The wave of layoffs at the end of 2021 also splashed on business leaders.
Since the second half of this year, Chinese stocks have encountered obstacles in overseas markets and repeatedly collapsed in the secondary market; at the same time, the repeated tossing and turning of the epidemic has also put pressure on performance. Companies have shrunk their fronts and implemented a strategy of tuning and reducing burdens for less "important" businesses.
This change actually has already foreshadowed. In May, Zhang Yiming resigned as chief CEO of ByteDance and stepped down as chairman of the company; in October, Kuaishou adjusted its organizational structure and co-founder Su Hua resigned as CEO; in November, Haier founder Zhang Ruimin resigned as chairman of the board; in December, Wahaha Group issued an announcement of personnel changes, and Zong Fuli became vice chairman and general manager of the group...
The change of leadership is not only a simple change of power cores, but also a logical trend behind the future development of the enterprise.
"Shift shift" and "decentralization" become a good medicine for transformation?
The time is different from previous years, and this year's capital market is particularly tortuous.
From the perspective of the external environment, the outbreak of the epidemic in 2019 is still repeatedly continuing, which has more or less affected the development of enterprises; and from the perspective of the internal environment, the problems of the company's own organizational structure have been gradually exposed along with the turbulence of the market situation.
Taking Kuaishou as an example, in the second half of this year, Kuaishou has made two drastic organizational restructurings in a row in order to repair the enterprise management dilemma.
Since its listing, the market value of Kuaishou has evaporated by more than 70%. As the first share of short video Kuaishou, although it has a name on its head, it is "nominal".
From the perspective of daily activity, the latest data shows that Kuaishou's daily active is only 320 million, while the daily active of Douyin is more than 600 million. The subsequent weak daily growth rate also further shows that Kuaishou has touched the growth ceiling. According to the financial report data, in the third quarter of 2020, kuaishou daily active has reached 272 million, and the 50% growth rate of that year has gone.
What has long been criticized is Kuaishou's dual-core governance structure, which also lays a deep foreshadowing for Kuaishou's subsequent enterprise management chaos.
Previously, Kuaishou was chaired and CEO by Su Hua, while Cheng Yixiao was behind the scenes, responsible for product-related matters, and the two of them had a main inside and a main outside, leading the rapid development of Kuaishou in a dual-core governance manner.
However, the dispersion of power has further brought about the separation of strategic positioning, and the degree of cooperation and tacit understanding between the two sides will profoundly affect the development process of enterprises.
The dual-core governance structure has brought a fragmented development idea to Kuaishou, and the chaotic strategic logic has also pulled Kuaishou into the downhill road. Therefore, what we can see is that Kuaishou hopes to change the original dual-core thinking in the way of Cheng Yixiao's exit to reduce the efficiency and internal friction caused by the dispersion of power.
The adjustment of the internal organizational structure of enterprises is the top priority in modern corporate governance. Once there is a shift in strategic thinking, the only compromise approach may be to change leaders.
Lazada, which focuses on the Southeast Asian market, is also a "victim" of frequent changes in organizational structure. Since 2017, Lazada has welcomed a number of core management from Alibaba and changed CEOs 4 times in five years. From Daniel Zhang assistant to Peng Lei, one of the "Eighteen Arhats of Ali", frequent executive changes have obviously brought higher management costs to Lazada.
According to research firm iPrice Group, Shoppee has surpassed Lazada since Q2 2019. In Indonesia, Lazada lags behind Tokopedia with Shopee and the local market, which also reflects Ali's defeat in the Southeast Asian market.
For Ali, the overseas market is obviously not as simple as imagined; when more enterprises, from Ali's failure, they will also realize that the adjustment of the organizational structure of enterprises needs more thinking.
The change of corporate power cores may determine the future rise and fall of enterprises. However, whether we can really solve the root cause of development by relying only on "shifting" or "decentralization" still needs to withstand the test of time.
Behind the changes, enterprises urgently need to add fresh "blood"?
The rise and fall of positions is not the main purpose of the adjustment of the organizational structure of the enterprise, but the core management as the decision-making center of the enterprise, their changes also affect the future direction of the enterprise.
After Wahaha released the announcement of personnel changes, many people believe that this domestic veteran beverage company will usher in new changes.
Wahaha originated in China, relying on the huge "joint sales body" model, connecting thousands of first-level distributors, tens of thousands of second-level distributors and sales terminals, making China's largest food and beverage giant. But behind it, Zong Qinghou's figure appeared in every corner of wahaha enterprises.
Wahaha can become the first echelon of the domestic beverage industry, and Zong Qinghou has made an indispensable contribution. At the helm of Wahaha for 34 years, he is almost a "god" existence in Wahaha.
Zong Qinghou, who is now 76 years old, is gradually getting old, and Wahaha seems to be aging together. Aging brands, lack of blockbuster products and the squeeze on Internet channels are all sounding alarm bells towards the beverage giant.
In search of that second-year growth curve, Wahaha had to seek a shift. Among them, innovation is the key to the current Wahaha's lack of the most.
For this problem, Zong Qinghou was actually aware of it earlier. Previously, in the CCTV "Dialogue" program, Zong Qinghou bluntly said that one of the important reasons for the decline of Wahaha is the lack of innovative products.
It is not difficult to see why Wahaha will delegate power to Zong Fuli at this time node.
For a long time, Zong Fuli has been working hard to lead Wahaha to achieve brand rejuvenation. In the Mid-Autumn Festival of 2018, Wahaha cross-border launched the AD calcium milk "Milk Heart Mooncake"; and joined hands with Zhong Xuegao, who was in the fire at that time, to launch a joint "juvenile ice cream".
At the same time, Zong Fuli is also trying to join the Z generation trend, from participating in the 2020 B Station Offline Carnival, to cooperating with Bubble Mart to launch "Blind Water"... Although it has not brought substantial effects to Wahaha's performance, at least it can be seen that Wahaha, which has gradually withdrawn from the line of sight, has finally returned to the public's vision.
For established companies, the leader's solidified thinking often leads to a deadlock in the development of the company, especially the sensitivity to market changes is also reduced. Today's Wahaha will fall into the dilemma of only AD calcium milk, nutrition express, and pure water, which is deeply related to Zong Qinghou's management model.
A good leader can lead the enterprise to a higher point; but no leader can always lead the enterprise to go down. Today's Wahaha has fallen into this dilemma. And want to re-seize the market opportunity, absorb young blood to revitalize the rigid plate, get rid of the thinking solidification of the post-Zongqing era, and become the optimal solution for Wahaha.
Time has passed, and no matter how powerful the enterprise, it cannot escape the passage of time. As strong as Wahaha, the powerful traditional channels gradually lost their advantages in the diversified market; and as the "first share of short video", it was difficult to escape the fate of being surpassed by the latecomers.
In this way, the change of corporate management, the problem to be faced, is not only the "shadow" within the enterprise, but also the long-term future of the enterprise.