百年老字號IBM的五大啟示
????本月,國際商業(yè)機(jī)器公司(IBM)迎來了其百年誕辰。最難得的是該公司自成立以來,大多數(shù)時候在業(yè)內(nèi)都保持了舉足輕重的地位,除了20世紀(jì)90年代初,公司一度瀕臨倒閉。1911年, 公司實現(xiàn)凈利潤80萬美元,而到了2010年這一數(shù)據(jù)已至148億美元。IBM股價已上漲約4萬倍。 ????IBM的輝煌業(yè)績大多可以追溯到公司成立的初期以及老托馬斯?沃森1914-1952年間執(zhí)掌公司期間的決策。當(dāng)今的企業(yè)家和首席執(zhí)行官們,特別是那些志在打造百年老店的人,都可以從沃森身上汲取經(jīng)驗。 ????下面是沃森打造百年企業(yè)的五大經(jīng)驗。 1. 首先,要讓整個團(tuán)隊深信公司就是他們的宿命,即使這聽起來有些瘋狂。 ????IBM成立之初名為Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. (C-T-R),1911年由華爾街金融家查爾斯?弗林特收購的三家初級信息公司合并而成。1914年沃森受聘執(zhí)掌該公司時,C-T-R處于風(fēng)雨飄搖之中。公司員工士氣低落,部門經(jīng)理間內(nèi)斗不斷。那么,沃森當(dāng)時做了些什么?他告訴目瞪口呆的員工們,他們正在打造一家世界級的重要企業(yè)。 ????根據(jù)沃森首次會晤30位高管的文字記錄,沃森告訴高管們要努力銷售產(chǎn)品,“要始終銘記,公司有光輝的未來,公司的未來與每個人都息息相關(guān)。”他反復(fù)宣揚(yáng)光輝的未來,并將小小的C-T-R更名為聽起來野心勃勃的國際商業(yè)機(jī)器公司。慢慢地,員工們相信了沃森,他們感到自己并不是單純地在做一份工作,而是肩負(fù)某種使命。如今,IBM內(nèi)部仍然傳承了同樣的態(tài)度。 2. 建立宗教式的企業(yè)文化,員工要么接受,要么離開。 ????“一個強(qiáng)大的企業(yè)就如同一個國家一樣,是建立在企業(yè)文化和共同的價值觀體系基礎(chǔ)之上。” 沃森是第一批真正理解了這一點(diǎn)的首席執(zhí)行官之一。不僅如此,沃森將這一理念發(fā)揮到了極致,創(chuàng)造了一種奇特的企業(yè)文化,緊密團(tuán)結(jié)所有接受這種文化的人們,同時將異見者排除在外。 ????IBM的怪異之處包括著名的“思維”標(biāo)志、禁酒政策(如今的IBM仍不會為出差高管餐桌上的酒水買單)、以挺括的白襯衫為特色的著裝要求以及IBM歌曲大合唱傳統(tǒng)等。這種奇特企業(yè)文化在20世紀(jì)中葉的一次年度聚會上達(dá)到了巔峰,當(dāng)時IBM數(shù)千名頂級銷售人員齊聚于紐約州恩迪克特的一個山坡,全部住進(jìn)帳篷! ????如今新一代的科技企業(yè)鮮有如此另類的做派,但Netflix不同尋常的、強(qiáng)大的企業(yè)文化仍堪稱典范——因此,其員工流失率在硅谷也居于最低之列。 3. 不甘于守成;能時而跳出思維定勢,勇于冒險。 ????20世紀(jì)30年代當(dāng)大蕭條肆虐時,沃森走出了一招險棋。當(dāng)競爭對手紛紛裁員、關(guān)閉工廠并削減研發(fā)時,沃森卻反其道而行之,于1933年在恩迪克特建造了一個一流的實驗室。他希望為經(jīng)濟(jì)好轉(zhuǎn)時的需求爆發(fā)做好準(zhǔn)備。然而由于大蕭條曠日持久,IBM的財務(wù)幾乎被拖垮。 ????到了1936年,美國《社會保障法》(the Social Security Act)的通過催生了極其龐大的信息處理需求——跟蹤迄今所有的政府和企業(yè)薪金數(shù)據(jù)。然而,此時只有一家公司有應(yīng)對能力,那就是IBM。IBM有現(xiàn)成的設(shè)備、正在運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)的工廠和最新的技術(shù)。IBM的業(yè)務(wù)獲得了突飛猛進(jìn)的發(fā)展。 ????沃森和他的兒子小托馬斯?沃森后來還有多次孤注一擲的決策,包括可能是IBM史上最大膽的一次賭博,即20世紀(jì)60年代推出的System/360電腦。360電腦就好比如今蘋果公司(Apple)的iPhone,不同的是蘋果公司同時還生產(chǎn)其他的產(chǎn)品。 4. 成為大眾的話題。 ????在沃森的時代,大多數(shù)人都沒有接觸過,也不了解IBM的后臺計算機(jī)設(shè)備。因此,沃森不斷地尋找方式吸引公眾注意。1939年,他在紐約世界博覽會上資助了盛大的IBM Day活動。20世紀(jì)40年代,他在紐約麥迪遜大道的公司總部大堂里架起了一臺IBM首批電子計算機(jī),每個經(jīng)過的人都能看到它在運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)。 ????IBM從未忘記此類做法的價值。20世紀(jì)90年代,當(dāng)IBM的超級計算機(jī)“深藍(lán)”擊敗國際象棋世界冠軍加里?卡斯帕羅夫時,它登上了媒體頭條。今年,IBM的超級電腦“沃森”在美國電視節(jié)目《危險邊緣》(Jeopardy!)中擊敗了兩位總冠軍。 5. 找到比自己更優(yōu)秀的繼任者。 ????這可能是最難的——但對于打造一家百年老字號至關(guān)重要。任何人都無法執(zhí)掌企業(yè)達(dá)一個世紀(jì)。首位接任者必須是一個同樣有魄力的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人,甚至能掩蓋創(chuàng)始人的光芒。問題是非凡的公司創(chuàng)始人往往具有很強(qiáng)的個性,容不下個性強(qiáng)烈的下屬。 ????沃森是幸運(yùn)的。他有一個兒子小托馬斯?沃森,他擁有像父親一樣強(qiáng)大的意志和卓越的才能。父子兩人針鋒相對,但小托馬斯沒有離開。沃森在執(zhí)掌IBM近40年后,將領(lǐng)導(dǎo)權(quán)交給了兒子——后者很快就將IBM帶入了電子計算的新時代。電子學(xué)的發(fā)展使得小托馬斯?沃森能繼往開來,拋棄過時技術(shù)——即IBM對打卡機(jī)的依賴。 ????很多公司在致力于打造百年企業(yè)的道路上都會遇到接班人這個問題。微軟(Microsoft)需要一位有魄力的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者來接替比爾?蓋茨,讓公司擺脫過去Windows和個人電腦時代的輝煌,進(jìn)入互聯(lián)網(wǎng)時代。然而,史蒂夫?鮑爾默無法勝任這一使命。史蒂夫?喬布斯之后,蘋果公司也需要一位新的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者,正如他們所說,新的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者必須具備迥異于喬布斯的思維方式。 ????顯然,公司要在長達(dá)百年的歷史中長期保持欣欣向榮并非易事。公司需要在早期就奠定企業(yè)文化的基礎(chǔ)、關(guān)鍵時刻的放手一搏和一些運(yùn)氣,同時還有首位繼任者掌權(quán)后的成功轉(zhuǎn)型。基于這些要素,或許可以判斷當(dāng)前哪些公司有望成為百年老字號。 |
