Lenovo's Former President Ma Xuezheng's Business Life

Ma Xuezheng, chief financial officer of Lenovo Group, joined Lenovo in 1990 and is in charge of Lenovo's capital operation for a long time.

In December 8, 2004, Ma Xuezheng led the team to complete the tough negotiations with IBM for several months. Lenovo officially announced the acquisition of IBM global PC business and jumped to become the third ranking PC producer in the world.

There are few female leaders in China's business community.

One of them is Ma Xuezheng, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Lenovo Group.

She has been on the list of the world's most powerful business women in Fortune magazine for 3 years in a row. She has a reputation for leading Lenovo and IBM's personal computer department.

However, on weekdays, the horse's snow sign is deliberately low key, and for the public, she has a rather mysterious feeling.

IBM has been regarded as the pronoun of computers for a long time. In 1981, the "blue giant" launched the world's first personal computer.

When the Lenovo brings IBM's huge PC Department into its own ranks, how to successfully integrate two distinct corporate cultures and play a synergistic effect as early as possible is a test for new Lenovo.

When the staff of IBM China learned the news, someone cried, but Ma Xuezheng thought it was not surprising.

Because in China, it is an honor and a great honor to join a century old IBM company.

"When suddenly bought by a Chinese company, there was a shock in the Chinese market.

In addition, Lenovo also has great prestige and great competitiveness in the Chinese market, so it will feel that there is a personal risk of being integrated.

Ma Xuezheng feels that Lenovo is an entrepreneurial culture company. In her words, the company of entrepreneurial culture means a strong desire to learn, because it has a strong demand for progress, so it will constantly accept new things to learn.

"As long as you study well, it doesn't seem like learning slowly.

Under the guidance of this entrepreneurial culture, the speed of learning and the speed of integration are very fast.

Ma Xuezheng said that after announcing the paction, Yang Yuanqing (Chairman of Lenovo Group) gave 3 requests: the first is "mutual respect", the second is "Frank", and the third is "compromise".

She explains that when two companies that are considered different cultures, even if the same culture is not the same, they must take into account their different views on a problem.

The compromises must be compromised.

So after the announcement of the paction, Ma Xue Zheng feels that the progress of the two teams' running in is astonishing.

Ma Xuezheng, a role of CFO, said that the real role of CFO will not be changed significantly because of a takeover.

The traditional CFO is the accounting and accounting office, but now it is quite different. The most important thing is that CFO can support the company strategy from a financial point of view. In the process, CFO is the first to actively participate and provide the direction and perspective of the proposal.

As a CFO, Ma Xuezheng has been doing this in the past few years.

"For example, the strategic adjustment of Lenovo and the acquisition of IBM, I played the role of not just a negotiation, how to twist water on a towel, but whether it could become a significant milestone for Lenovo in the next twenty or fifty years.

If so, how to proceed safely is the real role of CFO. "

After the completion of the acquisition, what is the next step to do? What CFO is doing is how to play synergy and how to maximize shareholder value.

Ma Xuezheng said, to achieve this extreme, it involves countless financial related areas. For example, CFO should make the business strategy clearer and grasp the strategy well. These things are the core of every business block, but you must drive the team in this direction. She thinks that the biggest responsibility of CFO may be here.

In fact, for the daily role of CFO, Ma Xue Zheng often tells us to train 8 functions, many of which are at the operational level. "I do not have much financial education background. My principle is to use the team.

I am proud to have the best team in China and now have the best international team and get the best support from IBM.

CFO's work is more like an operational manager than a team leader. "

Ma Xuezheng felt quite touched.

In 1990, Ma Xuezheng decided to leave the Chinese Academy of Sciences and join Lenovo.

At that time, Lenovo and the Chinese Academy of Sciences were two different worlds.

There are no scholars, ambassadors and Nobel prize winners who have come into contact with us before. If we want to integrate into the business world, we must turn ourselves into businessmen.

Liu Chuanzhi, then chairman of the board of directors of the former Lenovo Group, could not imagine a director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and who would soon rise to such a position at a higher level. He could leave the Academy of Sciences and enter the company where he had only a dozen or more people at that time. He did not believe it.

He always felt that there was a problem behind it, so he consulted everyone, but no one objected.

At that time, many companies were far more famous and powerful than Lenovo. Why is Lenovo so attractive to Ma Xuezheng?

"I think this decision is quite right.

Because Lenovo's attraction to me at that time was not because the company was big, nor because it seemed that the economic benefits were much better in all aspects.

I was really attracted by it when Lenovo opened business in Hongkong in 1988.

At that time, I accompanied Mr. Zhou Guangzhao as a ribbon cutting guest to Hongkong, and gave me a sense of exhilarating, exhilarating and even shocking. A small company of ten people worked in a completely unimaginable office area. In fact, it was a factory area, and all elevators were cargo staircases.

So when I entered the elevator, I went up with a bunch of shipmen with bare towels and a towel.

Ma Xuezheng did not expect Lenovo to work in such a place.

After that, she sat in an office and listened to Liu Chang's presentation of the company's prospects to President Zhou. What he was talking about was indeed a grand map of Lenovo Inc. How could she turn Hongkong into an international company by using this place? She could not imagine that the two pictures could not be combined - that is the picture of elevators at that time.

These two pictures in her mind have been very intense in black and white contrast.

But with Liu's introduction, Ma Xue Zheng is still very touched.

After more than a year, she made a decision to associate with Lenovo.

The understanding of women's power in the capital market and the ability to do well in international exchanges has also laid a foundation for Ma Xuezheng's position and influence in the industry.

Although she tried to keep a low profile, Ma Xue Zheng has been selected by Fortune magazine as one of the 50 most powerful commercial women in the world for 3 consecutive years since 2002.

How can she understand the power of women?

In fact, Ma Xuezheng has been avoiding this question.

"Because I have always felt that in business and politics, I regard myself as a neutral person and do not think I am a woman.

Why?

First of all, I do not feel that I have been subjected to any obstacles or obstacles to development in the business world or in other areas because of my being a woman, or that anyone has any strange eyes on me. I do not feel that way.

I think I am working in a completely fair and normal environment like everyone else. "

Ma Xuezheng did not want to be labeled as feminist.

She thinks everyone is the same. Whether you are male or female, old or small, you have to make the same effort to get what you deserve, so she generally does not talk about such a problem.

However, as a woman, Ma Xue Zheng thinks that she may be able to spend more time or energy than others, especially under the influence of a more traditional concept.

For example, women should take care of their families, and women's character should not be as strong as men, and should be more flexible.

So I may have such a traditional concept.

Under such double demands, the fact that she brings to professional women is a great physical and mental pressure.

In this regard, Ma Xuezheng said that every family's happiness has its own reason, mainly depends on how to deal with it. "I am lucky that both my husband and my daughter are very supportive of my work.

Of course, it also comes from how you handle this relationship correctly.

When my daughter was just 4 or 5 years old, it was also my busiest time. When I got off the shift, I would go home and cook the food to make a semi finished product and then rush out to attend the evening business dinner. Then my husband would cook the next half dinner. I often do this kind of thing.

So, in fact, if you want to make your career a success, you should do better in your work and better allocate your time. Maybe you have to sacrifice a little bit on the other hand.

Ma Xuezheng said, maybe time is more tight, but first of all, we must have our own thinking, and we must consciously handle the relationship, so that we can do it.