Shi Zhenrong information

Shi Zhenrong was born on the west coast of Taiwan. He experienced hardships in his childhood. After getting a master's degree from the Department of Electronic Engineering of Jiaotong University, he joined Rongtai Electronics Company as a designer. In 1976, he founded Multitech International Company, which was later renamed Acer Company. In 1981, it began to produce its own brand of computers. In 1988, Acer computers became a popular product. In 1992, Shi Zhenrong re-created the new Acer. In 1995, he was named one of the 15 most innovative entrepreneurs in the world by "World Manager's Digest". In 1996, he was named by "Business Weekly" 》Selected as one of the 25 best corporate presidents in the world.

Main Achievements

●Created the first famous computer brand in Taiwan and ranked among the top seven personal computer companies in the world. In 1995, the "Aspiration" multimedia home computer was launched, which became popular all over the world.

●A model of "corporate culture with good nature".

The Essence of Management

●“I would rather lose control and make money than lose control and lose money.” Shi Zhenrong talks about Acer’s business style.

●“When a dragon’s dream is about to come true, all dragons have no leader.” A portrayal of Acer’s corporate culture.

"Outstanding management skills and unique and novel corporate culture provide a reference for the industry."

Business Weekly 1995

Chinese entrepreneurs challenging the world

p>

Shi Zhenrong often said: "I would rather lose control and make money than control and lose money." In early 1995, at Acer's "Group Exchange Conference", Shi Zhenrong specifically shouted "Dragon dreams come true" , the slogan "The leader of the pack" reveals the true meaning of Acer's decentralized authorization management. In other words, the role of the operator will continue to adjust over time, because the play is not only performed by oneself. The important thing is not to appear on stage to win applause, but to let or continue to sing.

Shi Zhenrong believes that creating a world-class Chinese brand is the common expectation of Chinese people around the world. Acer's success proves that creating its own brand is by no means an ideal that Chinese companies cannot achieve.

As an island, Japan has many well-known brands in the world, from Hitachi and Honda to Toshiba and Toyota. Taiwan, China, is famous for its processing base, where unknown workers mass-produce parts and even complete products. machine, but ended up selling it under someone else’s brand. If we rate Taiwan's manufacturing capabilities, it would be about 70 to 95 points, followed by research and development capabilities, ranging from 30 to 70 points, and marketing capabilities, perhaps only 5 to 30 points. As a result, mass-produced products have no effective marketing and can only rely on price-cutting competition, and they cannot get rid of their low-quality image.

Therefore, please pay attention to the fact that Taiwan now has a famous brand, which is Acer. In the past few years, this company has been as fierce as a typhoon, becoming the seventh largest personal computer company in the world and becoming the largest self-branded manufacturer in Taiwan.

Moreover, Acer’s momentum is still increasing. Acer manufactured approximately 4 million PCs in 1995, twice as many as in 1994. At the end of the year, Acer's sales increased by 60% compared with 1994, reaching $5 billion, and profits increased by 50 percentage points. Acer's stock has quadrupled in the past two years, spurred by a surge in profits. It's no surprise that Acer is one of Asia's hottest stocks. In September 1995, the company launched the "Aspire" multimedia home computer, which took the entire U.S. market by storm. In 1996, Acer set a new goal: to achieve a turnover of NT$400 billion in 2000, and to have a rival listed company around the world when entering the 21st century. 1997 was the "Year of Consumer Electronics". Acer announced that it had entered its third entrepreneurial stage, specializing in high-tech consumer electronics. Its strategy was to "provide fresh technology so that everyone and every corner can enjoy it." The goal of this strategy is to make Acer a household name in the world, which is also a "dragon dream" of Acer.

◇Believe in the philosophy of challenge

What drives all this is 53-year-old Shi Zhenrong, the founder of Acer, a corporate leader who believes in the philosophy of challenge. Now he has a new way to expand sales. .

