好鬥企業文化難保長期成功大綱

There are two extremes of corporate culture: the hard-driving, aggressive category; and the warm, open-hearted type. But which is more successful at motivating a team, and delivering outstanding financial results?

企業文化有兩個極端類型：一種是衝勁十足、積極好鬥的，另一種是溫和、友善的。哪一種更能激勵團隊、實現優異的財務業績呢？

An example of the “agreeable” philosophy of management is described in Peter Mead’s autobiographical book, When In Doubt Be Nice. He was a co-founder of the highly regarded advertising agency Abbot Mead Vickers, now AMV BBDO. A slightly daunting 380-plus pages, the book has plenty of cosy, sensible advice, such as treating staff well (“be a father to your workforce”), always do your best, focus on quality not price and so forth. They are wise words, but I’m not sure these beliefs would all pay off in some cut-throat markets. His view is that if you do good work and look after your people, profits are sure to follow. In their heyday ad agencies could afford, for instance, to give all the staff the afternoon off before public holidays. Sadly, lots of industries are intensely overcrowded and offer miserable margins, with little time or money for kind words and sympathetic employment policies.

彼得•米德(Peter Mead)的自傳《要友善》(When In Doubt Be Nice)，描述了一個“討人喜歡的”管理理念的例子。米德曾是一家極受尊崇的廣告公司Abbot Mead Vickers（即現在的AMV BBDO）的聯合創始人。他的這本自傳有380多頁（長得有點嚇人），該書給出了很多溫馨、明智的建議，譬如善待員工（“愛兵如子”）、總是全力以赴、注重質量而非價格等等——都是些充滿智慧的言語，但我不確定這些信念在一些競爭激烈的市場是否都能有所回報。米德的觀點是，如果你做好工作、照顧好你的員工，利潤自然會隨之而來。例如，在廣告公司的全盛時期，它們有能力在公共假期的前一天下午就讓全體員工放假。遺憾的是，很多行業現在都極度擁擠、利潤率低得可憐，在時間或金錢上沒有餘力來踐行這些友善之言和討人喜歡的用工政策。

A contrast with AMV might be Rocket Internet, the newly public vehicle for the online ambitions of the Samwer brothers. The business clones digital operating models from America like eBay and Groupon and launches them in emerging economies.

與AMV形成對比的可能是Rocket Internet——一家剛剛上市的、用來實現扎姆韋爾(Samwer)兄弟互聯網抱負的公司。該公司克隆eBay和Groupon等美國企業的數字化運營模式，然後在新興經濟體推出。

Oliver Samwer, the billionaire chief executive, told staff in 2011 that he was “the most aggressive guy on the internet” who would “die to win”, and expected the same from them (he apologised later). Clearly, however, that formula has made him very rich, and the stock market appears to like his practice of copying ideas rather than genuine technological innovation.

該公司首席執行官奧利弗•扎姆韋爾(Oliver Samwer)是一位億萬富翁。2011年，他告訴員工，自己是“互聯網上最好鬥的傢伙”，“爲了獲勝會不惜性命”，並期待員工們能像他一樣（他後來爲此言道了歉）。但顯而易見的是，這種方式讓他變得非常富有，股市似乎也更認可他這種抄襲別人創意的做法，而不是真正的技術創新。

However, a monomaniac focus on profit at any price is unlikely to prove a winning ideology in the long run. Possibly the most notorious exponent in recent times was “Chainsaw” Al Dunlap, an ex-lieutenant of the late Sir James Goldsmith. He entitled his memoir Mean Business, which says it all. After turning around Scott Paper by slashing costs, Mr Dunlap attempted to revive Sunbeam Corporation using the same methods. The virtual collapse of the company destroyed his career, and was a stark case study of how real companies cannot prosper simply by sacking staff, using bullish accounting policies and playing M&A games.

