Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 899 The Difference 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 Ohga.

Dahe has a very 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 Ohga, 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?
Interesting to say, 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 a letter of opinion to Akio Morita, the president of Sony at the time, summarizing all the faults 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 Oga 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, and 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 very 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 New York City Ballet. New Year's show.

Ronald, who was too generous, 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 BetaCam SP 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." Because of Antonia's relationship, Ronald has a better understanding of the New York City Ballet. , focusing on modern ballet.

"Yes, I like their modern ballet very much. I didn't expect their classical ballet to be of a high level." 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 incomprehension about some cultures of America. This time I came to America, and 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.

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

Even Schulhoff, the vice chairman of Sony's American branch and the most senior 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 mistake in recommending it.”

Dahe unhurriedly explained his reason for coming.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 can't understand the thinking of the top 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 they were all rejected by Columbia's senior management. I really don't understand your... way of thinking. So I want to ask for advice this time. ..."

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

It turns out that Sony and Columbia Records have a long history of cooperation. As early as the 60s, 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, an entrepreneur who made his fortune running a resort, Lawrence Turhew, acquired a controlling stake in Columbia Group, and he planned to sell his record label.

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

The president of Sony, Akio Morita, and the 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 its first acquisition offer to Columbia.Tehugh offered Columbia Records $11 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 bad news came 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 60, Special Hugh proposed the second purchase proposal. This time, the purchase price was almost 20% higher than the first one, reaching [-] 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.

But 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, Tehugh told Schulhoff that if Sony was still interested in the label, he guaranteed the board would agree, but the price remained at $20 billion.

Schulhoff asked Tokyo for instructions for the third time.Apparently, Morita isn't bothered by the price, telling Schulhoff, "If it was worth $20 billion last month, it's still worth $20 billion."

With such a favorable condition, no one will agree to it except the 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 explained 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 reason to persuade 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 also 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, 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's decision-making with the development of 20 years later. This is an important reason for our company's progress. Compared with the benefits that Columbia Records can bring to Sony in 20 years, this A little 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.

In the large enterprises of Dongying, from the top to the bottom, everyone is united, and the employees regard the company as a big family. Against 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, come to America to buy companies, and encounter a culture where everything here is regarded as a business, and they seem very uncomfortable.

On the one hand, the long-term vision of 20 years from now is not to fight 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 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 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 proposed the acquisition to Sony, Yetnikov, the vice president of Columbia Records, is Jewish.

Ronald remembered his unpleasant experience dealing with the Jews, and he 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.Whether it's using bad 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 Ohga 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 Oga'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.

The film adaptation of the opera is well studied and particularly fond of Ronald's acquaintance, director Franco Zeffirelli of "Endless Love" starring Brooke Shields.

(End of this chapter)