Small enterprises need management more than large ones

Small business needs strategy

小企业经不起处于边缘状态，却长期处于这种危险之中。因此，它必须仔细考虑出一种能使它显出特色的战略来。用生物学上的术语来说，它必须找到一个特殊的生态位置，在其中它具有优势并能经得起竞争。这种特殊位置可能是在某一特别市场上的领先地位（无论它是从地理上说、消费需要上说，还是从消费者的价值观上说），也可能表现为在某一方面非常卓越（如提供某种服务的能力），或有某种独特的技术。这种生态利基的一个例子是美国的一家小型制药公司。它在一个由巨型跨国公司占领导地位的市场中足以维持自己的生存并绰绰有余。它把自己的力量集中于眼科医师治疗病人的需要，特别是眼科手术的需要，为自己建立了一种生态市场利基。在这种生态市场利基上，虽然并不是没有竞争的，但它却确立了强大的领先地位。还有一个例子是只为美国大城市制造出租汽车的契克出租汽车公司（Checker Cab）。契克公司每年只生产四千辆汽车，但在出租汽车制造业中占领先地位；美国汽车公司（American Motors）的产量80倍于它，却是一个处于边缘状态的企业。一个小企业的战略也可能是把力量集中于为一个小而重要的领域提供出色的服务。当美国的大型超级市场连锁的服务质量一般较差时，美国东海岸和西海岸的一些地区连锁商店却获得了出色的成果。它们之所以能获得出色的成果，都是由于它们的经理决定在某一领域中集中力量并提供出色的服务。典型的情况是，其中的一位经理肯定自己在提供各类加工食品方面不能超过大型超级市场连锁，但是他可以提供真正第一流的肉类和真正有礼貌的服务；而这是大型超级市场由于规模太大而很难提供的，却是超级市场的顾客所最重视的。即使更小的企业也需要而且能够制定一个战略。

Small businesses can't afford to be on the edge, but they are in danger for a long time. Therefore, it must carefully consider a strategy that can make it distinctive. In terms of biology, it must find a special ecological position in which it has advantages and can stand the competition. This special position may be the leading position in a particular market (whether it is geographically, in terms of consumer needs, or in terms of consumer values), or it may be manifested as being very outstanding in a certain aspect (such as the ability to provide a certain service), or having a certain unique technology. An example of this ecological niche is a small pharmaceutical company in the United States. It's enough to survive in a market dominated by giant multinationals. It focuses its strength on the needs of ophthalmologists to treat patients, especially the needs of ophthalmic surgery, and establishes an ecological market niche for itself. In this niche of ecological market, although it is not without competition, it has established a strong leading position. Another example is checker cab, which makes taxis only for big cities in the United States. Chick, which produces only 4000 cars a year, leads the taxi industry; American Motors, which produces 80 times more cars, is a marginal company. A small business's strategy may also be to focus on providing excellent services in a small and important area. While the service quality of large supermarket chains in the United States is generally poor, some regional chain stores on the East and west coasts of the United States have achieved outstanding results. The reason why they can achieve outstanding results is that their managers decide to focus on a certain field and provide excellent services. Typically, one of the managers is sure that he can't surpass the large supermarket chain in providing all kinds of processed food, but he can provide real first-class meat and truly polite services; this is what the large supermarket is difficult to provide because of its large scale, but it is what the customers of the supermarket attach the most importance to. Even smaller businesses need and can develop a strategy.