然而，不顧一切、偏執地關注利潤，不太可能成爲一種可確保長期成功的理念。在這方面，近年來最臭名昭著的代表人物可能就是已故的詹姆斯•戈德史密斯爵士(Sir James Goldsmith)的前副手、綽號“鏈鋸”的艾爾•鄧樂普("Chainsaw" Al Dunlap)。鄧樂普將自己的回憶錄命名爲《險惡生意》(Mean Business)，這已經說明了一切。在大力削減成本使斯科特紙業(Scott Paper)扭虧爲盈後，他試圖用同樣的方法重振日光公司(Sunbeam Corporation)。日光公司事實上的破產毀掉了他的職業生涯，這一鮮明的案例說明，真正的企業無法只通過解僱員工、採用樂觀的會計政策和玩併購遊戲來實現繁榮。

And yet, when Mr Dunlap said “people want to be liked; they don’t want to do what’s right if it costs them entry to the clubhouse”, there is truth in his remark. Fixing broken companies is a difficult job that invariably means hard choices. Many companies go wrong because their leaders are too weak, and afraid to take painful decisions. Some of the most profitable organisations of the modern era did best when led by a boss with a hard-charging attitude.

不過，鄧樂普也說過：“大家都想討人喜歡；他們不想去做正確、但做了會衆叛親離的事。”他的這句話倒也符合事實。修復問題重重的企業是一項艱鉅的工作，不可避免地會涉及艱難的抉擇。許多企業出問題就是因爲它們的領導人太怯懦、不敢做出痛苦的抉擇。當代一些最賺錢的企業，正是作風強硬的人作老闆時才表現得最好。

Steve Ballmer, the tough CEO at Microsoft, was famous for his take-no-prisoners approach to rivals such as Google. During his tenure, earnings more than doubled to $23bn, making it the most profitable business on earth. Could a more caring culture at Microsoft have delivered those results?

史蒂夫•巴爾默(Steve Ballmer)在作微軟(Microsoft)首席執行官期間就很咄咄逼人，曾以其對谷歌(Google)等競爭對手趕盡殺絕的態度而聞名。在他的任期內，微軟的利潤增長了一倍以上，達到230億美元，成爲世界上最賺錢的企業。微軟當時若奉行更爲友善的企業文化還能實現這種的業績嗎？

Of the 50-odd businesses I’ve backed over three decades, only a minority had exceptional company cultures. All of those cared more in some respects about their staff and customers than the bottom line. This emphasis paid off for the shareholders when the business had an intrinsically strong franchise. Sadly, having happy staff and customers does not always guarantee a sustainable economic structure. I’ve lost money in sectors such as films and bookselling where everybody enjoys the ride except the capital providers.

過去30年我投資過的50多家企業中，只有少數有傑出的企業文化。這些企業都在某些方面更加重視它們的員工和客戶，而不是利潤。當企業擁有本質上強健的業務時，這種重視回報了股東。遺憾的是，擁有快樂的員工和客戶，未必意味着經濟結構是可持續的。我在電影和圖書銷售等行業虧了錢——在這些行業，除了投資者以外，所有人都很開心。

Combative companies are brittle. Usually they are based entirely around financial rewards, and when the profits slide, there is little staff or customer loyalty to fall back on. RBS under Fred “the Shred” Goodwin had a reputation as a ruthless acquirer, winning hostile takeovers for NatWest and ABN Amro. But in 2008 the bank had to be rescued with a state injection of £46bn. Its corporate culture of arrogance contributed to its downfall.

好鬥的企業缺乏韌性。通常而言，它們完全建立在經濟回報的基礎上，利潤一旦下滑，很少能依靠員工或客戶的忠誠度。在綽號“粉碎機弗雷德”(Fred the Shred)的弗雷德•古德溫(Goodwin)的領導下，蘇格蘭皇家銀行(RBS)贏得了“無情收購者”的名聲，成功地敵意收購了國民西敏寺銀行(NatWest)和荷蘭銀行(ABN Amro)。但在2008年，蘇格蘭皇家銀行卻不得不接受紓困，英國政府向其注資460億英鎊。該行傲慢的企業文化促成了它的垮臺。

Nice companies are more pleasant to work in, and if you agree with management guru Peter Drucker that “culture eats strategy for breakfast” you should consider subscribing to the Peter Mead school of business. But in the shorter term, aggression can eat nice for breakfast too.

友善的企業讓人更樂於爲之工作。如果你認可管理學大師彼得•德魯克(Peter Drucker)說的那句話，即“文化能把戰略當早餐吃”(culture eats strategy for breakfast)，你應該考慮贊同彼得•米德學派。但短期而言，積極好鬥能把友善當早餐吃。