今年7月的早些時候,菲利普-莫里斯國際公司(Philip Morris International)宣布將收購Vectura Group,后者是一家開發可吸入藥物的制藥商,其產品包括治療哮喘的藥物。這家煙草巨頭聲稱,此舉將助力該公司進入吸入式治療領域。
鑒于菲利普-莫里斯國際公司在全球銷售煙草產品的悠久歷史,這樣一樁收購交易可能會引人側目。但對美國企業界來說,這并不算特別出格。幾十年來,不少大企業一直利用收購來提升自己的公眾聲譽。
我尤為關注的研究主題是,美國企業是如何利用收購來提升其環保形象的。一些尋求“綠色化”的企業試圖通過收購一家更注重環保行為的公司來促進這一進程。但是,一個組織僅僅通過收購另一個更環保的組織就能夠變得更環保嗎?
簡單來說,不能。企業領導者不應該將可持續發展努力僅僅看作是對政治風向的迎合,而應該看作是實施一種可取的、旨在獲得全面成功的商業模式。執行這一模式的關鍵是設定具體的、可衡量且可實現的目標,以便在多個領域不斷改進,并記錄你的進展。在這個過程中,收購可以發揮作用,但并非必須這樣做才行。
在許多情況下,收購都是一個行業生命周期中非常健康的組成部分。當所有主要參與者的收入隨著企業的成熟而開始趨于平緩時,就會出現整合。企業有各種很好的理由來收購其他企業,包括學習和采用具有變革意義的最佳實踐——比如那些涉及可持續發展的好做法。
收購一家擁有更環保的商業實踐、供應鏈和產品的公司,似乎是阻力最小的途徑。但收購只是一個開始。接下來,收購方必須充分整合被收購方的可持續發展實踐。企業不一定非要通過收購來實施可持續發展審計和規劃;但這能夠是一個很好的開始。
一旦成功收購某家以環保著稱的公司,企業領導者往往依賴其品牌來提升收購方的環保形象。他們經常為這樣一樁貌似“高尚”的交易而興奮不已,但這種情緒有時候會掩蓋真正需要做的工作,即有意義地整合和擴大可持續發展實踐。如果不做這些工作,企業就經常會招致“漂綠”(Greenwashing)指責。
在許多情況下,收購方和被收購方的企業文化迥然不同,這往往會加劇兩家公司的融合難度。這個問題不僅僅局限于企業內部,還體現在消費者對新合并品牌的看法上。2006年被歐萊雅集團(L’Oréal)收購后,Body Shop品牌的美譽不再。同樣,數十年前被日用消費品巨頭聯合利華(Unilever)招致麾下后,冰淇淋品牌Ben & Jerry's也遇到了同樣的問題。現在,隨著Ben & Jerry's決定停止在以色列占領的領土上銷售冰淇淋,兩大品牌的分歧再次爆發。此外,由于始終難以消化Plum Organics,金寶湯公司(Campbell’s)在今年的早些時候被迫將這家獲得環保認證的嬰兒有機食品制造商出售給了Sun-Maid公司。
不過話說回來,有些合并最終取得了最佳效果。高露潔(Colgate)在2000年代中期對天然產品先驅Tom 's of Maine的并購,就是一個成功案例。更令人稱道的是,高樂氏(Clorox)成功地整合了另一家天然產品先驅——Burt’s Bees。經歷了初期的波折之后,這樁美好的聯姻很快就促成了高樂氏Green Works系列產品的轉型,同時還造就了一個更強大的Burt’s Bees品牌。
如果想在并購后成功整合,收購方就需要切實采用最初吸引它的環保實踐,勤勉地實施可持續發展審計和規劃,并清晰地營銷和傳播公司的具體舉措。唯有如此,大公司才可以真正走上綠色發展之路。(財富中文網)
本文作者達林?杜伯-史密斯從2000年到2016年擔任Green Marketing Inc.公司的總裁;2003年至今任教于丹佛大都會州立大學(Metropolitan State University of Denver),擔任高級講師。
譯者:任文科
今年7月的早些時候,菲利普-莫里斯國際公司(Philip Morris International)宣布將收購Vectura Group,后者是一家開發可吸入藥物的制藥商,其產品包括治療哮喘的藥物。這家煙草巨頭聲稱,此舉將助力該公司進入吸入式治療領域。
鑒于菲利普-莫里斯國際公司在全球銷售煙草產品的悠久歷史,這樣一樁收購交易可能會引人側目。但對美國企業界來說,這并不算特別出格。幾十年來,不少大企業一直利用收購來提升自己的公眾聲譽。
我尤為關注的研究主題是,美國企業是如何利用收購來提升其環保形象的。一些尋求“綠色化”的企業試圖通過收購一家更注重環保行為的公司來促進這一進程。但是,一個組織僅僅通過收購另一個更環保的組織就能夠變得更環保嗎?
