"CEConline" interview with Shi Zhenrong, founder of Acer Group (2)

CEConline: In recent years, you have been promoting the idea of "kingdom" in your lectures. Is "kingdom" the most suitable management concept for China's national conditions in your mind? Can you explain to us specifically how this idea came to be? You have introduced the idea of "kingdom" before. When your business was small, did you already have the idea of "kingdom"?

Shi Zhenrong:

This is what I have been thinking about in the "Wang Dao Salary Class" in recent years, how Chinese companies can truly compete with Western multinational companies after 20 or 30 years. Of course my definition of competition is to provide something of higher value than Western companies, not to make more money.

I think the most modern management of Western thinking must be learned, but in addition to this, we must have our own unique things. I thought of "kingdom". In essence, "kingdom" and the development of modern Western thinking are in line. As for the "kingdom" issue, what I want to emphasize is: the Eastern thinking mode of "kingdom" from the inside out ; Western culture is developed from the outside in.

From the perspective of Western history, after the 1970s, we pursued the maximization of shareholder rights. In the 1980s, I heard about the maximization of stakeholders, considering interests. Later, when it came to corporate governance, it was also after the problems of American companies. Begin to talk about contractual social responsibility; the changes in Western Europe in the 1990s began to talk about environmental protection issues, from the outside to the inside, this change also reflects a kind of thinking in the West.

What about the East? From the inside out, oriental culture is to care for the common people in the world. For the enterprise, who is his world? Target customers. A company needs to take care of its customers, its employees, shareholders, suppliers, distributors, banks, and the society and environment in which it lives. If an enterprise wants to operate sustainably, it must create its value for its stakeholders and pay attention to the balance between them. Only after balance can it develop sustainably, and unbalance will lead to revolution.

I emphasize that the thinking of modern management must have the spirit of "kingdom" in order to be able to play.

In fact, Chinese culture has this spirit in the first place, and we had this mindset when we started our business. Why do we start a business? The society is not bad for our cause, for what? It is to contribute to the society, why should we find some people to make microprocessors, that is to not lose the opportunity of the second industrial revolution, if we didn't speak out 35 years ago, if we couldn't keep up with the process of the second computer revolution , then we are the sinners of history. China had this problem 200 years ago.

So when your starting point is to start from social responsibility, you consider the rights of all stakeholders, and the thinking point itself has already revolved around the "kingdom". Like the development of Acer, many times of re-engineering, the focus is not on individuals or a few people, but on the overall thinking, so that the accumulated power will be strong, because everyone's interests are taken into account, and the combined power will be stronger.

"CEConline": This is the virtue of Chinese intellectuals, the tradition of worrying about the world before the world. You just mentioned that the West is from the outside in, and the East is from the inside out, which inspires people.

Shi Zhenrong:

Why is the West an outside-in model? It is because the external foundation of the West is the rule of law, while the Eastern culture is different, from the inside to the outside, because of the rule of man. Of course, in essence, both the rule of man and the rule of law must be given equal importance. Because the rule of law does not depend on people, and we also need to rely on the basic spirit of the West - the rule of law.

"CEConline": The truth is very deep, and it is 40 years later that you have accumulated this wisdom. Today, many of our readers are just starting their own businesses. When you first started your business 40 years ago, did you see that far?

Shi Zhenrong:

I am also slowly accumulating and learning. Once I think this is the future direction, and it must be the right direction, I will do it. That's right. I know that I am lacking in ability, resources, and influence, and I want to accumulate. How to accumulate, we must work hard in the right direction and persevere. Only this idea, in essence, all management theories in the West, are first developed by enterprises, and then summarized by the academic circles. It took me 40 years to do it myself, and it turned into a teaching and a thinking. This is the experience of my life. The most important thing in management is doing, not talking.

CEConline: Now that traditional PCs are facing a strong impact from tablets and smartphones, as a major PC maker, Acer, how will its strategic direction be adjusted? It is also widely rumored that Acer is undergoing a strategic transformation. Can you talk to us about it?

Shi Zhenrong:

I have retired from Acer, so it is not convenient for me to speak now, but I can think from the perspective of the entire Taiwanese electronics industry, and also from the perspective of the entire Chinese enterprises on both sides of the strait. What I say does not represent Acer's mean.

With the development of time, the electronics industry has actually been making progress, and we welcome changes in the PC industry. We were talking about in the 1990s, since the Internet has relied on PCs, and PCs have always played an important role in changes.

Of course, Apple caused the impact of IPAD tablet computers and smart phones, but this is actually because PCs have accumulated technology for so long, and all the technical architectures in the world are complementary to Apple's development.

So on the other hand, as long as the PC understands which new directions need to be adjusted in the entire infrastructure, the PC itself is still critical, and the manufacturers and foundations still exist. Higher, faster, with more memory, and that's not enough.

