June 28, 2018, Wisconsin, USA. "The completion of this project will create the eighth wonder of the world", Trump said confidently at the groundbreaking ceremony for Foxconn's new factory.
He clasped the hand of Hon Hai Chairman Terry Gou, seemingly intimate, but in fact, both sides have their own interests to consider.
Trump and Terry Gou: Mutual benefit or win-win or separation? Trump and Terry Gou are two people from different countries who share a common goal. Trump is trying to use Gou's Foxconn to push U.S. manufacturing backshoring, while Gou hopes to reverse the fierce competition in Chinese mainland by investing in the United States.
Terry Gou can get "$3.5 billion in financial subsidies and employment investment income tax deductions of 28."$500 million" and chose to cooperate with the United States.
However, he seems to have forgotten the fact that when he needed a larger market in 1985, it was Chinese mainland that directly allocated $1.5 billion to exempt him from taxes for five years.
Taiwan is an inseparable part of China, and as the mother of the motherland, Chinese mainland has always fully supported the development of Taiwanese businessmen. However, when Gou's internal remarks and actions at Foxconn sparked criticism, he seemed to look down on the Chinese mainland market, which caused widespread dissatisfaction.
Although Gou and Trump seem to have a mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation, are there any dissenting rifts between their goals and beliefs?
Terry Gou, an entrepreneur from an ordinary background, has a history full of legends. One of the most striking was his act of having his non-related subordinates hold a vigil for his deceased brother.
This not only reflects his personality charm, but also reflects his deep affection for his family. So, why did Terry Gou behave like this? What made him change from an ordinary poor boy to a rich man with a net worth of 52.2 billion yuan?
All this is inseparable from his company, Foxconn. Foxconn is Gou's springboard and the key to his success. It took 69 years for Terry Gou to change from an ugly duckling to a white swan, and it all started when he founded Foxconn in the United States in 1985.
Terry Gou was born in Taiwan, and as the eldest son in the family, he has been burdened with family responsibilities and pressures since he was a child. Due to his family's poverty, he experienced half-starved days, which made him deeply distressed and determined to change his fate.
He believed that learning was an effective way to change his fate, so he studied hard and was finally admitted to the "China Maritime Military School" in 1966. There, he completed his studies as a part-time worker, enriching his university life and laying a solid foundation for his future career in business.
During his college years, Terry Gou came into contact with all kinds of people and things, which not only broadened his horizons, but also gave him the idea of starting a business. He used the money he had saved as a salesman at Fuxing Shipping Company to establish a joint venture with a friend in 1973 to establish the Red Sea Plastics Enterprise***, which specializes in the production of plastic products.
This decision set Terry Gou on the road to success. In short, Gou's life experience is full of challenges and opportunities, and he has successfully changed the fate of himself and his family with wisdom and courage.
His story tells us that as long as we have determination and perseverance, we will be able to achieve our dreams.
At the beginning of Guo Taiming's business, he was not aware of the problem of "white pollution", but due to poor management, Hon Hai Plastic Industry faced bankruptcy, and the original investors withdrew their shares, leaving only a shell company.
However, fate closed a door for Gou, but it soon opened a window for him. In 1974, black-and-white televisions emerged in Taiwan and became a new market trend.
Guo Taiming saw a business opportunity and decided to transform into a TV selection button. His business decisions span a lot, but he made the right move. From a small company with 15 employees on the verge of collapse to a turnaround in 1977, his success was no accident.
Guo Taiming saw the self-confidence of the entrepreneurs, and decisively used the profits to purchase equipment from Japan and established a mold factory. Although it is impossible to learn what new technologies will be brought by the progress of the times, when the computer era comes, Guo Taiming successfully seized the market with mature mold technology, which once again proved his correct decision.
With his unique entrepreneurial talent and vision, Terry Gou not only made remarkable achievements in the development of the factory, but also changed the name of the company to "Hon Hai Precision" in 1982, and founded the Foxconn brand, eventually building his own business empire.
One step, the medal is calling; Once inside, splendor awaits. Guo Taiming, a person with a clear goal, he is firmly committed to "Taiwan's first."
1. No. 1 in Asia.
First, the goal of "the world's first".
In order to achieve this great goal, he formulated the sixteen-character mantra of governing the company: "fourth-rate talents, third-rate management, second-rate equipment, first-class customers". As a businessman, he always adheres to the principle of putting the customer first.
He knows that the target customers are always Intel and other world-class manufacturers. To that end, he has personally driven in the United States and waited for clients to negotiate jobs, and once stayed in a $12 a day motel to talk about cooperation, and he has traveled all over the 32 states of the United States.
Terry Gou, his steps are firm and powerful, and his goals are clear and ambitious. Every step he takes is a medal for moving towards the goal; Every effort he makes is to achieve great results.
His story tells us that as long as we have a goal, determination, and perseverance, we will be able to achieve our dreams.
Terry Gou is undoubtedly a workaholic, and his unremitting efforts have had a profound impact on Hon Hai, but as the helmsman of Foxconn, he has neglected the most basic living needs of workers in the pursuit of profits, which is a fact they have experienced firsthand.
After his brother's death, he established Foxconn's precision component factory in Shenzhen, which became the starting point for him to realize his dreams.
