Interview With Ren Li, Vice President Of HSBC Business School, Peking University: The Long-Term Development Of Gazelle Enterprises Is Inseparable From The Local Business Environment

The so-called "Gazelle enterprise" refers to the small and medium-sized enterprises that have successfully crossed the early stage of entrepreneurship and entered the stage of high growth and rapid expansion after "dying all their lives". They often have the common characteristics of "Gazelle" - small size, agility and high vigilance. These enterprises have not been established for a long time, but they can continue to grow at an unconventional or even doubling speed.

The more gazelle enterprises in a region, the stronger the innovation vitality and the faster the development speed. On the other hand, gazelle enterprises also play a role in rapidly expanding employment. In the macro environment of "six stabilities" and "six guarantees", the discovery and cultivation of gazelle enterprises highlight their valuable value.

In order to explore the development path of gazelle enterprises and the macro development environment behind them, a reporter from southern finance and economics interviewed Ren Zhen, vice president of the Business School of Beijing University and director of the Institute of enterprise development.

Innovation is the core driving force of gazelle Enterprises

Nanfang finance and Economics: how to understand gazelle enterprises? What are the characteristics of gazelle enterprises in regional distribution?

Ren Li: gazelle enterprises are generally not established for a long time, but can continue to grow at an unconventional or even doubling speed. Generally speaking, to achieve such a growth rate, enterprises are often driven by cutting-edge technology and appear in the field of high-tech industries. Enterprises either have original technical ability in the field of subdivision technology to develop unique products, or can skillfully apply cutting-edge technology to provide the best solution for the demander.

According to relevant data, there are 21538 gazelle enterprises in China, which are distributed in 32 provinces and cities and 86 industry categories. Among them, more than 60% of them are located in Beijing. From the distribution of the head gazelle enterprises, there are more in Beijing and Shanghai, which is closely related to the strong foundation of scientific and technological research and development ability and intensive high-tech talents in Beijing and Shanghai.

From the perspective of Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the industry distribution of head gazelle enterprises is dominated by financial technology, distance education, e-commerce and enterprise services, while artificial intelligence, aerospace and medical and health services are relatively scarce. To some extent, it reflects the characteristics of traditional business atmosphere in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. Of course, the innovation ability of Shenzhen enterprises in the field of applied technology is also very prominent.

Nanfang finance and Economics: gazelle enterprises often "run fast", but "running fast" does not mean "running far". What risk points should be paid attention to when an enterprise becomes a mature Unicorn after experiencing rapid growth?

Ren Li: from the internal point of view of the enterprise, first, the founding team is generally good at technology and lacks operation and management experience. Because gazelle enterprises generally do not rely on platforms or models, they mainly rely on the unique advantages in high-tech fields. After the products are formed and the market is opened rapidly, they often face operational challenges, such as supply chain management, financial cash flow management, etc. Second, gazelle enterprises will attract the attention of the capital market, and some capital parties may compete for the control of the enterprise, which requires the founding team to pay more attention to control the enterprise. Third, after the enterprise has achieved certain success, the core members of the founding team may have differences on the future direction of the enterprise. At this time, the core founders need to make a firm judgment on the prospects of the enterprise and adhere to it.

From the outside of the enterprise, as gazelle enterprises are suddenly emerging and growing fast competitors, it is easy to attract the attention of the existing leading enterprises, and may be attacked by competition, or be offered a takeover offer. This requires the founding team to make a business judgment: to maintain its own growth logic, make effective defense and advance towards unicorn and IPO, or integrate into another Of entities.

Nanfang finance and Economics: what role does innovation play in the development of gazelle enterprises? How to balance the relationship among R & D investment, innovation and survival and development?

Ren Li: innovation is the core driving force for the development of gazelle enterprises. The R & D cycle of such enterprises is relatively short, and the technology and product iteration speed is very fast. Therefore, they should be sensitive to changes in market demand and make real-time responses. Innovation ability comes from R & D investment and human capital investment, which directly determines the development prospects of enterprises. Therefore, enterprises should focus on nothing else and maintain sustained high-intensity R & D and talent investment.

In the closely linked market environment, gazelle enterprises can effectively find the demand side, Polish key technologies and achieve rapid growth. Photo by Zheng dikun

Pay attention to the employment significance of gazelle Enterprises

Nanfang finance and Economics: what role does the government play in the development of gazelle enterprises?

Ren Li: from the perspective of the role of the government, the government mainly provides policies and environment. The policies include large industrial guidance policies and innovation support policies. The environment mainly includes business environment and market environment. These areas need government investment to provide public goods and services, provide adequate intellectual property protection, and provide innovation funding for small and medium-sized micro invasive new enterprises.

Especially for small and micro technology-based enterprises, we should provide inclusive and unconditional innovation funding to promote small and micro enterprises to quickly achieve technological breakthroughs. In the past, relevant government departments may worry that enterprises will not use their own money to invest in R & D and fall into the so-called moral hazard. In fact, it depends on the overall local market environment. As long as the market atmosphere encourages innovation and the support for enterprises is open, fair and fair, it can generate positive incentives for enterprises and give full play to the leverage effect of government subsidies on enterprise innovation investment. For example, Shenzhen's "innovation voucher" is an effective means of inclusive funding. It helps small and medium-sized micro invasive new enterprises to purchase science and technology services, human resources and enterprise development planning services from specialized intermediary service agencies, which has produced good results.

At the same time, the government should also play a good role in industrial agglomeration and industrial parks. Many gazelle enterprises are small and medium-sized enterprises supporting the core large-scale enterprises in the industrial chain. Better industrial agglomeration effect is conducive to reducing the operating costs of these enterprises. Therefore, the industrial park should better develop intelligent public services for gazelle enterprises and the majority of small and medium-sized enterprises, reduce the burden of enterprises and do a good job in business incubation.

Nanfang finance and Economics: Why have a large number of gazelle enterprises been born in Shenzhen? Is this related to the business environment?

Ren Li: there are two characteristics of the business environment in Shenzhen. One is the combination of an effective market and a promising government. When we talk about the business environment, we actually mean the willingness, speed and ability of the government to respond to the needs of market entities. Shenzhen has done a good job in this respect and created a good market environment.

Second, Shenzhen has put a lot of attention on the guidance of industrial policies, and has been promoting industrial upgrading and effective agglomeration. Shenzhen promotes the development of strategic emerging industries, creates conditions for incubation and cultivates enterprises to grow into leading enterprises with world influence. These enterprises have brought a very strong traction effect, and also led a number of supporting enterprises to provide high-quality services in the subdivided technical fields. In the closely linked market environment, gazelle enterprises can effectively find the demand side, quickly refine and polish the key technical capabilities, and finally achieve rapid growth.

Nanfang finance and Economics: how to look at the role of gazelle enterprises in employment?

Ren Li: when economists put forward the concept of "Gazelle enterprises" in the 1980s, in fact, they first focused on the role of such enterprises in expanding employment. From the perspective of stable development of a region, especially the establishment of the strategic basis point of expanding domestic demand during the "14th five year plan" period and realizing the balance between expanding domestic demand and deepening supply side structural reform, employment priority should be guaranteed. In this sense, gazelle enterprises can play a very important role, and local governments should pay extra attention to them, and give financial and tax incentives to gazelle enterprises that achieve the goal of expanding employment.

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