Ren Zhengfei: North Spring

Ren Zhengfei: North Spring of the Year <br /> Wen / Ren Zhengfei I have heard "Northern Spring" hundreds of times, every time I have tears, all shocked by its unpretentious lyrics. The original author of "Northern Spring" is meant to sing the entrepreneurs and the strugglers, rather than a love song that young people today mistakenly believe.
In the spring season when cherry blossoms bloomed, we set foot on the land of Japan. This trip to Dongpu, we are not to feel the breath of exotic springs, to appreciate the cherry blossoms in the mountains, but to learn the experience of winter.
The North Spring Festival is coming. <br /> As soon as I set foot on the Japanese territory, my first impression was as quiet, peaceful, clean, affluent and comfortable as ten years ago. From the remote countryside to the bustling big cities, the streets are still so clean, and the place is still so orderly; people are still kind, kind, courteous, and the pace is still so hurried; from the waiter of the ramen shop, to The old lady of a small country hotel, from the office workers of big companies, to... everyone is so peaceful, optimistic and dedicated, they cherish their work so much, so cherish the opportunity to serve others, the work seems to be their highest Enjoyment, without any incitement, dissatisfaction and resentment. In my opinion, Japan is still Japan 10 years ago, and the Japanese are still Japanese ten years ago.
But who can think of Japan's worst winter and the longest winter after the war? It is because of what I have seen and heard that it is based on such a long period of low growth, which makes me feel deeper. Most companies in Japan have not increased their wages in the past eight years, but social security is still better than Northern Europe. It is really amazing. Once Japan takes off again, such a foundation must make it fly. If Huawei encounters two consecutive winters, it will not know whether Huawei will be calm, calmly cope, overcome difficulties, and look forward to spring.
Since the early 1990s, Japan has experienced low growth, zero growth, and negative growth for ten consecutive years... This winter is too long. How do Japanese companies come over, what difficulties have they encountered, and what experiences can they give us?
This is the purpose of our visit to Japan.
Huawei has experienced rapid development for ten years. Can it sustain development in the long run, will it encounter low growth, or even long-term low growth; what problems exist in the structure and management of enterprises; whether employees can quickly advance in peacetime, can they withstand From the cold of winter; the rapid development of cash flow will not be interrupted, such as when the river is solidified, there is a trickle, so that the company is not completely stagnant ... These are the business leaders should be studied in advance.
Huawei always has winters, and it is better to prepare cotton coats than it is. How should we deal with Huawei's winter? This is a topic we have been thinking about and discussing in Japan.
Struggle is the source of power for the rise of a nation

In a small izakaya in a remote village, I met a group of Japanese retired elderly people who traveled for us. They sang "Drawing a Little Tune" for us. We can't help but sing the Hokkaido folk song "Northern Spring" with them.
They are so optimistic, enthusiastic, and carefree that they have infected me. In contrast, I feel that the Chinese elderly have a lot of heart, and they are very tired and very tired. Our fathers were in a heavy mood, and they were not relaxed until they died.
I have heard the "Northern Spring" hundreds of times, and every time I have tears in my eyes, I am shocked by its unpretentious lyrics. The original author of "Northern Spring" is meant to sing the entrepreneurs and the strugglers, rather than a love song that young people today mistakenly believe.
When a young man leaves his hometown, stays away from his loved ones, and struggles for his career, only his mother cares for him all the time, and the city does not know that the season has changed. When the spring has come, he is also given a cotton coat for the winter. And no more mothers will send me the earrings, the wild vegetables, the spicy sausages... all of this can only last forever in the memory of eternal. The children are worried, and the parents are the same, worrying about their children. I wrote "My Father and Mother" article, Japanese friends also translated into Japanese, English for employees to circulate, they mistakenly believe that I am a dutiful son. I am so guilty and painful because I have not fulfilled my responsibility to take care of my parents. I dedicated all my energy to my work and forgot my parents' safety. It was actually an incompetent son.
A person who struggles from home is to get a good life. Love is the most important part of a good life, but love is like a wooden bridge. If people pass, you can't live. I have been away from home for five years. When the snow is melting and the stream is flowing, I am facing the self-crossing wooden bridge. I really don’t know if others have passed, and the beloved girl can be safe. That kind of sorrow, that kind of loss, that kind of confusion, what can you do if you succeed?
The clumps of clumps, the misty, quiet waterwheels, the hut, and the carefree songs of the children are the silence of the father and the brother. Most of us can go to college, and all of our fathers and brothers give their results silently. They have a hard-working, little bit of labor accumulation to supply isolated and helpless wanderers far away from home, and they themselves have no culture. They used their hard backbone to set the first step in life and career for us.
I hope they don't have to suffer too much. When they are ignorant, they are two glasses of thin wine. We must not forget them, don't dislike them, don't forget to repay them.
From this, I think that the success of each of us comes from the selfless dedication of our loved ones. The driving force of our life, work and career comes from the cold clothes of my mother's winter, from the dumb father and brother, the waterwheel, the hut, the wooden bridge in my hometown, and A girl who once loved you but has been separated...
The Spring of the North is an abbreviation of the struggle of the Japanese people.
