Chapter 15 1984 The first year of the company

In the history of science, art and business, when a genre or country is in its heyday, a group of great people or companies will be born in a certain year.It is difficult to deduce this phenomenon with very rational logic. It is probably the inherent drama of history. In the history of American business, that great year was 1886.This year, David McKenney, a book salesman in New York, was pleasantly surprised to find that the perfume he gave with the book was favored by customers when he was promoting Shakespeare's anthology, so he used "Avon" (Avon), the name of a river in Shakespeare's hometown. ) in the name of the Aromatic Water Company; "Coca-Cola" was born in Atlanta, and its first bottle with a "weird" shape was launched on the market; the famous George Eastman developed the first automatic camera and gave it Named "Kodak"; Sears Roebuck, the founder of the global mass mail order and retail industry, was also founded in this year. Until 1992, it has been the global retail hegemony.The year Citigroup was born, which later became the world's largest banking institution; Johnson & Johnson was also founded in the same year, starting with the manufacture of medical diagnostic products and later producing body lotion, shampoo and Band-Aids, which sell well all over the world .If you add that Karl Benz invented the world's first recognized car in Germany, then these company names that appeared in 1886 can actually outline the growth line of the world's companies in the next 100 years.

In the history of Chinese enterprises, this great year is 1984.In the future, many successful companies were born in this year. Later, people called it the first year of China's modern companies. The special temperament of 1984 was released shortly after New Year's Day.Deng Xiaoping, who had been sitting in Beijing except for going abroad, suddenly decided to visit the south.At present, in China, the reform enthusiasm instigated by the high-density publicity of Bu Xinsheng's reform has been increasing day by day. However, looking around the country, which area's reform has been the most effective in the past few years, and it is also the most worthy of special mention? ?Deng Xiaoping set his sights on the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, which was not included in the central plan in advance, nor received special financial support from the central government, and which is currently suffering from controversy.

Deng Xiaoping made two famous trips to the south in his life, one in 1984 and one in 1992, both of which played a decisive role in changing the direction of China's economy. The term "Deng Xiaoping's southern tour" has never appeared in official documents , but it has been widely adopted by the people and the media, and it entrusts people's respect and expectations for Deng Gong. According to later researchers, Deng Xiaoping's trip to the south had no clear purpose in advance, nor did he carry the responsibility of policy declaration, but the enthusiasm for reform it forced out was beyond everyone's expectations.In the previous year or so, various criticisms and accusations against Shenzhen were raging. A party newspaper in the north published a long article entitled "The Origin of the Historical Concession", alluding to the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone as a new "concession". An article reminds us to be alert to the emergence of new compradors and Li Hongzhang-style figures in China.Many veteran cadres who visited Shenzhen regarded the special zone as a heresy, and exclaimed that "in addition to the five-star red flag in Shenzhen, socialism is no longer visible", "the special zone is named 'capital' and not 'she'". On January 24, when Deng Xiaoping arrived in Shenzhen, Liang Xiang, Secretary of the Party Committee of the special zone, pointed to the map of Shenzhen hanging on the wall and introduced the development and construction of the special zone. Compared with 1979 before the establishment of the special zone, it has increased by 10 times.Liang Xiang, who was under pressure, really wanted Deng Xiaoping's clear support, so he said: "The establishment of the special zone was proposed by your old man and a decision made by the Party Central Committee. The people of Shenzhen have long expected you to come and see it, so that you can rest assured. instructions and support.” But Deng Xiaoping did not comment.

In the next few days, Deng Xiaoping walked all over the special zone non-stop. He did not speak or express his position along the way, and he was very silent and unrevealed during the visit.When he arrived at the Shekou Industrial Zone, Yuan Geng reported that they proposed "time is money, efficiency is life" as the slogan of the entire industrial zone.The clever Yuan Geng said in a self-questioning tone: "I don't know if this slogan is taboo? We don't know whether the risk we are taking is correct? We don't ask Comrade Xiaoping to express his position on the spot, but to allow us to continue to practice and experiment." As soon as it came out, the audience laughed.Deng Xiaoping's performance in Shenzhen was very meaningful. He used his actions to show his support, but left a blank in his words. On the 27th, he left Shenzhen for Zhuhai, another special zone. Here he reversed his silent attitude in Shenzhen and wrote the inscription "Zhuhai Special Economic Zone is good", which can be regarded as a conclusion for the economy of the special zone. On February 1, Deng Xiaoping, who had already returned to Guangzhou, wrote down "Shenzhen's development and experience proves that our policy of establishing a special economic zone is correct" under the repeated hints and pleadings of the leaders of Guangdong Province and Shenzhen, and in the final On the inscription, the time was deliberately written as "January 26, 1984", indicating that this evaluation had already been made when it was still in Shenzhen.

Deng Xiaoping's southern tour initiative was spread across the country in the form of news, and the debate on the special zone came to an end.In the second month after he left Guangdong, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made a major decision, announcing the "opening of 14 coastal cities and Hainan Island to foreign investors."China's opening up to the outside world has gradually formed a pattern of opening up the entire coastal area. On January 24th, Wang Shi, who was happily reselling corn, passed by Shenzhen International Trade Building on a bicycle, and suddenly saw many police cars, police officers and crowds gathered. After inquiring, it turned out that it was Deng Xiaoping who went to the top floor of the building to overlook the whole picture of the special zone, and the Public Security Bureau was cleaning up the scene .He later recalled, "I felt like it was time to do something big."

In May, "Shenzhen Modern Scientific and Educational Instrument Exhibition and Sales Center" was established, which was the predecessor of Vanke, and Wang Shi became the manager.According to the SAR policy at that time, foreign products imported into the SAR cannot be sold outside the SAR, but there is no restriction on the shipment of goods purchased by customers outside the SAR in the SAR.The business of the exhibition and sales center is not much different from reselling corn: first, 25% of the purchase price of the mainland demander is collected as a deposit, and then the order is placed with the Hong Kong company, and the same ratio is paid to the Hong Kong company. After the goods arrive in Shenzhen, the buyer pays off the balance delivery.The key to buying and selling is that what is received is Renminbi, and what is paid to Hong Kong companies is Hong Kong dollars or U.S. dollars. The profit of the exhibition center comes from the ability to obtain foreign currencies.To open such an exhibition and sales center, you must first have an import license, and then contact a unit that has a share of foreign exchange earnings from foreign exchange exports. That is to say, you cannot open such a company without a certain government background and public relations capabilities.

