founder abdicates

On August 25, 2012, Midea Group issued an announcement that the founder of the group, He Xiangjian, resigned as the chairman of Midea Group, and his successor was Fang Hongbo, who previously served as the chairman of Midea Electric Appliances. At the beginning of this year, Li Xinghao, the founder of Guangdong Chigo Air Conditioning, announced his resignation as the chairman of the company, and Zheng Zuyi, a doctor of Tsinghua University, took over.

Interactive topic: Continue to participate in management after the founder abdicates?

There are various signs that the first generation of entrepreneurs are fading out of the stage of history. Compared with the sad departure of Yang Jieyuan, the founder of Yahoo, He Xiangjian and Li Xinghao's abdication appeared calm and active; The two chose a professional manager to take over. Especially Midea, the helm of such a 100 billion aircraft carrier, took the initiative to pass on the "big position" to "outsiders". Such behavior is really thought-provoking. Therefore, we will also focus on He Xiangjian, and we will focus on the topic of founder abdication. Discuss.

The wisdom of Chuanxian

When the wheel of time entered the second decade of the 21st century, those entrepreneurs who started their businesses in the 1980s and 1990s and made great achievements began to gradually realize that as a The founders of the company are no longer young, and abdication is becoming a problem that they need to solve urgently.

The core of the question of abdication is the choice of successor. Who to choose? In the Chinese cultural tradition, the concept that the son inherits the father's business, and the concept of passing it on to the son, makes many entrepreneurs hope that their children will take over. In this regard, Gao Tianle, chairman of Tianzheng Group, once commented: "Whether it is passed on to his children depends on whether he has the ability, and whether he has the will or not. He harmed himself. When choosing a successor, the most important thing is to pass on the virtuous, not the son."

In fact, one of the reasons why He Xiangjian's abdication has attracted attention this time is that his successor is not his son He Jianfeng, but professional manager Fang Hongbo. According to the data, He Jianfeng has started his business abroad since 1994. He had maintained close contact with Midea in the early days, but he has become completely independent in recent years and has his own listed company. On the other hand, Fang Hongbo joined Midea in 1992. In the past 20 years, he has been an editor of the internal magazine, chief of the public relations department, manager of the marketing department, and then in charge of the air-conditioning business department, and even became the chairman of Midea Electric Appliances. Obviously, Fang is a manager who has grown up in Midea. He has an extraordinary understanding and grasp of Midea's operation and management and the future development direction of the company. He Xiangjian still chooses to hand over the company to professional managers even though his son is not an ordinary person. On the one hand, it reflects his high trust in Midea's internal group of professional managers represented by Fang Hongbo; on the other hand, it also shows that , Fang Hongbo does have excellent ability, making He Xiangjian believe that he is a person who can be trusted.

Prepare for abdication early

He Xiangjian's abdication this time, despite the heated discussions outside, but inside the group, it seems very calm. To achieve such a smooth transition, He Xiangjian's precautions on the issue of abdication and handing in the baton is an important reason.

Like many successful private enterprises, founder He Xiangjian's personal ability is a big factor in making Mei's achievements today, and to a certain extent, this is He Xiangjian's beauty. However, everything has two sides. The over-reliance on founders and the neglect of future succession problems has also become the reason why many companies are weakening. And He Xiangjian obviously sees farther than many entrepreneurs on this issue. He once said at the age of 60: "My ideal is to use the mechanism, system, and culture of the United States, whoever has the ability, does not necessarily do it. Family business. This is my direction and goal. Whether it can be achieved or not depends on my efforts.”

It is clear that at least ten years ago, He Xiangjian began to prepare for today's abdication. Since 2001, Midea has spent a lot of time on governance structure, authorization and incentive system, and professional manager team. From persuading family members with insufficient ability, implementing the division system within the company, and using a large number of non-Shunde talents including Fang Hongbo, to actively improving the enterprise management system, introducing external strategic investors, and seeking the overall listing of the group . All this has laid the foundation for the smooth realization of this year's shift.

In the past ten years, He Xiangjian has used each business department as a platform to allow professional managers to fully exercise, through comparison and selection of talents, and Fang Hongbo stands out from this. He Xiangjian's final "passing on" to Fang Hongbo was a decision made under an all-round investigation, and such an all-round investigation would be difficult to do if there was not enough time. For Fang Hongbo, his outstanding performance during this period has also accumulated enough prestige and authority for him in the group, which will help him continue to work after taking over the throne.

On the other hand, the long-term preparation has also allowed He Xiangjian to actively and calmly choose the timing of his "abdication". At present, Midea is in a stage of rapid and healthy development, and the internal and external environments are relatively stable. Completing the major change of founder abdication at this time can minimize potential risks and avoid the tragedies that some companies are forced to abdicate and their successors are unsustainable in a crisis.

If you retire, your heart should also retreat.

He Xiangjian said at the farewell meeting: "I will no longer be involved in the company's operations, I will no longer participate in company affairs, and I will no longer attend company meetings." Is he really abdicating, or is he hiding behind Fang Hongbo and listening to politics? These speculations from the outside world may themselves illustrate a problem: for a considerable number of companies, the so-called abdication of the founders is not complete, which has brought many problems to the companies.

An important factor in why this is so common is the word founder. If it is just the replacement of old and new managers, it is just a farewell to a career for the side that has retired. For this generation of private enterprise founders who are now facing the issue of abdication, it is undoubtedly a difference from their life career. When you hand over your child to your successor, there will always be a lot of reluctance in your heart. The successor does a good job. If the successor has some small problems in the process of running the business, what should the founder do at this time? Still sitting on Mount Tai and letting the successor let go? This is probably not all founders can do. As a result, many people directly point fingers and issue orders to their successors. This is not the worst. What's more, they go over the successors and issue orders to the original old subordinates, causing the company to go out of business and internal chaos. The founders had to come out of the rivers and lakes to clean up the mess, and at this time, the company has been greatly damaged.

Therefore, as the founder of a company, you must be careful about abdication. If a successor is selected, he should be allowed to do it after abdication. In 2010, Wang Licheng, who founded Holley Group, fulfilled his promise of "retirement at 50" made more than 10 years ago, resigned from the positions of president and legal representative of the group, and handed over to Xiao Qijing to take over. Facts have proved that this shift of the Holley Group is relatively successful. The reason is that Wang Licheng has successfully achieved self-adjustment, and has made people retreat as well. This is undoubtedly a very critical point. And this is also the next challenge for He Xiangjian and other founders of private enterprises who abdicated.