Chapter 4 Corporate culture is a spiritual force

Many definitions of corporate culture refer to everything as culture, material culture, system culture, etc. I think that material is material, not culture; system is a component of culture in a broad sense, and culture regulates and constrains people through systems. behavior, but after the formation of the system, culture refers more to non-institutional factors, things other than the system, and things that complement the system.The core of culture is spiritual motivation and values. Spiritual motivation solves the problem of why to fight, and values ​​solve the problem of how to fight well, and spiritual motivation is the most important.

Corporate culture is a kind of organizational culture. Enterprises have only existed for hundreds of years, while other forms of organizations have existed for thousands of years, such as countries, armies, churches, hospitals, schools, etc. In other organizations, the role of spiritual power has proven to be huge, even decisive. China's reform and opening up has been going on for more than 20 years, and its achievements have attracted worldwide attention. Of course, the country's economic construction achievements are also made by enterprises.Some people may think that an enterprise is a profit-making organization, and its purpose is not noble, unlike those political leaders and revolutionary martyrs who fought for the country, the nation, and the people.I think history will prove that the cause of reform and opening up promoted by Deng Xiaoping is not inferior to the cause of revolution led by Mao Zedong, entrepreneurs are no less able to promote social progress than revolutionary martyrs, and the spiritual realm of many entrepreneurs is no lower than that of politicians.We have seen that Haier's refrigerators have become the number one in the world. Haier has put out the resounding slogan "Haier, Made in China" and is working hard to change the image that made in China is equal to low-value and cheap products.We have seen Zhang Ruimin speak out on behalf of Chinese companies in various lecture halls around the world, we have seen Liu Chuanzhi become the cover character of the American "Fortune" magazine, and we have seen Li Dongsheng carefully building the structure of his world-class enterprise.The history of our enterprise is still very short, but we have reasons to believe that there will be world-class large enterprises.The sons and daughters of the Chinese nation are full of people with lofty ideals and benevolence. Without the national spirit, the Chinese nation cannot become the nation with the longest history in the world.In Chinese history, we have had great statesmen, great strategists, great philosophers, great writers, and great scientists, but we have not yet had great entrepreneurs.Running the business well and striving for the spirit of the Chinese nation has become the spiritual motivation of this generation of entrepreneurs.Without Zhang Ruimin, there would be Wang Ruimin, without Liu Chuanzhi, there would be Yang Chuanzhi, without Li Dongsheng, there would be Lu Dongsheng.

The spiritual motivation of an enterprise is first of all the spiritual motivation of entrepreneurs, but it is not enough to have the spiritual motivation of entrepreneurs alone. Entrepreneurs should transform this spiritual motivation into the spiritual motivation of the entire enterprise, which is what Sun Tzu said "to make the people and the superior Agree" also. Four years ago, Haier was not as prosperous as it is today. I brought several graduate students and MBA students to Haier to write cases. After hearing many high-profile ideas of Haier, the students did not take it seriously.One of the students went to visit one of his classmates in Haier privately after get off work, and met that classmate who was still working overtime, so he chatted with the classmate's colleagues and waited, and asked casually, why are you so busy?The Haier employee said, for China's national industry.After the students came back, everyone discussed together. I said that your classmate’s colleagues don’t need to show off to you. Then there are two possibilities. One is that he really thinks so, and the other is that he has been educated like this, just like many Communists. Said to fight for the cause of communism for life.Even if it is the second type, it also proves the powerful force of Haier culture.I go to Haier almost every year, and I always see and hear Zhang Ruimin constantly coming up with new ways to "trouble" himself and the company, and always see Haier's cadres working overtime endlessly.Another time I met a former middle-level cadre of Haier in another well-known home appliance company. I asked him why he left Haier?He said that I have worked there for more than 10 years and always worked overtime. It was really hard. Every day, I had to "finish the daily affairs and clear and increase the height of the day." Time, because it is difficult to communicate, but it has to be done, and it is too tiring.This statement adds to my respect for Haier.Why do we compete with others?Haier's white goods rank fifth in the world, but the length of its corporate history is only a fraction of that of others. Without this spirit, it would be impossible to catch up.

A recent study of mine showed that private entrepreneurs in my country. I chose private entrepreneurs as the sample group because private entrepreneurs are entrepreneurs in the real academic sense. No matter at the beginning of the business or after the development of the enterprise, both There are material motivation and spiritual motivation. The material motivation at the beginning of the business is greater than the spiritual motivation, and the spiritual motivation is greater than the material motivation after the development of the enterprise.The intensity of spiritual motivation is directly proportional to age, enterprise life span and enterprise scale.Women's material motivation is greater than that of men at the beginning of starting a business, but their spiritual motivation is greater than that of men after the development of the enterprise, and the rate of improvement in spiritual motivation is greater than that of men.In the early stage of starting a business, the spiritual motivation is directly proportional to the level of education, but after the development of the enterprise, the ratio of mental motivation of the low-educated people is greatly increased, which is actually higher than that of the middle- and high-educated people.Interviews and on-the-spot investigations of some successful private entrepreneurs in Guangdong, Zhejiang, Chongqing, Xi'an and other places have also proved that successful entrepreneurs have very strong spiritual motivation.Through factor analysis, the spiritual motivation factors of entrepreneurs mainly include seven aspects: self-realization, interest satisfaction, power expression, social responsibility, helping others, independent spirit, and social recognition.With the development of the enterprise, the level of spiritual motivation is also constantly improving.Some entrepreneurs recognize that they have spiritual motivation, and even know what this motivation is and where it comes from; some entrepreneurs are not clearly aware of their spiritual pursuit, but it may actually exist, just like someone alive but not Knowing why to live, some people live knowing why to live, philosophically it is divided into people who are in themselves and people who are for themselves.

Regarding spiritual motivation, every enterprise can ask itself: Do we have other pursuits besides profit?If so, what is this pursuit?How important and intense is this pursuit?Is there a consensus on this pursuit?How is this quest expressed and disseminated? I can't say that an enterprise without spiritual motivation must not be successful, but an enterprise without spiritual motivation cannot be a great and long-lasting enterprise, just as a nation without spiritual motivation cannot be a great and long-lasting nation.