In line with the spring breeze of China's reform and opening up, along with the transformation of the planned economy to the market economy, a large number of private enterprises have sprung up.
Among them, there is a technology-based enterprise, which has become the leader of the first batch of private enterprises to develop, and it is also the representative of this batch of private enterprises, that is, Lenovo Group.
Lenovo seized an important opportunity of the times, which is the rise and popularity of personal computers.
At the beginning, Lenovo started from Hanka, and at the same time began to become an importer of computer machines and accessories, and after accumulating the original capital, it began the production and operation of its own brand of personal computers.
With the support of China's huge market, coupled with the rapid development of market demand, Lenovo has been standing on the tuyere since its inception, following this general trend, Lenovo's own brand computer business, soon became the industry leader in China.
However, Liu Chuanzhi, the leader of Lenovo Group, is not satisfied with the domestic market, he hopes that Lenovo can go abroad and become a truly global personal computer company.
The most direct obstacle to this goal is that Lenovo's own brand has a short time, although it has a high reputation in China, but in the global market, it is not recognized by customers.
In order to get rid of this predicament and form a breakthrough force in the global market, Lenovo Group did not hesitate to exhaust all the group's cash, and even financed debt, acquired IBM's global personal computer business, and opened up the international market business through the model of borrowing ships to go to sea.
It was this bold move to take risks, step by step, that allowed Lenovo to grow from a small private enterprise to a global PC giant.
Many people will attribute Lenovo's success to Lenovo's founder, Liu Chuanzhi.
In fact, in addition to Liu Chuanzhi's correct decision-making, bold action, and effective management, the development of Lenovo is inseparable from another key person.
This person is Ma Xuezheng, who is known as the "Mulan" of China's business community, and every leap in the development of Lenovo Group has her great dedication and credit.
Not only is she hidden behind the scenes, but she also often walks to the front of the stage.
Ma Xuezheng was born in Tianjin in 1953 and graduated from Capital Normal University in 1976 when she was 23 years old with a bachelor of arts.
When she first graduated, she did not stay in the city, but was assigned to the countryside, taking the path of a wave of intellectual youth going to the countryside.
After staying in the countryside for two years, because of the expansion of the staff of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ma Xuezheng was very fortunate to be transferred to the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
In 1981, Ma Xuezheng, as a young talent trained by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was sent to the United Kingdom for further study.
In addition to the Xi of professional knowledge, for Ma Xuezheng, her biggest gain is that she has mastered English, especially oral expression skills, and has reached a very professional height.
It is thanks to her English proficiency that she has not only become a major escort translator in the foreign affairs work of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, but also once undertook the task of interpreting for Comrade *** in foreign affairs and the reception of foreign guests.
In 1989, Ma Xuezheng, who was 36 years old and in the prime of life, had become the youngest division-level cadre of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and she was also one of the few female division-level leaders of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
According to the normal development trajectory, Ma Xuezheng's development and growth in the Chinese Academy of Sciences will be smooth sailing, all the way up, only a few years later, he can enter the senior level of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and there may even be more room for upward development.
However, a chance trip to Hong Kong made her suddenly change her life plan.
In 1988, Ma Xuezheng met in Hong Kong because of the cooperative relationship between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Lenovo Group, and this meeting Lenovo Group was not only Liu Chuanzhi, but brought together a large group of Lenovo management and technical backbone talents.
It was not so much a meeting as Ma Xuezheng's participation in a high-level meeting of the Lenovo Group chaired by Liu Chuanzhi.
And this meeting was very open to integrate Ma Xuezheng as well.
This meeting of private enterprises was a great touch to Ma Xuezheng, who has always been in a public institution like the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
She didn't expect that there would be such a passionate working atmosphere, and that there would be such a group of people who were so excited and invested in a certain ideal and a certain goal.
This is completely different from the working atmosphere and feeling of the Chinese Academy of Sciences where she is located, and it instantly inspired her enthusiasm for many years of silence, as if she returned to the years of youth.
At this time, she had the idea of leaving the Chinese Academy of Sciences to join Lenovo Group.
I felt that this was the life I should choose, and although I was a woman, I had a restlessness in my bones. ”
When Ma Xuezheng recalled, he once admitted his mentality and changes at that time.
However, she didn't make a decision right away.
Because, the identity of a director-level cadre of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was earned by her hard work after ten years of struggle, including power, reputation, treatment, and visible development in the future.
If you give up so much at once, you will lose not only the present, but also the future.
