Chinese exporters need to learn to "tell stories"

Panelists:

Speaker - Prof. Glenn R. Carroll: Laurence W. Lane Chair Professor of Histology, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Stanford-NUS Senior International Management Training Co-director of the course, Professor of Sociology (Professor Emeritus), School of Humanities

For details, please refer to: Stanford Business School Executive Training Course Module 1: Organizational Innovation · From Entrepreneurship to Maturity

Mr. Craig Pepples ): Chief Operating Officer of Global Sources, Publisher of CEConline and Shangpin Life

For more details, please visit Pei Kewei's blog

Mr. Liu Lan: Editor-in-Chief of CEConline

p>For more details, please visit Liu Lan's blog

Mr. Feng Jianwei: General Manager of Zhengzhou Baiyu Industrial Grinding Co., Ltd.

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Share 1: Understand consumers and listen to their changes

Liu Lan: What impressed you most about the one-day course?

Pekewei: I think there are too many that impressed me the most. Especially the content part of the course.

The following topics have also aroused many discussions, such as the difference between personality and brand, and how to understand some new trends in the US market, and how we can integrate into their trends. However, it is easy to misunderstand, because personality is a kind of story. If we want to tell a story, we must first understand how the other audience listens to the story. Therefore, I often see many traditional products in China and good things that many people want to sell in China. To the world, such as traditional Chinese medicine. But traditional Chinese medicine is completely out of tune with the average American consumer. You have to know how the people there accept it, so that your personality can be related to his motivation.

I believe there is a great opportunity to grasp the ideas of American consumers, especially now, because the demand in the United States is changing, the financial crisis has brought many new environments and new habits of American consumers, so we must also Sensitive to grasp these new directions, this topic makes me feel very deep, I believe that we can talk about it for a long time, and I have seen many people sound very excited and engaged.

Liu Lan: He is talking about understanding consumers and listening to their changes. Today, Professor Glenn R. Carroll is mainly talking about the situation in the United States. In Europe, Japan, and underdeveloped markets, consumers may also change, and we must pay attention.

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Share 2: Marketing from Organizational Behavior

Liu Lan: Mr. Feng is in the export business, do you feel the change in consumer consumption trends? The second question, what do you feel the most deeply about today?

Feng Jianwei: I would like to thank Global World and CEConline for this opportunity to share this topic, and again to Professor Glenn R. Carroll for the wonderful tutorial. As our production-oriented enterprise, 100% of our products are exported to the world. Facing such an economic environment, we are under great pressure. Today's course explained my doubts. I came here with doubts. My company has encountered many difficulties and encountered bottlenecks. How to go down, the establishment of corporate culture and the construction of incentive mechanisms have encountered great difficulties. But Glenn R. Carroll's class made me find ways to think about things, and I think that's the most important thing to share. Provide us with how to ideally think about the development of enterprises and the construction of corporate culture. I just doubted the significance of listening to this subject, because Glenn R. Carroll studied ecology, but he talked about how to analyze organizational behavior from another perspective. Learning to do marketing is what I feel the most. How to consider marketing from another perspective, especially for export-oriented enterprises, at this time, if you use the corporate culture to examine the internal mechanism, you should also use this culture to examine the external market.

This is the first question raised by Mr. Liu Lan, Consumer Behavior. The markets we export to, Europe and North America are our two main markets, but their sales methods are completely different from our marketing purposes and promotional materials. Because Europe and the United States are quite different, we sell them in the United States. Products and products sold in Europe appeal to different cultures. Our company has the opportunity to stop and learn, from psychology to research, consumer behavior and other issues.

Liu Lan: It's not enough just to make a good product, or just to have a low price.

Feng Jianwei: We developed very quickly in the early stage, but we encountered these problems in the later stage.

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Share 3: Chinese exporters should learn to "tell stories"

Liu Lan: I also share a place that impressed me the most. After seeing Cocoa Pete`s, their market analysis, the market is divided into domestic and foreign markets , Low-end, high-end, the domestic high-end market seems to have room to establish a deep-rooted brand, so they are positioned as domestic high-end brands. If we look at the Chinese market, we are actually like this in many fields. For example, we have many domestic low-end and high-end brands in clothing, such as automobiles and so on. Does this mean that the establishment of domestic high-end brands is the way out for many of our enterprises or industries? This is my question. I don't have an answer. I would like to give the students below some time. If there is an answer to the question you asked me, I would like to hear your answer, or share with you the class you have listened to for a day today. , What is the deepest impression and the deepest feeling. Or if you have any questions you would like to ask the professors on stage, you are also welcome to ask them.

Student: We are building building materials and equipment. After listening to the professor's lecture, I have a question, how to tell this story? Now our stories are told by people from the United States, Germany, and Italy. From the perspective of China, how to tell this story is my biggest confusion. I hope teachers, professors, and colleagues can help analyze it.

