Chapter 9 Acer: the crossroads after looking back

Everyone knows that in the PC industry with highly homogeneous products, channel competition has been the main theme in the past ten years.For Acer's channel change, some dealers applauded, while more industry insiders believe that Acer, led by the Italian Lanci, is trying to make up for the volatile style shown in the channel change in the Chinese mainland market in the past few years. mistakes. But Acer people don't see it that way. For them, every channel change is a move in line with the development of the current situation.Whether it is the general agency system implemented because there is no domestic sales right when we first entered, or the channel flattening implemented to expand profits after obtaining the domestic sales right, and the return to the general agency system today.This time, the opportunity faced by Acer people is: With the increase in sales, only increase the cost of after-sales service, so that the operating cost can be reduced by 4%-5%; Will reduce gross margins and eventually lose control of the end market.In short, this is also a balance beam, and the next step is to see how Acer goes...

In 1993, when Lenovo Computer was still unknown, Acer had already entered the Chinese mainland market. The long period of 12 years has created domestic enterprises such as Lenovo, Founder, and Qixi, and also made Dell, HP, IBM and other enterprises obtain huge profits.In the ever-changing PC industry, in the fast-growing Chinese mainland market, when Lenovo has grown to be the first in China and the third in the world, the performance of Acer China has also experienced ups and downs. At the beginning of entering the mainland market in 1993, Acer had no choice but to adopt the national general agency system in the mainland market due to lack of domestic sales rights. This was the common channel model for most foreign-funded enterprises at that time.For quite a long period of time, Acer had to rely on the general agents of Tiancheng, Bada, Yinjia, and Shuanghui to clear customs, collect payments, and distribute goods. In 1998, after obtaining the domestic sales rights, Acer began to consider canceling the agency rights of the four major distributors.Lin Xianlang, the former general manager of Acer Greater China, said that since the profit of the PC industry has dropped to about 10%, the model of setting up second- and third-tier agents under the head office is unsustainable.

In 2002, Acer already had seven business organizations in Beijing, Shenyang, Xi'an, Wuhan, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Guangzhou and two assembly plants in Beijing and Zhongshan in mainland China.With the establishment of Wang Zhentang's new leadership core, Acer began to expand rapidly in the mainland market. Just this year, at the Acer Agent Conference held in Jinan, Shandong, Acer reviewed the development process of the past 10 years and looked forward to the future plan. There was a set of inspiring figures that made all the agents present very happy.For example, the turnover will increase by nearly 50 times; the number of agents will increase from one to more than a thousand; the sales of PCs will also increase by 100 times; the number of branches will grow to about 20 next year.Such a vigorous development momentum made all the agents present feel very excited.

In 2003, more than 10 branches blossomed everywhere in Jinan, Nanjing and other cities.In order to provide a perfect channel for his successor, Shi Zhenrong personally operated the knife before retiring and killed the killer. In November 2003, he canceled the agency rights of the four major general agents, and instead let Acer's own branch directly face the provincial government. With the newly established 18 branches and hundreds of newly added employees to manage channels, agents at the national and prefectural levels have developed 600 distributors in one go, and fully implemented a flat channel policy.

This is called the first channel refresh.From general agency system to distribution system. In 2004, the branch began to expose various problems.According to Acer insiders, the management of accounts receivable, the use of credit lines, and the management of bidding prices are all unsatisfactory. The most fatal thing is that Acer’s sales in the mainland have not increased with the increase of branches, and the company’s notebook sales have not increased. Has been wandering eight or nine, and even surpassed by its old rival ASUS. The first channel renovation to cancel the general agent failed.

So Wang Zhentang and Jiang Fanke Lanqi contemplated the second reform, fully copying the European model.First, the Greater China market was split into two on March 31, 2005. Lin Xianzhang was transferred to be the general manager of the Taiwan region, and Lai Taiyue, secretary general of Acer's board of directors, was appointed the general manager of the mainland region.Immediately afterwards, Acer's six-member European working group arrived in Beijing in secret, preparing for adjustment and promotion. Wang Zhentang publicly stated to the Taiwan media that Acer has been evaluating whether the nationwide large-scale distributor model is suitable for the mainland and Taiwan markets.This new business model, in which the general agent places orders directly with factories, has achieved great success in the European and American markets, making Acer the largest notebook computer manufacturer in Europe, and also achieved a growth rate of more than 50% in the United States last year.And the person in charge of Acer mainland China also said that the general agent has basically locked in Synnex and Ingram Micro, both of which are the top four computer distributors in mainland China.

In October 2005, Acer announced a new strategy through the channel conference - to restore the general agency system in an all-round way.In this plan, Ingram Micro and Digital China should focus on the logistics chain and capital chain, and be responsible for the expansion of lower-level channels.The original regional distributors only retain a small part of the distribution function. They must maintain at least three weeks of inventory, provide Acer's full range of products, and provide terminal sales information on a weekly/monthly basis.While ordinary dealers focus on sales.At the same time, Acer also carried out changes in its sales organization. Except for Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, all branches in various places were disbanded and employees were abolished on the spot.

