MTL - Exploiting Hollywood 1980-Chapter 899 Differences between Eastern and Western Philosophy

  Chapter 899 Differences between Eastern and Western Philosophy

   "New York City Ballet's new version of 'Romeo and Juliet' is astonishingly authentic."

   The one who spoke was the president of Sony, Norio Oga.

   Dahe has an artistic temperament, wears gold-rimmed glasses, and speaks very fluent English for Dongying people. Ronald went to see the New York City Ballet with him, and then returned to the Peninsula Hotel where he was staying to continue chatting.

  Dahe continued to praise the high level of New York City Ballet.

  This is not arty Norio Oga. He was a graduate of the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in his early years, specializing in opera singing. After that, he went to Munich and Berlin to continue his studies, and became friends with Karajan, the conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. If he hadn't joined Sony later, he would have become a singer at the Tokyo Opera House, or a conductor of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra.

  How did such an artist become the president of Sony Corporation, a multinational consumer electronics manufacturer?

  It’s interesting to say that Dahe joined Sony by chance. When he was young, he bought a Sony tape recorder to learn opera. During use, he found that Sony's products had many faults and could not be used.

  So he wrote an opinion letter to Sony's then president Akio Morita, summarizing all the failures of the Sony recorder, and writing his opinions on how to improve it. This letter made Sony executives very excited, and as if they had found a treasure, after Dahe returned from studying abroad, he was hired by Akio Morita as a non-staff consultant of the company.

Norio Ohga is a genius who understands both art and technology. While working as a singer at the Tokyo Opera House, he also participated in the public relations of Sony's various projects, until one day he was too tired and fell asleep in the background and missed the opera. The playing time of the character.

  He knew that his energy could only guarantee a job. After thinking about it, he gave up his music dream and joined Sony full-time. He has always been Akio Morita's favorite general.

  Dahe is also full of enthusiasm for flying. He has obtained eight types of flight licenses and can fly various aircraft, including civil aviation airliners. This time he came to America on a business trip, and he flew the plane himself.

Hearing that Ronald was busy, Norio Ohga flew a business jet to Los Angeles. After meeting with Ronald, he kindly invited him to be a pilot himself. La Ronald came to New York for the weekend to watch the performance of the New York City Ballet. New Year's show.

   Ronald, whose hospitality was hard to bear, had to go to New York with Bannon, Johnny Kitagawa, and Norio Oga. When he arrived in New York, Dahe never mentioned asking Ronald for help, but enjoyed the most advanced Japanese food and the best classical music performance with him.

  In addition to the material and spiritual enjoyment, Dahe also gave Ronald the latest BetaCamSP upgraded camera. Different from the old model before, the horizontal resolution of the new camera has been increased to an unprecedented 340 lines, defeating the 300-line level of the existing TV station equipment.

"They will rehearse classical ballet in the New Year, and the usual performance season is still dominated by modern ballet." Ronald has a better understanding of the New York City Ballet because of Antonia's relationship. , focusing on modern ballet.

   "Yes, I like their modern ballet very much. I didn't expect their classical ballet level to be very high." Norio Ohga is an expert, and few people in Japan can talk to him about art.

  Ronald played with the new camera for a while, and he must ask for something if he is courteous. So he turned the topic to serious business and asked President Norio Oga what he wanted to consult with him.

"Ronald Sang, I just have some incomprehensions about some American cultures. When I came to America this time, Sony suffered some setbacks in business. A master who understands both America and Japan's way of thinking, come to ask me some philosophical questions."

  Dahe solemnly stated the purpose of this visit in clear English.

"Ah?" Ronald snorted, "Mr. Dahe, I'm just a film director, not an entrepreneur. I have a company, and it's just for the convenience of making movies. I'm afraid I can't help you much. "

"Ronald-san is a humble person, but he is indeed the American art master who understands Japanese philosophy best." Dahe nodded lightly, expressing that he was not talking nonsense, he just made it up for the purpose of finding a partner to watch the show and chat reason. Although it is true that I watched the performance with Ronald, it really feels good to talk about art. The two can say that they hit it off.

  After listening to Ronald's answer, Norio Oga knew that this person is definitely a rare talent who can understand both Chinese and Western thinking. How do ordinary American people know the Eastern philosophy of humility when they are consulted by superiors?

  Even the vice chairman of Sony’s American branch, Schulhoff, the most experienced Western employee, is not so conscious. Once the American people see this kind of opportunity, if they don't take the opportunity to brag about their abilities, they will be regarded as Dongying Tong.

"Ronald-san was personally recommended by Kitagawa-san. I specially found two Japanese cultural films directed by you, 'Longwei Kid' and its sequel. The role of Master Miyagi is a master with oriental philosophical thinking. I know he made no mistakes."

