Seek the explanation of all "the power of the company"

Company, a familiar stranger.

As the most extensive and efficient economic organization form so far, the company is regarded as "the achievement of mankind", and the birth of the joint stock limited company, which is dominant in all kinds of company forms, is regarded as the most important commercial innovation in modern times. It gathers resources and spreads risks. It transcends blood relationship and region, condenses the energy of individual life, and opens a new chapter in human economic life and even modern civilization.

In the past few centuries, companies have rewritten the order of getting along with people and the rules of competition between countries. The world we live in, from tangible to intangible achievements, has written down the name of the company. Today, the global economic network woven by the company covers almost every region and every country. Companies are everywhere, and companies have become a way of life, a way of life.

However, while playing the role of the creator of new knowledge and technology and the promoter of institutional innovation and cultural reconstruction, the company also marked everything clearly and became the chief culprit of commercialization under the temptation of strong profits. In 2008, a sudden financial tsunami caused a huge impact on the global economy, and it has continued to this day, but this huge impact stems from the poor management of some companies. For hundreds of years, the company has never got rid of the contradiction and entanglement between the instinct of self-interest and the moral bottom line. In the era of globalization, doubts about greed and the market once again put the company into a dispute over merits and demerits.

But no matter what kind of expression we have, whether we are happy or worried, it is an indisputable fact that we are all in it. 30 years of reform and opening up in China, and nearly 20 years of socialist market economy practice. As an indispensable role in market operation, the company has also become an important driving force for China's economic and social development and the core carrier for China to participate in world market competition.

The history of the world and the current reality in China remind us that a company is an organization, a system and a culture, which we cannot ignore.

How can we know and understand the company more deeply? How was the company born and how did it develop and evolve? Where did the power of the company come from and how did it change the world?

With these questions, understanding the history of companies in various countries will undoubtedly contribute to the development of China companies and the further improvement of China's socialist market economy. As the largest television media organization in China, CCTV has the responsibility to undertake this task.

The strength of the company took two years from preparation to creation. Six film crews traveled across Europe, Asia and the United States to eight countries, including Italy, Britain, France, Germany, the United States, Japan, China and India, to explore the history of the company's birth and development in detail, and to find and photograph a large number of precious historical materials and sites.

The Power of the Company is a multi-level and multi-angle in-depth analysis of the company's destiny and future. The film crew visited dozens of universities, business schools and research institutions around the world, five Nobel laureates in economics, nine deans of well-known business schools, and 100 many senior scholars in the fields of history, economy, politics and sociology. Interviewed by the program, he spoke highly of China TV people's keen perspective on the world through the theme of "company".

The Power of the Company is a long-span tour of the company's development process and survival mode. The film crew recorded more than 50 companies with different characteristics in different historical stages in various countries for hundreds of years. More than a dozen company leaders who are influential in the global business community also talked about their understanding of the company in the film, which will be presented to the audience through CCTV screen for the first time.

The Power of the Company is an ideological journey for China TV people to observe and think about the times. In terms of creative thinking, we should pay attention to starting from reality, starting from China, making history close to reality and the world close to China; In terms of expression, it pays attention to seeing the big from the small, asking questions from details and stories, rather than giving answers directly; In TV performance, it adopts a more modern film and television language, breaking the slow rhythm of documentaries, with vivid editing techniques and extremely rich information.

This film was produced by the original crew of the large-scale documentaries "The Rise of Great Powers" and "The Road to Rejuvenation", which has achieved great social repercussions. Adhering to the consistent rational spirit and pursuing an honest, calm and objective media attitude, it tries to open its eyes to China people who are building a socialist market economy with an open mind, and also hopes to provide some valuable reference for the world in the first global crisis in the era of globalization.

We believe that if you can see the past, you can see the future.

A magical organization everywhere.

2010 September 20 15:03 Sina reading.

On April 1859 and 10, a 95-meter-high new building stood by the Thames, which housed the largest clock in Britain at that time-"Big Ben" with a weight of 15 ton and a minute hand length of more than 4 meters. "Big Ben" was later regarded as an important symbol of Britain, but at first its appearance conveyed a brand-new concept of time-standard time.

