Ning Gaoning: Do a good job of "herding cows" in state-owned enterprises

He is known as a "red Morgan" with outstanding "financial skills": he spends more than one billion yuan or even several billion yuan to acquire companies at every turn.

He is a "very influential" figure: in 1999, he was awarded the title of "The Most Influential Person in the Global Financial Industry"; from 2003 to 2006, he was named the 25 Most Influential China of the Year for 4 consecutive years business leaders.

He said he was just a "herd boy" of a state-owned enterprise: he used to be the chairman of China Resources Group, and now he is the chairman of COFCO.

He is Ning Gaoning.

In 1987, Ning Gaoning received a master's degree in business administration from the University of Pittsburgh, and then came to Hong Kong to join China Resources (Holdings) Co., Ltd. In March 1990, he served as the director and managing director of China Resources Enterprise Co., Ltd., leading China Resources Group to grow into a capital and industrial predator.

In 2004, he was transferred back to the mainland to take charge of COFCO.

From controlling 5 listed companies to only one company. Ning Gaoning looks at the transfer from the perspective of a professional manager: it is estimated that the central government is based on COFCO's previous emphasis on national policies, and hopes to introduce more market elements.

Since the announcement of Ning Gaoning's transfer as chairman of COFCO, the share price of COFCO International 0506.HK, which is listed in Hong Kong, has continued to rise, rising nearly 25% in two weeks.

Ning Gaoning's capital operation methods, professional quality of professional managers, and his successful experience in China Resources have all made investors have high expectations for him.

Capital operation master

Ning Gaoning told a story about twenty-six cats and one tiger.

There was a wolf in the mountains that met 26 cats. In the face of so many cats, the wolf could not help but be afraid, but due to hunger, the wolf dared to attack a cat. Working together to save each other, they could not escape bad luck in the end, and all the cats were eaten by wolves. The wolf, who has tasted the sweetness, eats one cat a day, which is quite satisfying. Another day, the wolf encountered a tiger, mistaken it for a cat, wanted to eat it, and was eventually eaten by the tiger.

He came to the conclusion: "A big cat is not a cat, a cat becomes a tiger. The power of a tiger is far more than 26 cats."

In 2001, Ning Gaoning led China Resources to blossom everywhere. He wants to turn China Resources into this tiger by means of capital operation.

Power Plant: In June, China Resources invested 1.2 billion yuan in Hunan Liyujiang Power Plant; in early July, it announced that it would acquire a 55% stake in the second phase of Baoji Power Plant for $400 million.

Pharmaceuticals: In June, an agreement was made to control Northeast Pharmaceuticals for 1.5 billion yuan.

Real estate: On August 10, the agreement of China Resources to replace Shenzhen Special Development as the largest shareholder of Shenzhen Vanke officially took effect. Since China Resources Group has previously controlled 70% of Huayuan's shares, in just two years, China Resources has acquired the two real estate giants of Vanke and Huayuan, and has become the overlord of the real estate industry.

Department Department: In August, China Resources purchased Wanjia Department Store from Vanke, accelerating its expansion into the mainland retail industry.

Textile: On September 12, it announced the acquisition of a 51% stake in Sichuan Jinhua, a listed company.

Beer: After a series of beer integration cases in Northeast China, on October 28, 12 companies including "Sichuan China Resources Blue Sword Beer Co., Ltd." were jointly operated with Sichuan Blue Sword Group and South Africa's SAB International Brewing Group. 2 billion yuan. China Resources Group, which does not have its own brand, has taken the position of the leader of China's beer industry.

This big merger seems to be out of order, but in fact it runs through Ning Gaoning's investment philosophy: as long as it is not illegal, it can be Anything that makes money can be done, but the strategic positioning must conform to business logic.

He believes that when a company reaches a certain scale, it must take the road of diversification, because only one industry cannot support it. However, it is necessary to diversify with limited relevance to improve synergy. Doing this, a diversified enterprise is more viable than a single enterprise.

Ning Gaoning once divided CR Capital into 119 profit centers, some left over from history and some newly created. He said, "China Resources will gradually focus on less than 10 industries, and implement relevant diversification to a limited extent." Moreover, "China Resources must be able to enter the top three in the industries involved."

After taking charge of COFCO, he continued to Promote this business idea and create another tiger.

Last year, he announced the future development strategy of COFCO Group: In addition to bio-energy, COFCO must establish industry leaders in 5 to 8 industries such as grain circulation, grain and oil processing, branded food, real estate and hotels, financial investment, and native animal production. status.

Professional "herding cow"

Ning Gaoning claims to be a professional manager, "herding cattle" for state-owned enterprises. His professionalism has also been recognized by the market.

In recent years, affected by the financial crisis and the company's own governance, the overall image of Chinese-funded enterprises in Hong Kong has been greatly reduced. For example, the Guangdong International Trust and Investment Company went bankrupt, the Guangdong Group was insolvent, the Guangnan Group broke the "bribery" scandal, and the senior management of the China Travel Service Group was arrested and so on.

However, under the leadership of Ning Gaoning, China Resources Group not only safely avoided the financial turmoil, but also received special treatment from the market. In early 2004, China Resources Group successfully obtained a syndicated loan of more than 3 billion yuan.

Someone asked Ning Gaoning how to develop such a steady style. He said lightly: "It's nothing, it's not a style, it's just the training that professional managers should have. Professional managers should be professional."

Ning Gaoning also requires subordinates to be professional "Let the cow baby."

According to COFCO's habit for many years, the annual work deployment will be carried out in March each year. After he took office, he changed this working meeting into a manager training session.

In 2005, the "COFCO Middle-level Management Cadre Meeting", which had remained unchanged for many years, was changed to the "COFCO Managers Annual Meeting".

Sun Zhongren, director of COFCO Group and general manager of Pengli International, felt this: "The change of the name of the middle-level cadre meeting to the annual meeting of managers is a qualitative leap. The change of name not only repositions the meeting, but also includes It has repositioned all the participants."

The first thing he did when he moved from China Resources to COFCO was to change the name of the internal journal to "Corporate Loyalty", instilling in the employees the "professional manager's loyalty and conscience" management concept.

Ning Gaoning published an article "Layering" in the latest issue of "Enterprise Loyalty", which put forward higher requirements for COFCO's managers: not only do business strategy and execution well, but also Root the spirit of continuous innovation and progress in the enterprise organization; not only promote the growth of a few people, but also promote the growth of the entire organization; not only promote the pressure of competition, but also promote the innovation of corporate culture.

Ning Gaoning continuously guides the transition of middle and high-level cadres from "state-owned enterprise cadres" to international "professional managers". Because he knows that only by maintaining a high-quality, efficient and stable professional talent chain can it be possible to build a long-lasting enterprise.

The author is editor of the CEConline website.