" Can't retreat when encountering problems. The more you have a burden, the more you can hold on your shoulders! "
——Taiwan's "cement king" and founder of Jiaxin Cement Zhang Minyu
Jiaxin Young Marshal took over in chaos
Jiaxin Cement Chairman Zhang Ganglun
Jiaxin Young Marshal Zhang Ganglun's office, there are photos of his grandfather, Taiwan's "cement king" and Jiaxin Cement founder Zhang Minyu. Since he took over the family's company Jiaxin Cement in a chaotic situation, he has been thinking about polishing the family's Jiani signature. Whenever he was in trouble, he remembered his grandfather's words: "You can't retreat when something happens. The more you have to bear the burden, the more you can hold on your shoulders!"
On the evening of January 21, 2017, the second son of Gu Zhenfu, the first chairman of the Straits Foundation of Taipei Jinghua Hotel, and the second son of Gu Zhenfu, the chairman of Ni , who was attending the wedding banquet at Taipei Jinghua Hotel, accidentally fell from the stairs on the 2nd and a half platform. The emergency was ineffective and he passed away in the early morning of the next day. The helmsman of Taiwan Ni was suddenly surprised, and Gu Chengyun's sister-in-law Zhang Anping was ordered to take over Taiwan Ni. At that time, Zhang Anping, who was in charge of clay, held several positions and was also the vice chairman of his family's company Jiaxin Cement Group.
Last year, the "Yibo Say" WeChat public account published many articles in succession on the inheritance story of the Jiani Zhang Minyu family, such as " from running the street to "cement king", making money depends on "opportunity" ", " debts have to be paid by yourself, and leave a cleanse in the world" , etc. Many readers asked how Jiaxin Cement (hereinafter referred to as "Jiani") of Taiwan's "cement king" Zhang Minyu came to his father-in-law's family business, and what are the new trends?
Taini Chairman and CEO of Yunlang Tourism Zhang Anping
Ningbo Taiwanese businessman, "cement king" and founder of Jiani Zhang Minyu has passed away (June 23, 2008), and was 95 years old when he died. As a storied figure in " Ningbo Gang ", Zhang Minyu's life is full of legends and hard work; especially his entrepreneurial story, business talents, and wisdom in life, which are worthy of careful consideration and careful savor by later scholars!
inheritance is nothing small. As a generation of giant businessmen, Zhang Minyu began to plan succession matters very early. But in 1983, Jiaxin Electronics (i.e. "Zhaoqi Industrial"), run by Zhang Dongping, the eldest son of , avoided the United States and evaded the 2 billion debt left behind due to the debt crisis. In the 1980s, the "Zhaoqi case" has become a major social news on Taiwan's island. Let his son treacherously run away? Zhang Minyu spoke flatly: "I will pay off the Zhang family's debts by myself and will not be left to others!"
In order to repay the debt, Jiaxin Cement, which Zhang Minyu created, was almost broken. You have to pay the debt by yourself, pass it to your descendants with integrity, and the crisis will eventually pass. Since then, the burden of the second generation of the family business has fallen on the shoulders of Zhang Minyu's second son Zhang Yongping, the father of Zhang Ganglun, the third generation successor of the family, Jiani Young Marshal and Chairman Zhang Ganglun.
In June 2007, the year before the death of Zhang Minyu, the founder of Jiani, Jiani and Taini decided to acquire their Hong Kong subsidiaries "Jiani China" and "Taini International". Unexpectedly, in 2011, Zhang Yongping, chairman of Taiwan's time-honored brand Jiani, was accused of "inside transactions"; after receiving the security, Zhang Yongping was forced to resign from the post of Jiani, and his third brother, who is Gu Zhenfu's youngest daughter Gu Huairu's husband, "taken over the baton" and became chairman of Jiani. Zhang Anping is the head of Jiani, a family business after his father Zhang Minyu and second brother Zhang Yongping.
At the end of 2013, Zhang Yongping's "inside transaction" lawsuit was finalized. He was sentenced to three years of probation for pleading guilty and paying illegal income of NT$2.75 million. (Note, the prosecution accused Zhang Yongping of using his secretary Lin Minkai as a head to buy and sell stocks for profit after the merger case.)
