Misunderstood amoeba?

Since the new century, it has gradually become a fashion to question the management theory introduced from the west. At a time when the local management theory is still behind closed doors, eating in old paper piles, and there are no successful cases, the amoeba management practiced by kazuo inamori, who has the reputation of "Japanese management sage", has become more and more famous in China industry.

Because we have never been good at being students, and some businessmen peddle "management philosophy" and clamor for profits, we need to make in-depth analysis and get rid of all kinds of myths, so as not to fall into the predicament of being physically and mentally exhausted and having no long-term strategy in managing enterprises, and at the same time, let Amoeba management become another management fashion of "you sing and I debut".

Myth 1:

Light material excitation

Kazuo inamori seems to be "giving to the people and helping others" under the touting of "priests" whose words will be called kazuo inamori's philosophy. "Anyone who is benevolent will be holy!" Kazuo inamori has repeatedly expressed his opposition to "productism". For example, "Amoeba with outstanding performance will not be arrogant in the company, and it is impossible to get high rewards. On the contrary, it will be praised and thanked by partners. " It is easy to misunderstand that amoeba is stimulated by light substances.

First of all, in the accounting of amoeba, the expenditure does not include the salary (service fee) of amoeba members. "The amount of service fee is determined according to the company's recruitment policy and the relevant policies of personnel and general affairs", in other words, it is determined according to the labor market price and the company's demand, which prevents Amoeba leaders from deducting workers' wages in order to improve the "added value per unit time".

Secondly, the performance of amoeba is not unrelated to the income of amoeba members. "The Japanese nation is a homogeneous nation with a strong sense of conformity, so people will have great resistance to the salary and treatment with a large gap", but "all employees cannot be treated equally" and fall into "vicious equality". For example, if the added value per unit time reaches 3,000 yen and the labor cost per hour/kloc-0,000 yen is paid, the company still has a profit of 2,000 yen; If the labor cost is 3000 yen per hour, then the target of unit added value should be 6000 yen. On the contrary, the unit added value of 6000 yen and 3000 yen is of course different.

Third, "Amoeba management will not widen the gap in personal salary because of temporary achievements, but employees who spare no effort to work for everyone and can continuously improve their performance will correctly evaluate their abilities, which will be reflected in salary increase, reward and promotion." This is consistent with Drucker's observation. "Japanese organizations are as demanding as any western organization, and even the competition is more intense. People with poor or mediocre performance will not be fired, but they will soon be marginalized and given a job that is actually "irrelevant". He himself and the organization know this. Moreover, although everyone raises their wages and titles according to their seniority, by the age of 45, they will be counted as general ledger. Very few people will be promoted to company directors, and many others will retire at 10. "

Fourth, kazuo inamori clearly knows the effectiveness of material stimulation and is generous. On one occasion, he asked to "aim at monthly sales of 65.438 billion yen+0 billion yen. Reach, all employees are on business trips to Hong Kong; Otherwise, all the staff went to the temple to practice, and as a result, everyone went to chartered flight to travel to Hongkong. During the oil crisis in 1970s, kazuo inamori persuaded the trade union to freeze the salary increase. A year and a half later (1975), the economy recovered. Kazuo inamori added another month's bonus on the basis of the requirements of the trade union. 1976 in March, another month's temporary bonus was given.

The first of the "Twelve Management Rules" is that "operators must do their best for the material and spiritual happiness of employees, and must be above selfishness to give enterprises a sense of justice". This can serve as a warning to business owners who avoid talking about money but talk about employee loyalty, high morale, dedication and commitment.

Myth 2:

Amoeba = profit center

At the sight of "independent accounting", it is easy to think of business division system and profit center. However, there are great differences between them.

A typical profit center usually enjoys a high degree of independence and autonomy in raw material procurement, product development, manufacturing, sales, personnel management and the use of working capital. It can compile an independent income statement and evaluate its operating performance according to its profit and loss, so it is a real "vassal". As a grass-roots organization, amoeba can be subdivided into working procedures and product types. Kyocera has more than 60,000 employees and is divided into more than 3,000 amoebas, with an average of more than 20 people per amoeba. There are classes, business departments, etc. So the equivalent power itself is very small. Even if an amoeba "manages" badly, it will not affect the overall situation, although such behavior is not allowed.

Secondly, Amoeba's power in personnel management is very limited. As mentioned above, the "added value per unit time" of Amoeba accounting (that is, labor cost+company profit) must be greater than the labor cost, but the labor cost is determined by factors other than the leadership of Amoeba, and the superior has the right to assign personnel. Otherwise, in order to improve the "added value per unit time", the leadership of Amoeba may refuse people with higher wages to enter Amoeba. It is not arbitrary for Amoeba to hire temporary workers (because its labor is not included in the total time, and its expenses are included in the funds), and it must be reported to the superior for approval. Now Kyocera and other institutions above the manufacturing and sales level have made profit and loss statements including labor costs, and calculated the pre-tax profit as comprehensive accounting management data.