????IBM turns 100 this month. Remarkably, IBM (IBM) has stayed vital and important for most of its history -- except for that blip in the early-1990s when the company nearly collapsed. In 1911, the company had $800,000 in net income.?In 2010, IBM's net income was $14.8 billion. Its stock has appreciated about 40,000 times. ????A lot of IBM's success can be traced back to its earliest years and the actions of Thomas Watson Sr., who ran IBM from 1914 to 1952. Today's entrepreneurs and CEOs could learn some lessons from Watson, especially if they want to build a company for the ages. ????So here are five lessons from Watson on making a 100-year company. 1. At the start, convince the troops you're a company of destiny, even if that seems crazy. ????IBM began life as Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. (C-T-R), a rag-tag amalgamation of pseudo-information companies assembled in an acquisition by Wall Street financier Charles Flint in 1911. C-T-R was flailing when it hired Watson to take charge in 1914. Morale was down. The division managers fought each other. So what did Watson do? He told his amazed employees that they were building a world-class, important company. ????In verbatim notes from Watson's first meeting with 30 senior executives, Watson tells them to sell their products hard, "always having in mind that this business has a great future, and that everybody has a bearing on the future of this business." He repeated messages of grandeur time and again -- and renamed little C-T-R with the expansive name of International Business Machines. Eventually, employees believed him, and they felt like they didn't just have a job -- they were on a mission. You still find the same attitude in the halls of IBM today. 2.?Build a cult-like culture that people either buy into, or run away from. ????Watson was among the first CEOs to really understand that a strong company -- like a nation -- is built on a culture and shared set of values. And then Watson took it to an extreme, creating a culture that was so quirky, it tightly bonded people who joined -- and ejected people who didn't buy in. ????The quirks included the famous THINK signs, a no-alcohol policy (IBM today still won't pay for a traveling executive's glass of wine with dinner), a dress code of stiff white shirts, and a tradition of group-singing of songs about IBM. The culmination of Watson's odd culture was an annual event in the mid-twentieth century that brought thousands of the company's top salesman to a hillside in Endicott, N.Y. -- and housed them in tents. ????While it's hard to find a young tech company today that's that quirky, Netflix is one example of a strong, unusual culture -- and as a result has one of the lowest employee turnover rates in Silicon Valley. 