As a business entity, it is undoubtedly an organization that seeks profit. However, businesses cannot make profit their sole objective; otherwise, the business will not be sustainable and will not achieve long-term success. Western management guru Peter Drucker believed that a successful enterprise must have a good process and organizational structure, and that these stem from accurate strategies, which in turn depend on the mission of the enterprise. This is the famous theory that mission determines strategy, strategy determines organizational structure, and organizational structure determines function. In fact, Drucker's management philosophy was inspired by Laozi, the Chinese management philosopher from thousands of years ago.
To measure whether a company has good performance, it is generally believed that if a company can generate profits, achieve employee success, and give back to society, it is considered successful. These points are certainly correct, but the most important factor in determining whether a business is successful is whether it achieves long-lasting success, sustainability, and endurance. Making a business last for generations is the dream of every entrepreneur. So how can a business achieve such enduring success? Laozi, who lived over two thousand years before Drucker, provided the answer.
Laozi said in the *Tao Te Ching*: "The reason heaven and earth can last long is because they do not exist for themselves; thus, they are able to endure forever." This means, "Heaven and earth are eternal. They last forever because they do not exist for their own benefit, hence achieving eternity." Laozi tells us that the reason heaven and earth endure is simple: they exist not just for themselves. Similarly, if an entrepreneur and the mission and positioning of the enterprise he leads emulate the spirit of heaven and earth — existing not only for themselves but also for society and the public — then his enterprise will surely achieve enduring success.
If a business follows the spirit of heaven and earth as described by Laozi, it will not position itself as existing solely for its own profit. An entrepreneur will not make the maximization of profit the core value of the enterprise. Such businesses cannot achieve enduring success, and such entrepreneurs will not gain the recognition of society and the public.
If an entrepreneur disregards the well-being of society and the public and defines the maximization of profit as the mission of the enterprise, even if they are temporarily successful, they may still fail eventually. A recent scandal involving the Murdoch News Corporation serves as a good example. As a media tycoon, Murdoch is considered a successful entrepreneur, with his News Corporation almost monopolizing the media industries in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and many other countries. However, in recent years, Murdoch's profit-first business philosophy has violated the essence of heaven and earth as described by Laozi. The News Corporation disregarded the interests of society and the public, resorting to unethical and extreme measures to obtain news leads, invading people's privacy through phone hacking to attract readers and increase media ratings. In pursuit of maximizing corporate profits at any cost, the decades-old media empire now faces the risk of collapsing due to the phone-hacking scandal. This is the consequence of violating the natural laws of business survival as articulated by Laozi.
Certainly, some companies have achieved a certain kind of success due to various opportunities and unique social circumstances. However, whether this success can be sustained and whether the company can endure is a major issue facing every so-called successful entrepreneur. Having a good strategy, scientific processes, and organizational structures is far from enough for a company. To achieve long-term success, a company must establish a mission and core values that benefit society and the public. Only then can the company endure as long as heaven and earth. This is precisely the warning given to us by the ancient Chinese philosopher Laozi.
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*Translated from Chinese.*