Jiani Young Marshal and Chairman Zhang Ganglun
Jiani third generation Zhang Ganglun is Zhang Yongping's only son, now 47 years old. On June 19, 2013, Jiaxin Cement, a veteran cement factory in Taiwan, held a shareholders' meeting. After the meeting, the board of directors elected Zhang Ganglun, the only son of former chairman Zhang Yongping, as chairman. His third uncle Zhang Anping completed the task of "fire-fighting captain". After 18, he handed over the scepter of Dong Zuo and was appointed as vice chairman of Jiani.
Letting Zhang Ganglun be the chairman means that the Zhang Minyu family started the succession layout of the third generation of the family in advance. In addition, the company's strategic positioning has also begun to transform, that is, from a cement manufacturer to an asset manager; therefore, Jiani also designated 2013, when Zhang Ganglun, the third generation of the family, officially took over, as the "first year of Xin Jiani".
Many people are puzzled. Zhang Anping is known as the "best rescue pitcher for the enterprise" in the business world of Taiwan, and is also deeply trusted and relied on by his father-in-law, Gu Zhenfu, former chairman of the Straits Foundation, and the Gu family. From a certain perspective, his decision-making thinking, business structure, and business level are absolutely excellent. He can also become a good leader of a family business. Why should his nephew Zhang Ganglun be the helm?
Zhang Shibai and his wife and father Zhang Dongping (1st from right)
Brothers fighting tigers and father and son soldiers. Whether it is Lugang Gu family or Jiani Zhang family, they have spanned a hundred years, are rich for three generations, and are still prosperous today. Jiani founder Zhang Minyu is a storied figure of the "Ningbo Gang" of the same generation as Tung Jianhua's father Dong Haoyun. Lugang Gu family , and the same is true for Jiani Zhang family. In the process of inheritance, "brothers' company" and "father and son soldiers" have become the norm. Among them, Gu family has entered the fourth generation of succession; they all have a similar inheritance model, that is, the "family and family-free" model, and there is also a inheritance tradition, that is, the eldest son and grandson inheritance system.
Maybe you will ask, the second-generation eldest son of the Zhang family in Jiani is Zhang Dongping, and Zhang Ganglun's father Zhang Yongping is the second wife. Why is the third-generation head of the family not Zhang Dongping's lineage? There is actually a reason here. In 1983, when Zhang Dongping went to the United States to start a business again, his wife Liu Lifen, daughter Zhang Shimei, eldest son Zhang Shibai and youngest son Zhang Shichang had all moved to the United States.
Ningbo natives may be more familiar with Zhang Shibai. Every year, Ningbo Beilun District will award the "Zhang Shibai Award Nursing Fund". When Zhang Shibai was 13 years old, when he was doing his last practice before the competition on the American Junior Swimming Team, he tried too hard during the jump and his head touched the bottom of the pool, and encountered a serious accident. Sitting in a wheelchair, Zhang Shibai was disabled and strong in his heart. He was once the youngest doctoral student at Stanford University in the United States. He was also awarded the "Academic Achievement Award" by the then-in-command US President Bush . In the 1990s, Zhang Shibai, who returned to his hometown of Beilun, donated all the $200,000 living security fund left by his parents to the Beilun District Education Bureau and established the Zhang Shibai Scholarship Foundation.
At present, Zhang Shibai has started his own business and is engaged in the field of education; therefore, the responsibility of Jiani's successor is taken over by Zhang Ganglun, the third generation of the second family, and Zhang Ganglun is the eldest grandson of the third generation of the family. Take the Gu family as an example. The fourth generation of the Gu family, Gu Zhenfu's eldest grandson, and Gu Qiyun's eldest son Gu Gongyi, have now taken over Xinchanghua, Chairman of Zhonggu Oaks, and Vice Chairman of Taiwan Ni. This also means that the Gu family has passed down from generation to generation. Gu Zhenfu's eldest grandson Gu Gongyi has established a stable successor. In the future, Gu Gongyi will form a governance form led by Gu Gongyi and assisted by his uncle Zhang Anping.