He discovered that today's computer giants, including Apple, Compaq and Hewlett-Packard, buy memory chips, drives, displays and other components from original manufacturers and then stamp them with their own brand logos. Shi Zhenrong determined that Acer should start from original parts manufacturing. Nowadays, notebook computers produced by Acer are usually printed with the trademarks of Japanese companies or German Siemens companies. Original parts manufacturing earns Acer 29% of its operating income. Of course, Acer also makes its own branded computers. Shi Zhenrong calls his business method "fast food strategy". Acer guarantees the "freshest ingredients" to every retailer. Acer's production plants in Taiwan and Malaysia and assembly plants in Bangkok and Buenos Aires can provide retailers with the latest technical services at any time nearby. This not only reduces transportation costs but also allows Acer to dominate the world at a price that is 5% to 10% lower than Compaq. Due to the establishment of a complete production and sales structure, Acer can produce the most popular computers without relying on any original equipment manufacturer. Shi Zhenrong can say without exaggeration that all his computers are classics. In his own words: "Our computers are as popular as McDonald's hamburgers."

The American "Fortune" magazine called him "a combination of excellent engineers, traditional Chinese businessmen, and avant-garde managers." Together with international entrepreneurs, he has lofty ideals and broad vision." There was no pretense in his approach to life. Wearing a double-breasted suit, he looked calm in front of the reporters' cameras, chatting and laughing, everything was so easy-going and natural. With a fortune of US$220 million, he can afford to buy designer bags and hire porters to move luggage at the airport. However, every time he travels, he always uses a plastic suitcase with wheels and drags it around himself. While many bosses in Taiwan live in luxurious mansions equipped with steel plates, and their heavily guarded offices require swiping cards to enter and exit, Shi Zhenrong is content with a small office and has no servants at home. He treats walking as exercise every day and does not forget to use Write on the back of the paper.

But he is not a cheapskate. As a boss, he was extremely tolerant of the mistakes of his subordinates. When a manager accidentally caused a loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars to the company, he regarded the money as "tuition" due. He has full trust in his employees, and workers in Acer factories never need to clock in and out. All 12,000 employees can call him by his English name Stan (just like most Chinese businessmen, Shi Zhenrong also chose an English name in order to facilitate communication with Westerners at international business meetings). The traditional Chinese custom is that the line between superiors and subordinates is clear, and superiors seldom pay attention to the opinions of subordinates. However, Shi Zhenrong pioneered the practice of "testing below", that is, when recruiting and promoting cadres, subordinates are allowed to interview their superiors.

Shi Zhenrong believes that the survival of an enterprise is much more difficult than that of a person, because an enterprise is composed of a group of lives, and the chance of making mistakes and losing control is much greater than that of a single person. If you think about it carefully, a person must receive a lot of education to grow up, so companies should receive more education. In fact, business leaders must be willing to pay tuition for the growth of their employees.

When a company makes money, it is able to pay tuition and learn from its mistakes. This is often the case in the world. When you are in good times and do not need help from others, you will not think of cultivating talents. But once you find that you need to ask for help from others, it will be too late to cultivate talents. Therefore, in order to have someone to rely on when needed, it is necessary to develop talents when there is no need to rely on others. Shi Zhenrong said: "Acer will face so many unknown challenges in the future. If we don't pay for ourselves, who will pay for us? How can we break through the bottleneck? I think I am probably the person in charge of the company in Taiwan who pays the most for tuition. ”

The most striking thing about Shi Zhenrong is his imagination. His goal is to build a new kind of multinational company through "three winning strategies": the "fast food model" to transform the process, and the "master-slave structure" to transform the organization. client-server organization strucwe) and "a global brand with a local touch" produced under the new business philosophy

The core of this global and highly autonomous Acer Group. It means "majority of local equity", which means that the majority of the overseas subsidiary's equity is owned by local people and operated by local people.

The first step towards this goal is to sell 37% of Acer Computer International's shares (ACER Computer International), a subsidiary of Acer, and the stock will appear on the Singapore Stock Exchange. Shi Zhenrong plans to give investors more opportunities to buy Acer's shares and achieve this goal by establishing 19 subsidiaries in the United States, Europe and Latin America in the next five years. A senior American market analysis expert was deeply impressed by Shi Zhenrong's plan. He believes that Shi Zhenrong's "global famous brand, combined with geographical location" business approach is very unique. Just as Shi Zhenrong hopes, if local electronic accessories sellers buy Acer's shares, it will give them a huge incentive to promote Acer computers in local stores.

