Exploiting Hollywood 1980

【Exploiting Hollywood 1980】 【】

“New York City Ballet’s new version of ‘Romeo et Juliette’ is truly awe-inspiring.”

The speaker was Sony’s president, Norio Ohga.

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

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

This is not arty Norio Ohga. In his early years, he was a graduate of the Tokyo National University of Art and Music, specializing in opera singing. After that, he went to Munich and Berlin to continue his studies, and became a lifelong friend with Karajan, the conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. If he had not joined Sony later, he would have become a singer at the Tokyo Opera House or the 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 recorder to study opera. During use, he found that Sony's products had many faults and were almost unusable.

So he wrote a letter of opinion to Sony's then president Akio Morita, summarizing all the faults of Sony's recorders and writing suggestions on how to improve them. This letter made Sony executives very excited. They felt like they had found a treasure. After Oga returned from studying abroad, he was hired by Akio Morita as a non-staff consultant to the company.

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

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

Dahe is also full of passion for flying. He has obtained eight types of pilot licenses and can fly various aircraft, including civil airliners. This time he came to America for a business trip and flew his own plane.

Hearing that Ronald was very busy, Norio Ohga personally flew a business jet to Los Angeles. After meeting with Ronald, he warmly invited him to be a pilot himself and invited Ronald to spend the weekend in New York to watch the New York City Ballet. New Year's performance.

Unable to resist the hospitality, Ronald had no choice but to go to New York with Bannon, Johnny Kitagawa, and Norio Ohga. When they arrived in New York, Dahe never mentioned asking Ronald for help, but instead enjoyed the most luxurious Japanese meals and the best classical music performances with him.

In addition to material and spiritual enjoyment, Dahe also gave Ronald the latest BetaCam SP upgraded camera. Different from the previous old model, the horizontal resolution of the new camera has been increased to an unprecedented 340 lines, beating the 300 lines of existing TV equipment. Seeing that all major TV stations in the United States have to upgrade.

"They will arrange classical ballet in the New Year, and the usual performance seasons are still mainly modern ballet." Because of Antonia's relationship, Ronald knows the New York City Ballet better. Their focus is different from that of the ballet companies in China and the Union. , focusing on modern ballet.

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【Exploiting Hollywood 1980】 【】

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

Ronald played with the new camera for a while. When you are polite to others, you must ask for something. So he turned the topic to business and asked President Norio Ohga what he wanted to consult about.

"Ronald San, I am actually just interested in some American culture.

There is something very incomprehensible. This time I came to America, Sony has suffered some setbacks in its operations. I especially want to find a master who understands Eastern and Western cultures and understands both American and Japanese ways of thinking to ask for advice. Philosophical question. "

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

"Huh?" Ronald exclaimed, "Mr. Dahe, I'm just a film director, not an entrepreneur. I have a company just to make movies to facilitate project establishment. I'm afraid I can't be of much help. "

"Ronald San is a humble man, but he is indeed the American art master who understands Japanese philosophy best." Dahe nodded slightly, saying that he was not talking nonsense, and that he made it up purely to find a partner to watch a show and chat with. reason. Although I did watch the show with Ronald and chatting about art, it did feel good. The two of them could say that they hit it off immediately.

Listening to Ronald's answer, Ohga Norio knew that this man was definitely a rare talent with a thorough understanding of Chinese and Western thinking. How do ordinary Americans understand the Eastern philosophy of showing humility first when consulting a superior?

Even Schulhoff, the vice chairman of Sony's American branch and the most senior Western employee, has no such awareness. When Americans see this kind of opportunity, if they don't take the opportunity to brag about their abilities, it will be regarded as a Japanese communication.

"Ronald-san was personally recommended by Kitagawa-san. I specially found two Japanese cultural films directed by you, 'The Dragon King' and its sequel. The role of Master Miyagi is a master with Eastern philosophical thinking. I I know he made the right recommendation.”

