The Inconsistency And Consonance Between Custom Of Family And Business Regulation

As the first business group of Ming and Qing dynasty, Shanxi merchants have unique management system and method, some of the their methods are still useful for our study and use for reference today. Such as their control for custom of family and business regulation.Family is very important during Chinese traditional culture. To the people of that era, family is not only a concept of ethically, but a complex one together with ethic, life, production, and even justice function. Family always take an important part in not only people's movement, but also the progress of country development. People's movemnet, of course including business trade. At that time, the merchants'business movement not only his own behavior, and usually represent his family purpose. As the outcome of Chinese traditional society, obviously Shanxi merchants can't separate from the local economic level and market condition, and most important of all, the deeply traditional culture influence. With the restrict and influence of these actors, custom of family took an important part in Shanxi merchants activity.Shanxi merchants are worshipful that although they develop by family management, they reslized that professional division is very important. Therefore, with several years'business experience and the unstopped study for management knowledge, they mastered a special management model gradually, which including the special people employment principle, strict people choice standard, apprentice rule, joint stock system, main and branch company system, the owner and employee cooperation system and manager responsibility system and so on. These system goes through the whole activities of Shanxi merchants with business normative form.On one hand, as custom of family and business regulation both have unique influence and action, and they are both necessary during the Shanxi merchants development progress, therefore, the conflict between them must be settled. On the other hand, due to the conflict specialness between custom of family and business regulation, which means the both are not consistent. Actually, their conflict is due to there is not a strict line for their limit. Custom of family can be used for business activities only though the business regulation, and the business regulation's enforcement needs to obey custom of family. This speciality of conflict determines that the custom of family and business regulation will be consistent. The Shanximerchants development needs professional work division and also needs family management. Therefore, as the framer of business regulation, the shanxi merchants didn't deny custom of family totally, but made strict rules by the respect of custom of family and amend its disadvantage.For today, no matter the microcosmic social group, economic group inside, and macroscopical country management and elisor progress, how to deal with the relationship between the unformal habit and formal regulations is really a very important problem. If this problem can't be dealed with well, it may influence the natural work or social order, and even lead to serious system problem. The shanxi merchants way is a very good example for our reference, which means we must conciliate the different system or method, don't give up each of them, and that is the ultimate way to finish the problem.