Chapter 39 Differences between Eastern and Western Philosophy
“The New York City Ballet’s new version of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is truly awe-inspiring.”
The speaker was Sony’s president, Norio Ohga.
Dahe has an artistic temperament, wears gold-rimmed glasses, and speaks English that is very fluent for Japanese people. Ronald went to see a performance by the New York City Ballet with him, and then returned to the Peninsula Hotel where he was staying.
Keep chatting.
Dahe continued to praise the high level of New York City Ballet.
This is not to say that Norio Ohga is arty. In his early years, he was a graduate of the Tokyo National University of Art and Music, majoring in opera singing. He then went to Munich and Berlin to continue his studies, and became a lifelong friend with Karajan, the conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. If he hadn't joined later
Sony, he will 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?
Interestingly, Dahe joined Sony by chance. When he was young, he bought a Sony tape 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 the then president of Sony, Akio Morita, summarizing all the faults of Sony recorders and giving suggestions on how to improve them. This letter made Sony executives very excited. They felt like they had found a treasure and studied abroad in Oga.
After returning to China, he was hired by Akio Morita as a non-staff consultant for 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 with enough energy. 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 all kinds of aircraft, including commercial 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 asked Ronald to come to New York for the weekend to watch the New York City Ballet.
New Year's performance.
Ronald, who could not resist the hospitality, had no choice but to go to New York with Bannon, Johnny Kitagawa, and Norio Ohga. When they arrived in New York, Ohga never mentioned asking Ronald for help, but instead enjoyed the best time with him.
High-end Japanese food, and the best classical music performances.
In addition to material and spiritual enjoyment, Dahe also gave Ronald the latest BetaCam SP upgraded model camera. Different from the previous old model, the new camera's horizontal resolution has been increased to an unprecedented 340 lines, beating the existing camera.
TV station equipment has a level of 300 lines, and every major TV station in the United States needs to upgrade it.
"They will rehearse classical ballet in the New Year, and the usual performance seasons are still focused on modern ballet." Because of Antonia's relationship, Ronald knows the New York City Ballet quite well, and their focus is different from that of the ballet companies in China and the Union.
, focusing on modern ballet.
"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, and when you give a courtesy to someone, 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 just don't understand some aspects of American culture. This time I came to America, Sony suffered some setbacks in its business operations. I especially want to find someone who can connect Eastern and Western cultures.
A master who understands both American and Japanese ways of thinking, come and ask me some philosophical questions."
Dahe solemnly stated the purpose of his visit in clear English.
"Ah?" 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.
The reason. Although I did watch the show with Ronald and talk about art, it really felt good. The two of them could say that they hit it off immediately.
Listening to Ronald's answer, Norio Ohga knew that this man was definitely a rare talent who could understand both Chinese and Western thinking. How could ordinary Americans understand the Eastern philosophy of showing humility when consulting with superiors?
Even Schulhoff, the vice chairman of Sony's American branch and the most senior Western employee, does not have such a self-awareness. When American people see this kind of opportunity, they will not take the opportunity to brag about their abilities.
Japan is open.
"Ronald-san was personally recommended by Kitagawa-san. I specially found two Japanese cultural films directed by you, 'The Dragon King' and the 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 was not an entrepreneur, it was not the focus of his consideration at all. Wasn't he also a singer who became a monk on the way, and now he is also the second-in-command of Sony?
Ohga is a very shrewd manager. His problem is mainly that he cannot understand the thinking of the senior managers of American Art Company, and the understanding people within the company may not speak freely. Kitagawa recommended Ronald.
He just wanted to try out the ideas of this famous Hollywood director who loves Eastern culture and see what inspiration he had.
"So, what is your philosophical challenge?" Ronald felt relieved when he heard that he was talking about such a profound issue as philosophy. Anyway, he also knew some Eastern thinking, so he could fool the other party by talking about philosophy.
It's still okay to do it twice.
"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...
…”
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 joint venture in Japan as early as the 1960s. In 1982, they invested tens of millions of dollars in America to establish a new joint venture CD record factory.