Dahe explained his purpose in a leisurely manner. As for Ronald's statement 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 by the way and is now the second-in-command of Sony?

Dahe is a very shrewd manager. His problem is mainly that he cannot understand the thinking of the senior managers of America Art Company, and the understanding people within the company may not speak freely. Kitagawa recommended Ronald, and he wanted to try out the ideas of this famous Hollywood director who likes Eastern culture.

"So, what is your philosophical challenge?" Ronald felt relieved when he heard that he was talking about such a profound issue as philosophy. Anyway, I know some Eastern thinking, so I can chat with the other person about philosophy and fool him for a while.

"Hey, we at Sony Records want to acquire your Columbia Records company. We made three bids, and we already 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. …”

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【Exploiting Hollywood 1980】 【】

Norio Ohga was really distressed and told the whole story.

It turns out that Sony and Columbia Records have a long history of cooperation. They established a Japanese joint venture as early as the 1960s. In 1982, it invested tens of millions of dollars to establish a new joint venture CD record factory in America.

In 1986, Lawrence Tehue, an entrepreneur who made his fortune operating resorts, acquired a controlling stake in Columbia Group and planned to sell his record company.

When Walter Yetnikov, the president of Columbia Records, learned of the news, he immediately suggested that his partner Sony acquire this high-quality asset.

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

In November 1986, Sony made its first acquisition offer to Columbia. Trump 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. More importantly, there will be no problems with the music being recorded (the most important thing at that time was of course MJ's new album).

But Columbia Air chairman Laurence Twohew had bad news: The board rejected the proposal. Vice Chairman Palay, in particular, strongly opposed abandoning the record business and persuaded the board of directors to reject the proposal.

Nine months later, in the summer of 1987, Teshu proposed the acquisition motion for the second time. This time the acquisition price increased by almost 60% from the first time, reaching US$2 billion. Akio Morita and Norio Ohga agreed to the new price without hesitation. The main reason was that the yen was rapidly appreciating at that time.

But Pallet, 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 it off again.

After the second acquisition failed, things turned around again after the "Black Monday" when the U.S. 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, Tehu told Schulhoff that if Sony was still interested in the record company, he guaranteed that the board of directors would agree, but the price would remain at $2 billion.

Schulhoff asked Tokyo for instructions for the third time. Obviously, Akio Morita was not bothered by the price issue. He told Schulhoff: "If it was worth $2 billion last month, then it is still worth $2 billion."

With such favorable conditions, no one except Japanese entrepreneurs would agree. Companies in other countries will definitely take advantage of the situation and try to lower prices. This is great news for Colombia's listed companies.

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

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【Exploiting Hollywood 1980】 【】

"I don't quite understand why Chairman Akio Morita didn't take advantage of the stock market crash to lower the price?" After hearing this magical acquisition experience, Ronald felt that Sony was too talkative.

"It is not easy for our Japanese capital to enter America and acquire a record company with a long history." Norio Ohga said the reason. Enterprises from the defeated country made money to acquire enterprises from the victorious country. This was a psychological hurdle for the people that was not easy to overcome. The opportunity of a stock market crash is a good reason for persuasion in the hearts of the people - "This time it is the defeated country that is here to help us tide over the difficulties."

What Morita and Dahe thought about most was to hurry up and capture it.

"Furthermore, the management culture of our Japanese company is very different from that of America." Dahe said the second reason for maintaining the bid. During the MacArthur occupation after the war, the U.S. military translated a large number of laws and imposed them on the Japanese government.

The labor law is one of the most typical laws. After the amendment, basically companies 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 decisions in terms of the development in twenty years. This is an important reason why our company can progress. Compared with the benefits that Columbia Records can bring to Sony in twenty years, , this premium is nothing." Dahe concluded.