Shi Zhenrong’s ambition is not limited to establishing a new international management model. He also dreamed of expanding production capabilities to mass-produce new products based on microprocessors. These new products included digital phones and affordable and high-quality fax machines. He will prepare to introduce a new multimedia projector that combines television, video game consoles and compact disc projection. Shi Zhenrong’s goal is to “challenge Japan’s dominance in the consumer electronics industry.”

◇Corporate culture of good nature

Like many leaders, Shi Zhenrong’s boyhood was full of ups and downs. He was born in Lukang, a port city on Taiwan's west coast. His family was so poor that he didn't wear leather shoes until he reached high school. His father died of illness when he was 3 years old, leaving him and his mother to depend on each other. His mother had a great influence on his life. In order to make a living, my mother sold duck eggs, stationery, knitted sweaters, and even set up a betel nut stall for a time. After Shi Zhenrong became successful, he mentioned more than once his childhood experience of selling duck eggs.

He once helped his mother sell duck eggs and stationery in the store. Duck eggs are 3 yuan per pound, which can only earn 3 jiao, which is almost 10% of the profit. They are also easy to deteriorate and will go bad if not sold in time, causing business losses; stationery is highly profitable, and a business of 10 yuan can at least be enough. Earn 4 yuan, the profit exceeds 40%, and the stationery will not be damaged. It seems that selling stationery is better than selling duck eggs. In fact, Shi Zhenrong told his experience that the income from selling duck eggs is far more than that of stationery.

Duck eggs have low profit, but they can be turned over every two days at most. Stationery has high profit, but sometimes it cannot be sold for half a year or even a year. Not only does it accumulate costs, but the profit is eaten up by interest earlier. Duck eggs make small profits but sell a lot, so the profit is much greater than that of slow-turnover stationery. Shi Zhenrong later applied his experience in selling duck eggs to Acer and established a "small profits but quick turnover model."

In addition to getting an A in mathematics, little Shi Zhenrong is actually a very shy boy who tries to avoid talking in class. But his mother constantly spurred him on to be adventurous and sent him to Taipei for a few months to live independently. Shi Zhenrong was admitted to the Department of Electronic Engineering of Jiaotong University in 1964, where he became a student leader. The top student in his class, he founded photography, bridge and tennis clubs. Shi Zhenrong recalled: "I learned how to deal with interpersonal relationships and organize activities, from which I gained confidence and increased my visibility." Now, Shi Zhenrong's mother lives with his family in Taipei. Her mother is still in charge of the housework and has been giving him suggestions. Lots of advice.

After Shi Zhenrong received his master's degree in 1972, he found a job at Rongtai Electronics Company as a designer. Rongtai Electronics is a family-run company. There, he experienced the company's decline firsthand, which changed his views on Taiwan's business culture. The once prosperous Rongtai Company collapsed because its family members had withdrawn capital to their own companies, which led to Rongtai's collapse. Shi Zhenrong said: "Traditional Chinese family companies always mix the company's funds with the family's money, and rarely listen to the opinions of their subordinates, so I must find a better way to operate."

In 1976, Shi Zhenrong and some friends founded Multitech International with $25,000. It was later renamed Acer, which is derived from the Latin roots of the English words sharp (acute) and sharp (Shmp). The company initially invested in microprocessing chips. Shi Zhenrong was one of the first technicians to see the potential of microprocessors. Microprocessing chips are the core of today's PC computers, driving the new industrial revolution.

While waiting for the arrival of this new technological revolution, Acer only designed some popular electronic products, such as handheld electronic game consoles, and Shi Zhenrong safeguarded their interests by sharing skills and profits with technicians. After all, they were Acer's earliest investors. Shi Zhenrong’s mother and other family members also invested and contributed to the company, but they did not receive special preferential treatment. In the early days of the business, Shi Zhenrong and other employees had to work 14 hours a day.

Ye Zihua, 51, majored in business administration in college. After marrying Shi Zhenrong, she was also one of the founders of Acer. They are like the DeWitts who founded the American Reader's Digest magazine. In the early days of his business, Ye Zihua managed the ledgers, cleaned the stairs before customers arrived, and sat on the back of a motorcycle to collect money. Now she is still Acer's financial supervisor. Acer now entrusts an international accounting firm to manage its finances. Due to the impact of the collapse of Rongtai Electronics, Shi Zhenrong did not allow other family members to work at Acer. He had promised not to let his three children enter Acer after completing their studies.

