Source: Smart Investors

Louis Gerstner (Louis Gerstner) once said an axiom in the commercial sea:

Small companies are agile, entrepreneurial, quick to respond, and efficient; large companies are slow, bureaucratic, unresponsive, and inefficient.

Guo Shina, known as the “e-commerce giant” by “Time”, used to be the chairman and CEO of the multinational tech giant IBM.

He once proposed that IBM must transform its strategy, starting with reshaping the corporate culture, and initiated a series of drastic changes. In a short period of time, the results are remarkable.

Founder Watson summed up his values as IBM's “basic beliefs”: excellence; high quality customer service; and respect for individuals.

IBM also institutionalized these beliefs and reflected them in various aspects such as enterprise management, employee benefit training, and product marketing. It is this culture that has made IBM an aircraft carrier in the field of technology through decades of continuous and excellent development.

A company's belief

Thomas Watson Jr., the second-generation founder of IBM, once perfectly described the corporate culture that a top company should have in the book “The Faith of an Enterprise.”

“Every day, lots of new news and new books claim that because of this or that kind of invention, business will be revolutionized in one way or another. But if you take a close look at those great big companies, and then look at those failed or mediocre companies, you'll find that nothing really important in business has changed.

Science and technology have sprung up wave after wave, and new advertising methods have evolved wave after wave, but for a company leader, the most important factor for enterprise success 50 years ago or even 500 years ago is still as important today.

These factors inspire our employees to bring out their best talents, provide the highest quality service in the world, and believe that we can do these tasks excellently in carrying out all of our tasks.”

Here are some excerpts from classic phrases:

1. Why does a company gradually decline or go bankrupt? Technological development, changes in taste, and fashion migration have all played a part.

In fact, some businesses are thriving, while others in the same industry may falter or completely fail. Often we attribute these differences to a company's ability to operate, market judgment, and leadership.

Each of these factors is critical, and no one can question their importance. However, I doubt whether these factors themselves are decisive.

I strongly believe that the real factor that determines the success or failure of an enterprise can often be traced back to the question of how the company motivates its employees to make the most of their energy and talents.

What steps has this company taken to help people find their common cause? It also guides people to keep moving in the right direction, even though they may have such rivalries and differences.

2. If you look at any large company that still exists after years of vicissitudes, I think you'll find that it all has its own resilience. This is not about the form or management skills of an organization, but rather about the influence of what we call beliefs, and the appeal of those beliefs to their employees.

3. Compared with factors such as technical ability or economic resources, organizational structure, reform and innovation, and timing selection, the basic values, spirit, and driving forces of an enterprise are more closely linked to the relative results achieved by this enterprise. All of these play an important role in the success of an enterprise.

However, in my opinion, these factors are completely surpassed by the level of trust placed in them by the company's employees and the level of loyalty in implementing them.

4. Respect for individuals is a very simple concept, but it's an important part of IBM's management, and we've put more effort into it than anything else...

Some have established a unique kind of respect and concern for ordinary people when they enter the leadership hierarchy, and express sympathy and understanding for the problems these people have encountered.

5. Our management is aware that everyone will encounter all kinds of problems, have their own ambitions, talents, setbacks, and pursue their own goals.

We just want to make sure no one gets lost in this business until they're treated fairly.

6. Managers must understand how to work with their subordinates, how to help them, and how to train them. For example, if a salesperson is in trouble, we suggest that the department head, or even the regional manager, should call him and communicate to help him continue to improve and improve.

7. Many years ago, all piece-rate work was abolished in our factory. In the factory, frontline managers don't count data on parts production because we don't want them to directly link employees' performance evaluations to the quantity of parts they produce.

The remuneration received by IBM employees is based on his manager's assessment of their overall contribution to the company.

8. At IBM we frequently mention that we need some “wild ducks.” You can domesticate these wild ducks. But you can't make them go from being docile to being wild again.

People can also think that domesticated wild ducks will never go anywhere again. We believe every business needs its own wild duck. At IBM, we do everything we can to avoid domesticating them.

9. IBM's third belief is the real power to drive the other two beliefs to significant effect. We believe that a company should pursue all of its goals with the belief that they will be able to achieve them excellently, and that IBM expects and requires its employees to perform at the best in everything they do.

I think this belief can be used as a trick to trigger people's fanaticism for perfection, as well as all the psychological barriers that go along with this fanaticism.

Based on an obsessive and relentless pursuit of perfection and full investment in those hard-to-reach goals, a new atmosphere for the pursuit of the best was soon created within the company.

It is a blend of optimism, enthusiasm, excitement, and a steady pace.

10. A company can only excel if it is willing to take on tasks that seem impossible.

11. He was able to maintain an optimistic and positive attitude when the situation was difficult and the company was struggling. But while everything is going well and our future is bright, he never ceases to warn us to beware of complacency.

12. I strongly believe that, given our beliefs and early leadership skills, we are likely to be outstanding top leaders no matter what industry we work in.

13. Small company mentality is a term we use a lot. We did our best to recommend it.

14. No matter how good your employees are, it's extremely difficult if they don't really love the business, if they don't feel they can fully participate in it, or if they don't think they're being treated fairly — if they want the company to take off.

edit/lambor