So that's it. Ronald felt confident. In fact, this is still a question of cultural and institutional differences. The lifelong employment system combines the traditional culture of loyalty among Japan's original samurai daimyo. Employees devote their talents and efforts to their employers, and employers also have the mentality of caring for their employees throughout their lives.

In Japan's large enterprises, everyone is united from top to bottom, and employees regard the company as a big family. Against the backdrop of Japan's economic boom, the international competitiveness that has exploded is very strong.

But when they became successful and went out of Japan to acquire companies in America, they became very uncomfortable with the culture where everything was treated as business.

On the one hand, they look at the long-term vision of twenty years from now and don’t argue with short-term gains and losses. On the other hand, if they don’t make money, they think their opponents are stupid. I'm afraid that Columbia's board of directors regards Sony's good intentions as a bad idea and wants to cheat out of this big deal.

However, Ronald understood this cultural gap, and it was difficult to explain it to Dahe. Just like it was difficult for him to explain to American entrepreneurs why Sony still insisted on the original offer despite taking advantage of the stock market crash to lower the price.

"By the way, Mr. Dahe, is Pallet, who opposed the acquisition twice on the board of directors, Jewish?" Ronald suddenly had an idea.

"Most of the people on the board of directors who oppose our acquisition are indeed Jewish. But there are also those who support it." Norio Ohga admitted. In the United States, Jewish talents are mainly transported to three industries: entertainment, journalism, and capital markets. There are many high-ranking Jewish people in Colombia.

The person who first proposed the acquisition to Sony, Columbia Records Vice President Yetnikov, was Jewish.

Ronald thought of his unpleasant experience of dealing with Jews, and he already understood something in his heart.

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【Exploiting Hollywood 1980】 【】

"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 Eastern tradition." Ronald explained to the other party with a smile.

"As soon as they come up to negotiate, they will pretend to punch hard. If you are afraid of being hit, or if you back off because of long-term interests, they will happily take the olive branch you offer to express friendship and put it in their pocket. Then. I think I defeated you, a foreigner, with my cleverness and ambition."

"Is that so?" Norio Ohga was a little surprised. Is this still possible in business? Do these people regard Japanese people as fools?

"Yes, because of your weakness, they will squeeze you according to this standard every time they deal with you in the future. If you express dissatisfaction, they will also use your kindness in the first transaction , to protest against you as a measure.”

Ronald has been dealing with Jews for a long time and is very aware of their method of focusing on the head rather than the bottom. Whether they use information gaps to trick you, or they come up and lie to you first, as long as they can make money.

As for whether you don’t want to do long-term business with them after being fooled, hey, do the Jews have any plans to do long-term industrial business? They can make a fortune every time. During World War II, they could even sell the rope used to hang themselves to each other.

"This..." Norio Ohga began to think deeply. This kind of deep Jewish business thinking is simply unreasonable to Japanese entrepreneurs. But Ronald pointed out the key points, and when he thought about it, all of them were consistent. He is indeed a master of philosophy who understands both east and west. If he were not such a genius, he would not be able to film Master Miyagi in The Dragon King, a character full of oriental wisdom.

"Furthermore, Jews have one characteristic. They are equally cruel to competitors, partners, and other Jews. They want to take your underwear away." Ronald continued, and he also looked down on this kind of thing. Jewish business philosophy and long-term industrial business all focus on a win-win situation. If the partners are not allowed to make money, how can it last long?

Norio Ohga's thinking was cleared of fog, and he immediately figured out all the countermeasures. The reason why they felt like they had nowhere to start before was because of cultural barriers. They didn't expect that the other party would be so short-sighted.

Now that we understand the key to the problem, it's easy to solve. Since they are so cruel to people of the same ethnic group, just find a Jew in the industry to deal with them. The Japanese 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 the artistic achievements of Hollywood.

This man is very knowledgeable about film adaptations of operas, and is particularly fond of Ronald's acquaintance Franco Zeffirelli, the director of "Endless Love" starring Brooke Shields.