Third, the leader of Amoeba can only be responsible for the operation after being approved by his superiors, and his authority includes making business plans, performance management, labor management, ordering materials, etc. He can take necessary measures at any time according to the actual situation of sales target, production target and expenditure target, and compare the plans that must be completed. However, the premise for the leaders of Amoeba to make plans is to respect the annual plans made by the top management of the company and the annual plans of the Division, and must be consistent with them.

Fourthly, in the aspect of performance management, the leader of Amoeba is restricted by many factors in pricing power, and can not simply pursue the maximization of accounting indicators of Amoeba. The selling price between each process should be calculated from the selling price to the customer first, and the price should be set according to "profit = selling price-capital" instead of "selling price = profit+capital" (cost plus); Secondly, "the senior management familiar with the work of amoeba should accurately evaluate the cost and labor required by amoeba based on social common sense, and fairly determine the corresponding sales price", such as the sales commission is determined as 10%. When the market price of products must be reduced, the internal purchase and sale prices must also be reduced, "acting in altruism and considering the overall harmony of the company", which must be unprecedented in cost reduction. In other words, the price has been reduced, but the principle of "improving accounting" cannot be discounted.

Myth 3:

govern by non-action ［doing nothing that goes against nature］

The purpose of amoeba management often reminds people of an illusory dream-inaction. Once all employees have the consciousness of being operators and struggle for self-denial, the top management seems to be "I am inaction and the people are self-motivated, I am quiet and the people are self-righteous, I am inaction and the people are rich, and I have no desire and the people are simple". "Amoeba management needs senior executives such as professional ministers to take the lead and pay twice as much effort as others." If the purpose of learning amoeba management is to motivate employees to "pay as much effort as others", it is too far away. So, what are the main responsibilities of the top management?

First of all, pricing is a profound knowledge, a compulsory course for leaders and a privilege that must be monopolized. Leaders must thoroughly analyze the information collected by salesmen, correctly understand the value of their products on the basis of accurately grasping the market and competitors' trends, and then set the price. Pricing is the key to the success of an enterprise, and leaders must concentrate on it. When pricing, leaders must also consider ways to reduce costs, and must immediately instruct the manufacturing department to resolutely cut costs and point out ways to reduce costs.

Second, make a master plan. It is based on the company's overall policy and the policies and objectives of each division, and is formulated through repeated and serious simulation. The master plan must set specific numerical targets. Although operators open their business status to all members and "use business ideas and information to improve employees' cognition of operators", top-down goal setting does not necessarily have a bottom-up response. For the unsatisfactory amoeba scheme, the career minister must "convey his strong desire" and let the relevant amoeba modify "until the final data is acceptable to both parties".

Third, when there is a problem in a certain link, the senior management should immediately go to the scene, take command from the town, visit customers in person, inspect the site, and carry the accounting table with them, "take it out and study it as soon as you have time." Sometimes I reprimand a stubborn and loud amoeba leader: "Why do you only care about yourself and not consider each other?" People with such selfish ideas are not qualified to be leaders! "When there is a conflict of interest between amoebas, after listening to the opinions of both parties, a ruling that can be accepted and obeyed by both parties can be made.

Fourth, tirelessly peddling ideas and dreams. When kazuo inamori started his business, he instilled the dream of being the best in 28 employees. "I know my words are not convincing enough, but I also said it late. I repeatedly argued that employees, myself, don't know when to believe it. For this goal, we will unite and make every effort to achieve it. " Of course, the example of "setting an example" is more important than words.

Myth 4:

Trust is based on goodwill.

"From the top management of the company to the members of the amoeba, they must be linked together through the bond of trust." If mutual trust is a necessary condition for amoeba management, what are the characteristics of this trust?

First of all, for superiors, subordinates are not completely trustworthy (including ability, integrity, consistency, loyalty, etc. On the one hand, the management of amoeba needs more management-conscious amoeba leaders, so sometimes we have to temporarily follow the "Peter principle" and promote temporarily incompetent people to the leadership positions of amoeba, while giving guidance and supervision; On the other hand, "we can't completely delegate power to the construction site", otherwise "the company can't develop". Hard work at the top is certainly a requirement, but it also shows that we don't trust our subordinates enough. The root cause may be lack of ability, or lack of integrity, occasional confusion and disloyalty.

Secondly, does the boss have to trust his subordinates 100%? Of course, in the ideal, justice is like "Okada ruling". If leaders don't really think that "for the happiness of employees" is their mission, can the amoeba business continue? The cultivation of personality is gradual, and it is often realized in the struggle with temptation and slack. Sincere kazuo inamori scored 60~70 points on "personality view". Even out of humility, he probably knows that he is incompetent. Therefore, leaders do not necessarily show the characteristics of being completely trusted, and the key lies in the constraints of the system.