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A few days ago, Jiemian News mentioned the differences in thinking between Chinese and American manufacturing industries in an article. The author pointed out that the transformation of China's manufacturing industry should not simply replace human beings with machines, but should be a change in the whole management ideology. Today let's follow in the footsteps of another academic who has traveled to Germany to learn more about these seemingly "slow and stupid" German companies.
German companies tend to stay in a corner, like a steady and energetic middle-aged man, quietly sticking to his goals and steadily focusing on one area of development. They may be "small," they may be "slow," they may even appear "dumb," but their steady performance and growth suggest they are anything but "bad."
Hamburg's harbor is visible through the floor-to-ceiling Windows of Roland Berger Consulting. Cranes line the harbor, and brightly coloured shipping containers are stacked regularly on both sides. Germany's largest deep-water harbor carries millions of tons of cargo every day. In the seaport's tourist-filled resort area, an opera house is being built in what will be the world's second-largest musical theatre.
Hamburg's bustling port is a microcosm of Germany's economic prosperity. Since the outbreak of the global financial crisis in 2008, The European economy has been depressed and even Mired in the debt crisis. Only Germany took the lead in getting out of the mire and stood out. In 2010, Germany's GDP grew by 3.6%, the highest among the seven major industrial powers, and its unemployment rate fell to 6.9% from 8.6% in 2007.
Yet just a decade ago countries such as Spain, Britain and Ireland were making their mark in international finance; Germany, beset by stagflation, is derided as a "stodgy Abe" out of step with the new age.
After a financial storm, the tables were turned. As countries such as Spain and Ireland plunged into debt crises, Germany emerged as Europe's economic locomotive. Germany accounted for 60% of GDP growth in the euro area in 2010, up from 10% in 2000.
German companies have played an important role in the recovery. While London and Wall Street were addicted to subprime and mortgage debt, German companies focused on manufacturing. This is true not just for big, internationally known companies such as BMW and Siemens, but also for hundreds of small and medium-sized, unknown companies. Despite the high labor cost of German products, customers keep coming because of guaranteed delivery time, high product performance and good after-sales service. In 2010, German exports rose 14.29%, still outperforming other developed countries.
The strong competitiveness of German companies attracts our interest. American companies have been looked at and studied for years, while German ones have been ignored. What are the characteristics that make German enterprises stand out in the global economic crisis? What can Chinese companies learn from the German experience?
With questions in mind, we spent three weeks visiting five cities and several enterprises in Germany to seek answers to these questions.
1, product focus on innovation, to create high value-added
Before we set off, our friends' shopping lists had already arrived: Knives from Shuangli, wok from Fischler, water purifier from Billande. Although these German products are many times more expensive than their Chinese counterparts, the guarantee of high quality "made in Germany" is still coveted by Chinese living in a manufacturing country.
This is an important reason for the success of German companies. The deep-rooted industrial concept of The German people has created the super manufacturing capacity of German enterprises. The difference between Made in Germany and Made in China is that while Made in China relies on low labor costs, made in Germany relies on creating high value-added products.
The car industry is a model of high value-added manufacturing in Germany. Whether it is Audi, Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, a German car is 5 to 10 times more expensive than the average car. Outside the Audi plant north of Ingolstadt, a group of happy Germans are waiting to pick up new cars that have just rolled off the assembly line. There is a one-kilometer-long production line that produces 2,500 cars a day, six days a week. "2010 was our best year ever. It may be difficult for other companies to overtake us." The words of Audi's President, Christophe Schneider, are played over and over on the hotel's TELEVISION every day.
In Taunusstein, Wiesbaden, a small filter element from Bieland, a water purifier manufacturer, costs nearly 100 yuan. In the north-western town of Gutterlo, mino washing machines cost nearly 10,000 yuan, more than three times as much as normal washing machines.
