Prof Wee Chow Hou, from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, lectured on Sun Zi Bingfa to a UIC audience and gave a speech about undergraduate experience at the High Table Dinner on 18 April.
Journey with Sun Zi Bingfa
Prof Wee Chow Hou, Head of the Division of Marketing and International Business at Nanyang Technological University, has conducted executive training for over 250 major organisations in over 30 countries, and he is best known for his work in applying the teachings of the Chinese classic Sun Zi Bingfa (also rendered as The Art of War) to modern business strategies and practices.
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| Prof Ng Ching-Fai, President of UIC, and Prof Stella Cho, Dean of UIC’s Division of Business and Management (DBM), welcome Prof Wee in their opening remarks |
“To the Chinese, the business world is like a battlefield,” said Prof Wee in a Distinguished Lecture organised by DBM. Thus, the strategies described in Sun Zi Bingfa are equally applicable to the business field.
The Chinese classic revolves around the complex network of factors that must be considered when devising military strategy, and it states that competent planning, strong internal alignment, optimal tactical positioning, and timing could make the difference between failure and success.
According to Prof Wee, understanding one's competitors is integral to maintaining an optimal tactical position and conforming suitable strategies in the competitive business playing-field, and he noted that the key concepts of SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) are expressed by Sun Zi when he says “Know the other side (the enemy), know yourself, and your victory will not be threatened; know the weather, know the terrain, and your victories will be limitless (知彼知己，胜乃不殆；知天知地，胜乃不穷).”
Aside from the building of success, the maintenance of success is also a skill. Prof Wee deemed that a right skill can be found in the Sun Zi Bingfa, which encourages successful leaders to take pro-active defence – to distance themselves from the rest and widen the gap. “If you think defensively [about stay No 1], you will act and behave in defensive ways.”
He revealed why he studies Sun Zi Bingfa. “Widely adopted by Asian military and corporate strategists, it helps understand the mind-set of Chinese strategists. It also has continued relevance and applications to strategic thinking, business and marketing management and practices.”
Undergraduate experience
Following the lecture, Prof Wee spoke at the High Table Dinner, advising UIC students to pursue experience during college in order to attain success in life.
Prof Wee tapped into his years of experience in the academic and corporate worlds, sharing some simple nuggets of wisdom that challenged students to make full use of their university experience so as to prepare themselves for the corporate world. “The best place to learn,” he said, where there are “minimal costs for mistakes is at the university.”
He continued some pointers and guidelines, such as that learn to ask and ask right questions, view more than one side of a matter, develop strengths, be persistent, and build up good interpersonal relations.
“You must know yourself,” he said, encouraging students to learn to cope with jobs that they really like, even if they are not good at them. His rich experience and humorous speech aroused continuous applause from the audience.
Prof Ng Ching-Fai and Prof Wee Chow Hou exchange souvenirs
UIC President Prof Ng Ching-Fai said the 63rd High Table Dinner was the Closing Ceremony of the 2013-2014 Mentor Caring Program (MCP) for DBM Year One students. “The MCP programme aims to help freshmen to adapt quickly to the unique college life at UIC through their mentors’ guidance and support, and build up a good rapport between teachers and students. I shall take this opportunity to extend my appreciation to all the mentors. Thank you for your hard work!” he added.
Reporters: Chiu Wen Chin and Xian Yingtong
Photographers: Wei Xiao and Irene Yu
Editor: Deen He
(from MPRO, with special thanks to the ELC)