The current point of view should be from the perspective of easy use, application and service for customers. This is the general trend. Only in this way can these technologies be truly popularized and more people can enjoy technology. Contribution to human beings, in this case, what PC companies have to face is to add more software and integrate more services on the original basis. In fact, this direction must be considered.

But then again, the culture is different. The culture of making PC hardware is different from the culture of making software and services, and the challenges are considerable. The demand trend of our next stage is in conflict with the manufacturing culture. The next trend is to understand and master the needs of customers. For manufacturing, it is enough to understand the needs of several major customers. Now it is necessary to understand the needs of millions of customers. Understand customer needs. This is a different requirement for the entire management culture.

This requires the manufacturing industry to attach great importance to the dynamics of the market, and to have that sensitivity to understand. For mainland enterprises, through the platform of tablet computers and smartphones, they can provide more value-added products and services. These services are ubiquitous, so the opportunities are huge.

"CEConline": Many people think about the example of Apple, and we have also conducted research on the sensitivity of the market. In the field of smart phones, the most popular iPhone is Apple. I think, you too Described a lot of Apple's success, if I were a mainland manufacturer, could you suggest how to go in such a direction?

Shi Zhenrong:

It will take 30 years. Even if Japan's Sony is such a strong brand, there is no problem with innovation, innovation, and later they even took the approach of acquiring American entertainment brands. However, in the end, it was not Sony that integrated it into a very convenient service to change entertainment consumption. Why did Apple do it? This is a cultural issue.

CEConline: Sony has actually seen this direction, why didn't it do it?

Shi Zhenrong:

Sony didn't integrate because it didn't look at the problem from the ultimate customer-centric point of view. When Acer split up in 2000, I kept talking to engineers about changing the technology-centric concept to customer-centric. In fact, since 1984, I have used the example of Zhu Bajie's ability to use computers to change everyone's ideas, but I have been talking about it for more than 10 years and it is useless. This is culture! The "technology-centric" mindset of engineers will not change.

The education that engineers in Taiwan and mainland China have received since childhood is to talk about how to make breakthroughs in technology. This has a sense of accomplishment. The biggest problem is how to focus on customers. When engineers see customers, they think it is too simple, and they dismiss it. There is no technology, no knowledge, and no sense of accomplishment.

I often hear people say that doing high-tech is very knowledgeable. I am wrong. It is very knowledgeable to sell toilet paper and make money. Customer-centric, this is knowledge. But engineers think that no technology is not knowledge, which is their biggest blind spot. What use are these engineers without the bridge of the market?

This is what the Smile Curve is talking about, why did I have this concept in the first place? Let me give an example. The market brand is an outlet to the sea. If the outlet is narrow, like what we enter the port, it was originally a large merchant ship. From this perspective, if one day we don't find a way for China's future higher education people, their unemployment rate will be higher than that of uneducated people. This phenomenon is happening in Taiwan now.

"CEConline": It takes time to change the culture, the deep structure of the culture.

Shi Zhenrong:

Yes, why does it take time? Because culture belongs to the majority. I am a non-mainstream myself, and I have been non-mainstream all the way for more than 30 years. My goal is to turn non-mainstream into mainstream. I am also very patient, and I plan to spend 30 to 50 years to slowly change, "Human nature is good. ”, “Passing the virtuous but not the son” is a non-mainstream culture, and I have always insisted on doing it.

CEConline: I think many of your ideas are also closely related to traditional culture.

Shi Zhenrong:

Of course, I am deeply influenced by Chinese culture, but I also think that there are many concepts in Chinese culture that will form a bottleneck for the development of enterprises and organizations, such as family world, keeping one hand, a mess of sand, evil views, Centralization, etc.

But the whole era is different. Only by not leaving one hand can we make our society progress, and we can build a community of interests without leaving a mess. As for the whole family culture, when I was in my 40s, I decided not to hand over the business to my family after retirement. When it comes to the central government Centralization, now we are faced with so many opportunities in the market and so many human arrangements, and everyone is highly educated, you do it in an obedient way, and the power of the organization cannot be exerted. All of these are cultural issues that hold companies back in the long term. And these are the things I wanted to change from day one as a business.

On the other hand, there are many things in Chinese culture that are conducive to the development of enterprises. For example, the spirit of "kingdom" is right, but unfortunately no one implements it. Just like when Confucius and Mencius traveled around the world to preach preaching, no king listened to Confucius and Mencius. Yes, this is just a theory. The "kingdom" is good, and the dynasty lasts a little longer, but from a historical point of view, the change of dynasties is often due to the lack of "kingdom".

The "kingdom" is difficult to implement politically because it is a zero-sum game. The benefit of one party must mean the loss of the other party, and it is the relationship between you and me. However, it is easier to apply the "kingdom" to the enterprise. From the perspective of business management, the "kingdom" can be everywhere and can be a common benefit. You can be the king of the enclosure, and be the king in the projects you choose. If you are not the king, your profits will be affected. Global Sources is also the king, and you can take care of the stakeholders, such as the readers of the magazine Global Sources. , advertising, employees, you have to take care of them before you can play.