Shi Zhenrong often said: "Acer can grow rapidly. From the perspective of tangible assets, it relies on employee investment to raise most of the funds (the first seven years were 100% invested by colleagues, and the stock was listed in 1988, which was more than 70%). ; From the perspective of intangible assets, it is the high degree of centripetal force of colleagues. The power that closely integrates the company and colleagues is corporate culture. ”

Corporate culture is the shared values ??of a group of people. For its creation, in addition to having the same purpose and ideals, it must also agree on the principles and methods of doing things. It is by no means a slogan, but a daily practical action, but it needs slogans as a communication tool, because effective communication helps to achieve political awareness. Therefore, generally speaking, the smaller the number of people, the easier it is to gather consciousness, and conversely, the larger the number of people, the harder it is to achieve it.

Acer’s corporate culture today was created on a small scale with only 11 employees in the founding period. Some scenes are still vivid in my mind. 44-year-old Liu Zilong is now the manager of Acer International Computer Company. He recalled: In the second year after founding Acer, he applied for an engineer position. At that time, Shi Zhenrong told him frankly: "Acer's salary is not high, but the microprocessor must be There is a future; I am not sure whether Acer can survive, but I believe that as long as you work hard, even if Acer collapses, you will be wanted everywhere." Liu Zilong said: "This is Shi Zhenrong's style. He is always honest about the real situation. Let me tell you, it’s the same even for the company’s partners.” Vice President Huang Shaohua, who founded the company with Shi Zhenrong, said: “Shi Zhenrong will never force you to do anything unless you agree or are willing to do it.”

At that time, colleagues who graduated from college were working at Acer, and their monthly salary was only NT$5,000, which was quite low among peers. However, these young people did not give up. Whenever microprocessors were mentioned, they were always enthusiastic. My eyes were bright. At that time, Acer was one of the few companies engaged in this advanced industry.

This is Acer's "Jiang Taigong Fishing" employment philosophy. Too many promises often lead to wrong expectations among employees. As long as the employees trained by Acer meet the needs of future social development, they will surely be able to attract ambitious talents to Acer to "ask for trouble." The reason why Acer's corporate culture can be implemented is because in the development process, the results delivered are often more than the initial commitment, so employees can always maintain a high degree of morale and centripetal force.

Most people have many dreams in their hearts, but they often give up easily when they find it very difficult to realize their wishes. Acer's corporate culture is to actively allow employees to fully express their ambition to realize their wishes.

Acer’s corporate culture is almost all closely related to China’s traditional culture. For example, because of its recognition of the entrepreneurial spirit of "I would rather be the head of a chicken than the queen of a cow", Acer called out "The Achievements of a Small Boss" and used the employee share system to let colleagues share the sense of accomplishment of being a boss; The mentality of "leaving no skills behind" is not enough for training. Acer deeply believes in the concept of "masters who leave no skills behind" and hopes that supervisors can devote themselves to cultivating subordinates and passing on knowledge. Another example is the "relay-style marathon". In order to correct the short-sighted and short-sighted habits of Taiwanese companies in the past, colleagues are expected to "sprint with all their strength on their posts, successfully complete the tasks when handing over the baton, and ensure the sustainable operation of the company."

In the early days, Acer's corporate culture originated from the founder's shared beliefs. Although a common sense had been formed among employees, it was relatively unsystematic. In the 10th year of Acer's establishment, they summarized four points - human nature is good, pragmatism, contribution of wisdom and customer respect.

From the first day of its establishment, "human nature is good" has always been Acer's most important corporate culture. Shi Zhenrong believes that when colleagues are respected and empowered, their potential will be unleashed.

Shi Zhenrong described: "Acer is famous for manufacturing computers, and it is also famous for manufacturing millionaires." In 1988, Acer Computer's stock was listed, and thousands of colleagues became millionaires, and several millionaires. Hundreds. In the world's technology industry, it is unique that the equity is as evenly dispersed as Acer's. Shi Zhenrong said: "From the beginning of collective entrepreneurship to promoting employee stock ownership, Acer has a very important purpose. I want to let my colleagues know that although I am the 'leader', I am not the boss. I am a buddy like everyone else." This is the key for Acer to establish a foundation of mutual trust.

