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Business
商业报道
Chinese industry
中国工业
Haier and higher
海尔海阔天空
The radical boss of Haier wants to transform the world's biggest appliance-maker into a nimble internet-age firm
与众不同的海尔老总想将世界上最大的家电制造商改造成一家矫捷的互联网时代的公司
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.
上世纪八十年代早期，一家位于青岛的冰箱制造厂车间赫然写着：不许在车间大小便，厂长认为这对于已经陷入混乱的工厂来说很有必要。
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.
在一年几度换帅却无法扭转颓势的情况下，年轻的张瑞敏临危受命出任厂长。
The gamble worked. Since then a lousy local firm has turned into the world's biggest appliance-maker.
青岛市政府的这次豪赌收到了成效，随后这家濒临倒闭的工厂一跃成为世界上最大的家电制造商。
Most think of Chinese companies as peddlers of cheap, undifferentiated kit or mere copycats.
印象中，中国公司即廉价产品、低端元件、或山寨产品的代名词。
In contrast, Haier is recognised globally for reliability and marketing know-how.
相比之下，海尔已赢得全球顾客的信赖，并且精通市场运作。
Mr Zhang had spent time in quality-obsessedGermany, where he observed that even manhole covers were precisely made and numbered.
张瑞敏曾到以品质著称的德国考察，他注意到在那里即便只是一个普通的井盖都是精密制造的，还编上了序号，
It made a deep impression.
这在他脑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.
随后，工厂生产的产品不合格率高达20%令他震怒；1985年，他让生产出那些不合格产品的员工当众砸毁了76台冰箱。
That won him national celebrity and was the start of the firm's transformation.
这让他在全国开始小有名气，工厂的转型也由此拉开了序幕。
Now comes Mr Zhang's latest radical notion: eliminating the firm's entire middle management.
如今，张瑞敏最新的理念是：去掉公司所有中层管理人员。
But surely it is barmy to tinker with a successful business model?
但是，但是如此巨大地改动成功的商业模式是不是疯了？
A close inspection of the firm's rise reveals that Mr Zhang has never adhered to conventional wisdom.
进一步审视海尔的崛起之路不难发现，张瑞敏从不会受制于传统观念。
Haier became China's biggest fridge-maker in 1999 in part by acquiring lots of lossmaking local rivals.
1999年，海尔成为中国最大的冰箱制造厂，一个原因是他不断兼并国内日益亏损的竞争对手。
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.
张瑞敏注意到的是那些产品质量过硬、有一定市场份额而管理不善的公司—他称之为休克鱼—这些公司能够通过先进的管理扭转格局。
His un-Chinese obsession with quality and branding helped, earning his products a premium even during periodic price wars.
他对产品质量、品牌的非中国特色式痴迷，让他在周期性的价格战中为其产品赢得了一项荣誉。
He also emphasised top-flight service, rare in China, promising that machines would be free if not delivered within 24 hours.
同时，他还注重一流的服务理念，这在中国也实属罕见。他向顾客许诺如果海尔产品如果未能在下单后24小时送达，该订单即可免费。
Mr Zhang also defied Chinese notions of how to expand overseas.
此外，张瑞敏摒弃了中国传统的海外扩张思想。
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，海尔首先打入美国、欧洲市场，而非首先向竞争力薄弱的东南亚、非洲扩展。
Mr Zhang wanted the firm to learn how to meet the demands of the world's most sophisticated consumers.
张瑞敏希望公司能够学校如何满足世界上最挑剔客户的需求，
Haier's quality exceeded norms set even byJapan's exacting standards bodies.
海尔的质量甚至高于日本严格的产品标准。
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.
通过仔细聆听用户需求，海尔敏捷的工程师设计出的智能产品，如内置于电脑桌中的小冰箱，冷冻机上带有一个小暖室，还有一个带有两层抽屉的水平冷藏器。
Haier also developed new niches, such as affordable wine fridges, ignored by Western rivals obsessed with economies of scale.
海尔还设计了新的壁龛式冰箱，如储酒冰箱，其西方竞争对手痴迷于规模化生产，不屑于这种小众化的产品。
It is now pioneering wireless charging of appliances.
如今，海尔现在正走在家电无线控制技术的前列。
The results of Mr Zhang's unconventional strategy have been breathtaking.
张瑞敏非传统策略的成果令人震惊。
Haier's revenues have shot up fourfold since 2000, topping 160 billion yuan last year.
2000年后，海尔的销售收入增长了四倍，去年达到了1600亿元。
Pre-tax profits rose more than six fold over the same period.