3.?Bet the company once in a while. ????In the 1930s, with the Depression raging, Watson rolled the dice. While competitors laid off workers, closed factories and cut R&D, Watson refused to do any of that and in fact built a state-of-the-art lab in Endicott in 1933. He wanted to be ready for an explosion of demand when the economy turned around. But as the Depression lingered, IBM's finances were nearly in ruin. ????Then, in 1936, the Social Security Act passed, creating the single biggest information problem -- tracking all those paychecks -- for government and business to date. Only one company was in a position to handle it: IBM. It had machines ready, factories running, and new technology. IBM's business rocketed. ????Watson and his son, Thomas Watson Jr., would go on to bet the company several times, including perhaps IBM's most daring bet, the System/360 computer in the 1960s. The 360 was like Apple's bet on the iPhone -- if Apple stopped making every other product at the same time. 4.??Make people talk about you. ????In Watson's day, most of the population never touched and didn't understand IBM's back-office computing machines. So Watson continually found ways to make the public take notice. In 1939, he funded a grand "IBM Day" at the World's Fair in New York.?In the 1940s, he set up one of IBM's first electronic computers in the lobby of corporate headquarters on Madison Avenue, so everyone passing by could see it in operation. ????IBM has never forgotten the value of such acts. In the 1990s, it got headlines when Deep Blue beat world champion Gary Kasparov at chess. This year, IBM's Watson computer beat two all-time champs in a Jeopardy! match on TV. 5.??Hand off to a successor who is better than you. ????This may be the hardest trick of all -- but it's crucial to building a 100-year company. No leader is ever going to stick around for a century. That first successor has to be an equally bold leader, who perhaps can even overshadow the original company builder. The problem is, great company builders are often powerful personalities who drive away other strong personalities below them. ????Watson got lucky. He had a son, Tom Watson Jr., who was as strong-willed and gifted as the father. The two of them fought like crazy, yet Tom didn't leave. After running IBM for almost 40 years, Watson handed leadership to Tom -- who quickly plunged IBM into the new era of electronic computing. The arrival of electronics allowed Tom Watson to build on the past, yet toss out what had become stale -- in this case, IBM's reliance on punched-card machines. ????This is where a lot of companies stumble on the path to 100 years. Microsoft (MSFT) needed a bold successor to Bill Gates who could break from the company's Windows and PC past and take it to an Internet future. Steve Ballmer couldn't do it. Apple (AAPL_ after Steve Jobs will need a new leader who's willing, as they say, to think different from Jobs. ????Obviously, it's not easy to be a vibrant company for most of 100 years. It takes a cultural foundation at the start, some big bets and luck along the way, and a great second act when it's time for the first successor to take charge. Keep those things in mind, and it might be possible to guess which of today's companies will be around at 100. |
-
熱讀文章
-
熱門視頻