Kyi Min - Sun Tzu's Ways to Survive and Succeed

If you are starting a business, I would advise you to seriously consider your staffing. Now more than ever, it is necessary to plan effectively for staffing. In times of crisis, the quality of your staff speaks for itself. The number of people is not the most important factor.

Personnel is key.

One of the oldest Thai import companies, the (family-owned) Bara, Winsor Company, sells everything from fertilizers to fine clothing to Mercedes-Benz cars. In 1993, they saw that all they had to do was fix the problems. They saw that they simply had to improve the quality of their employees. So Siam Cement, a major Thai conglomerate, hired a human resources expert and set up a new human resources department. The time had come to invest heavily in human resources, says the company chairman.

You can find many such stories in the December 1993 issue of Asian Business. Businesses are expanding. Competition is increasing. Things are happening fast. Technology and marketing strategies are also becoming more sophisticated. In this era, more and more Asian companies are realizing that human resources are becoming more important.

A legacy of 2,500 years

In Chinese history, the period from 770 to 476 BC is known as the Spring and Autumn Period. It is not known that a military strategist who emerged during this period also laid down the basic principles for personnel management. In his time, Sun Tzu was only interested in building a strong and efficient military. In his book, The Military Strategy, he deeply explained how to recruit soldiers, how to select them, how to train them, how to cultivate their morale, and how to win wars. That is why he wrote this.

The main purpose of war is to win.

In war, the important thing is not to last long, but to win.

Although it has been 2,500 years, Sun Tzu's vision is no different from the vision of today's entrepreneurs. We must be able to produce more quickly and profit more quickly. This is how we can gain an advantage over our competitors. To achieve this, the collective work of employees is important. Therefore, modern entrepreneurs and company executives have begun to see the importance of human resources. They are looking for ways to improve human resources in order to produce more and profit more.

Boosting the energy and morale of employees

Sun Tzu wrote this to boost the strength and morale of his soldiers.

If a team manages to capture more than ten enemy chariots in battle, they should be rewarded.

If you invade and conquer a new territory, divide the wealth (profits) among your subordinates.

If a commander who treats his soldiers with contempt and protects them leads them, they will follow him into the deepest abyss. They are not afraid to risk their lives for a commander who treats his soldiers with contempt.

Sun Tzu's view that if people have received everything they deserve and have unwavering faith in their leader, they will support whatever the leader does. They will do their best. They will be loyal and loyal to him with their lives is very insightful.

Strategic implementation

The more carefully you prepare, the closer you are to victory. If you are not prepared, victory is uncertain. If you are not prepared at all, just think about it. You can tell whether you will win or lose a war by looking at this one thing.

This is aimed at strategic planning, or strategy formulation. Modern, broad-minded managers understand that HR is no longer just about office work, who takes leave, what are the personnel files, and what is the payroll, as many people think.

When businesses expand beyond their domestic footprint, employees must have knowledge of the ins and outs of new lands. Sun Tzu said this.

Study the enemy, understand yourself, then victory is certain. Know the earth, know the sky, then - victory will be complete. Previously

Knowing the ground means knowing the environment of the area where you will actually work, and knowing the sky means knowing the political and economic climate. To understand this, Sun Tzu says in Chapter 13 (Intelligence).

Our own people who are specially trained to operate inside enemy territory are called agents. They must use various methods to spy and report.

Asian companies, especially Japanese ones, have been setting aside budgets for training their employees to be more versatile. Japanese companies have been training people long before they expanded their businesses and markets to the United States.

Thousands of them were sent to the United States. Michael Roberts wrote in his book “Simple Strategy” that they were trained in advance to master English, to understand the meaning of the new land, and to be able to cope with emergencies. I read somewhere that Samsung selected about 400 employees through a personnel plan and sent them to 45 countries where they had operations for a year. I don’t think it would be beneficial to do this just because it was a given.

In a pinch, some companies may be able to afford such a costly project. However, if you are providing this to your own employees, you are not "the company."

Because it has a good reputation as "good", more people will come in. We can keep the existing people. Then we will have an advantage over others.

Human Resources - Today and Tomorrow

It is not uncommon for an employee who has been working as an office clerk for 10 years to become a department head in charge of personnel development. Managing personnel is no longer just about checking up and down the office, but also about creating the direction of the entire business, shaping its development, and making recommendations to the higher-ups for future developments.

He who foresees his victory is more certain of victory. If he runs out of arrows before the battle begins, victory is certain to be far from certain.

The farsighted king and the wise general will be able to defeat the enemy wherever they march. They will achieve amazing victories because they have foreseen.

This kind of foresight is no longer reserved for the top brass. Senior executives, who have come to see the importance of HR, are placing more emphasis on their HR managers. In some companies, HR managers are even members of the highest management team. Some HR managers are even on the board of directors. Even if they are not that high-ranking, they can still dismiss the idea that HR managers are just office workers who go in and out of offices, take leave, and leave. The status quo is rising and the salaries are rising.

In this situation, the person in charge of personnel affairs needs to have a broad perspective and a good head. In terms of business,