同期，税前利润涨幅超过六倍。
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，波士顿咨询公司发布的一项排名显示，海尔跻身全球第八大创新企业，领先与亚马逊等名企。现今，股权投资巨头科尔伯格-克拉维斯公司已向海尔投资。
It has stumped up $500m for a 10% stake, if the rumours are correct.
如果传言属实，KKR向海尔注资5000万美元，占其投资份额10%。
Most bosses would be satisfied with such a record, but not Mr Zhang.
如此骄人成绩换做任何老总都会很满意，但张瑞敏却不沾沾自喜。
Though in his 60s, he still works nearly every day and he rarely takes a holiday.
尽管已年过花甲，他仍然将近每天工作，基本不休假。
And far from resting on his laurels, he is occupied reinventing his business.
张瑞敏非但没有躺在过去的功劳簿上，现今还致力于公司重整。
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.
去掉公司所有中层管理人员的意义在于让公司更加。他说：过去，员工等着老板发话；现在，他们得听顾客的。
Previously, the firm's 80,000 or so workers toiled in traditional and distinct areas like manufacturing, sales and so on.
先前，海尔近8万员工遵循传统，在诸如制造、销售等不同部门辛勤工作。
Now, they are organised into 2,000 zi zhu jing ying ti—self-managed teams that perform many different roles.
现今，他们每2000人组建一个自主经营体，实现团队自我管理，履行各种不同职能。
Each is responsible for profit and loss, and individuals are paid on performance.
经营体内每位成员都要对团队盈亏负责，个人报酬多少基于其表现好坏。
In the past, managers relied on internal support services for, say, research or marketing.
过去，像市场调查、营销这类工作，管理人员需要依靠内部的支援。
To encourage open innovation, the firm insists the new ZZJYTs must attract outside partners and resources.
为了鼓励开放式创新，海尔坚持自主经营体必须吸引外部合作伙伴及相应资源。
If ambitious employees spot an opportunity, they are free to propose an idea for a new product or service.
如果雄心勃勃的员工发现机遇，他们完全可以建议开发一款新产品或一项新服务。
A vote, which can include not just employees but suppliers and customers, decides which project goes ahead.
一种即包括员工，还兼顾供应商、顾客的投票机制，可以决定哪个项目先行实施。
The winner also becomes the project's leader.
同时，胜者将成为项目负责人。
He forms his team by recruiting from across the company; employees are free to join or leave ZZJYTs.
张瑞敏通过从整个公司挑选人才，搭建管理团队；员工自行选择是否加入自由经济体。
Mr Zhang says the goal is a free market in talent, so the cream rises.
他表示这样做的目的是人才自由市场，是金子便会发光。
He explains why such disruption is necessary: If we don't challenge ourselves, someone else will.
他解释道这样分化管理的必要性：如果我们不自己寻求挑战，总有人会向我们发起挑战。
If that sounds like talk straight out of Silicon Valley, in a sense it is.
这话听起来就像硅谷的理念，从某种意义上来说确实如此。
He is convinced that if Haier is to flourish in the internet age, it must become a services company.
张瑞敏相信如果公司想在当今的互联网时代站稳脚跟，那么海尔就要成为一家服务型公司。
He even thinks it can mine user information to become a big data firm, to serve customers even better.
他甚至认为海尔可以开发用户信息而成为一家大型数据公司，如此才能更好的为顾客服务。
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，那么张瑞敏又如何做到平衡混乱自由经济体的创造力和公司高层对整个企业的管理呢？
We don't need to balance!, he says with a smile. An unsteady and dynamic environment is the best way to keep everyone flexible.
对此，他坦然一笑，并说道：我们不需要去平衡，一个不稳定的动态环境是让每个人都灵活工作的最佳途径。
If you doubt his seriousness, just consider the catfish.
如果你怀疑他的决心，想想鲶鱼效应的作用。
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，杨林开始了自己在海尔的技术员工作。如今，他已成为海尔洗衣机全自动型号经营体长。
He works extremely hard, he says, not only to earn his bonus but also to stay ahead of the catfish.
他说自己工作努力，不仅可以分得公司红利，还在诸多鲶鱼中处于领先位置。
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.
这便是海尔号召竞职选举中得票第二的人要有竞争意识的结果，他为第一工作，却时刻想着取代第一。
Does this upset Mr Yang?
这让杨林感到困扰吗？
I can't run things like an emperor, he reflects, but I don't mind.
他反省道：我无法像一个皇帝统揽大权，但我并不介意。
In fact, I'm a catfish to other teams myself.
事实上，对于其他团队而言我同样也是只很具竞争力的鲶鱼。
It's fish-eat-fish at the heart of the world's most successful white-goods firm.
这种鱼吃鱼的理念已经深入这家世界上最成功的家电公司。
