Mediterranean hegemon

"So, I have drawn two conclusions from Ciano's series of writings: first, demand can be stimulated and created; second, there is industrial diversification with customer demand as the core, and this demand diversification is better than supply. Diversification is closer to the essence of business activities and easier to succeed..."

Demand-focused diversification? Little Agnelli was stunned for a moment, then came to his senses. As long as a human being is a human being, he must have basic survival needs such as food, clothing, housing, and transportation, as well as spiritual needs such as culture, art, sports, and aesthetics. For the middle class, these two needs are mutually exclusive. They are intertwined and interpenetrated. There seems to be a theoretical basis for diversification based on this.

Of course, the old Agnelli overshadowed Contini's behavior. In fact, the latter did not promote it based on this theoretical and logical system, but comprehensively weighed the current industrial structure and future development of Italy and deliberately planned it, focusing on emerging industries. Enter industries without leading overlords in order to minimize competitive resistance and accelerate growth. Facts have also proved that Contini’s approach is very effective. The dislocation of the second newspaper means that he will not face competition from other ordinary newspapers. There is no one to compete with radio stations, express delivery, and civil aviation. Although there are many brands in the motorcycle market, it lacks national brands. The leader of sex and consistency, these are the ideas of subtle reconstruction.

Old Agnelli put the newspaper on the table, picked up the water glass and took a sip before continuing: "Now let me ask you, which is the best analytical and popular science newspaper in Italy?"

""Youth News"?" Agnelli replied uncertainly.

"Whose was the first radio station? Whose was the only radio company?"

"United Group."

"Whose was the first civil aviation company and the first military club?"

"United Group."

“Whose motorcycle is the best?”

"United Group."

Old Agnelli smiled: "Look, you have admitted that it is United Group, which shows that his image has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. From the customer's perspective, he does not care whether the company can make money, he only cares about what he gets. Whether the service is good or not, and whether the product is the best value for money.”

Little Agnelli nodded helplessly.

"You just said that United Group will lose 100 million liras a year?"

"Yes, we infer so."

"Okay, I'll give you 200 million lire and allow you to lose half of it within a year. If you start a business tomorrow, it can't be related to Fiat's existing business. In which field do you think you can create a national brand in just 6 months?" Influential brands and products?”

Agnelli thought hard and finally said: "I really can't think of anything else. Probably Juventus can become the most valuable football club in Italy."

"Actually, if you only have 200 million liras, you can't lose 100 million at all. You don't have the mental capacity to bear it. You might stop holding hands when the loss reaches 20 million. Do you think I'm right? In your heart, you are just like me. Conservative balanceists will not do those crazy things. For a company like Fiat, losses are caused by unexpected things. If you know there will be losses before taking action, the board of directors will not approve it at all... You I won’t accept it in my heart.”

"Father, I think you are right." Little Agnelli smiled bitterly. He found that the old man knew him very well. If he really took 200 million to start a business, he would definitely be careful and cautious. How could he lose half of his money in a year? This is not my personality at all, and this is more uncomfortable than killing myself.

“Therefore, business schools will only teach business strategies that include comprehensive balance, effective management, steady advancement, and comprehensive coordination. This is the normal thinking summarized by countless people... It is impossible to teach such genius-like business ideas. In many cases, geniuses and madmen are very few, and there is often a thin line between them. If you can cross it, you will be a genius, but if you cannot cross it, you will be a lunatic. Just like looking at the United Group, most professional managers in the industry, especially the board of directors. Old-fashioned people think he is a madman, but I think he is a genius - whether it is a genius or a madman, it all depends on how you interpret it."

Little Agnelli was shocked. His father actually had such a high opinion of little Ciano? He said cautiously: "Father, you seem to think highly of him?"

"Yes, I value it very much. He has advantages and qualities that we don't have at all. Considering his age, it is completely beyond imagination." Old Agnelli sighed, "It's a pity that you don't have a sister. Your children Too young, otherwise I would really like to find a family member to marry him."

