceived sound judgement by the group with whom s/he worked was also attributed qualities of charisma.

This book reflects generally, a Nordic perspective and a Scandinavian tradition of management research that very much includes qualitative aspects of management science grounded in narratives, organizational symbolism, mythmaking and ‘the irrational of decision-making’ where formal rationality often times limits the ability to understand organizational life and behavior.

The Cinderella Diamond Ring

Posted on by Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Cinderella Diamond Ring

‘The World’s First Diamond Ring’ by Shawish Jewellery, Geneva.
Text © JE Nilsson and CM Cordeiro 2012

Anyone with a latent interest for absurdly expensive things would have noted the Shawesh brothers of the the Swiss Shawish Jewellery company unveil their 150 carat laser-cut ‘all diamond’ ring at the recent prestigious BASELWORLD watch and jewellery event in Zürich, 2012. Their actions, at a time when world news is dismal with civil unrest and a massive earthquake hitting Indonesia, that brings forth uncomfortable memories, in a stroke of genius in their world, re-defined the concept of something as superfluous as a ‘diamond ring’.

Even with modern techniques, the cutting and polishing of a regular diamond crystal would result in approximately 50% loss of its weight. With this ring from Shawish Geneva the staggering weight loss in itself would break the hearts of many brides-to-be.

But therein lies the very definition of luxury from the point of view of the surreal.

The Swedish culture of denial

Posted on by Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

For the part of the world who have found it a point to notice that there is such a country as Sweden – at some distance easily mixed up with Switzerland – Sweden might appear as somewhat of an ideal state of equality, untroubled by racial riots and religious taboos.

On close encounter a different picture emerges that speaks about a state of denial that have grown into a culture of its own. In a time when globalization is increasingly becoming a non-issue, when through the Internet Syria is as close as Malmö, this phenomenon might become a problem. The problem, being that the wider meaning of the word ‘culture’ in Sweden has been obscured and cemented into oblivion so much that there are almost no words there to talk about the fact that values, beliefs, religions and various ideas about what is right or wrong are different in different parts of the world.

Defining culture

In the early 2000s when I began to prepare my research for my doctoral thesis in the field of managing across cultures and leadership across cultures, it appeared that almost every author touching upon the topic of culture had come up with a definition of their own. Already during the 1950s, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn had compiled a list of 164 definitions. The definitions spanned fine arts and humanities, pattern of human knowledge, beliefs and behavior, shared attitudes, values, goals and practices. Everything from cultivating small societies of bacteria in a Petri dish to my favourite, Geert Hofstede, who defined culture as a ‘collective programming of the mind’. It appeared that the only common ground was the agreement that there was such a thing as culture and in its broader sense all were the creations of man to fit in between them and what was given by nature to make just about any place on earth inhabitable. Thus, of course, any “culture” would vary with the places and be whatever served its purpose best at that place.

This wider definition made for three simple observations:

  1. There is such a thing as culture
  2. They vary with their geographical location
  3. Their usefulness will vary since what is useful in one place will be plain stupid in another

What we arrive at in the most secular country in the world is however, the contradiction that the Swedes do not believe in the thesis of Greek philosopher Protagoras, that “man is the measure of all things” but would much rather go with the Old Testament’s belief in absolute truths, that what is true to one man is true to all.

When I went on in the course of my research and talked to Swedish top managers about their “management style”, asking if they felt that their ‘style’ would broadly correspond to the “Swedish culture and values” most Swedes would have it that there did not exist any particular Swedish management style, and certainly no framework of a Swedish national culture that influenced this non-existent “Swedish management style”.