Before that, clocks everywhere were adjusted according to the running time of the sun. People work at sunrise and rest at sunset. However, the emerging railway companies have challenged the unchanging laws of nature for thousands of years.

Because, if every town adjusts the time according to the time when the sun shines on the spire of its church, the operation of the train will be chaotic. Therefore, with the spread of the railway line, people can no longer follow God. In the vast United States, the demand for "standard time" is even more urgent.

1883165438+1October18, the first national unified railway timetable in the United States was born. At noon that day, all clocks in the eastern United States were set back.

Since then, God's time has been measured by human hands. What changed all this was not religion, politics, or even science itself, but an organization called "company".

Of course, it's not just time that has been changed by the company. Usually, we don't know the companies around us. Because everything is as natural as breathing. But once there is no air, we will know that we can't live in a vacuum.

In 2009, the company provided jobs for 865,438+0% of the global population, which constituted 90% of the global economic power and created 94% of the global GDP. Of the global 100 economies, 5 1 are companies and 49 are countries.

There are 16 1 countries in the world whose fiscal revenue is not comparable to that of Wal-Mart. The total sales of the world's largest 10 companies exceeds the total GDP of the world's smallest 100 countries.

For a country, a continent and even the whole world, companies are one of the main participants in creating wealth.

(Bernard? Ramanantsoa, Dean of HEC)

The company not only creates more wealth, but also is a very important promoter to improve the quality of life.

(John? Quich, Associate Dean of Harvard Business School, USA)

By being employed, we got the expenses needed for living, realized our own life and supported our family. The money was obtained from the company.

(Dean of Kenichi Ohmae Japanese Entrepreneur Business School)

Almost all major innovations in history have been completed in companies, not at the national level.

(Herman? German management scientist Simon)

Company is a process, and all countries need to use it.

(Robert? Professor Mundell of Columbia University, USA,1winner of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Economics)

Companies open and close down every day in the world, and different companies tell life and death stories every day. Today, it is no longer a secret to run a company in most countries in the world.

Tim, Director of Corporate Strategy, UK Companies Registry? Moss said: "There are about 2.6 million companies registered in the UK. We accept over 350,000 new companies every year. There are few restrictions on registered companies in Britain, and the share capital can even be as low as 1. So almost anyone can set up a company. "

Futurist John? Naisbitt also said: "It is the easiest to register a company in the United States. You can start a company without any money in one day. You just have to say, I want to start a company, and this is the name of the company. "

When we are enjoying products or services, looking for a job or starting a business, complaining about our boss or competing with our colleagues, the company is around us.

Of course, it is also in places that we may not notice, behind those familiar scenes.

The American Men's Basketball Professional League (NBA) is not only a basketball game, but also a company. Every perfect confrontation will be transformed into contracts and money. A company can package a "person" or even a pair of fists and a foot into a clearly marked commodity.

The voices of the three tenors in the world are the most beautiful voices in the world, and they can also be run into a good business with rolling financial resources. Companies can make metaphysical art wait for a price to sell, and turn the noblest spiritual enjoyment into the most expensive consumer goods.

The visit of the head of state is not only a state visit, but also a business negotiation. The prominent figure behind them is not the general but the big boss. It is not only politics that affects the modern world, but also company orders.

The Iraq war is a modern war. What you can see is smoke and war, but what you can't see is the company that provides logistics and information support. The efficiency of the army is external and mandatory, and the efficiency of the company is endogenous and active. Finally, the army, the most efficient organization, had to learn management from the company, and West Point Military Academy was even rated as the best business school.

Without organized business activities, there would be no modern society, and most goods and services, whether public utilities, power supply, information and communication, banking system or products, could not be obtained.

(Murray? Veidenbaum, director of the Center for Enterprise Research at the University of Washington, USA)

It should be said that the significance of the company in modern society lies in that it affects personal life, the formulation of public policies, not only our economic interests, our environment, our quality of life, but also many social welfare issues.

