Serving the People With Value and Quality
As China Rises, Consumer-Oriented
Firms Like Haier Climb, Too
SHANGHAI -- Long recognized as China's most-admired company, Qingdao Haier Co. this year is sharing the limelight with other consumer-minded businesses in the financial, technology, spirits and property industries.
Haier headlines The Wall Street Journal Asia's reader survey of China's most-admired companies, just as it has since China's inclusion in the Asia 200 in 2002. More than any other company, Haier has illustrated China Inc.'s push to export durable, affordable products -- in this case refrigerators and other appliances.
But Haier is no longer the exception among companies buffing the "Made in China" brand. Each of the top 10 businesses on this year's China list is a consumer-oriented company, a marked change for the manufacturing powerhouse.
No. 2 on the list is China Merchants Bank Co. Known in China as a leader in credit cards, wealth management and online banking, the Beijing bank has developed high-quality products and takes innovative approaches to responding to customers, the survey found.
Lenovo's vision
Computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd. is No. 3 overall. But following its purchase last year of IBM Corp.'s personal-computer operation, readers ranked it No.1 in the category of long-term management vision. In the overall rankings, Lenovo is followed by China Vanke Co., a Shenzhen-based developer whose apartments sell for higher prices due to a reputation for long-lasting quality and which ranked in the top five across most attributes.
Thirty years ago when the Journal began publishing in Asia, "serve the people" was a catchy but hollow motto that Chairman Mao Zedong affixed to the Chinese Communist Party. In reality, the closest most Chinese got to consumer service back then was a place in a crushing line to buy meat -- and occasionally gizmos like bicycles -- using coupons doled out by their government work units. As the Journal gets ready for its fourth decade in Asia, the unifying characteristic of Haier, Merchants, Lenovo and Vanke is that they "serve the people" in practice.
"There is much stronger competition now, so Chinese companies want to offer better service and value to customers," said Victor Yuan, chairman of Horizon Group, a Beijing research consultancy. Still, he said Chinese managers can do more to fundamentally adopt the customer-first mentality throughout their organizations that is increasingly seen at the "front end" of a business, like the showroom and call center.
The dynamism of the world's fastest-growing major economy, and its embrace of consumerism, have been well reflected in our survey. State-owned enterprises in the auto, oil and steel industries once dominated the top 10. This year, Shanghai Automotive Co. (No. 10) dropped six places, while Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. (No. 11) fell eight spots.
The list too has evolved. This year, for instance, only companies with traded stock were nominated. For some companies, that was a fortuitous development: Chinese equities are up after a four-year slump, gains largely due to individual investors who believe a massive restructuring of the market has made trading more equitable.
Chinese stocks listed elsewhere have done well too, in particular Baidu.com Inc. (No. 6), which rose nearly fivefold during its Nasdaq debut a year ago, bolstering the reputation of China's Internet search engine of choice. So, Google that.
One Chinese consumer-products company is as well known today as it was when The Journal began publishing in Asia in 1976: Kweichow Moutai Co. (No. 5), which brews the clear liquor that Chairman Mao gave Richard Nixon as a gift after their historic 1972 meeting.
Remarkably, a second maker of the fiery Chinese wine known as baijiu is also on the list, namely Wuliangye Yibin Co. (No. 7). Respondents gave both Moutai and Wuliangye strong marks for reputation and product quality, even as they took points away for their level of innovation and management style. But how much innovation or fresh vision is needed for products that have been around for centuries? Both companies have had a bubbly reception in the stock market, far outperforming in a bullish year.
The only other industry represented twice in the top 10 is in the Internet category, where Baidu and China's game-oriented portal, Netease.com Inc. (No. 8), both appear.
The ability of Chinese companies to secure a serve-the-people reputation in 2006 is a significant achievement. Half a decade ago, when Beijing signed a 600-page agreement with the World Trade Organization to open its markets, predictions were widespread China Inc. would be bankrupted by savvy foreign multinationals. Instead, Chinese corporate profits are up and competitive spirit in Chinese boardrooms is high.
Chinese companies now dominate some global industries: China Mobile Ltd. (No. 9) is the world's biggest mobile-phone company with about 280 million subscribers. PetroChina Co. (No. 15) has been described as Asia's most profitable company after this year's $10.1 billion first half net profit.