Wang Shi later gave an example of how the company made money: In the fall of this year, a Beijinger named Wang Chuntang came to Shenzhen and claimed that he had 30 million US dollars in export foreign exchange on hand, and the exchange rate was 1 US dollar to 3.7 yuan.The so-called "retained foreign exchange" is not cash, but a "quota indicator". It should belong to a large state-owned foreign trade company, and it was finally transferred to the "dead man" with official background in a very gray way.At that time, the market exchange rate was 1 U.S. dollar to 4.2 yuan. Wang Shi booked 10 million U.S. dollars of "foreign exchange retention" from Wang Chuntang, and then he "smoothly" borrowed 20 million yuan from the Bank of China, and collected 37 million yuan to remit to Wang Chuntang.Once it was handed over, the exhibition center earned a difference of 5 million yuan in the exchange rate.

This kind of exchange and reselling seems to be more enjoyable than reselling corn. At that time, such an underground channel for resource transportation had already been formed between Shenzhen and Beijing, and a steady stream of national quotas and public interests were sold to the south in various forms. , they operate on the fringes of the law and have contributed to the sudden wealth of certain individuals and companies.Wang Shi’s exhibition and sales center plays the role of terminal money laundering in this game. He transferred foreign exchange indicators from Beijing, contacted Hong Kong businessmen and domestic companies who purchased and shipped goods, and “cleaned” the exchange rate difference into Circulation spread.

What is surprising is that although this currency exchange game is very active, the national laws have always turned a blind eye to it. They have not made the necessary definitions and regulations, and even the nature of the behavior is vague, leaving great mediation and ambiguity. space.According to Wang Shi's recollection, around 1984, governments all over the country set off a heat wave of office facilities renovation. A large amount of imported equipment flowed in from Shenzhen. Many companies made a lot of money in this import boom. Some of them traded The company also rents military cargo planes to air transport to Beijing, forming a competitive trend with the advantages of transportation and delivery speed. At the beginning of 1985, Wang Shi was involved in a $40 million foreign exchange transfer case. The business method of this case was exactly the same as the above-mentioned process. Only because of the uneven distribution of benefits, it attracted the attention of the central department and became one of the major foreign exchange evasion cases in the country. one of the cases.Due to the involvement of military companies, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Military Commission for Discipline Inspection respectively sent two investigation teams to the south to investigate.According to the law at that time, there was almost no clear explanation in the text of what is meant by "evasion of foreign exchange". The remittance business involved in the exhibition and sales center had formal procedures, ranging from bank remittances to import approval documents. In the end, the investigation team could not determine whether this behavior was illegal. Therefore, we have to focus on whether there is any bribery or acceptance of bribes in the process of these foreign exchange transfer contracts.According to Wang Shi's later recollection, "As time went by, the case faded."

We must say that at this time, Wang Shi and his company are not the real estate company that people will know in the future. They are still quietly gathering their original accumulation, no matter it is white or gray. In Qingdao, Shandong, 35-year-old Zhang Ruimin was sent to work as the director of an electrical appliance factory that was on the verge of bankruptcy.He is the so-called "old third class". After graduating from middle school, he entered the factory as a worker, and was later transferred to work in the Qingdao Home Appliance Company.He didn't know much about management at that time. In his impression, "everything he did could be fake", "the superiors pretended to pay the workers, and the workers pretended to work".One year, when he was still working as a worker in the factory, a campaign of "Promoting Hua Luogeng's Optimal Method" was vigorously launched across the country. Something that can be seen immediately.At that time, the higher-ups demanded that "the results must be produced immediately", and the "results" were counted within a few days after the implementation. Later, a gong and drum team was formed to publicize how many results there were.At that time, the workers felt like they were acting and joking.