So far, Acer's channels have completed a reincarnation within three years. The European model advocated by Jiang Fanke Lanqi is the new distribution model, that is, Acer selects the top three local agents as the general agent, and the general agent manages the channels in a unified manner, and directly places orders with the OEM manufacturers, while the company itself is only responsible for Marketing and branding work.This model allows Acer's own manpower requirements can be reduced to a minimum.It is reported that when Acer was successful in the European market, Jiang Fanke Lanqi only had about 200 people.

Before pushing this model to mainland China, Lanci and his team worked in the European market for 8 years. According to the data from IDC in the second quarter of this year, the shipment of Acer notebook computers reached 16 countries including France, Italy and Spain. All countries rank first, and the growth rate ranks first among the top ten brands.Of Acer's global revenue of US$5.5 billion in 2004, the European market accounted for 68 percent. "Our new distribution model can minimize operating costs. Dell's operating costs account for 9.6%-9.7% of total revenue, and it rises with the increase in sales. Because our sales are completely outsourced, the cost of sales is fixed. With the increase in sales, the cost of after-sales service is only increased, and the operating cost can be reduced to 4%-5%." Lan Qi described Acer's future.

The dealers also responded calmly, and most of them were in favor.They believe that, first of all, the introduction of Ingram Micro as the general agent is beneficial to manufacturers and channels.Because of the nationwide marketing network of large agents, professional sales experience, and strong capital and logistics platforms, it is very beneficial for Acer to rapidly increase sales.After Acer has no worries about sales, it can focus on brand promotion and promotion. Secondly, under the guidance of the general agent's new sales strategy, this will help enhance the distribution capabilities of regional dealers.Because, before the general generation was changed, Acer's regional agents were constrained by capital and manpower, and their channel penetration capabilities were limited.With its strong financial and logistics support, the national general agent can help regional agents expand to the secondary and tertiary markets, and through the control of the general agent, effectively prevent cross-selling incidents.

Challenge "Balance Beam" In October 2005, after announcing the full resumption of the general agency and the establishment of a "new distribution model", Acer's China headquarters moved from Beijing's Zhongguancun to the center of Shanghai in order to be closer to manufacturers and agents. However, things are not as simple as Lanci said when he described the prospect. A mother and son wandered into an Acer store in Huaihai Middle Road, Shanghai Cyber ​​Digital Plaza. "Acer? Another new brand." The mother murmured, while the son rushed to the booth and started fiddling with a prototype laptop computer. This situation made the promoters on the side extremely embarrassed. Apparently, the marketing department of Acer China had to face such a situation: Over the past few years, due to insufficient communication, the general public knew very little about this brand. On the one hand, facing the status quo that the public knows little about the brand, on the other hand, being in mainland China, where the channel structure is extremely complex, many PC insiders can’t help but worry about the many difficulties Acer will face after resuming the general contracting system : "Flattening" closer to the market is the general trend. Lenovo has opened more than a thousand "1+1" specialty stores, and Toshiba will bypass some agents to engage in direct online sales. How can Acer compete? The channels in mainland China are somewhat similar to the "intermediaries" in the United States and Europe. Chain stores such as Hongtusanbao, Suning, and 3C are constantly emerging, while traditional agents such as Digital China are still strong. In this generation, how will Acer handle the relationship between the head office and the next-level agents? How does Acer control the planning for the whole year? Will Acer stop directly contacting the next-level agents?" The person in charge did not answer directly, but said that the relevant details are still under discussion. Apparently, Acer isn't ready yet. Of course, if the general agent joins the channel, the regional agent will lose the control over the regional price, which will affect the agent's profit.At the same time, the general agent will not recommend customers to regional agents like manufacturers, thus intensifying the competition among channels. And some dealers hope that after the introduction of the total generation, the existing channels will be changed.For example, it is better to supply several distributors by product to try to protect the profits of the distributors. Regional distributors have their own expectations, and dealers below the secondary market also have their own concerns: After the