If you go to Lenovo Group, although the kind of work full of passion is very exciting and exciting, there are too many uncertainties in the future, and the risks are unpredictable.
However, even in the midst of hesitation, Ma Xuezheng couldn't help but make comparisons every day at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and her restless heart has not been able to calm down.
In the end, she decided to change the environment, even if she didn't have the expected results, she could still taste the vigorous feeling of life, and that was enough.
When she made a decision, there was one thing she didn't dare to confirm at the time, that is, whether Liu Chuanzhi would take her in.
She is a person who dares to think and do, and after her mind was determined, she directly asked Liu Chuanzhi for an interview.
When Liu Chuanzhi heard that Ma Xuezheng wanted to enter Lenovo, his first reaction was incredible, and even asked her not to make a blind decision, hoping that she would think about it calmly for a while.
I'm not impulsive, I've been thinking about this decision for a long time, as long as you're willing to take it in, I'll immediately resign from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, join Lenovo, and start a business with Mr. Liu. ”
Facing Ma Xuezheng's resolute attitude, Liu Chuanzhi smiled happily.
In his eyes, Ma Xuezheng is a rare talent, under normal circumstances, he can't directly poach people from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and now this kind of talent takes the initiative to send it to the door, how can he not be unreasonable.
As a result, Ma Xuezheng entered the rapidly developing Lenovo Group very smoothly.
Lenovo Group, as early as 1984, was founded by Liu Chuanzhi with 10 computer professionals and technicians in combination with the development of the personal computer market.
Because Lenovo Group was founded at the earliest time in private enterprises, and even as early as that there was no concept of private enterprises at that time, private enterprises can only be registered in the form of self-employed individuals or collective enterprises wearing red hats.
Therefore, Lenovo is strictly speaking, Liu Chuanzhi's personal company, and there is no concept of management or full shareholding.
Ma Xuezheng joined Lenovo Group in 1989, and her initial position was Liu Chuanzhi's assistant general manager at Lenovo in Hong Kong.
The director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is a director who is a director of the department to which he belongs, and the role of a standard manager;Now he has become an assistant, and his main job every day is to cooperate with Liu Chuanzhi to deal with some chores, which makes Ma Xuezheng somewhat uncomfortable.
The loss in my heart and the complaints on my lips are inevitable.
Liu Chuanzhi naturally saw her negative side, so he gave her a lesson of "not complaining", in Liu Chuanzhi's view, in an enterprise, any complaint is negative, will become a resistance to the development of the enterprise.
All the complaints are caused by the gap and dissatisfaction in his heart, and he encourages Ma Xuezheng to say what he thinks in his heart and find answers to solve the problem together.
With Liu Chuanzhi's unraveling, Ma Xuezheng also untied the knot in his heart and quickly integrated into the high-frequency work of Lenovo Group.
In fact, it cannot be ruled out that Liu Chuanzhi also wants to temper Ma Xuezheng's mentality.
Because, the reason why Liu Chuanzhi simply accepted Ma Xuezheng's request to join Lenovo at that time was not because he wanted to use her as an assistant, but because of her management experience in team and scientific and technological research and development accumulated in her years of work in the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Most of the managers of Lenovo Group are constantly promoted from the team with the development of the enterprise, which is a bit of a temporary selection.
However, this situation has caused the management of Lenovo Group, many of whom lack management experience and ability, and are simply unable to adapt to Lenovo's business and development.
Ma Xuezheng is different, she has grown step by step into a department-level cadre in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, not only familiar with grassroots business, but also has continuously accumulated management level.
For Ma Xuezheng's management ability, Liu Chuanzhi is visible.
In 1992, three years after Ma Xuezheng joined Lenovo Group, she was promoted to the position of deputy general manager of the group by Liu Chuanzhi, and suddenly became the second senior leader of Lenovo after himself.
After taking office as the deputy general manager of Lenovo Group, Ma Xuezheng's work became busier, because at this time, Lenovo had begun to plan for listing in Hong Kong.
In 1994, Lenovo Group was officially listed in Hong Kong.
A few years later, Ma Xuezheng's position was promoted again, and she became the executive director of Lenovo Group, which was also a rare female executive director of a listed company at that time, and her power in Lenovo Group reached its peak.
After Lenovo Group was listed in Hong Kong, Ma Xuezheng learned that there was an employee shareholding model in the mechanism of listing in the Hong Kong market, so he informed Liu Chuanzhi of this.