Zhang Ruimin, who already hated this kind of formalism, certainly doesn't like the factory he manages to continue on this old path.The "Qingdao Household Electrical Appliances Factory" he went to was a long-standing mess. It was a handicraft production cooperative in its early years, and later transitioned into a collective cooperative factory.For many years, it has produced electric motors, electric hoists, civil hair dryers, small desk fans, etc. In recent years, it has begun to produce a washing machine called "White Crane". Due to its rough appearance and poor quality, it has been unable to sell. , The factory's assets and debts were offset by a deficit of 1.47 million yuan.Before Zhang Ruimin took office, he had changed three directors within a year. He was the deputy manager of the home appliance company at that time. If he didn't go, no one would go.Many years later, he recalled, "I was greeted with 53 transfer reports. I came to work at 8 o'clock and left at 9 o'clock. At 10 o'clock, I threw a hand grenade in the compound and couldn't kill anyone. When I arrived at the factory There is only one muddy road, and when it rains, the shoes must be tied up with ropes, otherwise they will be dragged away by the mud.” In order to renovate the factory, Zhang Ruimin formulated 13 rules and regulations after taking office, the first of which is "Do not defecate anywhere in the workshop."After reading this, the posterity will probably burst out laughing, but it was a very serious matter at the time. In many state-owned factories, defecating anywhere was not prohibited and was a common practice. Zhang Ruimin’s system was posted half a year ago. After a long time, there are no more people who defecate anywhere, but those who urinate have not been eliminated immediately.Other policies include "no coming late and leaving early", "no drinking during working hours", "no smoking in the workshop" and "no looting of factory supplies".In order to implement the last one, Zhang Ruimin opened all the doors and windows of the workshop wide open one day, and arranged for people to watch around to see if anyone came to pick up things again. Unexpectedly, the next morning, a person swaggered away with a box of raw materials. Zhang Ruimin posted it at noon. Announce the expulsion of this person.After this incident, all the workers in the factory believed that this time the new factory manager seemed to be serious.Interestingly, until many years later, the most basic code of conduct for employees is still one of the tasks of Chinese emerging companies. At the end of 2005, when the largest Internet company in China at that time carried out internal rectification, the founder Chen Tianqiao stipulated in "On the "New Culture Movement"" that employees "have to flick soot on the white wall, and are not allowed to use the company's printing paper to print documents that have nothing to do with work. , not to take overtime meals." Zhang Ruimin's first decision after taking office was to withdraw from the washing machine market and turn to the production of refrigerators.He reported for duty at the beginning of December, and the factory's brand was changed to "Qingdao Refrigerator General Factory" that month.When he was the deputy manager of a home appliance company, he was sent to Germany to investigate. A local refrigerator company, Liebherr, was willing to export manufacturing technology and equipment contracts to China. Zhang Ruimin seized on this matter and went to Qingdao Liebherr's technology was finally allowed to be introduced by the Ministry of Light Industry of the city and Beijing after repeated requests, and it became the last designated production plant determined by the Ministry of Light Industry.The significance of the decision to switch production and introduce technology to this small, insolvent factory will soon be revealed. It has changed its name again and again, and finally named "Haier", and traces of evolution can be found here. Zhang Ruimin's charm as a great entrepreneur will be exuded in the next year. One day, a friend went to Zhang Ruimin to buy a refrigerator, but many of the refrigerators he picked had problems of one kind or another.After the friend left, Zhang Ruimin checked all the more than 400 refrigerators in the warehouse, and found that 76 refrigerators had problems to varying degrees.Faced with this situation, some people proposed to dispose of these refrigerators to employees at a low price.Dealing with defective products at a low price is a "good method" adopted by many manufacturers, and they all believe that this is beneficial to both employees and enterprises.But Zhang Ruimin didn't think so.With his order, 76 refrigerators were smashed into scrap iron.At that time, the price of a refrigerator was more than 800 yuan, which was equivalent to two years' wages for an employee. Many employees shed tears when they smashed the refrigerator. "Zhang Ruimin smashed the refrigerator" became the first legend of China's largest home appliance company in the future. It is exactly the same as the story of Lu Guanqiu who sold more than 400,000 yuan of defective products as scrap a few years ago, which shows that the shortage of goods appeared The self-transformation of the first generation of entrepreneurs in the period began with the awakening of quality awareness. Zhongguancun began to show prosperity in 1984.Last year, the newly launched "Economic Daily" carried out continuous reports on Chen Chunxian. He was portrayed as a brave "trend runner".So, encouraged by this voice, batch after batch of scientific and technological personnel jumped into the sea of ​​commodity economy.In the previous year, companies such as Kehai and Jinghai had appeared one after another, and in the second year, companies such as Stone, Xintong and Lenovo were established successively. In winter, Liu Chuanzhi decided to bid farewell to the leisurely life of reading newspapers every day.He was born in a scholarly family. His maternal grandfather was the finance minister of the warlord Sun Chuanfang, and his father was one of the earliest financiers of the Communist Party.This year, Liu