distributor enters the market, many second- and third-tier channels do not know whether they should get the goods from the regional agency or the distributor.At this time, if the detailed work is not done well, it is likely to cause confusion within the channel and intensify the friction between the general agent and other channels. Everyone has their own quirks. Dealers have mixed attitudes towards Acer's channel changes. It may take some time to see the changes in channel adjustments made by Shenma and Ingram Micro.But for Lanci, there is one thing that has to be faced: the current practice of outsourcing sales can reduce gross profit margins and lose control of end markets.Acer insiders have already budgeted that in 2006, Acer's total gross profit margin in mainland China will decline, and what they count on is that with the increase in shipments, Acer's market share and overall profit will be higher than in previous years, thereby accelerating The return of funds will ultimately maximize sales and market share. It can be seen that this is a "balance beam" that is not less difficult than direct selling. How to walk well is a challenge. No matter how brilliant Acer's performance in Europe or other regions is, it cannot be avoided that Acer has failed in the complex and ever-changing Chinese market.Whether in sales, marketing or the product itself, Acer has performed quite mediocre.A report pointed out that "Acer, the world's fourth largest computer company, has suffered disastrous failures in the Chinese mainland market, and its market ranking has fallen out of the top ten." In terms of trend, it is a trend to use super distributors to distribute in the national market, which is recognized by most manufacturers after channel flattening.The flattening of channels does not mean the flattening of management. The Chinese market is very diverse. The other side of flattening channels is that Acer has to face a large number of distributors. The management standards and distribution capabilities of these distributors are also very different. increase rapidly.In theory, it would certainly be a good thing if we could find a suitable national general agent to outsource sales, allowing manufacturers to focus on marketing and brand building.Acer's channel transformation is undoubtedly based on this idea. But Acer's European distribution model may have to undergo a greater test in China.Of course, Ingram Micro and Digital China are currently the strongest PC distributors in China. However, Digital China is the leader in domestic distribution channels and has acquired many well-known computer brands, including Toshiba, ASUS, NEC, etc. How big will Digital China be? It's hard to say how much power is placed on Acer.Furthermore, Ingram Micro has always been an old rival of Digital China. Once the two enemies compete with each other through bargaining, Acer will suffer the most.Another hidden danger is that Acer also has Synnex International, a supply channel for home appliance stores. In this way, the traditional IT channel and the home appliance channel that likes to bargain will also be restricted by each other, and Acer's price system is bound to be chaotic. Those former Acer direct-supply distributors whose distribution rights have been withdrawn are also a hidden danger. How will their interests be coordinated?It is hard to say whether Acer will still be operated as the main brand. Compared with the hidden dangers of the channel, Acer’s promotion in China is actually lackluster. Since Lenovo’s acquisition of IBM PC, Lenovo has not only won the TOP sponsor of the Olympic Games, but also its domestic market share has climbed to about 35%.Lenovo is Acer's main competitor in the international market. Lenovo will never allow Acer to make a difference in its home base. However, in the face of Lenovo or other brands that are making tricks, Acer wants to cut operating costs.At present, Acer's operating costs in mainland China account for 10% of the total cost, and it will be reduced to 6% in the future.In addition to channel costs, it seems that promotion costs will inevitably be reduced. Acer, which moved its headquarters from Zhongguancun to Shanghai, does not look like the beginning of a reorganization in the Chinese mainland market. On the contrary, it looks more like a retreat.It handed over the sales to three general agents, and handed over the manufacturing to the OEM factory. The next step, is it going to hand over the already poor market share to competitors?Maybe the mediocre and frustrating Acer is doing just that. Entered the Chinese mainland market for 12 years, but has not been able to occupy more of the mainland market share, and now it has fallen out of the top ten in the Chinese mainland!This undoubtedly made the No. 1 laptop brand in Europe unexpected, and Acer understands the importance of the Chinese market better than anyone else. According to Acer’s new CEO Lan Qi’s idea, in the next two years, Acer will use the performance of the Chinese market to promote Acer’s realization. The dream of the world's top three PC brands.How can it be achieved?Acer is thinking of changing, so Lanci's "new distribution model" began to operate in the Chinese market, which means that after Acer's channel management model evolved from the original general agency system to the distribution system, it is now back to the general agency system , has experienced a reincarnation in 12 years, so is Acer's channel change appropriate?In my opinion, Acer's channel change and return to the general agency system will bring at least four benefits: 1. Reduction in sales and operating costs. Second, product management will become easier. Three, can quickly increase the total sales volume. 