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Business
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Chinese industry
中國工業
Haier and higher
海爾海闊天空
The radical boss of Haier wants to transform the world's biggest appliance-maker into a nimble internet-age firm
與眾不同的海爾老總想將世界上最大的家電制造商改造成一家矯捷的互聯網時代的公司
NO URINATION or defecation in the working area. That admonition was among 13 rules that managers felt necessary to post on the walls of a shambolic fridge factory in Qingdao in the early 1980s.
上世紀八十年代早期，一家位于青島的冰箱制造廠車間赫然寫著：不許在車間大小便，廠長認為這對于已經陷入混亂的工廠來說很有必要。
After several senior managers failed to turn it around, in 1984 the municipal government of the Chinese city appointed a young employee, Zhang Ruimin, as the firm's boss.
在一年幾度換帥卻無法扭轉頹勢的情況下，年輕的張瑞敏臨危受命出任廠長。
The gamble worked. Since then a lousy local firm has turned into the world's biggest appliance-maker.
青島市政府的這次豪賭收到了成效，隨后這家瀕臨倒閉的工廠一躍成為世界上最大的家電制造商。
Most think of Chinese companies as peddlers of cheap, undifferentiated kit or mere copycats.
印象中，中國公司即廉價產品、低端元件、或山寨產品的代名詞。
In contrast, Haier is recognised globally for reliability and marketing know-how.
相比之下，海爾已贏得全球顧客的信賴，并且精通市場運作。
Mr Zhang had spent time in quality-obsessedGermany, where he observed that even manhole covers were precisely made and numbered.
張瑞敏曾到以品質著稱的德國考察，他注意到在那里即便只是一個普通的井蓋都是精密制造的，還編上了序號，
It made a deep impression.
這在他腦海里留下了深刻的印象。
Incensed that a fifth of the products his plant turned out were defective, in 1985 he handed out sledgehammers and joined employees in smashing 76 faulty fridges in public view.
隨后，工廠生產的產品不合格率高達20%令他震怒；1985年，他讓生產出那些不合格產品的員工當眾砸毀了76臺冰箱。
That won him national celebrity and was the start of the firm's transformation.
這讓他在全國開始小有名氣，工廠的轉型也由此拉開了序幕。
Now comes Mr Zhang's latest radical notion: eliminating the firm's entire middle management.
如今，張瑞敏最新的理念是：去掉公司所有中層管理人員。
But surely it is barmy to tinker with a successful business model?
但是，但是如此巨大地改動成功的商業模式是不是瘋了？
A close inspection of the firm's rise reveals that Mr Zhang has never adhered to conventional wisdom.
進一步審視海爾的崛起之路不難發現，張瑞敏從不會受制于傳統觀念。
Haier became China's biggest fridge-maker in 1999 in part by acquiring lots of lossmaking local rivals.
1999年，海爾成為中國最大的冰箱制造廠，一個原因是他不斷兼并國內日益虧損的競爭對手。
Mr Zhang looked for firms with strong products and markets but inept leadership—stunned fish, he calls them—that could be turned around by superior management.
張瑞敏注意到的是那些產品質量過硬、有一定市場份額而管理不善的公司—他稱之為休克魚—這些公司能夠通過先進的管理扭轉格局。
His un-Chinese obsession with quality and branding helped, earning his products a premium even during periodic price wars.
他對產品質量、品牌的非中國特色式癡迷，讓他在周期性的價格戰中為其產品贏得了一項榮譽。
He also emphasised top-flight service, rare in China, promising that machines would be free if not delivered within 24 hours.
同時，他還注重一流的服務理念，這在中國也實屬罕見。他向顧客許諾如果海爾產品如果未能在下單后24小時送達，該訂單即可免費。
Mr Zhang also defied Chinese notions of how to expand overseas.
此外，張瑞敏摒棄了中國傳統的海外擴張思想。
Rather than go first to less competitive regions like South-East Asia and Africa, Haier long ago pushed into America and Europe.
很久以前，海爾首先打入美國、歐洲市場，而非首先向競爭力薄弱的東南亞、非洲擴展。
Mr Zhang wanted the firm to learn how to meet the demands of the world's most sophisticated consumers.
張瑞敏希望公司能夠學校如何滿足世界上最挑剔客戶的需求，
Haier's quality exceeded norms set even byJapan's exacting standards bodies.
海爾的質量甚至高于日本嚴格的產品標準。
By listening closely to demanding consumers, his firm's fast and frugal engineers came up with clever products like mini-fridges built into computer tables, freezers with a slightly warmer compartment and horizontal deep freezers with two tiers of drawers.
通過仔細聆聽用戶需求，海爾敏捷的工程師設計出的智能產品，如內置于電腦桌中的小冰箱，冷凍機上帶有一個小暖室，還有一個帶有兩層抽屜的水平冷藏器。
Haier also developed new niches, such as affordable wine fridges, ignored by Western rivals obsessed with economies of scale.
海爾還設計了新的壁龕式冰箱，如儲酒冰箱，其西方競爭對手癡迷于規模化生產，不屑于這種小眾化的產品。
It is now pioneering wireless charging of appliances.
如今，海爾現在正走在家電無線控制技術的前列。
The results of Mr Zhang's unconventional strategy have been breathtaking.
張瑞敏非傳統策略的成果令人震驚。
Haier's revenues have shot up fourfold since 2000, topping 160 billion yuan last year.
2000年后，海爾的銷售收入增長了四倍，去年達到了1600億元。
Pre-tax profits rose more than six fold over the same period.