(Dean, Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management, Qian Yingyi)

For hundreds of years, the company has been lively and silent. It survived, became strong, infiltrated into the blood of society bit by bit, and finally turned itself into a ubiquitous existence.

So, what kind of organization is the company? How was it born?

A great promoter of a new life

2010 September 20 15:03 Sina reading.

Economist Joseph? Schumpeter once said: "It is not enough to make satisfactory soap, but also to induce everyone to take a bath." Therefore, the company invented and spread the concepts of body odor and bad breath.

Some people say: demand determines supply. But the company will never stick to this rule.

The company created demand. The public not only changed their hygiene habits, but also changed their thinking habits. For example, people rely more and more on advertisements to understand themselves.

From a practical point of view, the essence of the company is to give people the opportunity to explore the market.

(Werner? Plumper, former chairman of the German Enterprise History Research Association)

1882, Edison started the first power plant in the United States, and human beings got rid of the influence of the earth's rotation cycle.

However, not every great invention can be turned into a product that benefits society. Light comes from the power company founded by technology and capital cooperation.

Nicholas, President of Columbia University? Butler bluntly declared: "Limited liability company is the greatest invention in modern times. Without it, the importance of steam engines and electricity will be reduced. "

Many innovations, such as automobile market and computer market, as well as the new challenges we encounter-climate change, green technology, nanotechnology, communication technology and so on. All these challenges were finally overcome and solved by the company.

Today, financial statements have become a truly universal language, and people can read company secrets in only three forms. In order to achieve barrier-free communication, human beings have done their best, but the company has done it first, changing the way of human dialogue.

In the formulation of rules and the dissemination of ideas, companies often go ahead. Most importantly, the company has deeply influenced the fundamental order of modern society.

One of the influences brought by the company is to break the concept that only the aristocrats or rich people have the right to enjoy a certain way of life and that everyone is born superior, thus bringing about a kind of social equality. Companies help people to build their vision and desire for a certain lifestyle and communicate with others, so that people feel that they have the opportunity to become more equal.

(David? Schmidt Ryan, Dean of Si Long School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

We are talking about urbanization, industrialization, informationization and nationalization. I think the most important driving force behind all this is the modern company.

(Zhang, Dean of Guanghua School of Management, Peking University)

It may be an exaggeration to say that the company created America. But the comprehensive strength of the United States is obviously based on having 5.5 million companies.

For more than 200 years, the entrepreneurial spirit of being brave in adventure, innovation and self-struggle has changed the fate of countless European immigrants and the fate of the new continent itself. And in every land that releases the energy of ordinary people, the legend of the company is still on stage.

Historically, entrepreneurs are at least as important as political leaders. Those great entrepreneurs, who once made Europe strong and the United States strong, now make China strong. They are as important as political leaders.

(Robert? Professor Mundell of Columbia University, USA, 1999 Nobel Prize winner in economics)

In the process of economic globalization, the situation is becoming more and more complicated, and the role of companies is becoming more and more important. Whether there are a large number of powerful companies has become a problem related to a country's economic strength.

(Professor Yuan Zhong Ito, University of Tokyo)

Since modern times, any country or society that ignores market forces and cannot give full play to the advantages of enterprise organization has gradually declined. Only by improving the productivity of the market economy and liberating individual creativity can the country walk to the center of the world stage.

History is always verified repeatedly, but it will not be simply repeated.

The latest story is written by emerging forces.

In today's Fortune 500 list, 75 companies are from emerging markets. In 2000, there were only 19, while 1988 didn't even have one.

(Anthony? Fan? Chairman of Argueta Mill Emerging Markets Co., Ltd.)

Two former planned economy countries opened the door to the market almost simultaneously.

199 1 year later, India gradually abolished the licensing system for the establishment and operation of companies. More than ten years later, there are more than 700 software companies in India, becoming the second largest software exporter in the world, and stepping into the international market at an elephant-like pace.

From 65438 to 0992, China established the goal of socialist market economy.