Chuanzhi was just 40 years old. For this Shanghai native who is elegant in appearance but very restless in heart, he deeply knows what "standing at forty" means to a Chinese man.The young Liu Chuanzhi's ideal was to be an air force pilot. After graduating from middle school, he applied for the air force school with full confidence but failed in the end. This became the first setback in his life.Later, he was admitted to a military electronic engineering college in Xi'an, where he studied radar.After graduation, he traveled half of China and even planted rice on a farm in Guangdong. In 1970, he was assigned to the Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The Computing Institute was the most authoritative computer research institution at that time, and the computers needed for the atomic bombs and artificial satellites launched by China were all developed by this institute.In this scientific research institution with 1,500 researchers, Liu Chuanzhi has always been unknown. Compared with many of his colleagues, he lacks the talent and calmness of a scientist.His job title is magnetic recording technology engineer, in fact he has no interest in it.Back then, I entered the institute solely to find an opportunity to return to my parents with my wife and daughter.During the 14 years of working in this computing institute, he has never been interested in scientific research, but is full of interest in everything that is happening in China every day. He often hides in an empty house with a few close colleagues to discuss Lin Biao's work. The plane crash, the rampant "Gang of Four", why Mao Zedong chose Hua Guofeng as his successor, etc. Compared with the boring computer, these political topics can make him blush and get excited. In 1984, the Chinese Academy of Sciences was on the verge of expansion and transformation. In the past few years, research institutes of various names have emerged one after another, reaching as many as 123, but the research carried out seems to be farther and farther away from the international level. further away.With all the efforts of the Institute of Computing and Computing, the large-scale computer "Project 757" that took eight years to develop was announced to be completed, and won the "First Prize of Major Scientific and Technological Achievements" of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Compared with the international standard, it is already embarrassing, and its military-oriented research ideas have not received the market's response.It has become an "outcast" from the first day of its birth. The embarrassing fate of the "Project 757" brought the Computing Institute to the end of its original development path. After the research plan from the military department stopped, no funds were allocated from above. In front of the high-level scientific research institute of the appropriation.So in this year, Zeng Maochao, the director and the first generation of self-trained computer expert in China, took the lead to establish an ICT computer company, and another leader, Wang Shuhe, the director of the Science and Technology Department, initiated the establishment of a new technology development company , Liu Chuanzhi, who has always been depressed, was selected as the deputy manager in charge of daily operations.In the Computing Institute, his academic ability was never revealed, but his management ability was recognized by his colleagues. For management work, Chinese scientific and technological personnel have never lacked confidence and enthusiasm, but Liu Chuanzhi was just the opposite.Before taking office, Zhou Guangzhao, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, had a talk with Liu Chuanzhi and asked him what his plans were for the company. He vowed, "In the future, we will become a large company with an annual output value of 2 million yuan." Liu Chuanzhi's company was born in a small bungalow of 20 square meters divided into inside and outside rooms. This was originally the communication room of the computing office.Many years later, in China, it is often compared with HP's famous Stanford garage.Liu Chuanzhi later recalled, “It was located on the east side of the west gate of the computing office. The house was built of bricks, the outside was dark gray, and the inside was divided into two rooms with concrete floors and lime walls. There was no desk or computer in the house. There are two long benches in the outer room, lined up along the corner of the wall, and two three-drawer tables in the inner room. The tables and stools do not cost money, and they are junk things that people don’t want.” There are 11 people in the company, all of whom are more than At the age of 40, the only technical expert is Zhang Zuxiang, another deputy manager. When Liu Chuanzhi went to sea, there were already 40 technology companies in Zhongguancun, and it had the reputation of "Electronic Street" in Beijing. In Zhongguancun at that time, the most famous one was Chen Chunxian, and the most well-known companies were "Two Links and Two Seas", Xintong, Stone, Jinghai, Kehai, and their founders were all researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences without exception. .In Zhongguancun, where there are many intellectuals, this is a group of flamboyant alternatives. The founder of Jinghai, Wang Hongde, is an engineer at the Computing Institute. In his report to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, he resolutely wrote: "No matter what method, transfer, Hire away, resign and leave, fire and leave, as long as you can get out, you can do it.” Wan Runnan, who founded Stone Company, advertised that he was a “private enterprise” and “superior supervisor”.Compared with these entrepreneurs, Liu Chuanzhi, who was still unknown at that time, seemed to be much lower-key, and his personality of being good at leveraging and compromising allowed him to go farther than others.From the beginning, Liu Chuanzhi did not completely sever the "mother-child relationship" between the company and the computing office. Not only did he not want to do that, but in many cases he even wanted to strengthen this close blood relationship.At that time, the company’s start-up capital was 200,000 yuan allocated by the computing institute. The nature of Lenovo’s assets was a “state-owned enterprise.” The appointment of Wang Shuhe, Liu Chuanzhi and others had to be approved by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The right to be promoted in terms of professional and technical positions and wages, the company can use the research results of the computing institute for free, and even use the office, telephone and all resources in the institute.For nearly ten years, the company borrowed from banks, all of which took the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences as the "applicant loan unit" of the contract, and the Development Bureau of the Chinese Academy of Sciences as the "guarantee unit", which naturally solved the problem of the early source of funds.While fully enjoying state-owned resources, Liu Chuanzhi enjoys considerable autonomy in financial, personnel and business decision-making power.This is a very mixed state, and no one seems to want to sort it out. Only when Lenovo gradually grows in the future, the ownership of its assets becomes sensitive.Essentially, this is a new baby with an umbilical cord attached to its mother. In the first few months of the company's founding, Liu Chuanzhi did not show the kind of strategic leadership he later had. Backed by China's most authoritative computer research institution, he could not find a workable project. Every day he rode Bicycles run around like headless chickens in Beijing.He first set up a stall next to the gate of the computing office to sell electronic watches and roller skates, and then wholesaled sports pants and refrigerators.If it is said that when Chen Chunxian founded the first company in Zhongguancun three years ago, he still had the ideal of building "China's Silicon Valley", then at this time, Liu Chuanzhi was thinking about how to make money to support the dozen or so people in the company.Once, he heard that there was a woman in Jiangxi who had a large number of color TV sets, and she could earn 1,000 yuan per set if she bought one. His start-up fee of 200,000 yuan was defrauded of 140,000 yuan at once.Compared with 20 years ago when he applied for an empty school and failed, Liu Chuanzhi felt more frustrated this time. At that time, the monthly salary of senior professors in the Computing Institute was less than 200 yuan, while Liu Chuanzhi’s salary was only 105 yuan. Liu Chuanzhi's early downfall career ended sadly like this.The first "big money" that the company really made came from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which was complained and dissatisfied by Liu Chuanzhi and others every day. At the beginning of 1985, the Chinese Academy of Sciences purchased 500 IBM computers, and handed over the acceptance, maintenance and training business to the company, resulting in a service fee of 700,000 yuan.It was also through this business that Liu Chuanzhi got in touch with the newly established IBM China Representative Office and became the latter's main agency company in China. Being a sales agent for IBM will become Lenovo's most important source of profit in the future. It can continue until Lenovo acquires IBM's PC division for US$1.6 billion 20 years later. For Liu Chuanzhi, another most important achievement was that he persuaded Ni Guangnan, a well-known computer expert from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, to join his company as the chief engineer. This was in the spring of 1985.Ni Guangnan is the pioneer of information processing of Chinese characters. Unlike Liu Chuanzhi, who is enthusiastic and outgoing, he is focused, unkempt, and possesses the talent of a scientist. Chen Huixiang, the author of "Lenovo Why", described that when Liu chats with people, he always has a bright future, while Ni likes to use highly technical problems to test each other. Since the 1980s, the personal computer market has gradually recovered, and IBM computers have flooded in like a tide. A "PC/XT" model that is even lower than the 286 model enters China with a port price of 20,000 yuan. It costs 40,000 yuan to go to Zhongguancun, and these expensive computers cannot recognize Chinese characters and operate the Chinese system. Therefore, developing a "Chinese character system" suitable for the Chinese market has become an urgent scientific research project.The rise and attention of the famous enterprises in Zhongguancun in the early days were all related to the Chinese character processing technology and products of the computer. Among them, Lenovo is Lenovo Chinese Card, Peking University Fang is laser phototypesetting, and Stone is Chinese character printer. At that time, many people in China were already engaged