4. You can concentrate on the research and development of new products and brand promotion. Because the general agent is undertaken by a large agent, and this kind of agent "has a marketing network all over the country, professional sales experience, and a strong capital and logistics platform, which is very beneficial for Acer to quickly increase sales. After worrying about sales, you can focus on brand publicity and promotion." Therefore, it can be said that under the background of today's big market, Acer's channel change is undoubtedly timely. But we also need to know that this channel change will definitely bring about certain impacts and there are certain risks.First of all, the evolution from the general agent system to the distribution system and back to the general agent system, such repeated changes will inevitably shake the loyalty of one's own dealers (according to my experience, second and third-tier agents are especially prone to shaken), I don't know what kind of marketing method will appear someday, which has a great potential impact on a brand. Once there is a problem with the brand, dealers may panic and abandon it caused by the brand crisis.Thirdly, it may also be the biggest risk. Acer’s general agency system is equivalent to handing over its own distribution rights. To "squeeze", manufacturers can only endure their profits being divided without their own sales network.This point is easy to understand from the stalemate and tense relationship between home appliance retailers and home appliance manufacturers. To sum up, I think that although there are certain risks, Acer's channel change is correct and appropriate. VV seems to have an absolute advantage in the soybean milk industry, but it does not have any advantage in the milk industry.Abandoning one's own advantageous market to compete for the milk industry that one is not good at, on the one hand, even if a large amount of money is invested, it may not necessarily become a real winner in this industry.On the other hand, in terms of the nature of the products, these two products are substitutes for one another. In the long run, the result may be that the milk market will not be able to achieve what it wants, and the soybean milk market will also be seriously affected.In fact, the results have confirmed that VV Dairy's sales of soy milk have also begun to decline amidst uncertain prospects.Hu Yunfeng himself said: "It would be better for us if more companies joined in to make soybean milk together." In the competitive industry, and I don't have any advantages at all.Then it is bound to make the newly emerging soybean milk industry shrink day by day because of the development of the milk industry. From soy milk to milk, and now back to soy milk, Vivi's choice this time should be correct.As far as the entire milk industry is concerned, the overall industry profits are declining, while the profits of soybean milk are still considerable.Moreover, the current market is that the milk industry has been highly concentrated, and the industry structure has formed a trend of monopoly by the three giants Yili, Mengniu, and Bright. The milk industry is facing a reshuffle.On the other hand, in the soy milk industry, although some competitors have joined the industry, overall, VV still maintains its absolute advantage in the soy milk industry.Just as the concept of milk is owned by Yili, Mengniu and Guangming, soybean milk is also synonymous with VV.What VV considers is how to drive new members to grow the soybean milk industry while maintaining its market leader position, which is how Yili developed the milk industry in the past. Meters-Bonwe has been very successful in virtual operation, and now it wants to build its own factory. Should Meters-Bonwe give up virtual operation? Is it necessary to build a factory by itself?In today's fierce clothing competition market, to survive and develop, enterprises must have rapid research and development capabilities, good production equipment, advanced process flow, perfect cost control and quality assurance system, smooth sales channel network and well-known brands, etc. There are many elements, which usually require huge financial support. For an enterprise with limited resources, it is undoubtedly a huge pressure to complete all the conditions by its own ability, and at the same time, it also faces considerable risks.One of the biggest functions of virtual management is that it can integrate social resources to the greatest extent, rapidly expand production capacity in a relatively short period of time, and meet market