美国大城市周围的郊区一般都有着过多的房地产代理商，其中绝大多数都只能勉强维持。有一个地区的一个房地产代理商由于仔细考虑出了一种获得领先地位的战略而发展了一项虽小但非常获利的业务。当在1950年左右开始从事这项职业时，他仔细地考察了他所在的地区并发现该地区的主要“行业”是高等教育。虽然当地的许多居民早出晚归地到附近的大城市去上班，但也有相当数量的人是住在当地的比较富裕的教师。这些教师在二十多所大专院校中教书。这些院校大部是小型的，但也有几所是相当大的。在美国的所有职业中，年青的大学教师的离职率可能是最高的。这些年青教师一般在一个地方教几年书以后就转到其它地方的学校中去教书。这个地区的二十多所院校每年要雇用五百多个新教师，离职的人数也与此相当。这位年青的房地产代理商决定把力量集中在这个市场上并为它提供所需要的服务。他还发现，他可以用最低的成本同这个市场直接接触。因为，各个院校准备雇用的新教师和在学年结束时准备离开的教师的名单，当然在几个月以前就已经知道了。而每个院校当然很高兴有一位可靠的人来承担为新教师寻找住房这样一项困难而麻烦的任务。其结果是，这位房地产代理商所做的生意为其同等规模的事务所的3倍，而所花的费用却最小。他每年的成交量约为五百到一千所房屋，仍然不算大，但他所获得的利润却几乎为一般郊区房地产代理商的4倍。这些例子显然非同寻常。因为，一般的小企业并没有什么战略。一般的小企业并不是“机会型的”，而是“问题型的”——解决了一个问题，又是一个问题。因而一般的小企业都不是成功的企业。因此，管理一个小企业的第一个要求就是提出和回答这一问题：“我们的企业是什么，它应该是什么？

There are usually too many real estate agents in the suburbs around big cities in the United States, most of which can only barely maintain. In one area, a real estate agent developed a small but very profitable business by carefully considering a strategy to gain a leading position. When he began his career around 1950, he carefully examined his area and found that the main "industry" in the area was higher education. Although many local residents leave early and return late to work in the nearby big cities, a considerable number of them are relatively rich teachers who live there. These teachers teach in more than twenty colleges and universities. Most of these institutions are small, but a few are quite large. Young college teachers may have the highest turnover rate of any profession in the United States. These young teachers usually transfer to other schools after teaching in one place for several years. More than 500 new teachers are employed in more than 20 colleges and universities in this area every year, and the number of people who leave is also equal to this. The young real estate agent decided to focus on the market and provide it with the services it needed. He also found that he could have direct contact with the market at the lowest cost. Because, of course, the list of new teachers to be hired and those to leave at the end of the school year was known months ago. Of course, every college is happy to have a reliable person to undertake the difficult and troublesome task of finding housing for new teachers. As a result, the real estate agent is doing three times as much business as a firm of the same size at the lowest cost. His annual turnover is about 500 to 1000 houses, which is still not large, but his profit is almost four times that of the average suburban real estate agent. These examples are clearly extraordinary. Because, general small business does not have what strategy. Ordinary small enterprises are not "opportunity oriented", but "problem oriented" - solving one problem and another. Therefore, the general small enterprises are not successful enterprises. Therefore, the first requirement of managing a small enterprise is to ask and answer the question: "what is our enterprise and what should it be?"?

小企业需要对高层管理的任务进行组织

Small enterprises need to organize the tasks of top management

小企业就是一个最多只要求一个人以全部时间从事高层管理工作而不做其它事情的企业。事实上，绝大多数小企业中的第一把手往往也承担某些职能性工作，而这常常是应该的。但这使得小企业更有必要确定实现其目标所必需的关键活动，并肯定这些关键活动已分配给能负责的人去承担。否则，这些关键活动根本就不能完成。绝大多数小企业认为它们知道什么是关键活动，并且认为它们已注意到这些关键活动。但是，只要简单地分析一下就会发现，他们是在欺骗自己。可能每一个人都在谈论关键活动，但并没有人对它们多加注意。人们对这些关键活动视而不见——结果常常是

Small business is a business that requires at most one person to engage in senior management work all the time without doing anything else. In fact, the first hand in the vast majority of small enterprises often also undertakes some functional work, which is often appropriate. But this makes it more necessary for small businesses to identify the key activities necessary to achieve their goals, and make sure that these key activities have been assigned to those who can be responsible. Otherwise, these key activities cannot be completed at all. The vast majority of small businesses believe that they know what key activities are and that they have noticed them. However, a simple analysis will show that they are deceiving themselves. Everyone may be talking about key activities, but no one pays more attention to them. People turn a blind eye to these key activities - often as a result