Fang Hongbo: Beauty's "no city to defend"

Fang Hongbo believes that there is no second choice for the current beauty, and only by daring to deny themselves can they "phoenix nirvana".

Wen | Reporter Liu Weiqi of China Entrepreneur

Edited | Mina

Head photography | Deng Pan

At the beginning of 2021, Fang Hongbo, chairman of Midea Group, raised his concerns at the annual meeting of the group's operation and management: "Will Midea miss the next era?" ”

In Fang Hongbo's view, "Suffering and crisis are not wealth, overcoming and overcoming are." In 2020, every day is very long, we are anxious and helpless, but the more difficult the years, the more we have to look back and summarize, we will find that 2020 may be a watershed, some companies will become great enterprises, and some companies may decline from here. ”

Fang Hongbo believes that the epidemic is a "mirror" that exposes the problem. To reflect on what was done wrong? Will the next era be missed?

He judged that no competitive advantage in the future will be eternal, and that advantage will become more and more short-lived, which means that "there is nothing to keep in beauty."

After realizing this, Fang Hongbo believes that there is no second choice for the beauty of the moment, and only by daring to deny himself can he "phoenix nirvana". The word "negation" has been mentioned many times by Fang Hongbo in the past year. He said, "In the United States, there is nothing that cannot be denied. ”

On December 30, 2020, Midea's re-planning of the overall business structure was regarded as the beginning of Midea's self-denial and self-reconstruction. With this adjustment, Midea has replaced the original four major segments into a new five major business segments: smart home business group, mechanical and electrical business group, HVAC and building business group, robot and automation business unit and digital innovation business.

At this time, Midea Group has achieved operating income of 284.2 billion yuan in 2020, and is a global home appliance giant ranked 288th in the world's top 500. As of the close of trading on November 17, 2021, midea group's A stock market value was as high as 503.5 billion yuan.

This series of figures outlines the grand territory of the Midea Group, but in the face of these, Fang Hongbo still has a strong sense of crisis.

This crisis stems from the fact that as Midea's business spreads across the globe, companies must undergo deeper levels of change and innovation. At the above-mentioned annual management meeting, Fang Hongbo said, "The future of U.S. investment must dare to make subversive investments." ”

Since Midea's $29.2 billion acquisition of KUKA Robots on January 6, 2017, Midea seems to have embarked on its disruptive investment path.

However, after the acquisition of KUKA, Midea's transformation into the field of robotics is not smooth. KUKA not only failed to bring new revenue growth to Midea, but also dragged down Midea's financial report data for a time. It was not until 2021 that KUKA announced a profit of 45.5 million euros in the first three quarters, achieving a turnaround, compared with a loss of 70.5 million euros in the same period last year.

Since KUKA, Midea's diversification has also accelerated across the board. On February 2 this year, Wandong Medical issued an announcement that Midea had acquired 29.09% of its shares. In March this year, Midea established Hefei Midea Biomedical Co., Ltd. in a low-key manner.

In addition, Midea is also seeking a new way out of the robot business in the hottest car industry. On May 18 this year, Midea Group's Mechanical and Electrical Business Group released a CO2 rotor type automotive electric compressor in Hefei. In March last year, Midea also acquired a controlling stake in Hekang Xinneng for 731 million yuan through its subsidiaries, becoming its controlling shareholder.

Fang Hongbo once said: "If we continue to follow the old road, we will never reach a new place." Today, he is leading Midea Group, China's largest home appliance company, into a leading technology group for consumer appliances, HVAC, robotics and industrial automation systems.

Since taking over the baton from He Xiangjian in 2012, Fang Hongbo has officially entered the tenth year of taking charge of the Midea Group. Although ten years of grinding a sword, but now Fang Hongbo has begun a new self-denial, he hopes to personally bury the old forces, embrace new forces, new thinking, let the beauty of the phoenix nirvana. Will he get his wish?

#中国企业领袖年会 #