needs with highly specialized production, thereby gaining market competitive advantages.For Meters Bonwe, which grew up by virtual operation, the answer is self-evident whether to give up virtual operation, and the virtual operation model is more practical for labor-intensive industries like clothing. Whether to build a factory by yourself depends on many conditions.First of all, it is necessary to weigh whether the resources it owns support self-built factories.Secondly, it depends on the closeness of the relationship with the alliance manufacturers.If the loyalty of the alliance manufacturers is not very high, and the relationship between the two parties is not very close, then you should consider building your own factory.Third, it also depends on the strength of the member manufacturers themselves, and how likely it is to create their own brands.Regardless of whether Meters-Bonwe builds its own factory or not, I think its virtual business path is immutable.Because, compared with the infinity of market demand, it cannot be satisfied by its own production capacity.Therefore, it is still necessary to integrate external resources and obtain the cooperation of external resources and forces through the integration of virtualization.Then when an enterprise implements virtual operations, it needs to grasp key resources, which include: technology, management, marketing, and branding. As for the clothing industry, in Zhou Chengjian's words, "the clothing industry has almost no core technology, and its biggest additional The value is the brand. As long as the brand management and clothing design are done well, Meters Bonwe will be a management enterprise at the core of the virtual chain.” The implementation of any kind of virtual business strategy must be based on its own competitive advantages On the basis of each enterprise, it must have its own core competitive advantage.With this advantage, we will have the power to integrate resources, have a reliable foundation for implementing virtual business strategies, and have long-term stable cooperation with virtual objects, and can continuously attract new virtual objects to join the team.The brand is the most critical resource for the virtual operation of Meters-Bonwe in the apparel industry. Therefore, while Meters-Bonwe builds its own factory, it still needs to strengthen the maintenance and creation of the brand as a virtual core part of the business. Let's look at Acer's channel change again.In fact, whether the channel change is appropriate or not depends on the relationship between products and customers. When Acer has gone through the cycle of general agency system to distribution system and then to total agency system, we need to see what changes customers and products have undergone.When Acer first entered the Chinese market, it had no domestic sales rights, and more importantly, it was not familiar with the Chinese market.Therefore, in this new market, how to get closer to customers better and faster, relying on mature professional distributors is undoubtedly the best choice.With the development of the market, competing manufacturers continue to join in, the competition in the entire PC industry is intensifying, and the decline in the profits of the PC industry makes it difficult to maintain the traditional channel model. Gradually increasing, customers have higher and higher expectations for PC products and services. Therefore, channel flattening can effectively enable enterprises to better contact customers.Moreover, an important function of this flat channel is to deliver services.In other words, the role of the channel is not only the delivery of products, but also the service of customers.As for the return of the Acer channel, it is difficult to answer whether it can bring the expected effect. The key still depends on the development of the market.The choice of channel depends on whether it adapts to the target market, product characteristics and industry competition environment of the enterprise. Of course, channel cost and controllability are also key factors.Different industries, different products, and different scales and development stages of enterprises have different forms of channels.No matter what channel form is adopted, its goal remains the same, that is, how to reduce channel costs, improve channel efficiency, and how to strengthen control over terminals to improve customer service capabilities. Each form of distribution has its own pros and cons.Acer has changed from the general agency system to the distribution system. This flat channel policy initially brought a huge increase in turnover and sales to the company.However, due to the management problems of the enterprise, this channel structure does not play its role well, and the self-built channel also increases the channel cost to the enterprise.So Acer returned from the distribution system to the general agency system. According to Acer, the return of this channel means that its sales cost is fixed, and after the worry about sales is gone, it can focus on brand promotion and promotion. come up.There is also a risk of loss of control here.Whether the return of