Little Agnelli was shocked by this statement. He subconsciously thought about his children. When he found that the eldest was only 3 years old, he smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"His inspiration, unconstrained way of thinking and capital operation ability, combined with Fiat's consistent down-to-earth and conscientiousness, will make a qualitative leap. Of course, you don't have to belittle yourself, you have advantages that he does not have - you are from an orthodox academic background and After spending so many years at Fiat and being familiar with every aspect of the production management process, little Ciano should not understand this. I also think he did a poor job in cost control..."

The old Agnelli saw this very accurately: Although Contini serves as many chairman of the board, this chairman has no knowledge of production and operations. He relies on managers and professional managers gathered from all over to support him. , he is only responsible for coordinating the superficial things, euphemistically called "grasping the big and letting go of the small". The chairman only needs to make strategic plans, and it is the general manager's job to do it. If Antonio hadn't helped with some of the management, the interior would have been a mess.

As for the poor cost control, it is caused by many factors: in order to attract talents, United Group generally offers relatively high salaries; in order to speed up and let the Italians who are used to slow work turn to United speed, Contini has to increase financial incentives; in order to achieve multiple rounds of rolling operations to save time, there is naturally a lot of waste in the delivery of materials.

It would be fine if we didn't talk about this. Once we talked about this, Agnelli was a little angry and muttered: "He has been so messy this year that he has taken away 174 engineers and managers from Fiat, and at the same time, he has led away more than 700 skilled workers."

"There are so many?" Old Ziano was shocked, "I know that the staff turnover rate has increased a lot this year, but according to you, almost 1,000 people have gone to United Group. What's going on? Why haven't I received similar reports?"

"The human resources department was also kept in the dark at the beginning. Many people left because they went to other companies, and they didn't say it was United Group. We registered like this. It wasn't until I visited the opening and launch of United Motorcycle this time that I found out that many people had gone to United Group. . According to my observation, the United Group currently has three main personnel groups. The first is some technical backbones and skilled workers excavated from various small and medium-sized enterprises in Milan; the second is the backbones and workers of Fiat in the past; the third is engineers and workers introduced from Germany... The overall personnel ratio is about 4:3:3. Now the total number of workers in United Motorcycle is more than 3,000, and it is reported that they are still recruiting continuously. "

"This won't work. We must find a way to curb this situation."

"It's impossible. We can't provide the salary and treatment given by United Motorcycle." Agnelli complained, and the old Agnelli understood why his son was so unkind to Contini. There is no love or hate without reason in the world. In fact, there are reasons.

The basic monthly salary of skilled workers at United Motorcycle is divided into three levels: 8, 9 and 10, and is graded according to technical ability. The lowest level is 800 lira a month, and the others are 900 and 1000 lira a month. This is basically consistent with the level of Fiat. The key is that overtime pay and bonus calculations are several times more than the latter. This year, Fiat has basically no overtime tasks due to shrinking orders and market problems. It is very good to maintain its scale without layoffs. United Motorcycle is working overtime around the clock, and basically can get an additional bonus of 500-600 lira every month. In this way, the income of skilled workers is about 30% higher than that of the same position in Fiat. As for technical backbones and business management talents, they are basically implemented according to this ratio. In addition, within the United Group system, German and Italian workers and engineers receive equal pay for equal work, considering only their level and skills, not their nationality, which makes everyone very satisfied.

In addition to the salary increase, Contini's benefits are also better than those of ordinary companies. The base of United Motorcycle is far away from the city, so he specially opened a commuting service to and from the city. In addition, the base is also building workers' housing, promising that employees can rent it at a lower price. If they want to buy it in the future, it will be linked to the service years. According to the design, these workers' housing is usually more spacious and more modern than the same type of houses in Milan. Except for the location in the suburbs, everything else is good, but with the introduction and construction of more supporting services and facilities, many employees will be eager to try.

These are all extra costs that Contini has invested in human resources, which other companies think is irrational behavior.