Jiani's third generation of helmsman: a hero cut off his arm three times, looking forward to "rebirth from the ashes"
Jiaxin Cement Chairman Zhang Ganglun
Jiani's third generation helmsman and chairman Zhang Ganglun, born in 1971, was born in New York, USA. He first graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and in 1999 he received his Master of Technology from MIT in Boston.
In June 2003, as the third-generation member of the family, Zhang Ganglun joined the Jiani Board of Directors for the first time and was appointed as executive director. In 2013, he took over the position of uncle Zhang Anping and became the chairman of Jiani. The difference between the two was ten years.
As the third generation grandson of the family, Zhang Ganglun was given the mission of inheritance since he was a child. At that time, he went to MIT to study management to prepare for taking over Jia Ni. Taking over is his destiny and mission. Zhang Ganglun, who has been in Jiani for more than 20 years, took over Jiani, which was older than him in 2013, was dangerous and full of dangers. On the one hand, the entire cement industry environment inside and outside the island, including the mainland market, has undergone new changes and competition is more intense.Jia Ni's pace of entering the mainland is earlier than Taiwan Ni.
In 1996, Jiani built Jiaxin Jingyang Cement Factory in Jiangsu, which was the first foreign company in China's cement industry. At that time, 25-year-old Zhang Ganglun, who had just graduated from university, was recalled from the United States by his father Zhang Dongping and went to a mainland factory for three years to "sit" in the mainland factory. In fact, it was also a kind of succession experience. What Ling Jiani did not expect was that mainland cement plants emerged like "springing bamboo shoots after a rain" and had many state-owned enterprises backgrounds. Once several companies integrate, they will soon have a production capacity of 100 million tons. Jiani, which has made a single-soldier, is undoubtedly at a disadvantage in the competition. In addition, the "restrained people on the island at that time" also affected the efforts of Jiani's development westward advance.
On the other hand, Taiwan’s island has also controversial issues regarding the cement industry’s environmental protection. In the dilemma, what Jia Ni thought of was a "strong alliance" with Taiwan Ni and merger, but unexpectedly laid the fuse of the "inside transaction case".
Zhang Ganglun's net profit change data after taking over. Note, chart source: "Business Weekly"
Zhang Ganglun, who took over the chaos, took over the position and launched a drastic transformation and transformation.
First of all, it is a change in personnel structure. Zhang Ganglun was the managing director and CEO of Jiani in 2003. In 2015, he served as the general manager and was replaced by Qi Shiju, general manager of Jiaxin Asset Management Development under the family. In addition, Jiani's main business has gradually transformed into real estate development. On the other hand, the group has a new CEO, with Zhang Ganglun serving as the other, and former deputy general manager Wang Lixin was promoted to executive vice president. Wang Lixin, who is close to Zhang Ganglun, is the nephew of his father Zhang Dongping. The personnel layout of
or above is not only a need for Jiani's strategic transformation, but also greatly enhances the efforts of professional managers to participate in corporate governance. Qi Shiju is a senior executive and professional manager of Jiani. In other words, the characteristics of the senior management team of a family business structure must be consistent with and match with corporate governance and strategic needs, and must adapt to changes in the market and corporate strategic environment.
Secondly, it is a hero who cuts his arm and fights out a path of blood. Zhang Ganglun took office, Jia Ni was in the cold winter of business, and he felt a little "old-looking". Transformation is painful. Zhang Ganglun first "took a knife" to his main business. In response to changes in the cement industry market, he dissolved Jiangsu United Cement Factory in 2017, and cleared Taini International shares and transferred to the catering and tourism industry. Among them, Jiani built a hotel in Italy and Okinawa, Japan, and opened the first confinement center in Taiwan.
Regarding my nephew's move, former chairman and uncle Zhang Anping also said when handing over the baton five years ago, " Jia Ni can only revitalize assets in the future." For many years, Taiwan's public works have been showing a sharp decline, and demand for the cement industry will naturally shrink, and it is difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises to survive. After taking over Jia Ni, Zhang Ganglun cut off the money-losing goods with his left hand, and his right hand was asset activation and transformation in other areas. Over the past five years, Zhang Ganglun has solved three difficult problems: Taipei Port lawsuit, termination of land rights in Da'an District, and disbanding Jiangsu Cement Plant.
