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Founder flourishes with new corporate culture
By Liu Weiling (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-03-01 10:49

Zhang Yongjiu, a gasoline station worker at Suzhou Iron & Steel Corp, likes to call himself the second generation of the company. His father was among the first group of workers who built Jiangsu Province's first steel plant 46 years ago.

He even cried when his beloved but dying company was taken over by Peking University's Founder Group, a flagship in China's high-tech industry, in May of last year.

He wrote a letter to the steel company's new president Feng Qiping, sent by Founder, offering some suggestions on solving the company's problems.

To his surprise, Feng soon met him and discussed his suggestions with him.


Customers look for a new type of computer at a Founder store in Shanghai. Corporate culture has helped reshape the company. [newsphoto]
"That never happened before," he recalled excitedly. "I am an ordinary worker. I had never imagined that I could discuss company matters with the president."

To Zhang, such a new management style is part of the new corporate culture being introduced by Founder to the steel firm, turning it from a firm on the verge of bankruptcy to a viable enterprise, yielding 200 million yuan (US$24 million) in profits last year.

Like Zhang, 15,000 employees in the Beijing-headquartered Founder Group also witnessed changes brought about by the fresh corporate culture the company is putting in place, which had been in management chaos years ago.

Wei Xin, chairman of the company and an advocate of rebuilding corporate culture, says the effects of the new practices have been "great." This has been reflected in a more efficient working style, more clarified rights and responsibilities for each position, more active employees, and last but not least, a more united management board.

Founder had been famous for its personnel mishaps in the past, which occurred frequently before the autumn of 1999 when Wei was appointed to be responsible for corporate restructuring.

Splitting up Founder's management board had been a headache for Peking University, which is Founder's parent operator. It also led to frequent shifts in high-ranking managers, especially group presidents and general managers.

Wei's two predecessors were forced to leave the company as a result of fierce fighting among different factions in the company.

The personnel shake-ups were followed by management chaos, a drain of talented staff, and dwindling efficiency.

Wei attributed the split in the management board mainly to the fact that some people in the board were too interested in personal gain, as well as poor communications among board members.

The first thing Wei did after joining Founder was to vow before employees not to act out of his own personal interests, and not to organize any small factions in the company. By strictly keeping his word, he then asked other board members to follow suit.

To improve communication, he organized special board meetings where members with complaints to others were asked to air their views openly, not in private.

"No complaints behind closed doors or fighting are allowed," he said in an interview with China Daily.

In 2001 and 2002, such meetings were held frequently. But for all of 2003, only one meeting was held.

"The current leader group is the best in the history of Founder," said Founder founding member Wang Xuan, who is also inventor of the Chinese electronic publication system, which has been the company's core business.

The success in stabilizing the management board helped Wei win the "iron hand" nickname in the local media.

"I just did what I should do and could do," said Wei, 48. "I stick to my principles - if I decide to do something, I do it well."

"Management sometimes needs inspiration. But for a company, the most important thing is to establish a good management system and a suitable corporate culture."

To Wei, rebuilding Founder's corporate culture was an urgent task for the long-term development of the company.

"It's my understanding that corporate culture is a summary of behaviour of all employees," Wei said. "It is a kind of rule of behaviour that employees will abide by subconsciously and automatically."

Being honest and creative are founder's core values and behaviour criteria. Being customer-oriented, efficient and active are also encouraged.

As part of Founder's corporate culture, there are many principles and behavioural rules guiding employees in their work procedures.

These rules are so detailed that they even regulate how employees respond to telephone calls, how to dress when meeting customers and their gestures in exchanging name cards with others.

More rules were set up to ensure that management procedures are smooth and efficient.

"But the key point is to ensure that the rules are carried out," Wei says.

To this end, those who abide by the rules are awarded while those who do not are punished. There is also a special internal auditing department which was established to inspect implementation of the rules.

"Through strict inspection, we will make employees more accustomed to the rules," Wei says.

The company even lists three forbidden areas in the corporate culture, which include opposing core values of the company, working in the name of illegal interests, and spreading rumours or organizing factions within the company.

A regional general manager of the company was fired for violating these rules.

"The changes are visible," Wei said.

The management board's meeting is an example, he added. In the past, board members just indulged in idle talk at meetings and often nobody was assigned to be responsible for the topics being discussed.

Now, before a meeting is held, it is very clear what topics will be discussed, what decisions must be made and who will be responsible for these issues.

Employees are also feeling the changes.

"We are more active now," said Yu Dandan from Founder's public relations department. "Everyone is busy now."

"But we are not pressed to be busy, we are just motivated. We feel that the company is on a normal track, very standardized."

 
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