How to become a respected enterprise
A market research institute in the United States once surveyed and selected 15 of the most disgusting companies in the United States that year, and the result was a blow to many companies, even though they "swept the board" in the battle for market share and economic benefits. Among them, Nokia, McDonald's, Toyota, Citibank and other industries are all on the list. In fact, these listed companies have made great achievements in their respective fields. But they capsized together and fell into the gutter of social responsibility, which was hated by consumers, taxpayers, employees and even their shareholders.
Respect is not a "hollow reputation"
Professor Xue, deputy dean of the School of Management of Fudan University, said that in a certain area, if a company can contribute to the local economic and social development, it will be respected, so the company also pays more attention to "economic benefits". However, if "respect" is considered at a higher and broader level, its connotation should be richer. First of all, enterprises should make due contributions to changing the way of human life and development. Professor Xue believes that the development of IBM is worth learning from. From mainframe to personal computer to notebook computer, its own development is closely related to the whole information technology industry. More than a decade ago, IBM first put forward the concept of "computing", which gradually evolved into the most popular "cloud computing". Today, IBM has developed from a traditional hardware or software company to a service-oriented enterprise. It actively cooperates with academic circles, invests a lot of money in innovative research and development, and creates the concept of "service science". It makes IBM in the leading position in the industry for a long time, and plays a symbolic role in promoting the application and development of computers.
Secondly, enterprises should make innovative breakthroughs in management mode and practice. General Electric (GE) is undoubtedly one of the best cases. It creatively put forward the management mode of "super division of labor" and "carried forward" the system and method of Six Sigma. Ge summed up the successful experience of total quality management and refined its essence, making it a management model to improve enterprise performance and competitiveness. Recently, GE put forward the latest management idea of "reverse innovation", taking emerging market countries as one of the sources of product innovation and design, and a series of innovation breakthroughs made GE "shine" in the field of enterprise management practice.
Although "respect" is often associated with "social responsibility", it is too hasty to simplify "responsibility" and take the amount of corporate donations and charitable achievements as the only criteria. Xue believes that it is rational and reasonable for enterprises to take creating long-term profits as their primary goal, and a respectable enterprise can strike a balance between many direct stakeholders and indirect stakeholders. Dr. Tang Yuejun, Department of Enterprise Management, School of Management, Fudan University, added that there are two factors that motivate people to work: one is medical care and the other is motivation. Health care factors can eliminate people's dissatisfaction, and incentive factors can bring people satisfaction. For an enterprise, profit is a health care factor and should be the first, while social responsibility is an incentive factor.
Many people say that customers are God. But for high-tech enterprises, talents are more important, so employees are also God. Liang, an associate professor in the Department of Enterprise Management, School of Management, Fudan University, said that salary level, corporate culture and development prospects have become the three most concerned factors for job seekers when selecting the "best employers". Therefore, enterprises must pay enough attention to these aspects when dealing with the relationship with employees. An enterprise is "worthy of respect", first of all, it must trust its employees. If enterprises treat employees as "bad guys" to prevent them, internal instability will eventually crush them. In addition, enterprises should be able to continue to invest in employees, even if competitors fail to do so.
Tang Yuejun believes that in addition to talents, enterprises should also pay full attention to other "stakeholders", including suppliers, consumers and competitors. The future business competition not only exists between enterprises, but also exists between the whole supply chain and even the value chain. Therefore, enterprises must balance customers, suppliers, distributors and other stakeholders in order to achieve "* * *". However, if there are many stakeholders, enterprises should prioritize, determine the most important factors for their own development and give them more value than expected.
Xue said that enterprises can be recognized by peers and even competitors, which means "respected". Not all enterprises can do this. In today's business environment, many companies tend to destroy their peers. And truly respectable enterprises pay attention to "competition and cooperation": both competition and cooperation. Because the construction of benign enterprise ecology will be more conducive to the development of the whole industry. The key to "being respected" is to balance various stakeholders such as employees, shareholders, consumers, suppliers, communities, etc., and the key point is to choose the correct culture and value standards.
Xue said that enterprises from different countries and backgrounds rank "stakeholders" differently. Most American companies that emphasize capital control and publicity put shareholders first; European companies put employees first, which is the actual embodiment of traditional social democratic thought; However, enterprises in China tend to pay more attention to things that should be the responsibility of the government, such as providing employment, social stability and progress, which is closely related to the Confucian cultural tradition of "ruling the country with wealth" and "the rise and fall of the world" in China. Therefore, the corporate social responsibility from different countries is different, and the subsidiaries of the same enterprise in different countries or regions also have regional differences in fulfilling their social responsibilities.
Generally speaking, the performance of multinational enterprises in fulfilling their social responsibilities on a global scale tends to the local average level, because the purpose of transnational investment is to pursue regional differences and obtain greater benefits, including the comparative advantage of social responsibility. This, to a certain extent, caused some enterprises with good image abroad to get all kinds of "bad habits" after entering China. Of course, some rational and successful multinational companies will implement uniform corporate social responsibility standards on a global scale, which will leave a good corporate image to the public, enhance their prestige and competitiveness, improve the business environment and ultimately increase profits.
Xue believes that there are three motives for enterprises to pursue "being respected" and fulfill social responsibilities: one is the long-term accumulated corporate culture, corporate values and the guidance of founders and decision makers. For example, in the early days of its establishment, Panasonic put forward the concepts of "industry serving the country" and "tap water", which made Panasonic's operation pay attention to customer orientation and public demand. The founder's simple idea eventually evolved into the company's code of conduct. Secondly, the pressure and constraints from government policies, systems and laws are also crucial, and the survival and development of enterprises must have "legitimacy" and "compliance". Finally, external factors such as pressure or encouragement from the media and NGOs are also very important. In addition, the power of the public can not be ignored. In foreign countries, consumer resistance often brings strong pressure to enterprises.
Tang Yuejun said that for profit-seeking enterprises, the most reliable thing is substantial punishment or compensation. The external norms that can actively cater to are the source of the subsequent competitiveness of enterprises. In addition to external norms, the internal control of enterprises is equally important. Only by strict internal control, respect for the market and attention to core stakeholders can enterprises achieve long-term development.
"A century-old shop" continues to be expensive.
Although there is a phenomenon that "the orange is the orange", the performance of many multinational giants in the fields of social responsibility, innovation and research and development is still commendable. Xue believes that these companies have a common feature-continue to stick to an industry, continue to invest in research and development, and keep a low profile. On the other hand, domestic enterprises, no matter in innovation, products, management, business model, companies with "business wisdom" are still rare.
Tang Yuejun believes that sustainable development is very important for an enterprise. As far as the domestic environment is concerned, many enterprises often have a "speculative" mentality, so "one donation becomes famous" things emerge one after another. To gain respect, an enterprise needs patience and perseverance to run a "century-old shop" and build market trust step by step.
Many domestic enterprises are determined to establish respectable companies. Liang believes that "respect" is not just a slogan, but a word of mouth gradually formed through continuous efforts. Even if there are problems in quarterly performance, "respect" still exists. Xue concluded that because enterprises are given more resources and control than individuals, they are also required to take on more responsibilities. Only by learning to balance the relationship between stakeholders can enterprises achieve sustainable development and finally win respect.