The Goddess Shines on America

This is Murray Hill, New Jersey. Lucent Technologies, which has been committed to promoting the development of new-generation communication networks for many years, is located here.

Lucent has a very long history, especially with the help of the 60-year-old Bell Labs, it has maintained the top three positions in the industry for many years. Taking technology as the core is the most indispensable and valuable business philosophy in this era.

But for a whole year, in this headquarters building carrying the dreams of thousands of employees, people have not smiled for a long time.

At this time, the then CEO Orlando Bryan was holding a meeting with many senior executives from the technical department, financial department, marketing department, etc. in a conference room with the highest specifications.

"You have seen it too, this is Cisco's latest product."

What Orlando was talking about was an instrument that was sitting on the table. Its shape doesn't seem to be much different from a switch, but everyone present knows that it is far from a switch in terms of technical principle and price.

"Reiside, when Cisco officially announced the firewall research and development plan, we immediately set up the same research team, and the time difference was only half a month."

Orlando looked at the person in charge of the technical department, who was a slightly bald man: "Although the replacement speed of our industry is astonishing, everyone knows that the time difference of half a month is not a big deal, that is to say, we should be with Cisco is on the same level."

When Orlando said these words, the only thing Laiside could do was to lower his head deeply, trying to keep his eyes on the firewall. Colleagues around did not look relaxed, and Ramos in the marketing department was even more gloomy.

"So now, at the same time, Cisco's products are about to be officially launched, Laiside, what about our products?"

This is really a difficult question to answer, because everyone knows the real reason. In contrast, although Lucent's capital background is extremely profound, Cisco, which is like a bright star, has always burst out with stronger research and development capabilities. This firewall is not a precedent at all. Since Lucent and Cisco first seized the common market, it has been stabilized by the other side.

"The main problem is, Brian, we have absolutely no experience in this field."

After a long silence, Lai Side, the manager of the technical department, finally spoke: "The maintenance of network security protocols is almost the same as when Cisco first launched routers. Although they all belong to the field of computer networks, they are all branches that no one has ever touched. They The sudden announcement of research and development must be because it is ready, and we are after all tackling a new problem..."

"But God, it's only a three-year-old company after all, three years! And the registered capital is only a small fraction, and it hasn't even carried out an IPO yet!"

Orlando could no longer hold back his anger, but when his roar echoed in the well-sound-proof conference room, none of the audience showed dissatisfaction. On the contrary, their faces were solemn, they sighed silently, or they were thinking deeply, or their eyes were rolling and they didn't know what to think about. Even when Orlando finished yelling, no one had the intention of taking over.

Because the contrast between the two companies is indeed too obvious. One is a veteran company backed by the mighty Bell Labs, and the other is a stage troupe hastily built by two university professors and a talented girl. The accumulation of vastly different backgrounds should have made the competition without any suspense. However, since Lucent took the initiative to compete with Cisco, it has never really been pleased.

Panting for a moment, Orlando gulped down a whole cup of coffee, and said to Laiside: "Give me an exact date now, when will our firewall come out?"

"July...Bryan, it really can't be ahead of schedule. We still have several key technologies that haven't broken through. Counting the finished product experiment, we can't make it until July at the earliest!"

"In July..."

Orlando scratched his scalp vigorously. He glanced at his colleagues and sighed, "Ramos, what's the market share of the two products we overlap with Cisco now?"

Marketing manager Ramos straightened his back, opened the document he had prepared earlier and said: "As for routers, as of the end of February this year, the cumulative sales of our first product, LX-100, have reached 850,000 units; The second-generation new product, the cumulative sales of LX-200 is 1.34 million units; the total of the two is 2.19 million units, and the market share in the eastern region of the United States is... 27.6%, and that in the central region is 48.5%. In addition , the newly opened Hong Kong market, because Cisco and other peers have not touched it at all, we can now be regarded as 100%."

"In the field of switches, the cumulative sales of the first-generation products are 470,000 units, and the second-generation new products are 550,000 units. The market share is 23.5% in the eastern region of the United States and 34.8% in the central region..."