CEConline: Mr. Shi, your observation and determination have made you successful in your career. In your opinion, what good things have emerged from the integration of Chinese and Western business management concepts over the past 30 years? Change, what are the bad changes? Can you share with us your thoughts on the changes in the management environment in Greater China over the past 20 years?

Shi Zhenrong:

Obviously, we need to learn from the West in management, because the essence of management is to develop a system after the occurrence of human management, and then according to this system, you can effectively expand, Compare, copy, learn.

On the other hand, management actually faces people. We must understand the basic concepts, reasons, and principles of management. However, it is people who are ultimately faced with. Because of different cultures and different communication methods, we must fully understand After digesting it, it is still necessary to use oriental methods to integrate the concepts of these people and work hard for one purpose of the enterprise.

If you only apply Western management theory to the East, this road will not work. The East has its own mode of thinking, and it is especially important to think from the inside, which is our characteristic from the inside out; while the West has a model from the outside to the inside, and the external environment has certain requirements. to do it, so the Eastern and Western cultural concepts are different.

CEConline: In previous interviews, Mr. Shi, you thought that the weaknesses of Western management models are greed, profit-seeking, and excessive risk taking; the weaknesses of Chinese management are suspicion, a strong sense of personal superiority, and your previous Talking about some of the issues, then, in your mind, what kind of management philosophy is most worthy of recognition? Is it "kingdom"?

Shi Zhenrong:

There is no absolute, the environment is different, the society and the era are different, the industry you want to serve is different, there is no absolute, the style of the people and leaders you want to organize are also different, and you must let the The words of the leader should match the leader's style concept as much as possible.

But on the other hand, there are also basic principles, that is, the "kingdom", that is, the stakeholders, such as the target customers of the enterprise, who are you looking for for investment, and the employees you are looking for; for a society that has nothing to do with goals, you Don't hurt it; to the environment, don't pollute him, or it will cause backlash.

Nowadays, I also see that there are many injustices, deficiencies, and bottlenecks in the society. These are opportunities. If you have some innovative models, use the spirit of "kingdom" to satisfy everyone's dissatisfaction with new products and services. , Unbalanced areas, this is the opportunity you observe, of course you have to create value.

In fact, because the entire environment is constantly changing dynamically, when it changes, imbalances will arise. Imbalances are motivation and opportunities, and balances are stagnant water. From this point of view, as a kind of spirit, the "kingdom" can be applied very widely, and our Tao can continue to be consistent.

"CEConline": You describe your character as "Me too is not my style" ("following non-me style"), but when you were a student, your composition was poor, English was poor, people were shy and shy, you Madam also once commented that you were too shy. It is hard to imagine that you would say "Me too is not my style" with such a personality. It can remind us of the interesting things about your youth. How did you transform yourself from shyness to courage, from shyness Shy enough to have an original spirit, who has never been good at writing, can say so many great truths today, and become a master of management "management"?

Shi Zhenrong:

The whole development process of my life, I didn't think of it myself. When my father died when I was young, and my mother tried her best to take care of me, I wanted to not make her sad. She told me that she wanted me to be a useful person, and I thought that if I didn’t make her sad and be a good student, I would be a useful person. It is useful not to make mother sad.

But there is a limit to human talent. My talent is to be good at science and engineering. Science and engineering don't have to spend time reading, and I am fun myself. But to write well, it takes a lot of time to learn, and my middle school mother helped me find a tutor and tutored English, and I didn't make much progress.

The idea of "Me too is not my style" came about because of objective circumstances. At that time, our first choice in middle school was to be a doctor. Everyone believed that a good student should be a doctor. I ask why? I didn't read it, and my mother didn't object, which encouraged me to think "Me too is not my style."

Later, I entered the first session of Taiwan Jiaotong University, which was the first session of the National Taiwan University Department. At that time, there were 78 students in the whole school, and it was a small school. I was a repeater. I didn't pass the test in the first year. I liked to play, so I created many clubs during college, although I didn't go to the stage before college. , but after entering Jiaotong University, there are no tigers and monkeys in the mountains, and many clubs have been created. During the process of creating clubs, I began to provide a lot of services. I also like innovation. With a sense of achievement, over time, it slowly builds confidence.

My ancient Chinese and English are not good, because I want to serve everyone, and I have to speak. Therefore, I feel that the speech should be understood by everyone, but not understood by those with good knowledge. In addition, the content of the speech should be listened to by everyone, forcing me to become sensitive to words and to scrutinize slowly. Today I will talk about If you don't understand, if your eyes are not bright, I will go back and review it slowly.

CEConline: It's been really helpful to talk to you, and I'm sure our readers will feel the same way, thank you.