in this research and development, including Shi Yuzhu and others who later came to Shenzhen to make a splash. The process is similar, but what makes Ni Guangnan different is that he invented the "association function". Ni's Hanka uses the characteristics of phrases and homophones in Chinese characters to establish its own Chinese character recognition system, which is comparable to other Hanka technologies. For example, it reduces the repetition rate of two-character phrases by 50%, three-character phrases by 98%, and almost no repetition of four-character phrases. This is undoubtedly an epoch-making progress for computer Chinese character input technology.The development of Chinese input system is a breakthrough in the computer field for Chinese companies.In 1978, Taiwan Acer, founded by Shi Zhenrong, developed the "Cangjie Input Method" and launched the first self-made product "Tianlong Chinese Computer", which won the highest honor award for product design in Taiwan. In 1982, Acer launched the world's first Chinese-English personal computer "Little Professor No. 2". At the beginning of 1985, Ni Guangnan had completed all the research on this technology and named it "associative Chinese character system".It was precisely after hearing the news that Liu Chuanzhi couldn't wait to find Ni Guangnan.At that time, Xintong, another more famous company of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, also took aim at Ni Guangnan, but in the end, Liu Chuanzhi took the lead.There is only one reason for Liu to persuade Ni: "I promise to turn all your research results into products." For a Chinese scientist full of charity, this is probably the most direct temptation. The joining of Ni Guangnan completely changed the course of the company. His Lenovo I Chinese card sold 3 million yuan that year, and "Lenovo" eventually became the new name of the company.One fact that needs to be preserved is that Ni Guangnan's research results essentially belong to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Liu Chuanzhi transferred them to his own company at zero cost. Although many years later, Wang Shi's Vanke, Zhang Ruimin's Haier and Liu Chuanzhi's Lenovo became the most famous "benchmarking enterprises" in China, but in 1984, they were not the most commendable companies in China, but a company born in A beverage factory in Sanshui County, Guangdong. In March, Li Jingwei, director of Sanshui Winery, suddenly set his sights on the 23rd Olympic Games to be held in Los Angeles, USA in August.He got the news that the National Sports Commission will meet in June to decide what is the designated drink for the Chinese delegation.At this moment, he has a new beverage that has not yet been launched on the market, and even the packaging can and trademark have not been finalized. Li Jingwei is 45 years old. He lost his father when he was young, and his mother died when he was young. He grew up in an orphanage when he was young. As an adult, he became the deputy director of the Sanshui County Sports Committee. Winery as director.It was a workshop factory with only a few rice wine vats. After Li Jingwei went there, he managed it painstakingly. He developed a beer production line, and the strong beer produced gradually gained a foothold in the local area. In 1983, Li Jingwei went to Guangzhou on a business trip and bought a bottle of Coca-Cola in a can on the street. This was the first time he drank this drink in his life. It was at this time that he suddenly had the idea of ​​making drinks.At that time, as Coca-Cola became more and more popular in central cities, some small beverage factories had popped up all over the place, and some even directly named "Coke". Tianfu Cola, which appeared in Chengdu, Sichuan, was the first domestically produced Cola drinks, then Shaolin Coke appeared in Henan, and West Lake Coke appeared in Hangzhou. According to data, there were more than 2,000 beverage factories in China at that time.Li Jingwei, who was a cadre of the sports committee, thought of sports drinks very "geniusly". By chance, he heard that Ouyang Xiao, a researcher at the Guangdong Institute of Sports Science, had developed a kind that "can allow athletes to quickly recover their physical strength, and ordinary people can also drink it." "Drink" drink, they came to ask for cooperation.Under the auspices of Ouyang Xiao, an orange-yellow drinking water was developed. It has a very tongue-in-cheek name - "Super Recovery Mixture Sports Drink". In fact, it is an alkaline electrolyte drink. At that time, the Sanshui Distillery had an annual profit of only tens of thousands of yuan. Li Jingwei dared to set his sights directly on the Olympic Games, which is really courageous. In April, the Asian Football Federation will hold a meeting in Guangzhou. Li Jingwei wants to bring drinks to this meeting, so that he will have the opportunity to contact people from the National Sports Commission.At this time, there is no sign of what the brand of the beverage is, what the trademark is, and what kind of packaging it uses.At that time, there was already a brand called "Sijiang" in the factory, but Li Jingwei was not satisfied. He thought hard and came up with a new name - "Jianlibao", which sounds catchy and has "health care" hint.In order to design the trademark, Dr. Chen Xinjin, who participated in product development, volunteered to ask his brother who loves calligraphy to write the three characters "Jianlibao" on a piece of