   Dahe explained his reason for coming in a leisurely manner. As for Ronald saying that he is not an entrepreneur, it is not the focus of his consideration at all. Isn't he also a singer who became a monk halfway through, and now he is also the second in command of Sony?

  Dahe is a very shrewd manager. His problem is that he really cannot understand the thinking of the senior managers of the American Art Company, and the sensible people in the company may not be able to speak freely. Kitagawa recommended Ronald, and he wanted to try the idea of ​​this well-known Hollywood director who likes oriental culture and get some inspiration.

   "So, what exactly is your philosophical challenge?" Ronald felt relieved when he heard that he was talking about such profound issues as philosophy. Anyway, I also know a little bit of Eastern thinking, so it’s okay to talk about philosophy with the other party, and it’s okay to fool around a little bit.

"Hey, we, Sony Records, want to acquire your Columbia Records. We made three bids, and we felt that we had done our best, but were rejected by Columbia's top management. I really don't understand your... way of thinking. So this time I want to ask for advice... "

  Norio Ohga was really distressed, so he explained the ins and outs of the matter aside.

  It turns out that Sony and Columbia Records have a long history of cooperation. As early as the 1960s, a joint venture company of Dongying was established. In 1982, he invested tens of millions of dollars in America and established a new joint venture CD record factory.

  In 1986, Lawrence Turhew, an entrepreneur who made his fortune by running a resort, acquired a controlling stake in Columbia Group, and he planned to sell his record company.

  Columbia Records' president, Walter Yetnikov, immediately suggested to his partner Sony to take this high-quality asset after hearing the news.

  Sony President Akio Morita and President Norio Oga are very excited. This is their long-awaited opportunity to enter the American market. Immediately entrust Schulhoff, the vice chairman of the America branch factory, with full authority to negotiate with Colombia.

  In November 1986, Sony made an acquisition offer to Columbia for the first time. Tehugh offered Columbia Records $1.25 billion.

   Morita and Dahe confirmed the price, although it was expensive, it was worth it. At the same time, Sony's Schulhoff reached an agreement with Columbia Records' Yetnikov to ensure that there would be no serious changes in the management of the record company after the acquisition. What's more, there will be no problem with the music work in the recording (the most important thing at that time is of course MJ's new album).

   But there was bad news from Columbia Ayer chairman Lawrence Turhew: The board rejected the proposal. Vice-chairman Paley, in particular, was strongly opposed to giving up the record business, and persuaded the board to veto the proposal.

  Nine months later, in the summer of 1987, Special Hugh proposed the acquisition for the second time. This time, the acquisition price was almost 60% higher than the first time, reaching 2 billion US dollars. Akio Morita and Norio Oga agreed to the new price with little hesitation. The main reason was that the yen was appreciating rapidly at that time.

  However, Paley, the vice chairman of the opposition Columbia Group, still gathered a group of Jewish executives to vote against the new bid. They found a problem in Sony's attitude and wanted to rip off again.

  After the failure of the second acquisition, things turned around again after the "Black Monday" when the US stock market crashed. The main reason this time is that financial markets have seriously shaken Colombia's prospects.

  The day after the stock market crash, Te Hugh told Schulhoff that if Sony was still interested in the record company, he guaranteed that the board of directors would agree, but the price remained at $2 billion.

   Schulhoff asked Tokyo for instructions for the third time. Apparently, Morita isn't bothered by the price, telling Schulhoff, "If it was worth $2 billion last month, it's still worth $2 billion."

   With such a favorable condition, no one will agree to it except for Japanese entrepreneurs. Companies in other countries will definitely take advantage of the fire to try to lower prices. This is great news for Columbia listed companies than the transaction.

   Unexpectedly, within the Columbia board of directors, after the impact of the stock market crash has recovered, discordant voices began to appear again. Some board members wanted to join forces to veto Sony's invitation again.

   "I don't quite understand why Chairman Akio Morita didn't take advantage of the stock market crash to lower the price?" Ronald felt that Sony was so easy to talk to after hearing this miraculous acquisition experience.

   "It is not so easy for our Japanese capital to enter America and acquire a record company with a long history." Norio Ohga said the reason. Enterprises in the defeated country bought companies in the victorious country after making money. This is a hurdle that is not easy to overcome in the psychology of the people. With the opportunity of the stock market crash, it is a good persuasive reason for the people-"This time, the defeated country is here to help us tide over the difficulties."

  What Morita and Dahe think about the most is to seize the time to win it.

   "Moreover, the management culture of our Dongying company is very different from that of America." Dahe then talked about the second reason for maintaining the bid. During the MacArthur occupation after the war, the U.S. military translated a lot of laws and imposed them on the Japanese government.

