松下新總裁也要"炮打司令部"?大綱

It is not often the plans of a Japanese company president remind you of the slogans of Chinese dictator Mao Zedong.

日本企業總裁的計劃很少會讓人聯想到中國獨裁者毛澤東的口號。

But two of the most important strategies of Kazuhiro Tsuga – newly charged with turning round Panasonic– are uncannily reminiscent of slogans coined by the late Communist party chairman.

但松下(Panasonic)新任總裁、擔負扭虧重任的津賀一宏(Kazuhiro Tsuga)的兩個最重要戰略，卻奇怪地讓人想起這位已故中共領導人創造的口號。

First, there is "Bombard the Headquarters" – the words with which Mao in 1966 declared war on a party core he saw as an obstacle to leftist revolution.

第一個是"炮打司令部"。1966年，毛澤東藉着這樣的口號，對黨內一些他認爲阻礙左翼革命的核心成員公開宣戰。

The personable Mr Tsuga is not about to unleash a horde of fanatical Red Guards against Panasonic's HQ in the western city of Osaka – but nor is he pulling punches. He readily seconds the view of a former president of the electronics group who accuses HQ staff of ignorance of the "importance of added value" and of being "preoccupied with internal negotiations". He also plans radically to restructure and to recategorise, with most HQ functions being distributed to business units or simply removed.

風度翩翩的津賀一宏並不是要發動大羣狂熱的"紅衛兵"，對松下位於日本西部大阪市的總部展開圍攻，但他也絕不手下留情。他非常贊成這家電器集團的一位前總裁的觀點，後者批評松下總部的人忽視"增值的重要性"，"只顧着內部協商"。他還計劃大刀闊斧地進行重組和重新劃分職能，把總部的大部分職能或者下放給業務部門，或者乾脆取消。

"Currently the headquarters employ about 7,000 people," says Mr Tsuga, who became Panasonic president last month. "We are trying to minimise it to several hundred."

上月履新的津賀一宏說："目前總部大約有7000名員工，我們正在努力將這一數目裁減到幾百人。"

Then there is Mao's 1957 instruction to China: "Let a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend" – a line of classical poetry the Great Helmsman turned into a call for progress by means of freer thinking by intellectuals and scientists.

第二個口號是毛澤東1957年提出的指導方針："百花齊放、百家爭鳴"。"偉大的舵手"借用這句經典詩句，要求知識分子和科學工作者解放思想、取得進步。

Mr Tsuga, who has degrees in bioengineering and computer science, is less metaphorical than Mao – and convincingly denies seeing the chairman as an inspiration. But he too hopes to lead a flowering of creative thinking and competitive instincts at Panasonic's nearly 90 business units.

擁有生物工程和計算機科學學位的津賀一宏不像毛澤東那麼善於比喻，他也大有理由否認他的靈感來自毛澤東。但他也希望在他的領導下，松下近90個業務部門能夠呈現創意思維"齊放"、人才互相"爭鳴"的局面。

Under his plan to cultivate "autonomous responsible management", units generating healthy profits will be left largely alone. But those with operating profits of less than 5 per cent will come under the slimline HQ's scrutiny and will be forced to demonstrate how they can recover.

根據他的提倡"自主負責管理"計劃，效益好的部門基本上將可以自己做主。而經營利潤佔比不到5%的部門將接受瘦身後的總部的監督，並須拿出重振計劃。

The idea is to re-energise a company Mr Tsuga himself likens to a cluster of small- and medium-sized enterprises. To survive, units must show they can find their own way: "They should compete with each other."

這個想法是爲了在集團內部重新激起活力——津賀一宏把松下比喻爲由一羣中小企業組成的集羣。要生存下去，各部門必須證明他們能夠找到自己應該走的方向。津賀一宏表示："他們彼此之間應互相競爭。"

Whether these new approaches work matters not only to Panasonic, its 330,000 employees and its shareholders – who have seen the company's shares slide from more than Y2,800 in 2005 to only Y610 yesterday.

這些新舉措能否湊效不僅關乎松下、33萬名員工及其股東（松下股價已從2005年的2800日元以上跌到了610日元左右）。

Success would also offer desperately needed inspiration for an electronics sector that was Japan's pride – but which is battered by US, South Korean and Chinese rivals.