As consumerism becomes more of a driver for China's economy, there are new pressures on corporate leaders. Few decisions are easy in the face of contradictory information about ever-changing tastes of individuals.
Some of the companies at the top of our list already have reputations for leadership vision, a category led by Lenovo following its purchase of the vaunted IBM operations. Also strong is Haier, headed by possibly China's best-known businessman, 57-year-old Chairman Zhang Ruimin, who has said his washing machines should be strong enough to clean potatoes. Wang Shi, the 55-year-old chairman of Vanke, personifies China's homeowner class. The Merchants team is led by a former central banker, 57-year-old President Ma Weihua, who has been running it since 1999, an unusually long tenure in an industry where bank chiefs are Communist Party appointees who typically rotate to other jobs every few years.
Financial strength doesn't necessarily translate to overall admiration. Three oil-industry giants, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (No. 17), PetroChina (No. 15) and Cnooc Ltd. (No. 18) occupied three of the top five spots in the financial strength category but lagged in overall scores -- possibly consumer backlash to high gasoline prices.
Unsuccessful bid
In the long-term vision category, only Cnooc broke into the top 10 following last year's bold, but ultimately unsuccessful, $18.5 billion bid led by Chairman Fu Chengyu, 55, for California's Unocal Corp. None of the oil giants made the top 10 for reputation, quality or innovation in this year's survey.
Merchants Bank, meanwhile, led in the category for product quality. The bank has high name recognition too: It is known by 98% of our respondents. The bank "has built a critical mass and strong brand name," according to a report in August from JP Morgan & Co. analyst Samuel Chen.
How stable Merchants might be as the top bank is an open question, as this year is a pivotal one for finance in China. At the end of 2006, China is obligated by its World Trade Organization agreement to allow foreign banks to start competing head-to-head for customers with Merchants and the industry's other key players. y
“为人民服务”新典范
多年来一直是中国消费者心目中最受尊敬本国企业的青岛海尔(Qingdao Haier Co.)今年再次荣膺殊荣，与它一同获得消费者认可的还有中国大陆金融、科技、酒类和地产行业的其他一些消费类企业。
在《亚洲华尔街日报》主办的“最受尊敬中国企业”读者调查中，海尔再次名列榜首。该公司自《亚洲华尔街日报》2002年在“亚洲企业200强”参选企业中纳入中国大陆企业以来一直保持着这个记录。海尔与入选的其他大陆企业相比的更大特色还在于，它充分表现出中国企业在出口廉价耐用商品（对海尔而言具体是指冰箱和其他家用电器）方面的积极姿态。
