Management changes China

Liu Chengyuan's Hezhong Resources (3A) company is located in the Zhuoyue Building in the central area of Futian, Shenzhen. People say that the people who live in the Zhuoyue Building are excellent people. Isn't that right? When it comes to business management, Japan's management culture is recognized as the most rigorous and efficient. The man in front of him once managed the largest factory in the world for the Fortune 500 Ricoh Company, and made it more efficient than the local factory in Japan. Today he leads a management consulting firm that pays attention to practicality and dares to promise concrete results. On the other hand, his appearance is elegant and gentle, the leader of the white shirt is tightly buttoned, and the hairstyle is not messy. He claims to be from the countryside, which may only be seen today from the simple smile that permeated his face throughout the interview process.

For China, manufacturing is really too important

This is a sentence that Liu Chengyuan keeps repeating on various occasions or in the media. For this sentence, he did not hesitate to spend money on Phoenix TV. ad for the month. He understands that it will not be beneficial if advertising is not done for one or two years in a row. He insists on doing it because he hopes to spread a sentence from a wider range: "manufacturing is strong, China is strong, and management changes China!" This sentence actually emphasizes There are two points of view, one is the supporting role of the manufacturing industry in China's national strength, and the other is that China's economy and society must be managed to improve efficiency in an all-round way. When talking about the development of the domestic manufacturing industry, he believes that there are several tendencies to be vigilant about:

First of all, there is more talk about industry selection and less talk about industrial upgrading. There is a trend of thought that has spread in society, that is, the traditional manufacturing industry is equal to the backward industry. Experts say that the industry needs to be transformed, and the government says that the cage should be replaced. In this way, traditional manufacturing industries such as clothing and furniture may become the birds that have been replaced. , computers, networks, etc. are the popular darlings. As everyone knows, no matter how you look down on "clothing" and "furniture", no matter how you support "computer" and "network" in industrial policy, we often see the result that the profit of selling one piece of clothing is higher than selling 100 units. The profit of a computer; the profit of selling a set of furniture can even exceed the profit of an Internet company for the whole year. It can be seen that in the process of industrial upgrading, it is fundamental to upgrade the competitiveness of enterprises and industries through management activities (sales, R&D, manufacturing, supply chain and brand). Of course, some people will keep saying that Microsoft is very good and QQ is very profitable, but as leaders and managers, you must be clear that no matter how good Microsoft is, it cannot feed all Americans. China's future take-off still depends on solid manufacturing, even traditional manufacturing.

Secondly, there is more technological transformation and less management innovation. Since the reform and opening up, Chinese enterprises have spent a lot of money on equipment renewal and technological transformation, and they are constantly in a cycle of introduction, consumption, elimination; reintroduction, consumption, and elimination. Domestic enterprises use the most sophisticated equipment in the world, build the most stylish workshops in the world, and produce third-rate products. The reason for this situation has a lot to do with our lack of awareness of the importance of management innovation. In an official-industry-academia exchange meeting, some experts suggested that we still have at least 10% room for improvement in management... Liu Chengyuan, who was present at the time, thought this was a very superficial and ridiculous cognition, and immediately made a follow-up speech It is appropriate to add "annual" in front of the 10%. An annual increase of 10% is not only possible in theory, but also feasible in practice. In the long list of clients of Hezhong Resources (3A), he briefly exemplified that TCL's home network division (making DVD, etc.) has improved its efficiency by more than 70% in only two years; a certain life appliance in Midea only takes one year. Just increase the efficiency by more than 40%; the world's top 500 Fuji Xerox Shenzhen Company doubled its production efficiency in three years... A lot of practice has confirmed this truth, management innovation and efficiency improvement have no limits. He hopes that these propositions can be used as a reference for the government to formulate industrial policies.