同期，稅前利潤漲幅超過六倍。
It was judged the eighth most innovative firm worldwide, ahead of Amazon among others, in a ranking drawn up last year by the Boston Consulting Group. And now KKR, a private-equity giant, is investing in the firm.
去年，波士頓咨詢公司發布的一項排名顯示，海爾躋身全球第八大創新企業，領先與亞馬遜等名企。現今，股權投資巨頭科爾伯格-克拉維斯公司已向海爾投資。
It has stumped up $500m for a 10% stake, if the rumours are correct.
如果傳言屬實，KKR向海爾注資5000萬美元，占其投資份額10%。
Most bosses would be satisfied with such a record, but not Mr Zhang.
如此驕人成績換做任何老總都會很滿意，但張瑞敏卻不沾沾自喜。
Though in his 60s, he still works nearly every day and he rarely takes a holiday.
盡管已年過花甲，他仍然將近每天工作，基本不休假。
And far from resting on his laurels, he is occupied reinventing his business.
張瑞敏非但沒有躺在過去的功勞簿上，現今還致力于公司重整。
The point of killing middle management is to make the firm more responsive, he says: In the past, employees waited to hear from the boss; now, they listen to the customer.
去掉公司所有中層管理人員的意義在于讓公司更加。他說：過去，員工等著老板發話；現在，他們得聽顧客的。
Previously, the firm's 80,000 or so workers toiled in traditional and distinct areas like manufacturing, sales and so on.
先前，海爾近8萬員工遵循傳統，在諸如制造、銷售等不同部門辛勤工作。
Now, they are organised into 2,000 zi zhu jing ying ti—self-managed teams that perform many different roles.
現今，他們每2000人組建一個自主經營體，實現團隊自我管理，履行各種不同職能。
Each is responsible for profit and loss, and individuals are paid on performance.
經營體內每位成員都要對團隊盈虧負責，個人報酬多少基于其表現好壞。
In the past, managers relied on internal support services for, say, research or marketing.
過去，像市場調查、營銷這類工作，管理人員需要依靠內部的支援。
To encourage open innovation, the firm insists the new ZZJYTs must attract outside partners and resources.
為了鼓勵開放式創新，海爾堅持自主經營體必須吸引外部合作伙伴及相應資源。
If ambitious employees spot an opportunity, they are free to propose an idea for a new product or service.
如果雄心勃勃的員工發現機遇，他們完全可以建議開發一款新產品或一項新服務。
A vote, which can include not just employees but suppliers and customers, decides which project goes ahead.
一種即包括員工，還兼顧供應商、顧客的投票機制，可以決定哪個項目先行實施。
The winner also becomes the project's leader.
同時，勝者將成為項目負責人。
He forms his team by recruiting from across the company; employees are free to join or leave ZZJYTs.
張瑞敏通過從整個公司挑選人才，搭建管理團隊；員工自行選擇是否加入自由經濟體。
Mr Zhang says the goal is a free market in talent, so the cream rises.
他表示這樣做的目的是人才自由市場，是金子便會發光。
He explains why such disruption is necessary: If we don't challenge ourselves, someone else will.
他解釋道這樣分化管理的必要性：如果我們不自己尋求挑戰，總有人會向我們發起挑戰。
If that sounds like talk straight out of Silicon Valley, in a sense it is.
這話聽起來就像硅谷的理念，從某種意義上來說確實如此。
He is convinced that if Haier is to flourish in the internet age, it must become a services company.
張瑞敏相信如果公司想在當今的互聯網時代站穩腳跟，那么海爾就要成為一家服務型公司。
He even thinks it can mine user information to become a big data firm, to serve customers even better.
他甚至認為海爾可以開發用戶信息而成為一家大型數據公司，如此才能更好的為顧客服務。
How exactly does Mr Zhang intend to strike a balance between the chaotic entrepreneurial energy released by the ZZJYTs and the need for corporate control at the top?
既然如此，那么張瑞敏又如何做到平衡混亂自由經濟體的創造力和公司高層對整個企業的管理呢？
We don't need to balance!, he says with a smile. An unsteady and dynamic environment is the best way to keep everyone flexible.
對此，他坦然一笑，并說道：我們不需要去平衡，一個不穩定的動態環境是讓每個人都靈活工作的最佳途徑。
If you doubt his seriousness, just consider the catfish.
如果你懷疑他的決心，想想鯰魚效應的作用。
Yang Lin, who started at the firm 12 years ago as a technician, won the contest to become the head of the team for automatic top-loading washing machines.
12年前，楊林開始了自己在海爾的技術員工作。如今，他已成為海爾洗衣機全自動型號經營體長。
He works extremely hard, he says, not only to earn his bonus but also to stay ahead of the catfish.
他說自己工作努力，不僅可以分得公司紅利，還在諸多鯰魚中處于領先位置。
That is what the firm calls the person with a rival idea who came second in the voting. He works on the victor's team but watches for any chance to unseat him.
這便是海爾號召競職選舉中得票第二的人要有競爭意識的結果，他為第一工作，卻時刻想著取代第一。
Does this upset Mr Yang?
這讓楊林感到困擾嗎？
I can't run things like an emperor, he reflects, but I don't mind.
他反省道：我無法像一個皇帝統攬大權，但我并不介意。
In fact, I'm a catfish to other teams myself.
事實上，對于其他團隊而言我同樣也是只很具競爭力的鯰魚。
It's fish-eat-fish at the heart of the world's most successful white-goods firm.
這種魚吃魚的理念已經深入這家世界上最成功的家電公司。