Taking advantage of cheap land and labor resources, Guo Taiming has amassed a lot of wealth, and the balance on his bank card is growing day by day. In October 2003, he returned to his hometown of Shanxi with a total investment of 1 billion US dollars, becoming the largest foreign-funded project in the region. ”
Foxconn's development seems to be unlimited, but after Guo Taicheng's death, a special document from Foxconn's internal company in Longhua, Shenzhen, revealed the internal problems. The document requires that starting from the 5th, female employees can not wear red or yellow overalls, plainclothes can not wear bright colors, all festive decorations need to be removed, and various departments also need to assign personnel to keep the spirit, and implement the same two-shift system as going to work.
The document reveals Foxconn's internal management problems and apathy towards employees.
The rights and interests of workers should be guaranteed, they should be compensated for their time and energy, and in addition to this, they should have the right to dress freely after work, and they should not be forced to do so on their own volition.
Although the Chinese attach great importance to tradition, in the face of this unconventional practice, Foxconn cadres are silent about it, and even sophistry that "the mourning activities are spontaneous with employees."
The ** of these things has caused Foxconn's reputation to plummet, and the successive jumping incidents have pushed Foxconn to the forefront.
Foxconn has become the focus of attention for a while, behind the fall of ten employees, let us reflect on the importance of enterprise safety management, life is priceless, and the safety of every employee should be guaranteed.
Terry Gou, president of Foxconn Technology Group, is deeply saddened by the recent tragedy. At the symposium on May 26, he made three deep bows and expressed his deep apologies to his 470,000 employees.
He said that although it is difficult to take care of so many people, he promised to do his best, especially when it comes to paying attention to the physical health of employees. To this end, he proposed to set up a blind date and love group to strengthen the health management of employees.
His commitment is respect for life and responsibility.
After the death of his original wife and younger brother, Guo Taiming has a new understanding of life. He expressed respect and love for life, but his actions contradicted his words.
Terry Gou has always adhered to the concept of "third-rate management, first-class customers", for customers and the market, he can only see the opportunity to make money, and his memory and vision are also limited.
Although the mainland was the starting point for Gou's fortune, after he was valued by Apple, he began to swell and his attitude towards the mainland began to change.
Gou once worked with Trump to create the "eighth wonder of the world" in the United States, but ultimately failed to achieve it. It made a mistake in choosing a partner, which led to an escalation of the conflict with Huawei.
Guo Taiming once thought that Huawei's order could ensure Foxconn's livelihood, and he thought that it was his own achievement to build a factory in the mainland, but he ignored the strong support of ** and his compatriots.
Although Guo Taiming claimed that "Foxconn is in the mainland to give the mainland food", in fact, he mistakenly believes that the success of building a factory in the mainland depends on himself, rather than the cooperation with his compatriots.
And when he built a factory in Southeast Asia and offered a higher salary, he found that the quality of the product was greatly reduced, and then he realized that all this was inseparable from the support of ** and his compatriots.
Gou's plans to build a factory are still facing difficulties, and new challenges have emerged in cooperation with the United States. The promised subsidies were revoked when the U.S. learned of Gou's deteriorating relationship with the mainland, claiming that the high subsidies were a waste of taxpayers' money and could affect the well-being of the state's residents.
As for the land needed to build the factory, the U.S. side did not explicitly state that the land was privately owned, so Foxconn had to buy it at nearly 10 times the market price.
However, when the mainland invited Guo Taiming to build a factory in the mainland, there was no such problem.
Gou once tried to invest in the construction of a factory in the United States, but when Foxconn thought it was about to start construction, American environmental groups blocked it on the grounds that "the raw materials used in Foxconn's factory may have an impact on the ecological environment of the United States".
As a result, Foxconn's investment in the United States eventually gave way to BYD and Luxshare in the domestic market. Even in the face of a market environment of declining mobile phone sales, Foxconn's development in the United States has been struggling and can only return to the mainland.
In retrospect, Gou's decision may have been wrong, and he relied too much on customers and neglected his own country, which is a taboo for the long-term development of the company. Making money is of course important, but before pursuing profits, entrepreneurs should carefully weigh whether the rewards they may gain are in line with what they may lose.
Some even argue that the United States has never really valued cooperation with Foxconn, and that Trump's so-called "revival of American manufacturing" is just an illusion.
Although it is impossible to determine the veracity of the rumors between Trump and Gou, it is confirmed that Gou has fallen victim to Trump's ambitions. Guo Taiming chose to let Xian give young people, share hundreds of millions of assets with his young wife, and live a leisurely life.
Terry Gou's departure is a wake-up call for all businessmen: the purpose of business is to make profits, but there are also people who are committed to the creation of national industry. However, even if you are in business for profit, it should not be premised on "betrayal of the country".
It is difficult for a narrow-minded company to develop, and it is difficult for an enterprise to forget its original intention for a long time. China has made every effort to provide convenience for entrepreneurs, and looks forward to the day when China's manufacturing industry can go global.
Guo Taiming stressed that the revitalization of national gardens requires not only the efforts of one family, but also the awareness of "I am Chinese, and my behavior represents the entire nation" in mind and put it into practice.
Only in this way can national industry flourish and the life of the Chinese people be better.