Liu Lan: What do you mean by American and German?

Student: The earliest building materials and equipment have a history of 100 years, and they are all in the United States and Germany.

Glenn R. Carroll: From my American point of view, China's 5,000-year-old civilization has always been ahead of Western civilization. China has always paid attention to all aspects of engineering and civil engineering when it was civilized and will not lag behind any Western country. Chinese traditional architecture has a good tradition left in China, can you make a little article in this regard, considering American consumers, I will think of this from the point of view of the attractiveness of the United States, I don't know if you can be very Make good use of it.

Student: Thank you professor for providing this idea. We are still using it in developing countries, including China, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe. Developed countries may have difficulty exporting culture.

Liu Lan: Developed countries will still understand that we are a 5,000-year-old civilization. You should pay attention to what your consumers are concerned about. For American consumers, you can say that the Great Wall is made by you.

Pei Kewei: I am speaking as Global Sources. We have been acting as a bridge for 38 years. We found that it is very difficult for Chinese exporters to tell stories to every corner of the world. The only way is to find For partners, for example, the buyer is a buyer who knows the local area and has an understanding of the local area. Through this intermediary, you can grasp the market demand. These will also provide some feedback, and modify your products through his requirements for you. , so you have a lot of information. But without getting the information in every place here, I'd still like to say no to Glenn R. Carroll's advice.

I've been in Asia for 25 years, I used to be American, now I don't know who I am, and sometimes what I want to share is that I very much agree with him, I know that in America, in the West, There are a lot of romantic feelings about China, but the Western dream of China is different from the Chinese dream of its own classical culture, so when you want to integrate into the classical Chinese dream, you still have to first understand the public, that is, the audience, What the audience wants to hear. For example, Americans must have very different and complicated feelings about the Great Wall from the Chinese, and they are completely different. I understand that Chinese people have a patriotic spirit towards the Great Wall, and I feel that way as soon as I see it. When Americans see the Great Wall, they will think, wow! Such a long history, but without that patriotic spirit, it's simply an example of a different mood. So we still need to understand what consumers think.

Student: Thank you.

Liu Lan: Thank you for your question. Just like what Professor Glenn R. Carroll said, what the teacher tells you is how to choose a horse, it is difficult to choose which horse. Student: I would like to ask Professor Glenn R. Carroll, what brand of watches does he wear? In addition, does he know about Chinese watches? I'm a watch magazine, so I'll ask him two questions first.

Glenn R. Carroll: No watch, never one. I personally think that I don’t know much about China, especially when it comes to the details of the watch industry. I don’t know much about it. I have been to the mainland more than ten times. My lover is still a mainlander, and I have many friends in the mainland. Knowing China knows a lot.

Student: Doesn't he wear a watch? What kind of things are attractive to Chinese people, Switzerland's winning the bid is very attractive to Chinese people, because of the elements of history and humanities. But in fact, we are talking about China in turn. In fact, China's watch industry has undergone great changes. Of course, you are talking about the high-end route. why? It is because there is an objective reality, that is, if 80 of 100 people in the world can wear Chinese watches for watches made in China, it will firstly occupy the world's consumer market. In addition, Swiss-made watches have a lot of appearance processing, such as dials, hands, and cases, which are all made in China, so we also pay tribute to the craftsmanship and technology of production.

Liu Lan: This gentleman said that he is a building material producer. The story of clocks may not be easy to tell. How can the Chinese tell stories if they produce high-end watches.

Student: Yes.

Liu Lan: I just want to hear your thoughts on how to convince you that high-end Chinese watches are worth buying.

Student: So products like China were born and appeared, but the culture is too weak, so the brand building has just started, so this is what I have been writing articles in different financial media. Weak, but what I talked about and learned today is what Glenn R.Carroll is emphasizing on culture, including a good example he chose, which is a furniture brand. If there is a chance in the future, Professor Glenn R.Carroll will also pay attention to China. There may be more answers in the watch industry and watch brands, and I am looking forward to this day.

Liu Lan: Let's seek this answer together.

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Share 4: How to balance material rewards and spiritual rewards?

Student: I'm from Shenzhen EDISON. I have two questions for Professor Glenn R. Carroll. Our company is a commitment organization company, but from the beginning of the company's establishment, it has 8 people and now has more than 300 people. , Our corporate culture is also very strong. We have carried out organizational reforms successively. Some people are retained by shares and culturally, but there are still high-level turnover. Their reason is that the entrepreneurial impulse is very strong. In addition, established organizations use less material rewards. We often hold events, such as two full-staff sports events. Some employees suggest that instead of issuing a medal, it is better to issue a very practical recharge card or something. In the end how to solve this problem.