rice paper. Li Jingwei also asked the advertising company in the county to design a combination of Chinese calligraphy and English letters. Combined with the trademark graphics, this new trademark was like a stone-breaker among Chinese products in 1984: the dot at the top of the "J" character is like a sphere, which is a symbol of ball games, and the lower part is composed of three curved lines juxtaposed, like three runways It is a symbol of athletics.On the whole, the shape of that character is like a gymnast or a diver in a posture of bending the body and tightening the abdomen.The entire trademark reflects the blood relationship between Jianlibao and sports.It stood out from the crowd of old and similar Chinese products at that time. Another bold move by Li Jingwei was to propose packaging Jianlibao in cans. In the eyes of consumers at the time, cans were undoubtedly synonymous with high-end beverages. At that time, there was no can production company in China, and Sanshui Distillery was even less likely to have such cans. After installing the thread, Li Jingwei ran around, and finally persuaded Pepsi in Shenzhen to agree to produce OEM for him.In this way, after a lot of fuss, 200 boxes of glamorous Jianlibao appeared on time at the AFC Guangzhou meeting, which caused a burst of exclamation. In June, Jianlibao undisputedly became the beverage of choice for the Chinese Olympic delegation. Compared with all the participating beverages, it is the only canned product. The brand image is naturally related to sports, and its taste, color and quality are impeccable . In August, the Los Angeles Olympic Games opened. It is the largest Olympic Games in history, and it is also the first Olympic Games held by private people and generated profits.The Chinese delegation achieved a "zero breakthrough" in the gold medal at the Games with Xu Haifeng's shooting, and finally won 15 gold medals. The number of gold medals is second only to the United States, Romania, and the Federal Republic of Germany, ranking fourth.The success in the Olympic Games has greatly stimulated the enthusiasm and national pride of the whole people, and as the preferred drink of the Chinese delegation, Jianlibao has also received unimaginable attention. In the women's volleyball final on August 7, the Chinese women's volleyball girl, who has become a national hero, defeated the host team, the United States, in three straight sets with unstoppable momentum, and achieved the great cause of "three consecutive championships". It's a nationally exciting event.On the "Tokyo Shimbun" on the 11th, the reporter published a lacy press release "Relying on "magic water" to quickly attack? ", he curiously found that the women's volleyball players had been drinking a drink that he had never seen before in the competition. In fact, Jianlibao had almost no sales in the domestic market except for the Chinese delegation at that time, so he It is speculated that "Chinese athletes have won 15 Olympic gold medals, probably because they drank a new type of sports drink (Jianlibao) with some magical effects."Obviously, this is a handwritten press release without any interview or verification.The substantial improvement in the performance of Chinese athletes has caused a lot of speculation internationally, and this is nothing more than a kind of friendly and teasing one.Unexpectedly, a reporter from the "Yangcheng Evening News" who accompanied the delegation saw this news, and he rewrote it into "Chinese magic water" which became popular in Los Angeles. Afterwards, it was quickly and widely reposted. "Chinese Magic Water" and "Oriental Witch" (the nickname for the Chinese women's volleyball team) complement each other, adding a mysterious pride to the already boiling Olympic fever. It really fits a The psychological satisfaction of the oriental people who have just returned to the international stage.Jianlibao became known to the world overnight. Li Jingwei had good luck in this way. In 1984, Jianlibao's annual sales were 3.45 million yuan, and it jumped to 16.5 million yuan in the second year, and 130 million yuan in the next year. In the following 15 years, it has been the "National Beverage No. 1 Brand".在最紧俏的时候，三水县到处是全国各地前来拉货的大卡车，一车皮健力宝的批条就被炒到了2万元。健力宝的崛起，意味着中国饮料市场的春天到来。同时，受其刺激，在珠江三角洲一带相继冒出无数大大小小的饮料工厂和食品、保健品工厂，“珠江水”和“广东粮”北伐中国的时代开始了。 不夸张地说，1984年是属于珠江三角洲的。邓小平的南巡以及深圳等地的示范效应，在这一年终于发酵。无数胸怀野心的青年人如孔雀东南飞，纷纷奔赴此地。 浙江大学数学系毕业生史玉柱，在安徽省统计局的办公室里编写了第一个统计系统软件，他发誓要做中国的IBM，不久后，他将南下深圳书写一段高亢而悲壮的生涯；同样也是浙江大学毕业的段永平愤然离开分配单位北京电子管厂，他发誓自己以后再也不会在国营工厂里上班，因为那里“人人都觉得能干，却什么都不干”，他也将坐着火车到珠江三角洲去了；赵新先，军医大学的教授带着自己的“三九胃泰”在深圳笔架山下开始新的事业；在惠州，从华南理工大学毕业的李东生在一个简陋的农机仓库开辟自己的工厂，他与香港人合作生产录音磁带，这便是日后赫赫有名的家电公司TCL。 在广东顺德的容桂镇，只有小学四年级学历的潘宁以零件代模具，用汽水瓶做试验品，凭借手锤、手锉等简陋工具、万能表等简单测试仪器，在十分简陋的条件下打造出了中国第一台双门电冰箱，那一天雷雨交加，他独自一人冲进大雨中号啕大哭。10月，珠江冰箱厂成立，冰箱的品牌是“容声”，潘宁出任厂长，这便是在后来统治了中国家电业十余年的科龙公司的前身。潘宁造冰箱，在技术上靠的是北京雪花冰箱厂的支援，在资金上则是由镇政府出了9万元的试制费，所以，这家工厂成了“乡镇集体企业”，这一产权归属最终决定了科龙和潘宁的悲情命运。1984年3月2日，国务院正式发出通知，将社队企业改称为“乡镇企业”，作为一个新的、独立的企业形态，乡镇企业第一次浮出了水面。据有关资料显示，当年中国的乡镇企业实际发展到165万家，拥有劳动力3848万人。两个细节补充：潘宁道当时北京最著名的西单商场推销冰箱，一位科员问：“容声是咋回事？是啥级别的？”潘宁说：“我们是乡镇企业。”那位科员当即下逐客令。1986年，潘宁情香港影视明星汪明荃代言冰箱广告，因为汪是全国人大代表，广告要播出需请示上级，报告打上去，如石陈大海，所以在很长一段时间里，这则广告只能在地方电视台播出，却上不了中央电视台。 在1984年诞生的这些公司，在今后将相继散发出它们的光芒，不过在那时，它们还非常的幼小，并没有引起人们的关注。它们都没有太多资源，创业者看上去与常人无异，分散在一些偏僻的地区和角落，它们所从事的产业大多与人们的日常需求相关，这也是企业能够迅速成长的前提。跟那些拥有大量设备、技术、人才和资本的老牌国营企业相比，它们在任何一个方面都微不足道，唯一有的，只是自由。 当时，这些公司在性质上也算是“国有”或“集体所有”，不过由于新创办——如联想、万科等，或濒临破产——如海尔、健力宝，所以并不在政府部门的关注对象之列，相应地便也拥有了一定的自主权。