簡單來說,不能。企業領導者不應該將可持續發展努力僅僅看作是對政治風向的迎合,而應該看作是實施一種可取的、旨在獲得全面成功的商業模式。執行這一模式的關鍵是設定具體的、可衡量且可實現的目標,以便在多個領域不斷改進,并記錄你的進展。在這個過程中,收購可以發揮作用,但并非必須這樣做才行。
在許多情況下,收購都是一個行業生命周期中非常健康的組成部分。當所有主要參與者的收入隨著企業的成熟而開始趨于平緩時,就會出現整合。企業有各種很好的理由來收購其他企業,包括學習和采用具有變革意義的最佳實踐——比如那些涉及可持續發展的好做法。
收購一家擁有更環保的商業實踐、供應鏈和產品的公司,似乎是阻力最小的途徑。但收購只是一個開始。接下來,收購方必須充分整合被收購方的可持續發展實踐。企業不一定非要通過收購來實施可持續發展審計和規劃;但這能夠是一個很好的開始。
一旦成功收購某家以環保著稱的公司,企業領導者往往依賴其品牌來提升收購方的環保形象。他們經常為這樣一樁貌似“高尚”的交易而興奮不已,但這種情緒有時候會掩蓋真正需要做的工作,即有意義地整合和擴大可持續發展實踐。如果不做這些工作,企業就經常會招致“漂綠”(Greenwashing)指責。
在許多情況下,收購方和被收購方的企業文化迥然不同,這往往會加劇兩家公司的融合難度。這個問題不僅僅局限于企業內部,還體現在消費者對新合并品牌的看法上。2006年被歐萊雅集團(L’Oréal)收購后,Body Shop品牌的美譽不再。同樣,數十年前被日用消費品巨頭聯合利華(Unilever)招致麾下后,冰淇淋品牌Ben & Jerry's也遇到了同樣的問題。現在,隨著Ben & Jerry's決定停止在以色列占領的領土上銷售冰淇淋,兩大品牌的分歧再次爆發。此外,由于始終難以消化Plum Organics,金寶湯公司(Campbell’s)在今年的早些時候被迫將這家獲得環保認證的嬰兒有機食品制造商出售給了Sun-Maid公司。
不過話說回來,有些合并最終取得了最佳效果。高露潔(Colgate)在2000年代中期對天然產品先驅Tom 's of Maine的并購,就是一個成功案例。更令人稱道的是,高樂氏(Clorox)成功地整合了另一家天然產品先驅——Burt’s Bees。經歷了初期的波折之后,這樁美好的聯姻很快就促成了高樂氏Green Works系列產品的轉型,同時還造就了一個更強大的Burt’s Bees品牌。
如果想在并購后成功整合,收購方就需要切實采用最初吸引它的環保實踐,勤勉地實施可持續發展審計和規劃,并清晰地營銷和傳播公司的具體舉措。唯有如此,大公司才可以真正走上綠色發展之路。(財富中文網)
本文作者達林?杜伯-史密斯從2000年到2016年擔任Green Marketing Inc.公司的總裁;2003年至今任教于丹佛大都會州立大學(Metropolitan State University of Denver),擔任高級講師。
譯者:任文科
Philip Morris International (PMI) earlier July?announced it would be acquiring Vectura Group, a pharmaceutical company that develops inhalable medicines, including those for asthma patients. PMI claims that it is doing so to help enter the inhaled therapeutics space.
Such an acquisition may raise eyebrows, given PMI’s long history selling tobacco products globally. But it’s not out of character for corporate America. For decades, companies have used acquisitions to burnish their public reputations.
My research has particularly focused on how they have done so in the green space. Some companies who want to “go green” attempt to catalyze the process by acquiring a company more focused on environmentally friendly behavior. But does an organization become green simply by acquiring a greener organization?
The short answer is no. Corporate leaders should not view sustainability efforts merely as appealing to the political zeitgeist, but rather as implementing a desirable business model that leads to overall success. The key to executing that model is to set specific, measurable, and achievable objectives for continuous improvement across multiple areas over time and document your progress. Acquisitions can play a role in that process, but they don’t need to.
In many cases, acquisitions are a healthy part of an industry’s life cycle. When revenues begin to flatten for all the major players as they mature, consolidation happens. Businesses acquire other businesses for a variety of good reasons, including learning and adopting transformational best practices, like those involved in sustainability.
It does seem like a path of least resistance to acquire a company with greener business practices, supply chains, and products. But acquisition is just the beginning. The acquiring organization must then integrate the transformative sustainability practices of the organization it acquires. Companies don’t necessarily have to make acquisitions to engage in sustainability auditing and planning; however, it can be a great way to get started.
Once the green company is acquired, business leaders often rely on its brand to make the acquiring company look greener. Their excitement over how virtuous their purchase appears sometimes obscures the real work of meaningfully incorporating and scaling up sustainability practices. This often leads to accusations of greenwashing.
This melding process is often exacerbated by the fact that in many cases, the cultures of the two companies are very different. This is a problem not just internally, but in consumers’ perceptions of the newly combined brand. Body Shop’s reputation suffered after L’Oréal bought the company in 2006. Ben & Jerry’s had the same issue when it was purchased by Unilever decades ago, and the discordance between those two brands is now flaring up again over the ice cream brand’s decision to stop selling out of Israeli-occupied territories. Campbell’s had trouble digesting Plum Organics (a green B Corporation), as evidenced by Plum being sold to Sun-Maid earlier this year.
Then again, sometimes these mergers work out for the best. Colgate successfully incorporated natural pioneer Tom’s of Maine in the mid-2000s. Even more notable was Clorox’s successful integration of another natural products trailblazer, Burt’s Bees. After an initial backlash, this beautiful marriage quickly led to the category-transforming Clorox Green Works line, as well as a much more robust Burt’s Bees brand.
Successful post-merger integration requires adopting the transformational green practices the acquirer found attractive in the first place, diligent sustainability auditing and planning, and clear marketing and communication about what the company is specifically doing. Only then can the larger company really green up.
Darrin Duber-Smith was president of Green Marketing Inc. from 2000 to 2016 and has been a senior lecturer at Metropolitan State University of Denver since 2003.