At Munich airport, almost every Chinese tourist returning home is carrying a set of "Shuangli Ren" cooking POTS and pans. The price of this kind of cooker is dozens of times that of the cooker made in China, but its excellent performance makes the Chinese people who are good at making daily necessities marvel at it. Many people don't know that "Made in Germany" was once as cheap and low-quality as "Made in China" is today. In order to distinguish themselves from German goods, Britain specifically required German products to be labeled "Made in Germany" when they were exported. But these days "Made in Germany" has become a byword for quality.
A strong monetary policy is an important reason why German companies create high value-added products. But According to Schwank, chairman of Roland Berger's supervisory board, German companies are also driven by a unique business culture. 'The U.S. represents a merchant culture that seeks short-term profits and personal wealth,' he said, citing a study by German scholar Ulrike Reisach. Germany, on the other hand, represents a handicraft culture that strives to create long-lasting products.
The handicraft culture of German business originated from the founders of German enterprises. Like Werner von Siemens, the founder of Siemens, most of the founders of German enterprises are scientists or inventors, who have great enthusiasm for science and innovation. "From the beginning, they pursued practical applications of science, not just wealth." Schwank said.
At Siemens headquarters in downtown Munich, Natalie von Siemens, a sixth generation member of the Siemens family, greeted us warmly. "Siemens retains my great-great-grandfather's passion for innovation," she says. He always said he had an absolute passion for science, but the most important thing for him was to combine science with practical applications."
The handicraft culture enables German companies to maintain a long-term vision, focus on the original enterprise goals and stick to them, even in difficult times, never lose sight of the established course. As Alexandra Voss, executive Director of DIHK and General Representative of diHK's Beijing branch, said, "German companies are successful because they are committed to creating long-term product differentiation and focus on innovation rather than capital markets."
Employees develop skills and require loyalty
We arrived in Hamburg in a storm. At a Chinese restaurant near the central train station, we meet Du Dan and Kou Li, whom we met through Weibo. They are all elderly Overseas Chinese who have lived in Germany for a long time. Another important reason for the success of German companies, they say, is the quality of their workforce, underpinned by the "apprenticeships" that have long been part of Germany's vocational education system.
Under apprenticeships, 16-year-olds who choose vocational education must spend three or four years as an apprentice, says Currie, director of education at a college near Hamburg. He spent half his time "working" in factories and the other half going back to school to study theory. Unions in 450 industries also make it mandatory for workers to go through apprenticeships before they can be hired by companies. Because the training is complete, practical and professional, the average hourly wage of Blue-collar workers in Germany is far higher than that in Britain, France, the United States, Japan and other countries.
The KPM ceramics factory in central Berlin, named by Frederick the Great, is 250 years old. In modern factories, artisans still create everything by hand. Each piece they produce is expensive and goes through at least nine processes. If one link goes wrong, you have to start all over again. Therefore, every craftsman must start as an apprentice and cannot work directly on the product line without more than 5 years of experience.
The next day, Dudan gave us a tour of her company, Vision Tool. It is a small business with fewer than 30 people that rents, sells and distributes performance equipment. The owner, Stephan Schlueter, has built two successful businesses from scratch, starting as an apprentice.
We hear the word "know-how" for the first time from Sloot. It was then mentioned to us by every German employer we visited. "Know-how" means proprietary technology or know-how. In the eyes of German business owners, these "know-how" employees are extremely valuable and hold important intangible assets.
It is common for American companies to "hire when they need it and lay off when they need it", but it is not traditional in Germany. When the financial crisis hit, most German companies, unlike in the U.S., kept their surplus workers by cutting hours or profits.
Vision Tool was greatly affected by the sluggish performance market during the financial crisis. But in 2009, the most difficult year, Mr Street did not lay off staff or cut wages. No one in the company made less that year, but his profit dropped. But he has no regrets: "You lose a lot of experience by letting people go."
Due to the emphasis on "know-how", "loyalty" is the most desirable quality for German business owners in their employees. Street, and every business owner we've spoken to since, has no problem listing loyalty as the number one quality for the best employees. They want employees to stick with the company in tough times. In fact, it is not hard to find employees in Germany who have worked at one company all their lives.