channels can be as expected by Acer depends on its control over the market. No matter what a company does and what kind of business model it adopts, it cannot do without two things, one is its own core, and the other is the market environment.Change, in essence, is an endogenous and self-forged process, rather than a rigid follow-up.No matter how it changes, the core things cannot be changed, but the external things can change with the changes of the market situation.In other words, any change must revolve around an inherently unchanged core.The core of Vivi is soy milk. Metersbonwe’s brand is the most important thing whether it is a self-built factory or a virtual operation. Products are put on the market to meet the needs of consumers.In fact, regardless of industry changes, or changes in production methods or channels, they are all based on the rational thinking of enterprises and are adjustments made to changes in the market environment. The purpose is to adapt to the needs of market changes, in order to better survive, develop and profit.Therefore, looking at the three cases, it can be said that this return to change is to some extent the result of the company's rational consideration of market changes.Of course, whether the follow-up impact of this return on the enterprise is positive or negative, large or small, depends on the ability of the enterprise to understand changes in the market environment and its trends. Here we must re-understand and recognize the concept of business model.The resource-based theory holds that an enterprise is a collection of resources, and in order to achieve a profitable business goal, an enterprise must adopt a unique way to integrate its resources, which is the business model of the enterprise.Whether it is how VV Soymilk treats its milk industry, or Bonwe's thinking on virtual management, and Acer's choice of sales channels, it is all a matter of the enterprise's resource integration model.The resource-based strategic view tends to believe that the company's unique resource integration method can create a sustainable competitive advantage for the company.Enterprise resources include internal and external resources, and different enterprises have different modes of integrating their resources.Now, the competition of enterprises is no longer the competition of single resources and capabilities, but the competition of enterprises integrating resources and capabilities. The problem of VV is its diversification and integration of resources.Diversified operation is the only way for many enterprises to develop to a certain stage and scale, but how to diversify, whether it is related diversification or non-related diversification, requires enterprises to think carefully.The diversification of VV seems to be related to diversification, because milk and soy milk can be shared in multiple activities such as production management, sales, and branding. In theory, it should be a strategy with the best business performance.But VV made a mistake of basic common sense, that is, milk and soy milk face the same customers, and they are substitutes for each other.VV Milk competed for customers of soy milk, which affected the operation of soy milk.Therefore, VV must make a choice between its milk and soybean milk business, either abandon the milk industry and continue to develop the soybean milk industry, or abandon the soybean milk industry to expand the milk industry.It should be a relatively correct strategy for VV to choose to abandon the milk industry, because it has already established a comparative advantage in the operation of the soybean milk industry. Meters Bonwe has established its own unique capabilities and advantages through virtual operations, but due to the incompleteness of its internal management system and incentive mechanism, the resignation of middle-level managers and even senior managers has affected the normal operation of the company. operate.In the past 10 years of development, Metersbonwe has been focusing on "virtual management" and has not formed an advantage in the field of clothing production and processing. Therefore, abandoning virtual management and self-built factories will inevitably invest a lot of money and disperse the company. energy at the top.The risk of abandoning "virtual operation" and self-built factories is greater than the risk of virtual operation itself.What Meters-Bonwe is currently facing is not the problem of changing its virtual business model, but the problem of adjusting its internal management system and incentive mechanism. The problem that Acer has encountered is what kind of model it adopts to integrate its channel resources.Acer has been operating in the mainland for 12 years. The channel management model has evolved from the general agency system to the direct sales of the branch system. In 2004, the branch company began to expose various problems, such as accounts receivable management, use of credit lines, and bid price management. The most fatal thing is that Acer's sales in mainland China have not increased with the number of branches. The company's notebook sales have been hovering at the eighth or