Glenn R. Carroll: The question you asked is a good one, very interesting, and it is not a problem faced by your company alone. Many organizations will ask the same question. In terms of personnel turnover, I think this is a relative issue. You may ask what is the average proportion of general personnel turnover in your industry. Compared with them, do you have a stronger corporate culture? Speaking of attrition rates and other companies, companies without a strong culture are higher than you?

Student: Yes, we have relatively few losses, but the flow in Shenzhen is still relatively fast.

Glenn R. Carroll: Good luck.

Student: How should material rewards and spiritual rewards be handled?

Glenn R. Carroll: To answer your second question, it involves the balance between material rewards and spiritual rewards. Symbolic rewards or internal motivation are very important. When I said this, I did not say that you should not give adequate wages for employees. Salary is definitely still very important, especially compared to the scale of their competition, this company is straight in the middle or above. Spiritual rewards can also be designed with more thought or design, making symbolic rewards more objectionable. Generally, employees will care about the attitude of employees in the entire organization, including the attitude of managers toward him. If the symbolic reward means Since every employee here cares about your contribution very much, I think it is even more significant. So I suggest designing a different way to design your spiritual reward, so that the winner feels that everyone cares about him, so he will also care about the reward.

In addition, I would like to suggest that when designing spiritual rewards, you can design them according to the unique characteristics of your company, and carefully analyze which special rewards your employees are more looking forward to. For example, this company chooses a monthly salary. This kind of selection is very standard. Any company can do this. If it provides some incentives, such as he cares a little, such as naming something after him, it can also give him some money to organize. But in the end, this is not a question of money. It really comes to the reward that touches the heart of the winner and touches his soul. This is the real meaningful thing. This is a problem that people who design rewards should consider. At the same time, it depends on the form of the award and the level of publicity. Whether the award was given at the end of the company's annual meeting, or whether the company's internal publication Toutiao provided this award. If you put a lot of effort into giving this award, he will also understand that it is a very objectionable award.

Liu Lan: You may have misunderstood about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Inner motivation refers to the success of the job and the meaning of the job. He feels that he is learning and growing at work. This is the inner manager. As for the spiritual strength, it is related to the inner strength, but it is not the core part.

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Share 5: Global companies face the common challenges of globalization

Student: I am from Shanghai, we do waste-to-energy, and I have a feeling after listening to Professor Glenn R. Carroll's class. When it comes to organizational culture, I will emphasize it later Corporate identity, I think it is the identification of corporate image, which is indeed very important. Nowadays, people's awareness of environmental protection is getting stronger and stronger. With the progress of society, consumers really pay attention to corporate image when choosing products. Whether there is a sense of social responsibility, whether the production process is environmentally friendly, and whether the level of employee safety and attitude is relatively high. From the standard of 9000 to the level of 14000 is getting higher and higher. In fact, this shows a problem. Thinking of the example of Chinese products, we are very distressed as Chinese entrepreneurs, and it is the shame of Chinese manufacturing. From this perspective, if Chinese products go to the world, be it beer keg or toy products, you should also consider this aspect. For example, you need to prove to foreign consumers that the entire raw materials are very natural and useless. Chemical things, such as where the beer kegs come from, the entire production process is very environmentally friendly, reflecting your concept and even getting certified by a very authoritative organization in the United States, because the beer kegs are directly imported. If this problem can be solved, American consumers or European consumers can rest assured. In retrospect, it is very important for Chinese companies to rebuild their own image, the integrity of a company, and that you are a responsible company. Let me take our own company as an example. We have a waste-to-energy power plant in Tianjin. After it is put into operation, the staff and management are required to control the cost. As a result, they said that if the exhaust gas treatment system can be put in a little less, the Environmental Protection Bureau will not come to inspect it, so that the cost can be reduced. I said no, other costs can be reduced, but environmental protection costs cannot be reduced, because we are responsible companies doing environmental protection can no longer cause secondary pollution, so corporate responsibility is very important, I think our Chinese companies want to go global, we must Pay attention to your corporate image.

Liu Lan: Thank you for your sharing. If Chinese companies were like you, we would not have toy scandals and milk scandals.

Glenn R.Carroll: Including the series of scandals involving China's poisoned milk powder, I would like to emphasize that China is definitely not the only country with problems. The United States also has problems with the immune chain. For example, there are some links in the beef supply chain. Contamination has led to Japan banning the import of beef produced in the United States, and American companies have these problems too. This is a problem that almost all companies in the world are facing in today's globalization era, and it is a common problem. The reason why China is facing a more typical or severe test may be because China is currently in the stage of development, the speed of development is very fast, but there are no other quality standards, the structure has not kept up with such a rapid development speed, and the whole The market exchange in other parts of the world is still in the process, so it takes a longer time for others to shape the understanding of Chinese products, so as to have a deeper understanding. This is what I think, so I suggest that everyone work together.

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