I personally realized the diligence of the Japanese people. Without their spirit, it would be difficult to rise from the ruins of World War II in two or three decades. The Japanese nation is good at Seiko, and has let the people of the world shine with the Japanese people in the era of product economy. I also learned their patience and optimism in the difficult times to overcome the depression.
Japan is an island country with a small land area, and most of them are high mountains. The Japanese nation has developed something that is good at “grown and heavy” and has become a “short, thin and light”, and has long cultivated the habit of precision. The small garden is so beautiful; the small streets are so neat and beautiful, so that any corner is comfortable. A small, powerful camera; a household appliance that once swept the world market; a country without coal, iron ore, oil... produces quality cars all over the world. The hard work of the Japanese people and the persistence of the German nation have shaken the world in the era of mechanical and electrical products. They have no regrets, hard work, and constant dedication, creating the prosperity of Japan.
Although Japan has encountered difficulties at present, the spirit of patience, optimism, diligence and struggle of its citizens has not changed, its belief has not changed, and its love for life and work has not changed. Heaven rewards, I believe that Japan can spend this cold winter.
What difficulties did Japanese companies encounter?
We are visiting industrial companies, which are better than other types of companies. The products are still on the market and the cash flow can be turned. Only eight years of business growth curve is a flat line, almost no growth, total wages have barely increased, and even slightly decreased.
The three kinds of surplus faced by Japanese companies are heavily placed on the head of the enterprise, making it difficult to adjust. These three difficulties are overemployment, excess equipment and excess debt. These three excess adjustments involve institutional reforms, structural and industrial restructuring, the transition to the development of knowledge-innovation industries, and the transformation of core operational capabilities and speed management. The Japanese corporate system of the past has hampered this transformation and made it difficult. Japanese companies really feel that it is not doing good things, doing things badly, the key is whether there is core competitiveness.
If Huawei's growth rate slows down significantly, the three surpluses of Japanese companies will appear in Huawei. Without early recognition and adequate mental preparation, you will be passive.
As Japanese companies do not absorb new employees for a long time, the average age of employees has gradually increased, the talent structure has changed from a pagoda shape to a spindle shape, there are few excellent talents, fewer new talents, and more elderly employees, which makes the company lack vitality and wage costs. Higher. As the flow of talents weakens and jobs are relatively solidified, innovation is clearly insufficient.
The internal reforms of Japanese companies are lagging behind, domestic enterprises are not competitive, and employees within the company lack the necessary competition. The internal and external causes that prompted the reform of the enterprise were not highlighted by the economic downturn. It is very difficult for Japanese companies to implement large reforms on their own. As mentioned before, Japan is a country with good law and order, comfortable life and stability. Although it has not raised wages in eight years, it is not enough to threaten consumption. People are more comfortable with the status quo life, and Japanese people rarely go out to study abroad. This kind of stability is also not conducive to forcing companies to make up their minds to reform.
Although they have abolished the annual work order system and the life-long employment system and strengthened the performance appraisal, Japanese companies have now begun to reorganize and reorganize the structure, from a large company to doing everything, gradually shrinking to several major areas, and then these major areas. Financial independence, co-branding, clearing of accounting goals, etc., but the inertia of ideas and culture makes this kind of change effort less effective.
Japanese companies have also begun to implement an employee stock ownership system that activates and promotes competition among employees and companies. Japanese law originally did not allow employees to hold shares. However, Japanese companies have not made any strong moves in improving their fundamental competitiveness. If the symptoms are not cured, the deep-seated problems still exist, and bitterness is not in the first place.
Because Japan has always been relatively stable, the business operators are over-aged and the decision-making process is too cautious. Many important decisions must be passed unanimously. A few people can't pass, they have to do work, and sometimes they can't do it. The security of this decision drags down the timeliness of decision-making. An overly democratic decision-making system is not necessarily good.
Japanese companies are more international than other Asian countries, but they are not internationalized when they fail. Think about how much Huawei is worse than Panasonic and NEC's internationalization. What can be worthy of being blindly proud. The internationalization of Asian companies is inherently difficult. After decades of closure in China, the development of a short leap year is not enough to support internationalization. Huawei's internationalization pace is even more difficult. Just because a large number of foreign employees can't read Chinese documents, and a large number of domestic employees have not passed the English, it is enough to see how difficult Huawei's internationalization is. If you do not overcome these difficulties, Huawei may also be short-lived.
The Japanese government also decided to deal with bad debts before 2003 and buy 33 trillion yen of debt from the bank. Implement a small government and establish local decentralization. Carry out tax reform, reduce income tax, and increase consumption tax.
Implement educational reforms, change the average educational law of the past, adopt a classified education policy based on aptitude, develop people's potential, and improve the creativity of young people. Reform the social security system and introduce the US social security system. Strengthen IT construction and drive industrialization with information technology. To lay the foundation for further reform of the company.
What should Huawei do?

Some people compare the company to a ship, and Matsushita Electrician compares his company to a ship in the ice sea. At Matsushita Electric Works, we can see a poster everywhere, whether it is an office, a conference room, or a wall of a passage. It is a huge wheel that is about to hit an iceberg. It says: "Can save. This boat is only for you." The sense of crisis can be seen. At Huawei, is our winter awareness so strong? Is it passed to the grassroots? Whether everyone is acting.