ninth place, and it has even been surpassed by its old rival ASUS. In October 2005, it began to promote the so-called "new distribution model" and returned to the general agency system.After Acer changed from the general agency system to the branch system, its ability to manage and control channels has been greatly weakened, which shows that Acer is at a disadvantage in the competition with PC sales channels.That is to say, the cost of Acer’s use of the general agent system is far lower than the cost of its adoption of the distribution system. It affects its bargaining power with the general representative. The problems encountered by the three enterprises are not the same, but they all face the choice of resource integration mode.In the competition of enterprises, if this model is inferior to competitors, the enterprise will be at a competitive disadvantage, and even affect the continuous operation of the enterprise.The resource integration mode of an enterprise is affected by its internal and external environmental factors, and enterprises need to adjust and change their resource integration mode in different periods and stages. I think soy milk will not be able to pose a threat to milk for a long time, which is caused by the inherent consumption concept of Chinese people, and its actual growth rate also proves this.After VV Group became the "King of Soybean Milk in China", I don't think it's wrong to implement the strategy of "developing soymilk stably and entering the dairy industry in an all-round way", because soymilk business is its gold bull business, and milk will become a gold star business.The fact is the same. Soy milk still occupies more than 70% of the market share, and "VV Tianshan Snow" milk has achieved the fourth market share.Therefore, there is no problem of VV Group helping competitors in the industry to expand the milk industry, but a multi-business operation with strong correlation by utilizing capital, brand and channel advantages at one time.Just imagine, if VV Group continued to invest in the soybean milk business in 2000, whether its marginal income would increase. After all, the growth of the soybean milk business market is limited, and its market share growth after becoming the leader is also limited.Conversely, if VV Group does not enter into milk, wouldn't milk pose a threat to replace soybean milk? ! I insist that VV Group was right when it entered milk, but it is not without problems, and the problem is not at the strategic level but at the tactical level, such as whether it has invested too much in milk factory investment, why not adopt OEM or acquisition, like Mengniu In that way, thereby gaining time and reducing financial costs.Why did Mengniu, which entered milk in the same period, succeed?Whether VV Group's fourth market share but not making money is related to excessive investment and high financial costs. Whether it is correct to shift the strategic focus to soy milk now depends on the comparison of the market growth potential between soy milk and milk. Has the Chinese people started to accept soy milk?Has soy milk reached a real growth stage while milk has stagnated?If so, I agree with such a shift in strategic focus.Otherwise, the original strategy should be firmly implemented, because the initial investment has reached the harvest period, and at the same time, the active defense of Jianlibao and others in the soybean milk business cannot be ignored.In my opinion, VV Group’s simultaneous involvement in the two businesses of milk and soybean milk has a strong scope economy effect. It is not only a defensive strategy against soybean milk entrants, but also a roundabout offensive strategy against competitors in the milk business. The key factors for the success of the clothing industry are brand, design and production, but brand and design can really constitute the core competitiveness.Meters Bonwe relied on its core competitiveness in brand and design to become the leader of China's casual wear.It is precisely because of such core competitiveness that it has successfully prevented the business risks brought about by as many as six major personnel changes in the short period of ten years of development.Therefore, not only can Meters-Bonwe not give up on this business approach, but on the contrary, it should strengthen this business model, continue to increase brand promotion efforts, and improve the design level, extending to mid-to-high-end brands.In addition, rapid response between headquarters and design, OEM manufacturers, franchising and brand flagship stores is also achieved through informatization. Like Wal-Mart, it strengthens the core competitiveness system based on informatization rather than just the brand and design links, so that It can ensure that Metersbonwe has a sustainable competitive advantage. The reason why I tend to continue to take the way of virtual operation is that, firstly, this is the way of success of famous manufacturers such as Nike, and it is also the foundation of Meters Bonwe's success; There is still a lot of work to be done in terms of design, especially in today's globalization; third, because the textile