Abstract The indigenous research on Chinese management is emerging, but there is a lack of consensus about how to engage in such a research. The theme of this article is to argue that the indigenous research on Chinese management must be rooted in the Chinese traditional philosophies. The fundamental source of Chinese philosophies is Taoism rather than Confucianism. With “Tao”, “YinYang” and “Wu” as the three core elements, the Chinese philosophies can be summarized as the philosophy of wisdom in favor of balancing science with art, while the Western philosophies can be summarized as the philosophy of knowledge in favor of separating science from art. The Chinese and Western philosophies are highly distinctive. However, due to their distinctions, they are also complementary. It is obvious that the Chinese philosophy of wisdom and the Western philosophy of knowledge constitute a yinyang duality. The Chinese traditional philosophy must learn from the West, but the former cannot lose its own unique strengths and become “Westernized” via science. Both the Chinese and Western philosophies are necessary for the indigenous research on Chinese management, but their implications are not symmetrical. The Chinese philosophy of wisdom is more salient to the indigenous research on Chinese management than the Western philosophy of knowledge.
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