Huawei is not in the winter position. In the late fall and early winter, it can seriously learn from others, speed up the overall improvement of work efficiency, improve the rationality and effectiveness of the process, cut unnecessary institutions, streamline redundant employees, and strengthen employees. Self-training and quality improvement. Peace of mind, maybe before the winter, we have done a cotton jacket.
Huawei has grown in the fastest-growing period of the global information industry. In particular, China has transformed from a backward network into a world-class advanced network. In the rapid development trend, Huawei is like a leaf. Fortunately, it has fallen on this big ship. It is lying. The ship has drifted to the present day, and it has not experienced the test of crises such as turbulent waves, flooding, and levee collapse. Therefore, Huawei's success should be greater than its quality and ability.
What is success? It is like the Japanese companies that they can live a good life after nine deaths. This is the real success. Huawei has not succeeded, but is growing.
Huawei’s transit time is too long. There are too many officials in peacetime, which may constitute our disaster. The Titanic is also a sea out of cheers.
Many of our employees are blindly proud. They are like frogs at the bottom of the well. When we see that we are leading a Western company on a local product, we think our company is at the world level. They don't know the meaning of world-famous companies, nor the development of the world, and the potential achievements that others are unwilling to announce. Huawei is very young, naive and immature in this regard.
The imbalance of Huawei's organizational structure is an inefficient operating structure. Just like a bottle of water depends on the shortest piece of wood, the imbalance is the bottleneck of the process. For example: my company was in a hungry and cold situation during the initial period, waiting for the rice to cook. It is correct to pay great attention to R&D and marketing to quickly adapt to the market. Can't live, where is the scientific management. However, with the early days of the entrepreneurial period, this bias has not changed to a scientific rationality, because most of the cadres who are promoted to the top are from R&D and marketing cadres. They have unconscious habits when dealing with problems and value evaluations. Make stronger departments stronger, weaker departments weaker, and form bottlenecks. Sometimes some high-level cadres accuse the project and the budget is inaccurate, cost accounting and control do not enter the project, the accounting, sub-product, stratification, sub-region, sub-project accounting is not done well, and the cash flow does not reach the advanced level. ...but if our value appraisal system does not balance the company's organization, and these departments lack excellent cadres, they will not be able to achieve simultaneous progress. It does not progress, you progress, the whole report will be good? God knows. This kind of partiality does not change, and Huawei's progress is empty talk.
Due to the short-term success of Huawei, the temporary treatment of employees is relatively high, which has spawned many cadres who have defended themselves. They asked for everything, rigidly and dogmatically executed the leadership speech, for fear of losing their own black silk hat, becoming an obstacle to the responsibility system. Responsibility for people and accountability are two fundamental systems. Responsibility for people is a convergent system. Accountability is based on process and authorization, as well as effective monitoring, so that the most understandable people have the power to deal with problems, is an expansion of the management system. At present, Huawei's senior and middle-level cadres are consciously and unconsciously accustomed to the responsibility system for people, making it difficult to implement streamlined IT management.
Professional, standardized, tabular, and templated management is still lacking. Huawei is a group of Tubal Road that comes out of the Qingsi account. It is also used to bury a mine and work on a gunhouse. Not accustomed to professional, tabular, templated, standardized management. Repeated labor and overlapping management are still very numerous, which is the source of inefficiency. I have read the work of the Hong Kong secretary. I have finished the matter in an orderly manner, and we still have to figure it out. If we have finished it, we still don’t know if it is qualified. We will open a small meeting for review. You can see that this is high cost. To achieve IT management quickly, the quality of our cadres must also be greatly improved.
The obstacles to the implementation of IT mainly come from the loss of power loss caused by high-level cadres due to electronic flow management. Do we correctly understand that the survival of the company must come from the progress of the management system? This progress is fast, correct, end-to-end, peer-to-peer, and removes many intermediate links. Faced with a large number of high and middle-level cadres laid off with the implementation of IT, are we ready? In order to keep the hat and the scepter, can you not promote e-commerce? The key is that we have to convince our competitors not to do it. Everyone works by hand? I can't do it. There are thousands of sails on the side of the sunken boat. We must not die when we move forward.
The problems that exist in Huawei do not know how many days and nights are counted...
But as long as we continue to find problems, constantly explore, constantly self-criticize, and constantly build and improve, there will always be a way out. Just like Matsushita Electric's only shipwrecked shipwreck, the only employees of the company can save Huawei, and only Huawei's own employees. There has never been a savior, no god emperor, to create a better tomorrow, all by ourselves.
Winter will always pass, and spring must come. We ride the winter, recharge our batteries, strengthen internal transformation, and we spend the winter together with Japanese companies. We will surely usher in the melting snow, the streams will flow, and the spring of Huawei will surely come.
Entrepreneurship is difficult, it is difficult to keep it, and it is not difficult to know.
The success of high-tech companies in the past is often the mother of failure. In this rapidly changing information society, only the best can survive.