Ramos stopped reading here, because Orlando had already raised his hand to stop him: "The board of directors has expressed dissatisfaction more than once, everyone, although we have just stepped into the field of Internet hardware, this is not a traditional industry, Cisco Not to mention a long-established giant, being bullied to such an extent by a rookie, is that what you want to see?"

"The central and western regions can't even reach 50% of the market share, and there is no room for meddling in the western market. I will ask the most critical question right now, Lai Siide. question."

He looked at the manager of the technical department of the company, his eyes were piercing: "Routers, switches, and the current firewall, why was every concept first proposed by Cisco? The total number of employees in your department, plus Bell Experiment The employees in the office are almost equal to half of Cisco, and this is more than half of Cisco after their latest expansion. Laiside, I hope you can give the board of directors a reasonable explanation, and I will convey it in the original text."

The atmosphere of this meeting was extremely awkward from the very beginning. Throughout the whole meeting, only Orlando and the executives asked by him could be heard asking and answering. This is the case at this time. Everyone is afraid that they will become the CEO and even the board of directors. The young birds all looked silent and thoughtful.

"because……"

Drops of sweat appeared on Laiside's forehead, and after spending a lot of brain cells searching for the answer, he finally answered quickly: "Probably because...they have Alice-Wang."

Orlando frowned suddenly, and said with a sneer, "Do you want me to tell the board of directors that the reason why the entire company can push us back in this field is only because of a single person?"

"But that's Alice-Wang, BOSS!"

Lai Siide is also anxious: "You should also know the industry news, right? She established Cisco with the router patent, and then developed Microsoft's Winodws by herself, and is still working as a technical consultant for that NT system. BOSS, although our employees There are quite a few, but they are just employees, and no one will be the same when they meet a genius entrepreneur like Rockefeller!"

This blurted answer also served the purpose of easing the atmosphere in the meeting room. The seven or eight executives who were summoned couldn't help laughing. Even Orlando, who wanted to get angry again, couldn't help shaking his head.

"Like Rockefeller? You can really find examples!"

Orlando sneered and lit a cigar. Anyway, there was only one woman present: "You should compare it with Edison, right?"

At this time, Julie Cohen, the company's CFO, the only female executive in the audience, said, "Olan, the meaning of the board of directors is that we must compete with Cisco in the field. ?"

Orlando looked at her with a cigar in his mouth: "Internet hardware is a new industry, and its value will reach at least 100 billion in the future. How can you let the board of directors give up this market?"

"Then maybe we can choose to cooperate with Cisco properly? Just like the cooperation between IBM and Microsoft earlier, we must gain a lot from cooperation with them, right?"

This is indeed a feasible idea, and Orlando did not rush to answer, but took two puffs of cigarettes silently: "At present, the overlapping business of the two companies is routers, switches, and firewalls that are still under development, and this is the current Cisco The only product out there. And we..."

"Network infrastructure."

Julie Cohen said: "Including the manufacture and development of optical cables and cables, network card modules and communication data, haven't we been working closely with AT\u0026amp;T? These are all areas where we can cooperate with Cisco."

"That's our strength, but it's Cisco's weakness."

Orlando still agrees with this proposal. The field of telephone communication network and computer network infrastructure is a bottomless pit. The research and development costs and infrastructure construction before obtaining huge profits all require the support of large consortiums. And Cisco certainly can't compete with Lucent.

"We have a good relationship with it through cooperation in this field. While enhancing our advantages in traditional fields, we will take the opportunity to gain more advantages in new fields..."

The murmured voice can make it clear to everyone, and Orlando didn't say everything. Undoubtedly, this is the best time for commercial espionage to appear, and such secrets cannot be casually disclosed to department managers. It seems that he can tell the shareholders at another board meeting that will be held in the near future. topic.

Orlando picked up the document at hand. This is another confidential material, which is the information about Alice Wang collected by the relevant people of the company to the best of their ability.

"It's all bullshit. It's not her public career I want to know about."

Staring at the resume-like content in the document, Orlando was dissatisfied with the perfunctory attitude of the subordinate employee: "What I want is information about her private life, including what type of boys she likes, you idiot..."