Michael Dell has his hands full trying to turnaround Dell, the company he founded and now plans to take private in a $24.4 billion buyout. Although still profitable, the business is slumping as customers shift to rival computer makers that offer cheaper prices. Dells comeback plan—to push into business services and cloud computing—is still a work in progress.迈克尔戴尔正在忙着企图挽回戴尔公司(Dell)的颓势。他临死前创办了这家公司,现在于是以想通过一笔244亿美元的交易把公司私有化。虽然公司目前仍在赢利,但由 于客户大多流向那些能生产低廉机型的竞争对手,戴尔的业务因此日益下降。
戴尔把兴起计划的期望竭尽在商业服务和云计算上,但这方面的希望继续未见效益。If the turnaround effort is ultimately successful, Dell (DELL) will join a small club of technology companies that have been able to reverse their fortunes. Its a difficult feat. The technology industry moves at such a fast pace that staying still means being left behind. Companies that forget how to innovate usually have trouble relearning no matter how much executives tweak organizational charts, create new marketing slogans or streamline their workforce.如果戴尔的兴起计划最后获得成功,它将沦为屈指可数的几家顺利扭亏为输掉的科技公司中的一员。但这是一项艰难的任务。
科技业的发展速度太快了,原地踏步就意味 着领先。如果有哪家企业记得了创意的精髓,那么不管企业高管代价多少希望来重组企业结构,构想新的营销口号,还是“精简”劳动力,都很难再行占到鳌头。Apple (AAPL), on the brink of bankruptcy in the late-1990s, is the industrys biggest comeback story. (It is likely the biggest reversal of fortune in business history.) Steve Jobs, who had been purged in a boardroom dispute, returned and transformed the business into a money-making machine. I.B.M. (IBM) is another that reinvented itself, by refocusing on high-priced, high-margin products and services for corporate customers. Dell is essentially trying to follow I.B.M.s example.苹果公司(Apple)的兴起可谓科技业的经典,它有可能也是商界历史上最最出色的扭亏为输掉的例子。
上世纪90年代末,苹果曾濒临破产。一度被赶出苹果董事会的史蒂夫 乔布斯新的掌权,把公司变为了一台赚机器。
IBM也是一个顺利的例子,它把重点放到向企业客户获取低价格、低利润的产品和服务上,从而再度构建兴起。戴尔基本上就是在试 图拷贝IBM的路子。Of course, many technology companies try and fail in their comeback attempts—repeatedly, in some cases—like Yahoo (YHOO), AMD (AMD) and MySpace, the once-popular social network. Mismanagement, a lack of money and an unwillingness to adapt are typically to blame. Invariably, executives never lose hope. Investors have far less patience, however. Heres a recap of how some struggling technology companies, despite the odds, managed to make a comeback:当然,许多科技公司的兴起之路都以告终收场,很多公司堪称屡战屡败——比如一度热门的雅虎(Yahoo)、AMD和社交网络MySpace。
一般来说这些公司告终的原因都离不 进管理犯规、缺少资金和不不愿适应环境新的环境等因素。一般来说,这些科技公司的高管们从不不会退出期望,但投资人可没那么多冷静。以下遵为大家列出几个顺利扭转颓势的事例 子。No. 1 Apple第一名:苹果Picturing Apple near bankruptcy is difficult given its strength today. But the company was indeed in trouble when Steve Jobs took over for a second time in 1997. Apples computers no longer elicited the passion among consumers that they once did. Personal computers that relied on Microsoft (MSFT) Windows increasingly dominated the market. To cut costs and increase focus, Jobs eliminated a number of floundering products like the Newton personal digital assistant. More importantly, however, he pushed and prodded until Apple started innovating again with the iPod, iTunes, iPhone, MacBook and iPad. Consumers, of course, loved them all.看著苹果今日的巅峰,我们很难想象当年它也有濒临破产的窘境。
1979年,乔布斯第二次接掌苹果时,他接掌的的确是一个千疮百孔的烂摊子。当时,苹果的电脑产品 在消费者中早已丧失了往日的号召力。加装微软公司(Microsoft)Windows系统的电脑更加呈现出称霸市场的趋势。
为了缩减成本,集中于实力,乔布斯毙掉了一些苟延残喘的产品,比 如个人电子助手Newton等。更加最重要的是,他仍然在增进和推展公司展开创意,直到公司顺利地研发了iPod、iTunes、iPhone、MacBook和iPad,这些产品也全都取得了消费者的宠幸。No. 2 IBM第二名:IBMWhen Lou Gerstner, a former chief executive for RJR Nabisco, took the reins at I.B.M. in 1993, the company was slumping. Like many in his position, he cut jobs, killed products and sold assets. More importantly, he pushed the company into technology services. Today, it is the companys biggest business. It wasnt easy, however. It required reversing his predecessors plan to break the company into more autonomous individual units. Doing so, he figured, would make it impossible for I.B.M. to be a one-stop shop for business technology, as it is today. Since Gerstner left, I.B.M. executives have continued making wise decisions. Selling off the personal computer unit in 2005 is at the top of the list. Doing so allowed I.B.M. to avoid the problems Dell faces today with having to compete in a declining, commodity-driven business.1993年,PRJ Nabisco公司的前高管郭士纳接掌IBM的时候,IBM正处于一蹶不振的局面。