In 1986, Lawrence Twohew, an entrepreneur who made his fortune running resorts, acquired a controlling stake in Columbia Group and planned to sell his record company.
When Walter Yetnikov, the president of Columbia Records, heard the news, he immediately suggested that his partner Sony acquire this high-quality asset.
Sony's Chairman Akio Morita and President Norio Ohga were very excited. This was their long-awaited opportunity to enter the American market. They immediately entrusted the Vice Chairman of the American Branch Factory, Schulhoff, with full authority to negotiate with Colombia.
negotiation.
In November 1986, Sony made its first acquisition offer to Columbia. Matthews offered Columbia Records a price of US$1.25 billion.
Morita and Daga confirmed that the price, although expensive, was worth it. At the same time, Sony's Schulhoff reached an agreement with Columbia Records' Yetnikov to ensure that the management of the record company would not undergo serious changes after the acquisition. More
The important thing is that 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 there was bad news from Columbia Air's chairman Laurence Tehu: the board of directors rejected the proposal. Vice chairman Pallet, in particular, strongly opposed giving up 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% compared with the first time, reaching 2 billion U.S. dollars. Akio Morita and Norio Ohga almost
I agreed to the new price without hesitation. The main reason was that the Japanese yen was rapidly appreciating at that time.
However, Pallet, the vice chairman of the opposition Columbia Group, still gathered a group of Jewish executives to vote against the new bid. They found problems in Sony's attitude and wanted to rip it off again.
After the second acquisition failed, things took a turn for the better again after the "Black Monday" when the U.S. stock market crashed. This time the main reason was that the financial market had 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. Apparently, 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 from other countries would definitely take advantage of the situation and try to lower prices. This deal is great news for Colombian listed companies.
Unexpectedly, within the Colombian board of directors, after the impact of the stock market crash had recovered, discordant voices began to appear again, and 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?" 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 is
It is a difficult hurdle for the people to overcome psychologically. The opportunity of the stock market crash is a good reason for persuasion in the hearts of the people - "This time the defeated country 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 companies is very different from that of America." Dahe also mentioned the second reason for maintaining the bid. During the MacArthur occupation after the war, the US military translated a lot 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 an employee is hired, he or she must be supported until retirement.
"The young people in our company always look at the current company decisions in terms of 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.
It turns out that's the case. Ronald had a clear idea. In fact, this is still a problem 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.
, employers also have the mentality of caring for their employees for life.
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 20 years from now and don’t care about the short and long term. On the other hand, they think that their opponents are stupid because they have money but are not making money. I’m afraid that Columbia’s board of directors regards Sony’s good intentions as a bad idea and wants to take advantage of this big company.
A certain amount of fraud was committed in the transaction.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click the next page to continue reading the exciting content! However, Ronald understood this cultural gap, and it was difficult for him to explain it to Dahe. Just like it was difficult for him to explain it to America.
Entrepreneur, explain why Sony still insisted on the original offer even though it had the opportunity to take advantage of the stock market crash to lower its 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 mainly go to the entertainment industry, the press, and the capital market.
Industry transportation. There are many high-level 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.
"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 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 handed to express your 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 there such a thing 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 trade 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 he is very clear about their method of looking ahead and ignoring 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 deceived, hey, do the Jews have any plans to do long-term industrial business? They can always make a profit. During World War II, they could even sell them for hanging.
Give the other party the rope to kill yourself.
"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.
.As expected, he is a master of philosophy who understands the East and the 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 Eastern wisdom.
"Furthermore, Jews have one characteristic. They are equally cruel to competitors, partners, and other Jews. They want to beat you to the bottom of your underwear." Ronald continued, he also looked down on this kind of thing.
Jewish business philosophy and long-term industrial business all focus on a win-win situation. How can it last long if the partners are not allowed to make money?
Norio Ohga's thinking was cleared of fog, and he immediately figured out all the countermeasures. The reason why they felt they had nowhere to start before was because of the cultural gap. They did not expect that the other party would be so short-sighted.
Now that we understand the crux of the problem, it is 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.