disputes facing our country cannot be eliminated in the short term, the industry will have excess production capacity for a long time, which will undoubtedly make Meters Bonwe choose OEM manufacturers with high "cost performance" are in a strong position; finally, the best way for Metersbonwe to deal with competition from foreign OEM manufacturers is to strengthen the core competitiveness of brand and design, especially the brand, and the ultimate goal is to build Meters Spangwe is a well-known corporate brand. Because the brand is difficult to replace, the brand can also be extended, such as Meters Bonwe casual shoes, casual bags, casual hats, etc., and can also be extended to high-end casual clothes. It can be extended to Europe and the United States, and eventually become a world-class casual clothing brand. Acer reverted the previously implemented distribution model to the general agency system, mainly because of the many problems in the management of the original distribution model and the unsatisfactory market share. I think it is very necessary.Acer's current strategic goal is to increase overall profits by maximizing sales and market share.Obviously, the original distribution model can no longer achieve this goal, so the only way is to adopt the "general agent" distribution model.后者借助总代理商营销网络，专业销售经验、以及强大的资金和物流平台，对于急需实现“提高销量”目标的宏碁来讲是合适的，因为量上去后，变动成本减少还有因为分公司减少所带来的人力成本减少，但总体利润不一定会降低。目前PC竞争应该是强势品牌下的成本竞争，宏碁通过销售“外包”，总体上降到了运营成本，但还必须同时补上“品牌”宣传和推广这一课。过去，宏碁品牌知名度不高或是由于精力分散或未引起重视所致。如今在强势品牌已初现端倪的时代，其难度是可想而知的。好在新的经销模式可以将扩大销售与品牌推广进行专业化分工，既有利于提高市场分额，降低运营成本，从而扩大总体利润，也有利于提升品牌。当然宏碁与渠道之间和渠道的内部管理也是新模式下不容小视的问题，但这毕竟是战术问题。 宏碁进入大陆时采用总代制既是当初客观条件限定也有其合理性，因为当时行业利润率高，市场又处于高速成长期，根据行业生命周期理论，竞争应该是加速扩大市场分额，同时注意品牌推广。而新进入者由于受资源和对当地市场的了解程度所限等，通常都要借助大的代理商完成销售目标，但生产商绝不能忽视品牌的宣传与打造。 2002年，由于行业利润率大大降低，宏碁砍掉总代理而实施“分公司”经销模式，期待维持已经很低的利润率，但恰恰忽略了市场分额与总体利润的关系，也轻视了品牌提升的作用，以及应收账款等环节出现的问题，使得事与愿违。 2005年10月，宏碁宣布全面恢复总代理制是对过去三年错误经销模式的及时调整。这是可以理解的，因为我们虽然忌讳战略的摇摆不定，但也不反对对错误战略所作的及时调整，因为前者轻则贻误战机重则遭致重创！ 三个不同行业的不同案例引发了我如下的一些思考： 随着中西文化的交融，国人的饮食文化与趋向也相应发生了一些变化，牛奶日益为人们所喜爱并成为人们日常生活不可缺少的东西，这本身也是一个必然的趋势，哪怕维维一直坚守做豆奶，还是不能改变这一趋势。唯一的区别可能在于，当豆奶与牛奶被放置在同一个天平上时，国人会更向哪边倾斜的问题。就像服饰的流行趋势，一年一个风潮，很难说在饮食文化方面就不会有一个变化的风潮，所以很难定论维维是否已错过了豆奶业与牛奶业竞争的最好时机。尽管损伤较大，相对于维维重回豆奶无疑是一个更为妥当的选择。毕竟在中国的豆奶市场里还占据70%的市场份额，总算也是“瘦死的骆驼比马大”。而要重回豆奶上，维维所要面对最主要是两个问题：一方面是豆奶业内的竞争，凭借维维在豆奶业方面的实力，重振一片天，也许并非难事。另一方面，也是最有威胁力的竞争，就是来自牛奶业的竞争，不得不面对的现实就是：尽管由于行业垄断致使许多牛奶企业倒闭，但是就总体而言是牛奶业相对于豆奶业更为兴盛。同时就两种同类质产品的比较上，就口感的润滑度、种类的多样性、包装的精美度及品牌宣传等方面，牛奶比豆奶可能略胜一筹。当然豆奶也有许多优点，如何研发更适合国人不同饮食习惯的豆奶，便是当务之急。 美特斯·邦威在这个时候不该放弃虚拟经营。自建工厂与虚拟经营本身也并不矛盾，只要妥善处理之间“度”的问题即可。美特斯·邦威在虚拟经营这块的成功取得非常可贵。当然更要善加利用与开发，只是虚拟经营本身确实也存在一些软肋，通过自建工厂能够弥补不足。尽管自建工厂投入较大，不过相对美特斯·邦威自身雄厚的资金实力而言，应该不会有很大的影响，同时自建工厂本身只是一个辅助手段，故在工厂的规模上要加以控制，以免将战线拉得过长。以虚拟经营道路为主，自建工厂作为虚拟经营道路的辅助手段。正如周成建曾对外界表示“如果有10％-20％的生产能力由自己控制就能为消费者提供更快速、更时尚的产品。”。由此也为自建工厂的规模、功用、地位作了界定。自建的工厂不可肓目扩张，重点应在保证一定生产能力基础上做得更为精良、高效能，应该是模范化，而非规模化。 宏碁的渠道变革应三思而行，此次渠道变革并不十分合适。尽管从总代制到分销制，再到总代制，宏碁有其个中原由，或所谓的“顺势而为”，只是，无论是总代制还是分销制，都是有利也有弊，单纯转换渠道，恐怕并不能实现“两年内跻身世界前三大PC品牌”的宏伟目标。应将渠道的轮回转到解决渠道本身可能存在的问题上。目前市场的“扁平化”已成大势所趋，激烈的竞争，已使PC业的利润降得很低，采用分销制应该更可行一些。宏碁现在最为关键的是加强对分销制这种渠道的管理力度，诸如“应收账款管理、信用额度的使用、标案价格的管理”之类。逃避问题，又将面对新的问题，分销制不乏成功例子，应学人所长，迎难而上，化弊为利，方能迎刃而解，才是变革的出路所在。从总代制到分销制再到总代制，这种渠道的轮回将给宏碁带来以下影响： （1）信任度下降。这种轮回，必然会与经销商、公司员工有或多或少的利益冲突，这种反反复复的渠道变革，会直接与宏碁有利益相的相关人失去对其的信任，同时也不是一个成熟稳定的企业所应有的作为。 （2）人才的流失。从总代制到分销制时的大肆增员，到分销制转到总代制的不量裁员，这中间体现了宏碁在人力资源管理上的混乱与短视。 （3）销售业绩面临新问题。宏碁对于渠道管理上的种种不成熟作为，以及此次变革后所要面临的新的问题与矛盾，将会使部分经销商的目光投向更为有实力的其他企业，经销商的流失将会对“取得优异的销售业绩”这个如意算盘造成较大影响。 我认为维维在牛奶行业没有优势的话，那么就干脆全身退出牛奶业，集中力量专攻豆奶业。毕竟在豆奶业中它有较大的优势，在市场上仍占有70%的份额。只要进一步提升自身品牌，提高豆奶的科技含量，努力改善豆奶的口感，开发出更多适合不同年龄的口味的豆奶，在豆奶业维维龙头老大的位置应该能够继续保持下去。但不管是做豆奶行业还是做牛奶行业，最重要的是两点： 1、严把质量关。毕竟质量是企业立于不败之地的最有效的武器。 2、研发新产品，完善口味口感，创造出更多适合中国人口味，不同年龄，不同消费群体的产品。 适合的就是好的。不同的行业会有不同的消费习惯，不同的消费人群。虽然市场竞争激烈，但只要拥有企业自己的核心竞争力，一样能“拨开云雾见天日”，在激烈的市场竞争中获得属于自己的那份蛋糕。 总的来说美特斯·邦威是虚拟经营比较成功的企业，美特斯·邦威的选择应该是比较慎重的。服装行业没有核心的技术，大多服装款式随流行的趋势变化而变化。如果一味的跟着潮流，季节一过，潮流一过，势必会造成库存积压，资金受捆。最行之有效的办法就是提升品牌，打造一个强势品牌。当然前提是您的产品要有自己的个性，自己的风格，创立独特的品牌路线。就如同美特斯·邦威自己的口号“不走寻常路”，要有自己的核心竞争力，有杀手锏，产品才有市场，到一定的高度还能引导市场，引领潮流。而虚拟经营中出现的问题，则要追其根源，找到病因，问题总有解决的办法。寻求一种最佳的处理办法，尽可能的减少损失，达到利益的最大化，就ok了。 如果建工厂的话，虽然说不同的经营模式对于单一模式中的有些缺陷可以弥补，但两种经营模式完全是两码事，无论在理论上，还是在实际管理中，都会带来或多或少的冲突。“麻雀虽小，五脏俱全”，建设工厂，涉及到方方面面的事情，人力，物力，财力各个方面多要完善，需要投入的精力太大，并且周期很漫长，而且前景，过程不可预料，不可控制，结果能否尽善尽美还是未知数。我觉得，在原来虚拟经营的基础上，挖掘自身的潜力，利用自身的优势，打造更强有力的优势品牌，可能会比较适合。 个人认为21世纪是构筑和谐经济的时代。宏碁的渠道管理模式无论是从开始的总代理制还是到后来的分公司制的直销，都只是企业战术性的问题，企业战略问题还是没有根本性的解决。现在电脑已经进入微利时代，无论是何种渠道模式，宏碁的目的只是为了赚取利润。只要从根本上转变企业的战略才能使得企业能够发展。首先由于中国由于一、二级城市的笔记本电脑市场增长速度放缓，三、四级城市将成为厂商下一步开拓的目标市场，所以就要求宏碁在推广“新经销模式”时要根据中国市场现阶段特点做适当的调整，一方面考虑到中国渠道商的特点，加强对渠道的指导和监督力度；另一方面，积极配合渠道进行客户培育，促成其渠道和客户更加成熟。其次现在的消费者需要的是个性化的、能满足自己需要的产品，所以产品都有清晰的产品定位，以适合不同消费者的差异化需求。再次推出新的服务政策，成立服务性组织，加强后勤保障，提升服务水平，提供客户最优质的服务。 周成健是一个掌控能力很强的人。美特斯·邦威是否要放弃虚拟经营，建不建工厂，我认为这不是根本问题，关键是要认清美特斯·邦威是周成健的美特斯·邦威，还是全体美特斯·邦威人的美特斯·邦威。也就是说周成健要不要建设一个“把美特斯·邦威建成百年老店，让美特斯·邦威成为全体美特斯·邦威人的美特斯·邦威的宏伟目标”——树立美特斯·邦威的核心企业文化。良好的企业文化可以像一面旗帜，指引着企业和每一个员工的行动方向。共同的利益，共同的目标，共同的价值体系，形成了统一的思想和行为，使得员工的思想行为高度统一，从而更容易协调员工的行动。因为企业成败兴衰，会关系到企业每一个人的实际利益。耐克也是虚拟经营，但他做的很成功。如果周成健不从根本上解决企业内部的问题，不去巩固自己的核心竞争力，企业就很难进一步的发展壮大。一个没有优秀企业文化的企业，也很难长久立于激烈的市场竞争之中。所以只有拥有自己的企业文化，然后朝着既定的宏伟目标去做，才能形成自己的核心竞争力，哪怕外界诱惑再大，员工也不会背弃你。反而会吸引更多的优秀人才加盟进来。