Confucianism, Taoism, Hinduism & Downsizing –
While there are some in America who view downsizing as an efficient method of cutting costs while raising the level of employee empowerment, most individuals view it as a negative-like the scores of thousands of employees in Flint, Michigan, who feel General Motors booted them off the assembly lines for one motive alone-greed. The Eastern religions are more traditionally known for their passivity in comparison to the hostility and anger of GM workers in Flint who refused to accept their situation without a fight led by Roger Moore in the documentary Roger and Me, a harsh indictment of GM upper-management and its human resource policies in general. In reality, downsizing is a business reality that is used to maintain a competitive advantage in a growing global economy and there are times when it does raise productivity and the level of employee empowerment. This analysis will hypothetically determine how someone of either the Confucian, Taoist or Hindu faith views downsizing.
The Higher Man in Confucianism is characterized by his excess of sympathy toward all others. Further, intelligence, courage and good will are the three main tenets of the Higher Man. Where the relationship between the individual and the state is concerned, it mirrors the obedient relationship of the father and son, “Society rests upon the obedience of the children to their parents, and of the wife to her husband; when these go, chaos comes” (Durant 671). Thus, if the state is ruled by leaders who are doing the right thing, then the employees, if Confucian would be well served to go along with their wishes. If, in the face of economic realities, the correct thing to do is to lay-off people or leave some go, then that is what is best for the corporation, the other people still working there and the society within which the corporation operates. Those who are without jobs as a result of this necessary ...