20 10 in may, the United nations reported that China would soon become the second largest economy in the world. In addition to the 43 seats on the list of the world's top 500 enterprises, there are more than 40 million small and medium-sized enterprises in China, which are providing impetus for the development of this land.

We can't find a company with underdeveloped system and economic development; We can't find an example where the market is underdeveloped and this country can still develop. Therefore, the creation of wealth in modern society, the accumulation of national wealth, the development of market economy and the development of companies are actually the same problem.

(Zhang, Dean of Guanghua School of Management, Peking University)

In the end, only the country that combines best with competition can attract more knowledge, talents, capital and enterprises, mobilize public resources and develop best in the world.

(Nicholas? Professor of the French National School of Administration, Pavelez)

However, the stronger the power, the more it needs to be restrained. Companies can change the world earth-shaking, but it is difficult to get rid of the inherent troubles.

Even in the most brilliant days of the company, there is a voice that always lingers. People often tell themselves and remind others that the company is a dangerous guy.

The "combination" of angel and devil

2010 September 20 15:03 Sina reading.

In 1970s, the new drug "PaNa Ba" of Puqiang Company was very popular, but the Food and Drug Administration found that the side effects of this drug would lead to death.

Puqiang Company held a special board meeting and finally decided to continue to sell and defend itself in court. Because the drug is withdrawn from the market, the company can earn an additional $6.5438+0 million per month.

After the news was disclosed, the whole country was shocked.

Professor Armstrong of Wharton Business School specially designed a role-playing experiment to study why this happened. He described: "When I asked people who were not involved in the incident, told them what happened and asked them what they would do, 97% said they would withdraw these drugs from the market."

However, when the experimenter turned to be a member of the board of directors of Puqiang Company, the same question got the completely opposite answer.

During the board meeting, many interesting things happened. Some people want to resign, some are depressed, some argue loudly, but in the end, no group decides to withdraw drugs from the market.

The Puqiang experiment has been repeated for nearly a hundred times in more than ten countries, and the results are almost the same. Everyone who is a member of the board of directors thinks that this reflects the company's duty, that is, to maximize the interests of shareholders.

"Maximizing the interests of shareholders", an unavoidable word of a company, is the root of many tragicomedy.

Of course, companies can also be destructive, and sometimes they run counter to some social goals we pursue. This is possible, even natural. Because the company needs to repay those investors.

(David? Schmidt Ryan, Dean of Si Long School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

In the past few centuries, the company has plundered America, Africa and Asia; It has turned millions of people into "commodities"; Countless plants, animals, minerals and even bacteria and viruses are forced to migrate by it. From tulips to real estate, from Amsterdam to New Amsterdam, from 1637 to 2008, countless stock market bubbles failed to stop the despair that followed.

The prime minister resigned, the president went to prison, and senior officials fell ... they were not the first or the last. The transaction between money and power is like an incurable disease.

When people are materialized into machines, companies seem to be colder than machines. What is distressing is that it "only needs one pair of hands, but it has to hire one person".

Not fade away has criticized the company since its birth. Greed rooted in the depths of human nature is not a crime of the company, but it is infinitely magnified by the company. However, the desire for profit and the motivation of self-interest are not only the cultural solutions to disasters and crises, but also the inexhaustible source of the company's eternal vitality. The advantages and disadvantages of the company all come from the same matrix.

Desire is human instinct. People hope to live a richer and more convenient life, and this desire becomes the driving force, which makes science and technology get new development and new inventions and discoveries appear. The result is that today's modern civilization and society are driven by desire.

(Honorary Chairman of kazuo inamori Kyocera Group)

American economist Delong's research shows: "During the 2.5 million years from the Paleolithic Age to the year 2000, human beings need time, that is, by15,000 years ago, the world's per capita GDP reached 90 international yuan; Then 1750 AD was used to reach 180 international yuan; From 175 1 to 2000, that is, in a very short time, it reached 6600 international yuan, an increase of 37 times. In other words, 97% of human wealth was created in the past 250 years-that is, in a very short time. "

The mechanism of rapid wealth growth in the past 250 years is market economy, and company organization is an indispensable cell in the market economy.

