Analysis of the Reasons for the Losses of Domestic Mobile Phones
In the development process of domestic mobile phones, the phenomenon of being in a long - term loss state has attracted wide attention. An analyst from a securities company pointed out that the factors causing the losses of domestic mobile phones are complex and diverse, which can be divided into individual factors and common factors.
Personality factors cover aspects such as mistakes in corporate business decision-making, lack of competitiveness in the organizational management structure, and internal strife and consumption. Corporate business decision-making is like a compass in navigation. Once the direction is wrong, the enterprise will get lost in the market ocean. Wrong decisions may lead to problems such as deviation in product positioning and ineffectiveness of marketing strategies, making it difficult for mobile phones to gain a foothold in the market. The loss of competitiveness in the organizational management structure is like an unstable foundation of a building, which cannot efficiently coordinate various resources within the enterprise, affecting production efficiency and product quality. And internal strife and consumption are like a "black hole" of internal depletion, wasting the enterprise's energy and resources for no reason and weakening the overall strength of the enterprise.
The common factors include a sharp increase in inventory, an increase in new entrants, intensified suppression of mid - and low - end mobile phones by foreign mobile phone manufacturers, and the impact of unlicensed mobile phones. A sharp increase in inventory means a large amount of corporate funds are tied up, which increases the cost burden and also exposes the company to the risk of product obsolescence and depreciation. The increase in new entrants makes market competition more intense and divides up the already limited market share. Relying on their advantages in technology, brand, etc., foreign mobile phone manufacturers have increased their investment in the mid - and low - end mobile phone market, further squeezing the living space of domestic mobile phone manufacturers. The existence of unlicensed mobile phones disrupts the market order. Their low - price and low - quality products impact the market and pose huge challenges to regular domestic mobile phone enterprises.
Overall, the losses of domestic mobile phones mainly stem from two problems. I. Slow market response. Measured by the speed of new product launches, domestic mobile phones often lag behind their competitors. In a rapidly changing market environment, consumers' demands for new products are changing with each passing day. If new products that meet market demands cannot be launched in a timely manner, they will be eliminated by the market. II. Insufficient comprehensive capabilities of their own. With technology at the core, domestic mobile phones have shortcomings in R & D, innovation and other aspects. Technology is the core driving force for enterprise development. Without core technologies, it is difficult to form a differentiated competitive advantage in the market and they can only get involved in low - level competition such as price wars. If these two problems are not effectively solved, it will be difficult to reverse the loss situation of domestic mobile phones.
Reflection on the attribution of corporate losses
Two months ago, upon seeing reports about the losses of domestic mobile phone companies, one couldn't help but feel a multitude of emotions. This loss phenomenon doesn't only exist in the mobile phone industry; it also occurs from time to time in industries such as televisions, refrigerators, and computers. When enterprises face losses, bosses often attribute the reasons to the poor macro - economy or a sluggish market. However, is this way of attributing the causes reasonable?
Zhang Fushifu, the former president of Toyota, once said, "If a company attributes its poor performance to a sluggish market or the macro - environment, it means the general manager is shirking responsibility." Toyota's development history is a strong proof of this view. Toyota has maintained the myth of no losses for 50 years, with a net profit exceeding $10 billion. During its decades - long development, Toyota has not had a smooth journey. It has faced many challenges such as the oil crisis, the economic recession in Japan, and the financial storm, but has always remained profitable. When the Japanese yen depreciated after World War II, Kiichiro Toyoda proposed, "Even if the exchange rate is 120 yen to 1 US dollar, we must make Toyota profitable." This fully reflects the determination and sense of responsibility of Toyota's managers to challenge the environment.
Dilemmas in learning the Toyota Production System
In view of Toyota's success, many companies embarked on the journey of learning the Toyota Production System. However, several years later, the results were not satisfactory, as if they had fallen into the dilemma of "blind imitation just like Dong Shi imitating Xi Shi".
Each company has its unique development environment, historical background and culture. Toyota's production system was developed in its specific environment, and it may not be applicable for other companies to directly copy it. Different companies face different problems such as market competition, technological level and management mode. It is difficult to achieve ideal results by simply imitating Toyota's production system. Then, is there an implementation idea suitable for different companies?
Feasibility of implementing lean production from a value perspective
The answer is yes, which is to implement lean production from the perspective of value. After years of practical experience and full discussions with many Japanese lean experts, the author has proven that this is a feasible method.
First of all, implementing lean production from the perspective of value can avoid the environmental constraints and cultural influences faced by different companies. During the implementation process, we only focus on the improvements that add value to the company and reduce or eliminate processes or operations that do not add value. Through the analysis of the company's value chain, we will find that there are amazing similarities among different companies. In the manufacturing industry, inventory, handling, overproduction, etc. are all processes and operations that do not add value; in the financial industry, there are also many valueless links in the cumbersome customer service process; in the service industry, response time is an important indicator to measure the value-added rate. By conducting value analysis on each process and operation, we can identify the parts that do not add value and adopt improvement methods suitable for our company to increase the value-added rate. For example, in the medical industry, processes such as waiting for registration, waiting outside the consultation room, and waiting for medicine during a patient's medical treatment are all processes that do not add value. Only the time for the doctor's diagnosis is valuable. In the manufacturing industry, inspection and confirmation within the factory, material handling, inventory backlog, idle waiting of personnel and equipment, overproduction, rework and scrapping of defective products, as well as redundant actions and cumbersome processes between functional departments are all links that do not add value.
Secondly, from the perspective of value, it enables us to correctly use appropriate improvement tools. Many companies often directly learn some tools, such as QCC and 5S, when implementing lean production, without analyzing the company's value stream, which results in the tools becoming mere forms. For example, if a factory has a large number of defective products, simply using QCC may not be sufficient to completely solve the problem. It also requires the combination of auxiliary tools such as 5S and TPM. Analyzing from the perspective of value can help us determine which tools to use first, which to use later, and which to use in the intermediate stage, so as to reduce non - value - added processes or operations. Toyota is a good example. It is not limited to specific tool names but focuses on the actual effects of the tools and has utilized the management tools created by Americans to the fullest.
Finally, implementing lean production from the perspective of value can closely integrate implementation practices with the company's strategy. The company's main management system consists of three parts: vision and mission, organization, and management system. From the perspective of value, we can analyze from the company's vision whether the processes or operations conform to the company's mission and whether they are valuable in the company's life cycle. At the same time, by identifying the value stream, we can judge whether the current organizational structure conforms to the company's strategy, because the organizational structure of many companies reduces value addition. The value stream organization (VSO, also known as the lean organization) has become an important factor for the company to form a competitive advantage, making the direction of change clearer and the results more satisfactory.
Analyze and solve problems from the perspective of value application
So, how can we proficiently use the perspective of value to analyze and solve problems? The answer is training, and it should be continuous training. In previous consulting practices, it has been found that many capable people lack the concept of value. Although their work process seems perfect, the results are not satisfactory. Through sufficient value awareness training, their work efficiency has been greatly improved. They can identify processes and operations that did not add value in the past and propose effective improvement measures.
A large amount of practice has proven that combining internal training with external training yields better results. External training allows us to be exposed to the advanced values of outstanding external consultants and break through outdated ideologies. Internal training, on the other hand, can conduct effective analyses in light of the company's actual situation, enabling values to be better integrated into the company and making it easier to identify improvement measures. Relying solely on internal training makes it difficult to break through the inherent ideology, while relying solely on external training makes it hard to combine with the actual situation. Therefore, the combination of the two can help managers better manage their work.