3, management flat thinking, double committee system insurance
Germans are notoriously old-fashioned. During the second world War nuremberg was bombed beyond recognition. After the war, the Germans did not build a new city out of the ruins, as others had done. Instead, they rebuilt the old city exactly the same with old bricks and tiles. In enterprise management, The Germans have always adhered to the old rules of the dual committee system. According to German enterprise law, the board of directors of a company must have two systems: executive committee and supervisory committee. Before entering German enterprises, we once thought that enterprises under dual management system must be rigidly hierarchical and inflexible; However, after entering the enterprise, we found that this is not the case.
At Siemens Medical headquarters in Erlangen, south-west Germany, we were talking to Mr. Matthias Kramer, the director of public relations, when the president popped in and said to Mr. Kramer: "Do you have a minute? I want to talk to you." Even in big German multinationals, Kramer tells us, the hierarchy is not obvious. Germans are pragmatic, efficient and prefer the simplest way to solve problems. German companies prefer a more flat management model.
The iconic BMW headquarters building stands next to the Olympic Center in northern Munich. Since its inception in 1973, BMW has put "communication structure" in the first place in office building planning. Apart from finance and the chief executive's office, there are no separate offices in the four-column building, and employees work in an open environment. "The goal is to improve the efficiency of communication and communication between employees by shortening the distance." According to the BMW Museum.
The world's most advanced corporate museum is devoted to BMW's flat management philosophy. From BMW's experience, we can see that the flat way of thinking not only makes the enterprise efficient, but also reduces the distance between management and shareholders, employees and customers to a large extent, and enhances mutual trust.
In 1959, when BMW encountered the biggest financial difficulties in its history, it was the trust shown by shareholders, dealers and employees at the annual general meeting that made the company give up the takeover of Mercedes Benz and stick to independent management, which eventually turned the tide. BMW's best-selling car in history, the 3 Series Touring engine, was developed by an ordinary employee in his garage.
"Mutual trust is an important reason for BMW's success." This is the beginning of the exhibition hall introduction.
In The German media, there are few star entrepreneurs like Jobs and Zuckerberg. That may be because Germany has had centralized leaders like Hitler, kramer told us, and people are always wary of leaders who shine too bright. German entrepreneurs care more about management than leadership. These are two completely different ways of thinking.
Schwank says Germans are more in tune with Peter Drucker: "Good managers ask themselves first: What's in it for the company? Not what's in it for me. And they always say 'we' instead of 'I'." German corporate leaders are not proud of authoritarianism, but of teamwork.
"My success has been in creating teams, not as a leader, but as a member of a team," says Daniel Uff, technical director at lube oil maker Calbeque. Calbeque operates in seven countries around the world, and Uff is welcomed down the street everywhere. But instead of feeling like a "giant," he enjoyed the happiness of being with his team.
More than a decade ago, there was a fierce debate in Germany about the unique dual committee system. Many people believed that compared with the single enterprise system in the United States, this system was slower in dealing with problems and had greater internal friction. But Mr Schwank is glad that the Germans have retained it "in the old way", and thinks the supervisory board plays a role that cannot be ignored. Although its presence sometimes slows down management, this slowdown can make decision makers more aware of whether the policies to be implemented are truly aligned with the long-term interests of the company.
Schwank says the existence of a two-committee system is also crucial to the survival of German family businesses. At present, in many German family companies, family members have moved away from the actual management, but seats on supervisory boards ensure their influence over the business and keep it aligned with its original objectives.
4. Customer-centered service brings greater benefits to consumers
In the west of downtown Hamburg lies the headquarters of the Otto Group. The famous German family business is the world's mail order industry leader, has 123 businesses in 20 countries around the world, the annual turnover of more than 11.4 billion euros. Zou Guoqing, who took over as President of Otto China in March, is here to familiarize himself with the new company's business philosophy and operations.
In just three months on the job, one thing struck him. Mr. Otto, the founder, was asked, 'Your company is so big and profitable, why don't you go public? Otto replied: I don't want my employees working for profit. "It's very profound." "He wants employees to bring greater benefits to consumers," Zou said. Because this company puts its employees and customers first