Six disadvantages of Chinese enterprise management

In the following interview, Liu Chengyuan took Chinese football as a case to analyze the six disadvantages of Chinese enterprise management. He said: Chinese football has become the object of abuse and venting by Chinese people for many years. In fact, the management level of our domestic enterprises is not higher than that of the national football team, or even lower. It's just that the national football team is very sad. They must participate in international competition under the exact same conditions (under the eyes of the public), and they are scolded with blood every time they lose. On the other hand, domestic enterprises can gain a foothold in the international market by taking advantage of the comparative advantages of cheap land, minerals and labor resources. If the comparative advantage of these resources is stripped away, domestic enterprises will have no advantage at all.

Liu Chengyuan believes that the first problem of domestic enterprises is that they have ideals but not beliefs. We may not be short of great ideals. It is good to win glory for the country, serve the motherland, go to the world, and selfless dedication. However, we have no faith and lack of reverence for "Tao" (the way of heaven, earth, and humanity such as karma and retribution). People do not believe that there is heaven and hell. Therefore, in the process of pursuing "ideal", we will use all means and end up seriously deviating from the ideal. .

Secondly, there is organization and no inheritance. Businesses are run through organizations, and in order to make the organization more dynamic, it is normal for necessary replacements. The problem is that there is no mechanism for inheritance when organizations change. Chinese enterprise leaders often start all over again after changing, and rarely inherit and develop their predecessors' ideas, concepts, experience and wisdom. The Chinese are abandoning the "filial piety" that guarantees the eternal inheritance and development of Chinese culture. In this way, the management has no accumulation and the level cannot be improved.

Third, there is a goal but no strategy. Domestic companies, like the national football team, are particularly fond of raising goals, such as ranking goals, sales goals, and so on. After the goal is set, it is expected that the goal will be achieved through performance appraisal, and if the appraisal fails, the person will be replaced. The top management can neither put forward an effective business strategy for the target (the strategy of surpassing the opponent), nor decompose the business strategy into tasks, measures, and implement the actions of the employees. The target often becomes the wishful thinking of the managers.

Fourth, there are systems but no mechanisms. The phrase "management depends on the system" has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. If there is a problem, the system will be created, even reaching the level of superstition. However, if there is no guarantee of a mechanism (a structured method that can prevent and correct errors), the system will often become a decoration, let alone the conscious action of employees, and a good organizational culture will be impossible to talk about. Without a good mechanism and organizational culture constraints, there will be all kinds of thorns challenging the system and constraints, and the organization will fall into a situation of constant internal friction.

Fifth, there are slogans but no measures. In the process of enterprise management, empty slogans abound and come easily. The so-called empty slogans are those big words, empty words and clichés, such as "strengthen internal management", "intensify management strength", "improve execution ability", "work hard for 100 days and strive to exceed the annual task" and so on. If managers do not study specific measures and methods to strengthen management and improve execution, or have specific measures and methods but cannot effectively implement them, no matter how good their wishes are, they will be empty words.

Sixth, there is control but no participation. In addition to the superstition of the system, there is also a passion for regulation and supervision. Most corporate executives are accustomed to requiring middle managers to strengthen the supervision of employees, aiming to manage them well by controlling employees. At the mobilization at the beginning of the year and the year-end summary meeting, the leaders spoke on the stage, the employees applauded, and the employees acted as spectators and cheerleaders. Employees lack engagement and feel like they are merely tools of leadership.

Liu Chengyuan believes that if the above six "defects" cannot be effectively treated, domestic enterprises that are gradually losing the price advantage of resources (land, raw materials and labor, etc.) may fall into a deeper predicament.