不过，在那些产品打着“中国制造”标识的厂家中，海尔已非个别。在今年的“最受尊敬中国企业”中，前10名都是面向消费者的企业，这对中国这个制造业大国来说是一个很显着的变化。
位列第二的是招商银行(China Merchants Bank Co.)。该行的信用卡、理财和网上银行业务在中国银行界出类拔萃。调查发现，该行的金融产品质量好，且在与消费者沟通、互动方面常有创新手法。
电脑制造商联想集团(Lenovo Group Ltd.)的总体排名是第三，它在“管理层长期愿景”分类排名中列第一。去年，该公司收购了国际商业机器公司(IBM)旗下的个人电脑业务。
总体排名紧随联想之后的是深圳房地产企业万科(China Vanke Co.)。该公司开发的住宅项目以质量上佳而闻名，其售价也因此高于一般楼盘。该公司在这次评选的大多数分类项目中名次均在前五位。
三十年前（那时《华尔街日报》刚开始发行亚洲版），“为人民服务”还只是毛泽东主席为中国共产党制定的一个听来很有蛊惑力、但在现实生活中却流于空洞的口号。中国民众那时能得到的真真切切的消费服务少之又少，勉强称得上消费的恐怕只有排着长队买每月凭票供应的一点猪肉──偶尔会有自行车之类当时称得上“大件”的玩意儿供应，但指标少得可怜。而在《亚洲华尔街日报》即将步入其第四个十年之际，海尔、招商银行、联想和万科等企业却真正实践了“为人民服务”的理念。
北京零点调查公司(Horizon Group)董事长袁岳(Victor Yuan)说，现在的市场竞争很激烈，每家公司都想向消费者提供更好、更有价值的服务。不过他说，为从根本上贯彻顾客第一的经营理念，中国企业可以做得更多，他们应利用产品展厅或电话客服中心等所谓“窗口”部门，充分发挥其作为整个业务“最前沿”的重要功能。
作为世界上增长最快的主要经济体，中国的活力以及客户至上理念的盛行在调查中得到了很好的反映。以往，在排名中占据前10位的都是汽车、石油和钢铁行业的国有企业。而今年，上海汽车股份有限公司(Shanghai Automotive Co. Ltd.)的排名(第10位)比去年下降了6位，而宝山钢铁股份有限公司(Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. Ltd.)的排名(第11位)则下降了8位。
这一排名本身也作了改进。例如，今年只有上市公司才能获得排名资格。对一些公司来说，这可谓一件幸事：中国股市在经历了四年的萧条后今年终于有了转机，这很大程度上应拜散户投资者之赐，他们认为大规模的股权分置改革提高了股市交易的公平性。
在海外上市的中国股票也有良好表现，特别是百度在线网络技术公司(Baidu.com Inc.)的股票(该公司今年排名第6)，1年前该股在那斯达克市场首日上市股价便升至了发行价的近5倍，这支持了百度是中文搜索引擎之首选的说法。如果不信，就到网上去Google一下吧。
今年有一家上榜的中国消费品企业是《亚洲华尔街日报》1976年开始出版时便鼎鼎大名的，那就是贵州茅台酒股份有限公司(Kweichow Moutai Co. Ltd.)，它今年排名第五。毛主席1972年在与理查德?尼克松(Richard Nixon)举行历史性会谈后送给后者的白酒就是这家公司生产的。
值得注意的是，还有一家白酒生产企业今年也榜上有名，那就是排名第七的宜宾五粮液股份有限公司(Wuliangye Yibin Co. Ltd.)。受访者在企业声誉和产品质量两方面都给贵州茅台和五粮液打了高分，不多对它们的创新精神和管理方式却评价不高。但一些已风光了好几百年的产品究竟又需要多少创新呢？这两家公司的股票都是股市宠儿，尽管中国股市今年总体表现抢眼，但这两只股票的表现仍然远强于大盘。
另一个有两家公司进入排名榜前10位的行业是互联网业，除百度外，中国的游戏主导型门户网站网易(Netease.com Inc.)也榜上有名，它排名第八。
中国企业在2006年有能力赢得为人民服务的声誉对它们来说是一项重大成就。5年前，当中国向世界贸易组织(WTO)作出开放其市场的承诺时，人们曾普遍认为在跨国公司的激烈竞争下中国企业将纷纷陷入破产。而事实却是，中国公司的利润普遍有了提高，而且中国企业的决策层竞争意识高涨。
中国企业目前在一些行业已处于全球领先地位。今年排名第九的中国移动（香港）有限公司(China Mobile Ltd.)是世界最大的移动电话公司，其订户数约为2.8亿。排名第15的中国石油天然气股份有限公司(PetroChina Co. Ltd.)今年上半年获得净利润101亿美元，也由此一直被称为亚洲最赚钱的企业。
随着客户至上理念日益成为中国经济的推动力，企业领导人又面临了新的压力。消费者的口味变化无常，有关其消费偏好的信息相互矛盾，这使得企业领导人作任何一项决策都不是轻松的事。
在那些排名前几位的企业中，一些企业的领导人已以其经营远见而赢得了声誉。收购了IBM个人电脑业务的联想集团在这方面表现最为突出。海尔的表现也十分抢眼，该公司57岁的董事长张瑞敏可能是中国最具知名度的企业家，他曾说海尔的洗衣机应结实得能洗马铃薯。万科公司55岁的董事长王石被看作是中国有房阶层的代言人。招商银行57岁的行长马蔚华曾任职于中国央行，1999年以来一直是招商银行的掌门人，鉴于中国各主要银行的负责人都是由党委任命的且他们通常每隔几年就要进行职务轮换，因此马蔚华在招商银行任职时间之长就显得不同寻常了。
财力强的企业未必就能获得好评。虽然中国石油化工股份有限公司(China Petroleum & Chemical Corp.)、中国石油和中国海洋石油（中国）有限公司(CNOOC Ltd.)这三家中国石油业巨头在企业财力排名中占据了前5位中的三个位置，但它们的总体排名却比较靠后，中国石化和中海石油今年的排名分别为第17位和18位，这可能反映了消费者对汽油价格高涨的不满。
James T. Areddy