Jia Ni's hotel
In terms of hotel industry expansion, Zhang Ganglun and his uncle's Yunlang Tourism Group joined forces to jointly acquire the Italian HOTELVALLE DEI CASALI Business Hotel. In May last year, Jia Ni started the ground at the International Hotel in Okinawa, Japan. In addition, in Toyosaki Bayan, Okinawa, it also invested in a beachfront resort center with shopping center and hotel. In order to manage investment projects in Japan, Zhang Ganglun has already practiced Japanese hard. At that time, in order to take over the cement career and study literature at a university, he started a master's degree in management, and everything is for the inheritance plan.
In addition, Zhang Ganglun also invested in the "Renzhichu" postpartum nursing center. The activation of
assets is also an important task for Zhang Ganglun to lead Jiani's transformation. Located in the Jiaxin Building on Zhongshan North Road, Taipei City, it is the Jiani Headquarters Building. According to Zhang Ganglun's plan, the building will be rebuilt and renamed to Taipei Century City CITY (TAIPEI CENTURY CITY). Jiani Group covers many areas, such as "Jiani Construction", whose main business is real estate development. The Zhang family holds nearly 50% of the shares. Since cement was the main business before, it was only sporadic real estate development. Today, Zhang Ganglun has made expanding his real estate territory another core business of the group.
The founder of Jiani, Zhang Minyu, set the business philosophy for Jiani in four words: " Integrity and Diligence ". The so-called "integrity" means being honest and trustworthy towards people and things; "difficult and simple" means not being lazy, not being flashy, and being down-to-earth in dealing with things.
Jiani's cement factory
Judging from Jiani's annual financial report over the past five years, it should be said that the transformation of Zhang Ganglun, the third generation of Jiani's "young master", has still begun to show results, at least seeing light in the long "dark tunnel"; but there are still many difficulties and challenges to return the cause pioneered by Zhang Minyu, the founding generation, to glory and promote the eternal growth of the foundation. During this period, Zhang Ganglun also paid a lot of "tuition fees" and suffered a lot.
Inheritance and transformation are the pain points and difficulties of many family businesses, especially old family businesses, which are at the intersection of the overlap of transformation and inheritance, and life and death are at stake. At the inheritance level, many second-generation families are willing to take over but lack ability, while others are capable but not interested in taking over. Therefore, there are difficulties in "whether to pass on", "to whom" and "how to pass on".
Jiani family business is now the third generation of relay. The Gu family of Taiwan Ni has entered the fourth generation. In contrast, domestic family businesses are generally still in the first and second generation inheritance stage. The path that predecessors have set out is the latter's journey forward. The successful inheritance trajectory of overseas and Hong Kong, Taiwan and Chinese family businesses is worthy of careful research and reference.
In 2013, Ningbo Gang Museum held the "Life Dedicated Life - Special Exhibition on the 100th Anniversary of Zhang Minyu's Birth"
Today, many second-generation people often reject it because of their lack of willingness when they mention taking over. Not everyone is interested in family businesses. When Jiani Zhang Ganglun was in college, his interest was playing Tai Chi and guitar, and he especially liked to read martial arts novels, otherwise he would not have studied literature. But later, in order to take over, he went back to MIT Technology Management. After investing in Japan, he studied Japanese again. What is the reason? A sense of mission.
A family has a strong core cohesion. Whether a family business can last forever is the most important thing to awaken the strong sense of responsibility and mission of family members. How can a family business succeed? It depends on the successor of intergenerational inheritance, so what does the successor look at? Compared with factors such as ability, governance system, innovation and connections, the first thing to do is to see is whether the sense of mission is strong. The inheritance of a family business must start with cultivating a sense of mission. A sense of mission and responsibility are one of the internal factors that ensure that the family business becomes stronger over time.
Finally, transformation is another pain point in the inheritance of family businesses and a hurdle that must be overcome in intergenerational alternation. Especially in the manufacturing industry, when the market and environment change, advanced will also become backward, especially the backwardness of the business model, management and production model, which can easily make a company that was originally shining lack competitive strength in competition; however, one thing is certain, the first step to overcome innovation and transformation is to change yourself first.
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