  The labor law is the most typical law among them. After the revision, companies basically cannot fire employees. So once you hire an employee, you have to support him until retirement.

"The young people in our company always look at the current company's decision-making based on the development of the company twenty years later. This is an important reason for our company's progress. Compared with the benefits that Columbia Records can bring to Sony in the past two decades , this premium is nothing." Dahe concluded.

   It turned out to be like this. Ronald has a bottom line in his heart. In fact, this is a question of cultural and institutional differences. Under the lifetime employment system, it combines the traditional culture of loyalty among the original samurai daimyo in Japan. Employees dedicate their talents and efforts to their employers wholeheartedly, and employers also have the mentality of taking care of employees for life.

  Dongying’s large enterprises, from top to bottom, everyone is united, and employees regard the company as a big family. Under the background of Dongying’s economic take-off, the international competitiveness that has exploded is very strong.

  But when they develop successfully, they go out of Japan and come to America to buy companies. When they encounter a culture where everything here is regarded as business, they seem very uncomfortable.

  On the one hand, it is to look at the long-term vision of twenty years later and not to compete for the short-term, and on the other hand, it is foolish to think that the opponent is stupid if he has money but does not make money. I'm afraid Columbia's board of directors will regard Sony's good intentions as a bad idea, and want to swindle out of this big deal.

  However, Ronald understood this cultural barrier, and it was difficult for him to explain it clearly to Dahe. Just as it was difficult for him to explain to entrepreneurs in America why Sony insisted on the original offer even though it had the opportunity to take advantage of the stock market crash to lower the price.

   "By the way, Mr. Dahe, is that Palai who opposed the takeover in the board of directors twice, Jewish?" Ronald suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

   "Most of the board of directors who opposed our acquisition were indeed Jewish. But there were also those who supported it." Norio Ohga admitted. In the United States, Jewish talents are mainly sent to the three industries of show business, journalism, and capital markets. There are many high-level Jewish people in Colombia.

   The person who first suggested the acquisition to Sony, Yetnikov, the vice president of Columbia Records, was of Jewish descent.

   Ronald thought of his unpleasant experience dealing with the Jews, and he already understood a little bit in his heart.

   "Mr. Dahe, most of the Jews in America are immigrants from Eastern Europe. It can be said that their business is completely different from the oriental tradition." Ronald explained to the other party with a smile.

"As soon as they come up to negotiate, they will pretend to strike hard. If you are afraid of being hit, or if you retreat because of long-term interests, they will happily take the olive branch you handed over to express friendship and put it in their pocket. Then I think I used my intelligence and ambition to defeat you, a foreigner."

   "Is that so?" Norio Oga was a little surprised. Is there such a thing in business? Do these people treat all Japanese people as fools?

"Yes, because of your weakness, they will squeeze you according to this scale every time they trade with you in the future. If you express dissatisfaction, they will still show your kindness in the first transaction , to protest to you as a measure."

  Ronald has dealt with Jews for a long time, and he is very clear about their method of caring about their heads and ignoring their backs. Whether it's using poor information to deceive you, or lying to you with big words first, it's good if you can make money.

  As for being fooled, don’t you want to do long-term business with them? Hey, what other plans do the Jews have for long-term industrial business? It's worth a fortune. During World War II, they could sell the rope used to hang themselves to each other.

   "This..." Norio Oga began to think deeply. This kind of deep-seated business thinking of Jews is simply unreasonable for Japanese entrepreneurs. But Ronald pointed out the key points, and in retrospect, everything was consistent. Sure enough, he is a master of philosophy who penetrates east and west. If he is not such a genius, he will not be able to shoot Master Miyagi in Longwei Boy, a character full of oriental wisdom.

"Besides, the Jews have a characteristic. They are equally fierce to competitors, partners, and other Jews. They can't wait to win your underwear." Ronald continued, he also looked down on this kind of The Jewish business philosophy, long-term industrial business, all pay attention to a win-win situation. If the partners are not allowed to make money, how can it last for a long time?

  Norio Ohga's thinking was cleared of fog, and he immediately figured out a comprehensive countermeasure. The reason why they felt that they had nowhere to start was because of the cultural barrier, so they did not expect that the other party was so short-sighted.

   Now that we understand the key to the problem, it will be easy to handle. Since they are so cruel to people of the same ethnicity, just find a Jew in the industry to deal with them. Dongying people are no strangers to this strategy.

   "Ronald-san, you are the most commanding philosopher and artist I have met since I came to America." Norio Ohga stopped talking about business, and started chatting with Ronald about Hollywood's artistic achievements.

  This film adaptation of the opera is very researched, and he especially likes Ronald's acquaintance, the director of "Endless Love" starring Brooke Shields Franco Zeffirelli.

  (end of this chapter)