FOUR LEADERSHIP LESSON FROM THE CHINESE ARMY

In 1976, Chinese soldiers dug the earth with their hands to free victims of the Tangshan Earthquake when their only tool, a small shovel, was destroyed in the day-and-night digging. They were part of an army of 240,000 soldiers trying to rescue 100,000 people buried underground.

In 1998, when a dyke breach in Jiujiang City led to an uncontrollable flood into which cars and trucks disappeared, members of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) jumped into the water and formed a wall of people arm in arm, shoulder to shoulder. In 2008, in the wake of the Wenchuan Earthquake, paratroopers landed at high altitude in difficult terrain in extremely bad weather with neither meteorological nor ground information. 

FOUR WAYS TO ENHANCE BUSINESS EXCELLENCE

Fujitsu is the third biggest player in the global IT services market, with sales of US$50 billion and 172,000 employees in 60 countries. It also has a long and distinguished track record as a technology pioneer. And yet, it remains little known outside of Japan. Stuart Crainer and Des Dearlove, gained unique access to examine the art of Fujitsu management:

1.Customer first The fashionable business ideas of our time suggest that customers are unreliable guides.  Simply, they do not know what the technology is capable of, so how can they tell you what they want or would like?  As a result, the emphasis of recent years has been on retaining talented individuals rather than attracting and retaining high spending customers.  Fujitsu is old fashioned in its adherence to the edict that customers come first.   All Fujitsu executives talked about the vital importance of staying close to customers.