Ronald, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics? Coase put forward the theory of "transaction cost" in 1937, arguing that companies exist to save market transaction costs. Coase pointed out that when the market transaction cost is higher than the internal management cost of the company, the company comes into being.

Market economy is first and foremost an economy that can be traded freely. Under the condition of market economy, individuals can choose to invest and participate in economic activities, or they can form companies together with others.

(Pierre? Cyril? Hertkol, a researcher at the French Academy of Higher Social Sciences)

We haven't found a substitute for the company's commercial activities in the market economy, and at the same time, we haven't found a substitute for the market economy.

(Michael? Spencer, Honorary Dean of stanford graduate school of business, USA, winner of 200 1 Nobel Prize in Economics)

As an irreplaceable organization in the market economy, the company has grown, revised and updated under the complicated eyes of people's love and hate.

In Forbes magazine's list of the most powerful people in 2009, five of the former 10 people came from the company. After comprehensive consideration of financial resources, influence and power, their names are juxtaposed with heads of state, religious leaders and members of the royal family.

Companies are changing the power structure of the world, so that people even begin to worry that one day, companies will buy this country. Whether we are happy or worried, the company still exists in its own way.

Past years or future life?

2010 September 20 15:03 Sina reading.

There is a clothing company in Saville Street, London.

Charles. Dickens is a customer here, Winston? Churchill left the size of the clothes, and General De Gaulle also went to customize the suit. The company used to make clothes for Queen Victoria and is still making clothes for Queen Elizabeth II.

For more than 200 years, they have been in this street, maintaining excellent craftsmanship and sticking to their beliefs in the way of family inheritance.

Henry. Angus, chairman of Poole Clothing Company? Rice said: "We are always a small private enterprise, hoping to provide a special service. I also hope to say that one hundred years later, Henry? Poole will still stand here. "

Now all kinds of companies coexist in the world. Their products are different, their scales are different, their goals are different, and their management is different, but one thing is the same: they carry people's dreams and creations.

The company has become a kind of life. It tells us how to make money and teaches us how to spend money; It guides us what to eat, what to wear, what kind of house to live in, what kind of car to drive, and even the most intimate personal affairs-love and marriage-are gradually taken care of by the company. ...

But do we really know the companies around us?

What are we talking about when we talk about the company?

An ideal company is a place where every employee feels fully involved and fully contributes to the success of the company.

(Chairman of Allen Dupont)

The ambition of real enterprises and business managers is to make their own companies have sustainable income.

(let? Paul. CEO of L 'Oré al Ann Palace)

Companies must first have strong values, which should not be changed, but should be permanent.

(Gavin? Senior Vice President of Nice Unilever)

The company is a personal thing (on the surface), but it is not a personal thing, it is a public thing.

(Honorary Chairman of kazuo inamori Kyocera Group)

In my opinion, a company that can influence and improve this society through its own ideas and ideas and let everyone know about trading, equality, sharing and transparency is worthy of respect.

(Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ma Yun Alibaba Group)

Centuries later, the company is experiencing a brand-new opportunity and test.

With the footprint of globalization, the company is no longer the market leader of a country or region. The dream era of global resources, global market, global rules and companies seems to be coming soon.

However, the global system has demonstrated its power in another way.

In September 2008, Lehman Brothers, with a history of 1.58 years, declared bankruptcy protection, and the global stock market fell. On June+10, 5438, the financial tsunami began to spread, and the whole world was in trouble.

Humans have to re-examine the ubiquitous companies.

The question is not whether we need companies, but what kind of legal framework these companies should be bound by.

(Joseph? Professor Stiglitz of Columbia University Business School 200 1 Nobel Prize in Economics).

A company is a bit like a part of a tree, which can be used to build a house or hit people.

(David? Schmidt Ryan, Dean of Si Long School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

There is a saying that you can't throw away your baby just because you want to dump the dirty water in the basin.