Subvert the popular misunderstanding of management

In the interview, the current domestic enterprise management Liu Chengyuan also put forward some pertinent criticisms and suggestions on some tendentious issues. For example, focusing on brand marketing and neglecting R&D and manufacturing, in today's impetuous world, Chinese companies lack a down-to-earth spirit and like to opportunistically. People are more willing to spread or learn to make money easily by "models". For example, Besunyen used to be a classic marketing case talked about by marketing masters and the media, "It only uses 2 weight loss products, a slogan and a low-cost fast-selling model to accurately locate the target sales group. In just a few years, It is said that the company's R&D costs only account for about 1% of its turnover, while sales and marketing expenses are more than 40%. When he heard a marketing expert talk about how successful Apple's brand packaging is and how Apple's gap is profound, what Liu Chengyuan thought was: as long as Apple's products are perfect, why not even name it "grape"? ? He believes that in recent years, there have been scandals about Chinese products, and the dignity of Chinese manufacturing is in jeopardy, which stems from people's disregard for product development and production process improvement. He emphasized that the correct approach should be to invest more resources in product development and production, and conquer the hearts of consumers with first-class products and services. Only in this way can the sustainable development of the enterprise be guaranteed.

There is also the current trend of focusing on performance appraisal and ignoring process improvement. Dr. Liu Chengyuan said that many of our managers admire the precise performance appraisal system from the West, so that it has developed into a performanceism that "all management work is ultimately based on appraisal, and performance management is alienated (simplified) into performance appraisal". . The performance management model of performanceists is roughly like this: at the beginning of the year, set goals (playing numbers), and the department head or employee signs the goal responsibility letter; at the end of the year, performance appraisal is carried out against the goals, and the performance of the department or employees is evaluated, and based on the evaluation results. Reward for merit. Performanceists expect to improve employee motivation by implementing accurate assessments on employees and directly linking the assessment results with employee compensation packages. In Liu Chengyuan's eyes, the management reality is: the appraisal system under performanceism, apart from turning salespeople into rogue warriors like "wolves", forcing workers not to work day and night and desperately squeeze time, there is really no other What other benefits, it makes employees and teams worry about gains and losses, preoccupy, and annihilate passion. He believes that the main content of performance management is operator-led performance management and performance improvement with the participation of the majority of employees, and advocates that performance appraisal can be done, but it is by no means the main body, but only an auxiliary tool to help employees measure deficiencies and clarify the direction of improvement. Liu Chengyuan said with a smile: "The seemingly effective American-style performance appraisal system is probably the management idea that has caused the most serious harm to Chinese enterprises and even Chinese society in the past 30 years." The misunderstanding of neglecting skill training, the misunderstanding of emphasizing management elites and ignoring front-line employees, etc., he believes that these need to be liquidated and subverted one by one.

There is no doubt that Liu Chengyuan, with his strong interest in management, hard work and dedication, with his unique understanding, learning ability, accumulation of choices and challenges, plus more than 20 years of experience in the field of management Especially when he accepts the Japanese-style advanced management culture, he can pay attention to the combination with the reality of China, keep innovating, and finally form some management ideas that belong to China, and is working hard to build a local management model and system. His management ideas originated from practice and used in practice. It should be said that he has a guiding significance for the improvement of Chinese enterprise management. The author has also seen with his own eyes how well he is respected and popular in the enterprises he guides. In the conversation with Dr. Liu, the author also felt that there are abundant resources here, and many things have not been fully explored, so I made an appointment to talk next time, so as to enjoy our manager readers. After the interview, I laughed and asked Yoo Seung Won why he had such a good temper. He also smiled and replied that it was probably because he had received a lot of love from childhood to adulthood. Maybe! In fact, I think Liu is easy-going but has his own opinions, both practical and full of ideals. He has made outstanding achievements in helping enterprises to improve their management, and is known as a "management winner". And I understand why he was successful. At the same time, I can't help thinking that if there are more such practitioners and thinkers, then China's management will not be far from great achievements. Governing the country and bringing peace to the world is the common aspiration of all Chinese people. "Governance" means managing and improving it. In China's existing historical environment, management can change China. Believe it!

Introduction of the interviewee

Liu Chengyuan graduated from Harbin Institute of Technology in 1982. In the same year, he passed the national public student selection examination with honors and entered Osaka University in Japan. He obtained a master's degree and a doctorate degree, respectively, and returned to China in 1990. He has served as the personnel director, production management director of Shenzhen Ricoh Company, director of TPM Promotion Office, and deputy general manager of Ricoh International (Shanghai) Company.