如果這些舉措獲得成功，日本電器行業將從中得到急需的鼓舞。電器行業曾經是日本的驕傲，而如今美國、韓國、中國的對手已經讓它"遍體鱗傷"。

Further affected by slowing overseas demand, a rising yen and natural disaster, the sector has been awash with red ink.

海外需求疲軟、日元升值、自然災難又帶來了進一步的打擊，日本電器行業深陷虧損的泥潭。

Panasonic's net loss of Y772bn for the year to March was the biggest in its 94-year history. Sony suffered its own record annual loss of Y457bn. Sharp set a company low by losing Y376bn.

在截至3月的一年中，松下淨虧損7720億日元，爲公司創建94年以來的最大虧損。索尼(Sony)也創下了全年虧損4570億日元的紀錄。夏普(Sharp)虧損額最小，爲3760億日元。

Mr Tsuga says Panasonic is already on track for a "V-shaped recovery". And he is surely right to reject its past approach of seeking higher profits from larger sales, particularly of TVs – an increasingly commoditised product area which high-cost Japan used to dominate but in which it now struggles.

津賀一宏表示，松下已經走上了"V字型的復甦"軌道。他拋棄松下過去尋求通過擴大銷量提高利潤的做法無疑是正確的，松下原來尤其喜歡在電視方面採用這種方法，以高成本著稱的日本過去在這個產品領域佔據着主導地位，但是現在電視日益商品化，以致日本企業在這個領域不得不苦苦掙扎。

However, some observers doubt Mr Tsuga's confidence that a smaller TV business can be put back in the black.

然而，一些觀察家對津賀一宏的自信表示懷疑：電視業務縮減規模後就能恢復盈利嗎？

His strategy has other challenges. One is it relies on changing how managers think: making them more profit-conscious; more self-reliant; and more aware of developments outside their silos. Mao could wash brains by means of mass-struggle sessions, but Mr Tsuga must use gentler tactics. Tinkering with seniority-based pay is one option, but details are scarce. "We need to discuss how we can realise such profit-oriented, performance-based remuneration," he says.

他的戰略還面臨其他的挑戰。其一，戰略能否成功，取決於管理人員思維模式的改變：讓他們加強盈利意識；更加自力更生；並更深刻地意識到自己所在領域之外的發展。毛澤東可以通過羣衆批鬥大會給人們"洗腦"，但津賀一宏就必須使用更加柔和的策略。拿資歷薪酬制度開刀是可取的，但還缺乏具體細節。他說："我們需要探討如何建立以盈利爲導向、基於業績的薪酬體系。"

To devolve power and to diversify also carry risks, although Mr Tsuga points out that focusing on the wrong things – such as TVs – merely caused bigger losses. Instead of focus, he intends to redefine businesses in reference to the customers they serve, with an overarching emphasis on "green" products.

權力下放和業務多元化也會帶來風險，不過津賀一宏指出，目標錯誤——比如着重於電視產品——只會造成更大的虧損。與集中策略不同，他打算根據所服務的客戶對業務進行重新界定，最主要的重點將放在"綠色產品"。

Failure of past Japanese electronics turnround plans means investors ought to be sceptical. Panasonic has recently fallen short of the utopian dreams of founder Konosuke Matsushita, who thought manufactured goods should be as plentiful and cheap as tap water.

鑑於日本電器企業過去的扭虧計劃均以失敗告終，投資者理應抱着懷疑的態度。松下近來已經偏離了松下幸之助(Konosuke Matsushita)的烏托邦夢想，這位創始人認爲，經由製造的商品應該就像自來水一樣，充足、便宜。

Yet Mr Tsuga will surely do better than Mao, whose hundred flowers campaign degenerated into a leftist crackdown and whose HQ bombardment deepened the chaos of the Cultural Revolution. Unlike the late chairman, Panasonic's new president is at least trying to go in the right direction.

不過津賀一宏無疑會做得比毛澤東好，後者的"百花齊放"運動最終演化爲一場左翼鎮壓運動，"炮打司令部"也加重了文化大革命的混亂。與毛澤東不同，松下新任總裁至少是在努力朝着正確的方向走。