而正是这点可怜的自主权让它们显得与众不同，在一切都需要“计划”的时代，它们是少数能够掌握自己命运的人。 如果说，张瑞敏、柳传志们的困难是找不到项目和方向，而那些手拥资源的老牌国营企业却为不得自由而苦恼。这几乎是一种宿命，在体制逐渐市场化的过程中，那些老企业将被消耗得精疲力竭，他们的优势和积累日渐老化、消失，最终被时代所淘汰。年初，邓小平在南方的行动让举国上下感觉到了进一步扩大改革的决心，很快，在各个领域，突破性事件频频发生，停滞了两年多的变革列车再次快速启动。3月24日，福建国有骨干企业55位厂长的呼吁书《请给我们松绑》在《福建日报》全文刊登，这成为当年度最具轰动性的企业事件。 事情的经过是这样的：3月23日，福建省的55位厂长经理们齐聚福州，参加“福建省厂长经理研究会”的成立大会，会议期间，厂长经理们的抱怨之声不断，“现行体制的条条框框捆住了我们手脚，企业只有压力，没有动力，更谈不上活力”，于是在黄文麟等人的带头下，厂长们以“请给我们松绑”为题联名向省委书记项南、省长胡平写了一封信。 这是一份言辞恳切、表述谨慎的公开信，厂长们在信中写道：“我们认为放权不能只限于上层部门之间的权力转移，更重要的是要把权力落实到基层企业。为此，我们怀揣冒昧，大胆地向你们伸手要权。我们知道目前体制要大改还不可能，但给我们松绑，给点必要的权力是可以做到的。”55位厂长、经理具体要求“松绑”的权力被分成五点，主要有三条：一是人事权，企业干部管理除工厂正职由上级任命，副职由厂长提名、上级考核任命，其余干部通通由企业自行任免，上面不得干预。干部制度破除“终身制”和“铁交椅”，实行职务浮动，真正做到能上能下，能“干”能“工”。二是财权，企业提取的奖励基金由企业自己支配使用，有关部门不得干涉。奖金随着税利增减而浮动，不封顶，不保底。企业内部可根据自己的实际情况，实行诸如浮动工资、浮动升级、职务补贴、岗位补贴等多种形式的工资制度和奖惩办法。三是企业自营权，在完成国家计划指标的情况下，企业自己组织原材料所增产的产品，允许企业自销和开展协作，价格允许“高进高出”，“低来低去”。 日后披露的史料显示，这封“公开信”并不完全是厂长们的自发行为，信件的主要起草人黄文麟当时是福建省经济委员会的副主任，也就是主管该省企业改革的主要官员之一。在某种意义上，“公开信”其实是福建官员借厂长经理之口，唱出的一台“松绑双簧戏”。事实上，自“松绑信”后的二十余年间，中国企业家再也没有以集体的、有组织的方式开展过权益争取的行动。 黄文麟的这个异乎寻常的戏剧性行动，在当时显然得到了省委书记项南的默许和鼓励。黄将公开信在会议当日就直送到了项南的办公桌上，后者一收到信，立即批转给了《福建日报》，还提笔替报社写好了“编者按”。第二天，公开信便在日报的头版头条刊出。当日，福建省委组织部就拿着报纸组织研究，决定在企业人事任免、干部制度改革、厂长权力等三方面，给企业“松绑放权”，其他的主管部门也纷纷下文，表态“不当新'婆婆'，坚决搞改革，支持'松绑放权'”。一周后，北京的《人民日报》在二版头条显著位置，报道了55位厂长、经理呼吁“松绑放权”的消息，还配发了相关的“编者按”，对福建省有关部门重视呼吁大加赞赏。 至此，全国报纸纷纷转载、评论，“松绑”新闻演变成了一场全国性的事件。在企业史上，它是中国企业家第一次就经营者的自主权向资本方—政府部门提出公开的呼吁，它之所以会滚雷般地引发全国性的轰动，实在是因为这种声音已经被压抑太久太久了。尽管它的产生其实带有很强的政府操作的色彩，不过在实际的效果上确实对全国的企业改革起到了强力催化的效应。“公开信”带有强烈的时代气息，它第一次明确提出了“实行厂长（经理）负责制”的议题，呼吁通过扩大权力调动企业经营者的积极性。这一呼声很快成为一种共识。5月10日，国务院顺势颁发《关于进一步扩大国营工业企业自主权的暂行规定》，不久后又做出《关于城市经济体制改革的若干决定》，直到两年后，国务院发文全面推行《厂长经理责任制》，明确规定全民所有制工业企业的厂长（经理）是一厂之长，是企业法人代表，对企业负有全面责任，处于中心地位，起中心作用。 “松绑新闻”是国营企业改革史上的一个标志性事件，“公开信”发表的3月24日还一度被命名为“中国企业家活动日”。此后，国营企业家们还将为自主权的全面落实抗争十多年。2004年，在“松绑公开信”发表20年之际，有记者追访当年的55个企业，结果发现，其中1/3破产，1/3被民营或外资公司兼并，还有1/3处境艰难。公开信的参与者之一、福州阀门总厂的原厂长陈一正对来访者说：“我常常问自己，当时要的权用好了吗？” 随着宏观调控的松动，外资进入中国的热情又被点燃了。松下幸之助又一次来到了中国，这时候的他已经是一个头带光环的传奇人物了，在整个20世纪80年代，他的管理思想一直受到顶礼膜拜。而松下来中国，并非仅仅是为了传播他的思想，更多的是为了推销他的那些刚刚从日本工厂被淘汰下来的彩电生产线设备。这一年，青岛的海信、四川的长虹和广东的康佳相继引进了松下的彩电生产线，到1985年前后，中国一共引进了105条日本的彩电生产线，日本企业成为第一批在中国赚到钱的跨国企业，而那些引进了生产线的中国企业也迅速地崛起。在一个消费日渐苏醒的国家，生产的能力和设备的先进性往往是最强大的竞争力。 在上海，第一家进入中国的跨国汽车公司结出了硕果，德国大众的桑塔纳汽车组装成功，上海大众汽车公司宣布奠基，德国总理科尔和中国总理李鹏都出席了盛大的奠基仪式。而在上一年，中国第一辆自己设计和生产的汽车品牌——“红旗牌”轿车悄悄停产了，这款轿车当时是在周恩来总理的亲自主持下研发出来的，它的出现曾经极大地激发了中国人的民族自豪感，被认为是中国走向工业现代化的“里程碑”。在1984年，我们无法从当年的报纸上找到这一条新闻，因为它实在带有太强的、意味深长的寓意性，没有人希望放大其中的任何含义。 一些新的合资公司也纷纷成立了。在北京，新创办的四通与日本三井株式会社达成协议，开发中文文字处理机，这款被定名为“四通2400”的打字机在随后几年内将风靡全国；在南京，南汽与法国的依维柯签约，开始生产该品牌的汽车；在上海，邮电部门与阿尔卡特集团联合创办了上海贝尔电话设备公司，这是中国第一个研制生产程控电话交换机的中外合资企业。 1984年，是一个充满着暗示和悬念的年份。早在1949年，英国著名政治讽刺作家乔治·奥威尔（George Orwell）创作了一部虚幻预言小说，书名为。小说中的主人公温斯顿·史密斯在虚幻中的1984年生活在一个叫欧什尼亚的极权专制国家。 当1984年真的到来的时候，世界并没有像奥威尔描写的那么恐怖。相反，市场的力量似乎占据上风，里根——撒切尔主义大行其道。在全球商业世界里，也跟剧烈变化中的中国一样，正进入一个重新洗牌的年份。一些传统意义上的大公司或被分拆，或陷入困境，而新的产业正萌芽待放，新的公司英雄已呼之欲出。 当年度世界最轰动的企业新闻，是美国电话电报公司（AT&T）被分拆。这家由电话发明人亚历山大·贝尔创立的公司曾经是“美国的象征”，它一度是世界上最大的企业，在20世纪80年代初，公司的总资产达到1500亿美元，年销售收入700亿美元，约占美国国民生产总值的2%，到1984年，公司雇员总数达到100万人，股东逾300万。长期的垄断经营，使这家伟大的公司变成泥足巨人。当时，日本生产的松下电话机售价仅20美元，而AT&T的电话机制造成本就要20美元，维修费用更高达60美元。从1月1日起，贝尔公司分布在全美各地的22家子公司被分拆重组为七家独立运营的公司。这是一项具有标志意义的事件，它一举打破了美国电信业的长期垄断，也为AT&T公司这个巨人松了绑。从长远看，它彻底激活了电子业务的成长，为互联网技术的突破提供了广阔的市场空间。我们之所以要在一部中国企业史中，以一定的篇幅来描述这段历史，是因为它对今后中国国营企业，特别是那些垄断性公司的改革提供了借鉴。在日后的篇幅中，我们也将描写这些公司的渐进式改造。当我们评估其得失时，AT&T无疑是一个很值得参照的案例。 与AT&T被分拆几乎同等重大的事件是，这一年的1月24日，苹果电脑公司发布了麦金托什（Macintosh）家用电脑，这一天后来被《时代》杂志评价为个人电脑大众化普及的第一日。在此前的1976年，苹果就推出了首台个人电脑，而IBM公司并未给予重视，觉得那不过是电脑业余爱好者的玩意儿。但在1981年夏天IBM突然以IBM PC重拳出击，并以其备受企业信赖的品牌推动PC市场迅速成长。而此刻，苹果推出充满个性的麦金托什电脑，并投入了巨额广告，它真正激活了全球的家庭电脑市场。富有创意的苹果总裁史蒂夫·乔布斯用一则充满暗示的电视广告描述了这个时代的到来：一排排面无表情，机器人似的光头男子走进一个阴森森的大厅，坐在那里接受一个从巨大屏幕上映出的“大哥”模样的人的训话。这时一个手握三尺铁锤，身材健美的女子冲进了大厅，她在一片惊愕的目光中把“大哥”训话的屏幕砸得粉碎。这时云开雾散，光芒四射，一个庄严的声音伴随着屏幕上映出的文字：“1984年1月24日，苹果电脑将推出麦金托什，你会明白为什么1984年不会是小说中的1984年。” 在得州大学奥斯汀分校，19岁的一年级医学系学生迈克尔·戴尔看到了乔布斯的这则令人印象深刻的电脑广告，这直接刺激了他的创业欲望，在过去的一年多里，他常常逃课，躲在寝室里痴迷地组装电脑。乔布斯的广告让他确信，电脑这个工具将极大地改变人们工作的方式，而且成本将逐渐降低。他决定马上开办自己的戴尔电脑公司，他对闻讯坐飞机前来劝阻的父母说，“我想跟IBM竞争”。戴尔的竞争办法当然不是去另外建一个IBM—他只有1000美元的创业资金，这位天才的商人将用一个简单的问题来开展事业，那就是，“如何改进购买电脑的过程？”他的答案是：把电脑直接销售到使用者手上，除去零售商的利润抽取环节，把这些省下来的钱返回给消费者。把19岁的戴尔与40岁的柳传志做一个对比，是一件有趣的事情，他们在开创事业的第一天都遇到了IBM，前者的思路是通过直销的方式全面颠覆已有的电脑销售模式，后者则成为了电脑巨人在中国的一个渠道代理商。 在西雅图，已经创业九年、在软件产业奠定了自己地位的微软公司年轻总裁比尔·盖茨也看到了乔布斯的广告，他兴奋地对《流行科学》的记者说，“如果乔布斯无法取得成功，市场将被PC占据。不过我们对苹果机非常狂热，如果它可以达到生产目标，我们预计1984年半数的微软零售收入将和麦金托什相关。”也就在此后不久，他为自己的公司设定了那个著名而伟大的理想：“让每一张办公桌，每一个家庭都摆上电脑。” 受到感召的不仅仅有戴尔和盖茨，在旧金山，一对名叫桑迪和伦纳德的夫妻用五美元注册了思科系统公司，他们正在研究一种叫路由器的新产品，这个白色的小盒子可以让多台电脑互相通讯和共享信息，正是这个革命性的产品让日后的互联网浪潮成为可能。 戴尔和思科的出现，基本上代表了日后新技术公司的两种成长路径：独一无二的商业渠道模式，或高度垄断的核心技术优势。由此我们可以看到，中国公司与美国公司之间的距离，并不在于创始资本的大小，而在于各自对产业成长的视野和理解的差距。 1984年，是一个骚动而热烈的年份。“我们都下海吧”，所有的年轻或不太年轻的人们都在用这样的词汇互相试探和鼓励。新中国成立后共有三次下海经商浪潮，这是第一次，其后两次将发生在1987年和1993年。经过将近六年的酝酿和鼓动，“全民经商”热终于降临，当时在北方便流传着这样的顺口溜—“十亿人民九亿倒，还有一亿在寻找”。根据《中国青年报》做的一份调查，当年最受欢迎的职业排序前三名依次是：出租车司机、个体户、厨师，而最后的三个选项分别是科学家、医生、教师。“修大脑的不如剃头的”、“搞导弹的不如卖茶叶蛋的”，是当时社会的流传语。 在这一年的最后，还是让我们用那个即将成为中国第一个“首富”的四川人来结尾。 8月，牟其中第二次出狱了，这次他被关了11个月，罪名仍然是“莫须有”。他是8月31日被放出来的，9月18日，他就匆匆召开了中德复业恳谈会，10月5日，将中德商店升格为中德贸易公司，很快又升级为中德实业开发总公司。数年后，他的公司再度更名为南德，而他将1984年作为公司的创始年。 在自己的新办公室里，他挂了一幅《好猫图》，三只活泼、灵巧的小猫姿态各异地汇聚一起，它暗喻着“不管白猫黑猫，能抓住老鼠就是好猫”，上端横幅写着“走自己的路，建设中国式的社会主义”。这很像一个政治理想，而不是商业上的理念。在这一年的最后一个季度里，他一直在忙不停地注册公司，他办了一个“中德企业管理夜校”，想把它办成一个培养商海巨子、企业家的摇篮；他组建“小三峡旅游开发股份有限公司”，想要成立董事会，并发行股票；他还注册了中德服装工业公司、中德竹编工艺厂、中德造船厂、中德霓虹灯装潢美术公司、商品房建筑公司。座钟倒卖的成功让他自视为商业上的天才，仿佛天下生意均靠他神指一点便会金山成堆，善于天马行空而惰于落实执行的商业性格在这个时候已经毕现无疑了。 到年底，他的每一个项目都半途夭折，不了了之，不过这并没有让他产生挫折感，他只是觉得万县这个弹丸之地实在太小了。第二年的开春，他将要去重庆，去北京，去一个更辽阔的天地，那里才能为打造他的商业帝国，舒展梦想的翅膀。