Lesson 4: The Opportunities of Corporate Identity (or Personality)

Glenn Carroll, Professor of Organizations and Senior Associate Dean of Academics at Stanford Graduate School of Business, gave four lectures on organizational innovation on May 23 in Beijing. He brought different ideas of organizational innovation according to different situations such as start-up enterprises, small enterprises, and mature industries. At the same time, he also brought new ideas for how Chinese manufacturing can compete internationally.

This is the first module of the "Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Training Program" co-organized by CEConline and Stanford Graduate School of Business. Nearly 100 senior managers came from all over the country to study this course. This event is sponsored by Volkswagen.

Here are some of the key takeaways from Professor Carroll's lecture that day.

Lesson 3 How Small Businesses Compete with Giants

Lesson 4 Opportunities of Corporate Identity (or Personality)

The Past Few For a decade, China has continued to produce what American consumers need, and American consumers can enjoy cheap Chinese-made products, and both sides benefit. But that relationship has changed over the past few years, and there are well-known product quality issues, lead paint on toys, and the case of poisoned milk powder. There are many export industries facing such challenges. When it comes to organic food, Americans think of small, very traditional farms, but most of the organic food in the United States is imported from China. Americans are not very happy when they find out the truth. This question reflects that American consumers have no way to trust China's certification of organic food, and may have doubts about the authority of China's certification agencies. Also, even though many toys don't have problems with lead paint, they can no longer trust toys exported from China.

A company's identity can be a selling point. Therefore, a company's identity or personality is very important. Personality has positive or negative meaning, and it can also become the selling point of a company. Just like a company that uses traditional crafts to produce beer, it does not need to pay too much attention to the quality of the product. Of course, quality is important, but for its consumers , identity is the most important.

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More and more consumers are concerned about the identity of products. Simply put, it's who you are, what other people expect from you, and how people see you. This is sometimes difficult to deal with because you have no control over outside opinions. The identity may include the source of the product, where it was produced, the conditions of production, the production process including labor conditions, and so on.

Before, no one knew where your product was made, like Nike running shoes, no one knew where it was made, and no one cared. But now all the information behind it is available, and more and more people believe that consumers should have the right to know when making purchasing decisions. For example, when I go to buy pork, the butcher can tell me that the pig was raised on a farm in California and only eats apples and tofu all his life. And now there are more and more consumers demanding that the animals that provide the source of edible meat have grown up in a more humane environment, they have not been abused, and they should not feel particularly large when they are slaughtered. pain. Humane treatment of animals is now certified in the US and Western Europe, and consumers are increasingly making their purchasing decisions based on such certification.

There are two reasons for such a traceability concern. The first is the concern about food safety. The other reason and the more important reason is that everyone pays attention to the identity of the production company. By choosing a certain production company instead of another production company, we express our attitude in the world. What kind of support am I willing to support? lifestyle and behavior.

Many people have asked how to distinguish between identity and brand. Brand is an image deliberately built by corporate strategy. I hope others will think of my business. Brands, if done well, can become part of a corporate identity. (See the table below)

Example of furniture manufacturer Maria Yee I completed a research on Maria Yee, a furniture company headquartered in California, with factories in Hunan and Guangzhou. The reason for its success in the U.S. high-end furniture market is what we just called corporate identity.

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The U.S. market is changing. Consumers pay more attention not only to product features or functions, but also to the identity or personality of products. Although it is a financial crisis now, once the crisis passes, the United States will still be China's largest market. At this time you find that the market you are facing has changed. Maria Yee gave us an inspiration on what we can do in the face of such a market.

Their designs draw a lot of inspiration from Chinese classical or retro furniture, as well as some modern designs. Looks good, but nothing too special. The company is not very large, but it has a presence in the US furniture market and sells it through major retailers.

What is the selling point or attraction of this company's products? The craftsmanship he used, the most important thing is workmanship, without any nails or riveting, but through the traditional Chinese craftsmanship. This is labor-intensive, and in the U.S. market, crafts tend to be much more expensive. American consumers are willing to pay more for something like this, the first product itself has functionality, and the other is the idea of sustainable, green furniture that appeals to them.

The raw materials used by this company are all from sustainable forests. There are certain principles when felling. The materials are mainly bamboo, and the bamboo is also certified. Bamboo is easy to grow, environmentally friendly and less likely to be chopped down, making it a favorite of environmentalists. Of course, the more difficult part is how to process bamboo. Now the technology is very advanced, it can be turned into various shapes, and it can produce beautiful furniture. Even if bamboo is said to be an environmentally friendly wood, there are some differences between bamboo and bamboo, including what kind of fertilizer is used in the growth process and whether it is grown organically.

We all know that Chinese products sold to the United States are likely to cause distrust among American consumers. Even if the bamboo is good, but it is produced in China, is there any growth agent added during the planting process, American consumers have already had this idea.

It is unbelievable that Maria Yee's company has obtained a very important certification, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification, which is the most stringent certification for wood products in the world. The company not only passes this certification, but also goes far Beyond this certification, each piece of bamboo can be guaranteed traceability. Each piece of wood has a biography on each piece of furniture. As far as I know, Maria Yee is the only one in China that has obtained such a certification, and it does not grow bamboo, but buys it. They need to reach an agreement with their long-term partner, the bamboo planter, to communicate from the outset, explaining that these standards must be met. It takes a lot of effort and a lot of work. When these plantation owners first heard Maria Yee's request, they were surprised, even ridiculous, why did they record it? Why do ordinary people care, and people who buy furniture still think about the life of bamboo? Of course it did everything possible to get these suppliers to accept its demands. This enterprise is very successful, the factory is completely open and transparent, and you can visit the factory.

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In the end, its product promotion is based on several concepts, one is handcraft, the other is sustainable and environmentally friendly products, not only to promote it is green, but also certified, and also welcome guests to visit, there are first The third-party certification body speaks for them. This is more credible. The American people care about these things, and it is because the Americans care about these things that they spend so much money and energy on solving the things that the common people care about the most.

The stage of China's consumer market is different from that of Western Europe and North America. Will there be a day when Chinese consumers will begin to pay attention to the individuality and identity of products, so that enterprises with independent characteristics produced by traditional craftsmanship will have room to grow? My personal opinion will be this day, although it may be 20 to 30 years later.

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