16 October 2017

HSMC and Peter F Drucker Academy (DAHK) co-organised a conference titled “Management as a Liberal Art – Revitalization and Localization” on 13 October 2017 at Fung Yiu King Hall of HSMC, the first activity organised by HSMC and DAHK after the two organisations entered into a partnership agreement to promote DAHK’s philosophy of “Management as a Liberal Art” (MLA) through the “HSMC – MLA Initiatives” (MLAI) among different cultures.

Mr Peter Drucker, a management guru, believed that management involves people, values, growth and development, and he strived to humanise management. His theories also cover the interactions between management and society structure as well as community.

President Simon Ho of HSMC stressed in his speech that in today’s globalised and rapid changing society, it is necessary to evaluate the impacts of complicated organisational issues on humanity, society, economy, technology, politics and culture. Management is no longer simply a profession, but a liberal art which involves multi-disciplinary knowledge. MLA-oriented management courses emphasise people- and value-oriented elements, encouraging students to think out of the box and make management decisions from a long-term and balanced perspective.

President Ho also pointed out that if a person can lead a liberal art lifestyle, he or she can manage in a liberal art manner. He cited ten core elements of liberal art lifestyle: free thought, cross-disciplinary knowledge, integrity, modesty, human care, stakeholder-based approach, distinction between value and success, sustainability, positive happiness and responsibility (versus authority). All these MLA initiatives can help rebuild the core values of free market and a humanistic society.

MLA enables university students to broaden their horizons and insights on management, thus nurturing more responsible future managers who will not merely focus on commercial functions and economic results.

The conference, sponsored by Shao Ming Lo Foundation, brought together keynote speakers and panel members from UNESCO, as well as management academics and business leaders from the US, mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.