◇Wrong appointment

The reason why Shi Zhenrong is unwilling to regard himself as the boss is also for his own benefit. If a decision-maker thinks he is the boss, he will hope that his subordinates will do things based on his face. However, the information industry is a rapidly changing industry. If everyone cannot take responsibility for themselves and only take action based on their boss's face, the direction of development can easily be misled. , work efficiency will also be reduced. Ultimately, in order for colleagues to be self-responsible, decision-makers must first trust their colleagues, otherwise subordinates will always act based on their looks. This is why Acer lists "human nature is good" as its primary corporate culture.

Under the influence of this harmonious corporate culture environment, Acer's new products have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain. In 1981, the learning software "Micro Professor" produced by Acer became popular all over the world. In 1981, Shi Zhenrong's Happy Corps relied on the 32-digit PC assembled with Intel 386 microprocessor to take the lead in the market competition with IBM. Its performance was second only to Compaq. At the same time, in order to break the trend of counterfeiting in Taiwan's computer manufacturing industry , Shi Zhenrong insisted on producing his own original brand machines under Acer. In 1988, Acer computers began to become a popular product on the market.

This kind of success that comes too fast and is easy to intoxicate almost pervades the entire company. In view of Acer's rapid development in the late 1980s, Shi Zhenrong recruited a group of new senior executives - a move that destroyed Acer's original corporate cultural spirit and cohesion. As he later admitted, Acer's global expansion efforts, which were "beyond our capabilities," plunged the company from 1990 to 1992 into its first financial crisis since its founding. A middle-level manager who has worked for Acer for many years recalled: "We went through a painful process full of too many quarrels."

The trouble began in April 1989 when Shi Zhenrong appointed Liu Yingwu as Acer's executive president. of. Liu Yingwu, a Ph.D. in computing from Princeton University, served as the head of the computer department in a software development laboratory at IBM for 20 years. He is the most prestigious and highest-ranking Chinese in the American computer industry. Shi Zhenrong thought highly of him and happily called him the "secret weapon" for Acer's global expansion, and handed over the business decision-making power to him. As soon as Liu Yingwu took office, he worked non-stop to instill "centralization", the essence of IBM's corporate culture, into Acer. He always held marathon meetings with managers to get them to follow his decisions. A manager recalled: "Forcing everyone to agree with the president's point of view was very different from Acer's previous style, so many people left the company."

Liu Yingwu's dictatorship caused a series of subsequent failures of Acer. Take the acquisition of a German company as an example. Shi Zhenrong originally planned to buy only half of the shares of the local subsidiary, but Liu Yingwu insisted on buying 100% of the shares according to IBM's method. As a result, Shi Zhenrong said: "We turned the managers of the German subsidiary into ordinary employees, and the company began to suffer losses." The same fatal mistake was also made in the purchase of an American microcomputer company. Acer bought it for US$90 million. This company, however, is stuck in the dilemma of how to allocate severance pay to the managers of the original company. The acquired company was renamed Acer America, and its poor management was largely attributed to the headquarters' financial losses over the past three years. Acer quickly became a bickering camp.

Managers born in Taiwan still take orders from Liu Yingwu. Subsequently, nine senior managers were recruited to join Acer's senior management, which they called the "parachute troops."

Due to poor management, many employees complained about Liu Yingwu. The biggest complaint came from Shi Zhenrong’s wife Ye Zihua. Shi Zhenrong recalled with his usual frankness: "My wife criticized the most, and we always quarreled. I knew that the company was in crisis, but we had to give others a chance, so I supported Liu Yingwu. But what she heard was that the managers below were talking about him He complained and felt that the company was about to be drained of its blood and sweat. "Ye Zihua also admitted: "Shi Zhenrong did not see the truth, so I quarreled with him at any time."

Shi Zhenrong also gradually realized his feelings for Liu Yingwu. The appointment was a mistake. He said: "I think IBM is the best-managed computer company in the world. Liu Yingwu is naturally more capable and experienced than me. But he is not an entrepreneur. I authorized him too much, too early." But Shi Zhenrong did not Blame Liu Yingwu for the company's financial losses. In June 1992, he proposed to the board of directors to resign as chairman. The board rejected his resignation and issued a joint statement: "We admire and believe in Chairman Shi's outstanding leadership." Soon, Liu Yingwu and nine other "parachute managers" left Acer.