(Robert? Vogel, a professor at the University of Chicago, USA, 1993 Nobel Prize winner in economics).

The future world is like this, you are profitable, but society will ask you how to make a profit.

(Ben? CEO of Alcatel-Lucent

If all the resources, capital and technology in the world are compared to rivers, the company's responsibility is to bring these rivers together.

(Ze Yaying, Chairman of Shibusawa Eiichi Memorial Foundation)

The goal of any company is to help society become better. If it is not such a goal, then the company may not need to exist.

(Bill? Ford, Chairman of Ford Motor Company, USA)

A society without companies is unthinkable.

However, when the company's creativity and destructive power are global, how should we face this behemoth cultivated by human hands?

What exactly is a company? What is the significance of the existence of the company for the development of the country, social progress and personal happiness?

There is never a single unchanging answer to all questions.

Before we were born, the company had taken root; It will continue to live in this world after we leave. This is our past and future.

We can't miss this proposition which is older and younger than our life. In the interweaving of history and reality, we want to look back.

How far can you see,

You can see how far the future is.

Winston? Churchill

Exclusive interview:

2010 September 20 15:03 Sina reading.

Guest: John? Quich (Associate Dean, Harvard Business School)

Michael. Spencer (Honorary Dean of stanford graduate school of business, winner of 200 1 Nobel Prize)

Kenichi Ohmae (Dean of Japanese Entrepreneur Business School)

Robert? Mundell (Professor, Columbia University, USA, 199 Nobel Prize winner)

Reporter: How to evaluate the company as a social organization? What impact has it brought to social development?

John? Quich: The company is an important factor in social and economic development. Fundamentally speaking, a company is a group of individuals who invest their time or funds in certain forms of production activities to meet the needs of all or part of citizens and consumers in the market they operate. So the company itself is driven by a certain demand of its environment, which is solved by those who set up and invest in enterprises.

From this perspective, not only in the process of creating wealth, but also in the process of improving the quality of life, the company also plays a very important role as a change promoter. Of course, some companies are so obsessed with the concept of shareholders and values that they can't see the possible impact of their work and activities on society in the short term. Generally speaking, the development of the company in the past 50 years has brought us more positive changes.

Michael. Spencer: The company is the main tool to create social wealth. The emergence of companies helps to promote investment, and investment is the main way to create wealth, which is in the broad sense of the word investment. In another sense, we do business in the market or economy, and we can't find a substitute for the company. In the market economy, we can't find any substitute for it. In fact, the company is constantly developing.

Reporter: What is the relationship between modern companies and the country?

Kenichi Ohmae: In any country, companies are organizations that create wealth, while countries are organizations that redistribute wealth. So the division of labor is completely different. Any country will be weak if there are no wealth-creating companies. The role of the state is not to hinder the company, but to help the company become stronger and become an international enterprise. Then, part of the wealth produced by the company is collected in the form of tax, redistributed and distributed to underdeveloped areas and economically disadvantaged people. Of course, the most important thing is not to hinder the company from creating wealth. If the country mistakenly thinks that it is creating wealth, the result will be very bad.

Reporter: What do you think is the role of the company in today's society and how powerful it is?

Kenichi Ohmae: People study at school and choose jobs after graduation. At present, the biggest social problem is that there is not enough work. The company employs employees and provides them with a source of livelihood-salary. In other words, in modern society, the role of companies is to create jobs and create as much added value as possible, thus paying more wages to employees. This is the role of companies in modern society.

Robert? Mundell: It is difficult to measure the strength of a company in one way. You know those rich people have power, because money creates power. And people who own company assets will become strong. Therefore, it is not the company that has power, but people, and people in the company have power. People in all big companies in the United States and the world automatically gain power through their positions, knowledge and other factors. Like a nobleman. As long as people are selected in this way, we will continue to have such people and make them influential. Leadership is just what people need. If you want to evaluate China's economic policies, you should collect a list of 30 to 40 top business leaders who will provide the best advice for this country. The United States, Europe and China are all the same.

oracle