力·理·诚：大学管理文化的三重境界

Power, Truth and Sincerity: the Three Realms of University Management Culture

以知名哲学家涂又光先生的"三li说"及其"看实际、看行动,而非看理论、看口头"的研究方式为学理基础和方法论来考察大学管理文化,似可按大学管理所采取的核心路径及所体现的价值取向将大学管理文化划分为三重境界,即分别以"力"、"理"和"诚"为中心的管理文化。从大学管理的逻辑与旨归论,这三重境界无疑对应于大学管理及其文化的"非我"、"本我"与"超我"境界。当下中国大学之管理文化整体上处于"非我"状态,极少数趋近"本我"境界,未来的发展走向则可能是步入"超我"境界。这种转换的可能和演进的速率将取决于中国大学制度与文化重建的前景与步伐。

According to the eminent philosopher, Professor Tu Youguang's theory of 'Three Li's' and his methodology of 'examining the fact and people's action, rather than their theory or saying', university management culture can be divided into three realms, that is, the management culture respectively based on the power, the truth and the sincerity. The highly administrative management practices and paradigm of China's universities epitomizes the university management culture based on power. This kind of management culture is the task-oriented, management-led, efficiency and performance-oriented values; the moral norm based on the technical rationality of bureaucratic management, and the legitimacy of bureaucratic management characterized by power representing the strength and rationality, which is based on the reality of universities' role as institutions undertaking specific tasks assigned by the government. This kind of university management is task-oriented through hierarchical organizational system and administrative control. Accordingly, this type of management culture highlights the management ethics of being responsible for the superior organizations or leaders rather than teachers and students in the university and deviates considerably from the value position of academic orientation and administrative service and the ethical codes of taking teachers and students as the fundamental factors and taking education and academy as a top priority. The management practices and paradigm of universities in western countries as first comers from within is characterized by cultural management which seeks for university's autonomy, academic freedom and academic standard and faculty governance. This management culture puts an emphasis on the management idea of managing university according to the internal law of higher education and academics and the natural law of university's organization and operation, and taking the fulfillment of the university's educational and academic mission as the starting point and the ultimate aim of university management. The management culture also cherishes the management philosophy of following the truth and rationality in dealing with people, and improving efficiency. The axioms for the operation of the university and the way for the transaction of practical affairs as the core resources and means for university management highlight the value of academics as the top priority in a university and the rationality and flexibility of university management. In Chinese traditional culture the Way of the great learning involves manifesting virtue, loving the people, and abiding by the highest good. This tenet tends to support a university management culture that does not adhere to the truth(理,li) dogmatically, but seeks for perfect following in utmost sincerity(至诚,zhi cheng) on the part of the members of the university(In the Zhong Yong, this perfection is described as Cheng, i.e. Sincerity, realness, and goes together with enlightenment.). This kind of university management culture cherishes universities' educational function and cultural mission of manifesting virtue, loving the people, and abiding by the highest good. Manifesting virtue and practicing in utmost sincerity become the university management goal and its humanistic approach, and the ethics of university management place the highest value on the Way(道,dao) and the Morality(德,de). Thus, the university management, starting from being law- and rule-based one enters an ideal realm of utmost sincerity out of the members' great morality. Among the major universities such as Peking University, Tsinghua University and the later National Southwest Associated University in the historical period of the Republic of China, the mainstream of university management culture of that time seemed to have an affinity to the university management culture of utmost sincerity upheld by the Chinese traditional culture and moral advocacy. From the logic and purpose of university management, the above discussed three realms of university management of power, truth and utmost sincerity roughly correspond to the realms of the 'id', the 'ego' and the 'superego' of university management and its culture. At present, the state of China's university management culture is basically in the state of the 'id', while a few of universities approach the realm of the 'ego'. In the future, China's universities may enter the 'superego' realm of university management culture. The possibility and rate of this conversion rest on the prospect and pace of the institutional and cultural reconstruction of China's universities.