Liu Yingwu is now the executive president of Walker Interactive, a software company in San Francisco, USA. He admits he made a lot of mistakes at Acer. But he emphasized that the global strategy and training of managers he established at Acer are the basis for Acer's success today. He said: "I sleep peacefully at night now. I see that they are running better than me. Everything I have done at Acer has not been in vain." Follow suit and reinvent Acer your own way. He said: "In order to change their business strategies, IBM, Compaq, and DEC all had to change their CEOs. Acer's approach is much better. It is managers who change their business strategies."

◇From what Do everything and sell everything

After Liu Yingwu left Acer, Shi Zhenrong carried out reforms and transformed Acer into a group company composed of a series of independent subsidiaries, with a market value of US$2 billion. These subsidiaries cooperate with each other but are relatively independent. Take Acer Peripherals, which produces monitors and keyboards, for example. The managers of this company have the most shares and decision-making power. It sells parts to another subsidiary, Acer International Computer Co., and Acer International Computer Co. doesn't have to buy their products if the price is too high. As Shi Zhenrong said: "I have established a sense of crisis within the group." Now that 37% of Acer International Computer's shares are controlled by outsiders, it will be more independent and make its own decisions, without listening to the opinions of the headquarters.

Before the financial crisis in 1991, Shi Zhenrong began to have this idea. He spends 40% of his time on business trips, but he can never get better Chinese food than in Taiwan. He wondered why Chinese food could not be of the same quality as McDonald's hamburgers all over the world. He also noticed that there are many compatible computer manufacturers using Taiwanese motherboards all over the world, but the quality of the manufacturers varies and they have no brand image to share, just like the Chinese restaurants all over the world without unified brand and quality. He described the products as "junk". At that time, Acer was also assembling PCs in Taiwan so that Shi Zhenrong could supervise the quality. "Why can't Acer sell fresh computers?" Shi Zhenrong thought.

Under this concept, Acer shifted from a system development model to a parts development model. Since the second half of 1992, Acer has rarely exported full-system products. In addition to computer casings shipped by sea, monitors, keyboards, etc. may be shipped from Acer's overseas factories. Suppliers of soft and hard drives support Acer from factories around the world. There are 34 bases scattered around the world. High value-added parts such as motherboards are airlifted from Taiwan to the bases at any time according to the order specifications.

"Acer used to make everything, but now Acer sells everything," Shi Zhenrong said. Efficiency has embarked on a virtuous cycle. The fast-food business model has transformed Acer. It has changed from mainly making labor money to now mainly making intellectual money. Acer now mainly earns the added value of mass production, marketing and image.

”

One of Acer’s most successful markets is in the United States. Even when the company was in recession a few years ago, Shi Zhenrong still resisted pressure from the board of directors and did not close Acer America. He said : “We cannot lose the U.S. market. "The facts prove that he is right. Acer USA accounted for 27% of Acer's sales in the first half of 1995. The largest computer retail companies in the United States, such as Best Buy and Computer City, all have the latest Acer products on their counters. The dark green multimedia desktop system and eye-catching voice control software allow users to get rid of the cumbersome keyboard entry method and only need to speak their commands into the microphone. According to data, as of June 1995, Acer had 18. Computer sales in the United States doubled within a month, accounting for 7% of the U.S. market.

Acer's most profitable project is its cooperation with Texas Instruments to produce memory. Investing US$240 million required a lot of courage for Acer, which was losing money at the time. Fortunately, the investment paid off very well, said Jetuan R. Jackin, chairman of Texas Instruments: "Stan (Shi Zhenrong's). English name)'s foresight in this investment ensures the supply of DRAMS. "Acer purchased half of the production, and Texas Instruments sold the other half globally. This investment enabled Acer to make a 45% profit in 1995, with a turnover of $205 million.

Shi Zhenrong's The next ambitious goal is to double Acer's annual operating income to US$10 billion by the end of the century. Due to Shi Zhenrong's outstanding management skills, in 1995, "World Manager Digest" selected Shi Zhenrong as one of the 15 most trend-setting people in the world. Entrepreneur; the following year, he was selected as one of the 25 best corporate presidents in the world by the American "Business Weekly". Shi Zhenrong, who was exhausted and collapsed in a residential elevator while trying to save Acer, "laughed last".