Compassion: Chinese and western perspectives on practical wisdom in management

Purpose – The notion of compassion is a cornerstone in Chinese as well as western orientations for business practice. Spiritual and religious traditions, philosophical approaches and historical and present business practices outline this notion in a comparative perspective. This paper seeks to address this issue. Design/methodology/approach – Interdisciplinary paper, summarizing social science, philosophical and business literature. Findings – With its focus on compassion, business ethics in the Chinese tradition highlights a notion, which variously resonates within western traditions. Based on this, multiple lines or thought consequences for management development are derived. Practical implications – In terms of management development the call for compassionate management can be held as a common denominator of different traditions. Therefore, it will be important to include this aspect in our management development, cultural management as well as international strategy courses. Originality/value – In a broad interreligious and intercultural overview some basic characteristics of compassionate management can be identified.