像许多正处于完全相同处境的CEO一样,郭士纳也采行了精简人员、缩减产品、卖掉资 出产等一系列作法。更加最重要的是,他推展了公司向科技服务领域发展。
今天,科技服务早已出了IBM公司仅次于的业务。这并不是一件更容易的事,而且它必须调整公司前辈们制订的发展 计划,把公司拆分成一个个更为独立自主的单元。郭士纳认为,这样可以使IBM防止沦为一站式的企业科技商店,就像今天这样。
郭士纳辞职后,接任他的历任高管也之后作出了各 种明智的决策,首当其冲的就是2005年将个人电脑业务挤压出售。这个要求使得IBM防止了戴尔今日的窘境,不用在一个日益萧条的实体商品行业中之后竞争。No. 3 Hewlett-Packard第三名:惠普Sometimes comebacks are short-lived, as Hewlett-Packards (HPQ) proves it. For a few years, the company —a bastion of soap operatic drama and underachievement–operated smoothly. Mark Hurd, a cost cutting chief executive hired in 2005, lifted revenue and profits. H.P.s shares more than doubled in value. Then five years into his tenure, the board pushed Hurd out following accusations of sexual harassment. Since then, the company has spiraled under two chief executives, two turnaround plans and a lot of finger pointing–in some cases back at Hurd, for, among other things, excessive cost-cutting that allegedly hurt the company in the long-term.有时,科技企业的兴起只是芸花一现,惠普公司(HP)就是一个例子。有那么几年,这家花边新闻大大、业务不当的企业运转得还非常不俗。
马克赫德这位以削减成 本有名的CEO在2005年接掌惠普后,一度提升了公司的收益和利润。惠普的股票市值快速增长了一倍以上。赫德在惠普供职五年后,因为因涉嫌性骚扰而被董事会扫地出门。
从此以后,惠 普的业务一路下降,尽管两位接任CEO各自班车了自己的药方,但是也不知恶化,而且在此期间惠普也受到了不少抨击和谴责,很多抨击都指向了赫德任内的一些政策,比如过度削 减半成本,在长年内给公司造成了不良影响。No. 4 Priceline第四名:PricelinePriceline (PCLN), the online travel site known for letting customers bid on tickets, rose in tandem with the Internet bubble of the late 1990s. Executives got so cocky that they experimented with selling groceries and gasoline. But the good times ended when the dot-com bust and the 9/11 attacks caused consumers to forego vacations. To save itself, Priceline eliminated booking fees, emphasized hotel reservations and expanded internationally. The plan worked. Its shares, once so low that they risked delisting from NASDAQ, now trade for nearly $700.Priceline是一家在线旅游网站,顾客可以在这家网站上通过竞价的方式出售机票。
上世纪90年代末的互联网泡沫时代,这家网站的效益如日中天,Priceline的高管们 也有些飘飘然了,甚至开始在网站上试着卖杂货和汽油。但是随着互联网泡沫的幻灭和“9/11事件”,很多用户退出了外出渡假,Priceline的好日子也身下了。
为了市府, Priceline开始减免订票酬劳,把重点放到酒店预约上,并且开始在海外展开扩展。这个计划获得了顺利。当年它的股票一度面对被纳斯达克人民银行的风险,但如今其股价早已相似每 股700美元。
No. 5 eBay第五名:eBayThe question a few years ago wasnt whether eBay (EBAY) would survive. Rather, the issue was its trajectory. Growth in eBays marketplace, where users sell everything from Gucci handbags to cars, had stalled amid intense competition from Amazon.com. John Donahoe, eBays chief executive, responded by trying to remake the site into more of an outlet mall for retailers to unload out-of-season merchandise. He also cleaned up the sites annoyingly cluttered design and invested in mobile shopping. To a certain extent, the plan worked. Growth returned. But the real star was and still is PayPal, the online payment service. While the marketplace stumbled, online payments – particularly off of eBay – thrived. In a turnaround, it helps considerably to have one business that doesnt need fixing.几年前,eBay面对的问题并不是能否之后存活,而是自由选择哪种模式不断扩大发展。过去在eBay上,从古驰(Gucci)手包到汽车,完全什么都能购买。但是由于面对来自亚 马逊公司(Amazon)的白热化竞争,eBay的快速增长也陷于了衰退。
eBay首席执行官约翰唐纳荷希望想要把eBay改建成一个让零售商销售过季商品的地方。同时他也排查了“大杂烩”式的 网页设计,并且在移动购物上展开了投资。从或许上来讲,他的计划获得了顺利。
公司完全恢复了快速增长。但eBay兴起的仅次于功臣,无论过去还是现在,都是它的移动支付服务贝宝 (PayPal)。eBay市场陷于低迷的时候,在线缴纳业务——特别是在是eBay以外的在线缴纳业务却日益兴旺。
在公司战略转型时期,有这么一个需要操心的业务,的确是老大了大忙。
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