Liu Chuanzhi has been thinking hard about how to continue to maintain the vitality of the enterprise and the morale of employees after the company grows bigger.
Ma Xuezheng also agreed with this, and she formulated an employee stock ownership plan in accordance with the rules of Hong Kong listing, but the shareholding personnel in the plan were limited to middle and senior management personnel and technical backbones.
After Liu Chuanzhi saw the plan, he expressed a different opinion.
He believes that to do it, it is necessary to achieve full shareholding and make Lenovo Group a company where all employees are shareholders.
In this way, the characteristics of Lenovo Group's public company are not only aimed at the public offering to the outside world, but also for all employees within the enterprise, and to solve the problem of the ownership status of all employees in the enterprise.
As a result, under Ma Xuezheng's overall responsibility and co-ordination, Lenovo Group broke through the management shareholding model and enlarged the internal employee shareholding to the level of all employees, which made a good start for the full shareholding of China's private enterprises.
In the history of Lenovo Group, there are several important breakthroughs and turning points.
The first is the shift from Hanka to the import of personal computers and peripherals**.
Second, it has changed from a first-class business to a manufacturer of its own brand of personal computers.
Third, it has become a global international PC company from a leading domestic computer company through the acquisition of IBM's personal computer business.
In particular, the last step out has a vital role and value for the development of the entire Lenovo Group.
And this step out was personally facilitated by Ma Xuezheng for a whole year.
At the beginning of the 21st century, China joined the WTO, Lenovo's computer business inevitably had to compete with foreign brand computers, although Lenovo in the scale and development speed of the personal computer business, once in the leading position in the industry in China, but compared with foreign personal computer giants, Lenovo has almost no advantages at all.
The main competitors are from the United States, Japan, South Korea and Europe, and once the Chinese market is opened, as tariffs continue to be reduced, foreign brand computers will inevitably flock in.
Lenovo's own brand, not to mention the foreign market, even in the domestic market, competes with Japanese, Korean, American and other brands, and has no power to fight back.
Liu Chuanzhi and Ma Xuezheng were both aware of the huge crisis that was coming, but they did not have a way to deal with it.
Just when the senior management of Lenovo Group was worried about the situation of "mountain rain is coming and wind is coming", an opportunity suddenly came from the sky.
IBM suddenly asked for the personal computer business sector under the name of **, and also took the initiative to extend an olive branch to Lenovo.
The reason why IBM did this is mainly based on two reasons: one is that it is facing fierce competition from Dell computers in the United States and the global market, resulting in the personal computer business has been in a loss-making state and has no hope of turning around;Second, the competition in the personal computer market has led to lower and lower profits in this business segment, and there is no prospect of profitability at all.
The personal computer business, which IBM regards as a chicken rib, is a huge opportunity for Lenovo.
It can not only solve the problem of the weakness of Lenovo's own brand in the domestic and foreign markets, but also use IBM's world-renowned brand effect to not only amplify the competitiveness of the domestic market, but also realize the globalization of Lenovo's personal computer market, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.
However, for the acquisition of IBM's personal computer business, it will require a huge cash flow, which will not only empty Lenovo Group's cash, but also require financing and borrowing, and if the market after the acquisition is not as expected, Lenovo Group will take huge risks.
However, after weighing the pros and cons, Liu Chuanzhi and Ma Xuezheng decided to make the acquisition at all costs, and tried all means to persuade the board of directors to approve it.
In the end, under the operation of Ma Xuezheng, not only did the internal obstacles be removed, but also after a year of negotiations, the acquisition contract with IBM was successfully reached, allowing Lenovo to leverage IBM's global brand effect to reach a new level.
Ma Xuezheng, is not willing to be ordinary career women, she Lenovo Group has not yet succeeded, the courage to give up her position and treatment in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, give up the opportunity for future development, into a private enterprise that does not see tomorrow, and Liu Chuanzhi and Lenovo Group colleagues, for the development of China's national enterprises, has made a huge contribution.
The importance of her and her contribution to Lenovo Group can be seen through Liu Chuanzhi's sentence "I am working for her", she is not only the promoter behind the rapid development of Lenovo Group, but also the direct decision-maker and operator who goes to the forefront.
She used her knowledge, ability and dedication to change not only Lenovo Group, but also her own life.
Unfortunately, in 2019, Ma Xuezheng, who was only 66 years old, passed away due to illness, but she left a legend of "Mulan" in the business world to China.