2005
年
5
月，当联想集团完成对
IBM
个人电脑部门
17.5
亿美元的收购时，以中国为基地的厂商一跃成为仅次于戴尔和惠普的世界第三大计算机制造商。联想除了得到受人尊敬的
IBM
名称标志的使用权外，还得到了毕业于沃顿商学院，此前担任
IBM
市场营销副总裁的蒂帕克·阿德瓦尼
(deepak advani)
。
现在阿德瓦尼担任联想高级副总裁和首席营销官。沃顿商学院领导力与变革研究中心主任迈克尔·尤西姆 （
michael useem
）和沃顿商学院营销学教授张忠（
john zhang
）与他谈论了新联想集团将采取什么行动将东半球业务和西半球业务整合到一起的问题。
尤西姆：
尤西姆：
你能不能谈一谈，
在联想获得
IBM
的
pc
生产线后，你们需要什么样的领导方式以便在所有权属于中国人的新情况下开展工作？
阿德瓦尼：
阿德瓦尼：
你观察
IBM pc
部门时，请记住，“我”是站在国际立场上说话的。我承担的最后三项工作都是世界范围的工作，所以能和具有不同文化背景的人一起工作的确是
IBM
的要求。我在那里担任各项领导职务时，所管辖的团队遍布世界各地——拉丁美洲、亚洲、欧洲和美国都有我的团队。
在
IBM
做好工作关键和必要的领导素质之一是要能想出各种办法把多样性变成竞争优势。当你尊重不同的人员和他们的想法时，这种优势就会产生，因为在工作结束时，每个人都会得出自己的观点，这个观点受到他们拥有的经验和他们工作时所处文化的影响。通常并不存在一个非黑即白、非是即非的答案。如果你能不带偏见地看待别人，即从客观的角度看待别人，那么你就会突然发现他们所说的话是非常有意义的。
文化差异也是存在的。有的文化张扬无忌、偏激放肆、无拘无束，有的文化则比较沉默含蓄。在你的思想意识中认同这种差异往往是很有帮助的，因为你经常需要了解人们的想法。所以在
IBM
工作，我学到的东西之一就是要尊重并理解不同人员的观点。
（在联想的事务处理上），我和这个团队已经一起工作了六个月，在这段经历中我做的最重要事情之一就是逐渐认识了一些同事。他们非常聪明，非常年轻，非常努力，而且是非常优秀的团队管理者。我们双方的工作关系一直是非常好的。大家都有强烈的愿望，要使合作取得成功。
我记得在你（尤西姆）的领导力课程中，你曾经就阿波罗
13
的文章说过：“失败不是一个选项。”我们现在所处的形势要求我们竭尽全力地使工作进行下去。正如（联想）主席杨元庆六个月前对我说的，为了成为一个有凝聚力的团队，我们必须记住关键的三点：信任、尊重和妥协。我们需要互相信任，需要尊重不同的意见，需要妥协——这妥协并不是从最小公共特征的意义上来说的，而是因为我们认识到，并非每一件事情都会按照我们自己的想法，或者按照我们过去一贯的做法去进行的。我们会注意世界上最好的做法，而不是因循守旧地按老规矩办事。这就是妥协的含意，我们在这方面做得很好。
尤西姆：
尤西姆：
一位记者曾经问（棒球大明星）尤加·伯拉（
yogi berra
）
的儿子戴尔·伯拉（
dale berra
）
，他是否和他的父亲相似。他回答道：“不，我们的相似之处就是我们的不相似。”你在太平洋两岸都工作过，你认为在重要的领导风格和领导方式上中国和美国有哪些相似之处和相异之处？你如何利用它们来跨越这道国际鸿沟？
阿德瓦尼：
阿德瓦尼：
在双方都是知识界精英这方面我们是相似的，所以会产生很好的想法。我还看到这里的人非常关注市场和消费者的真实需求。无论是老的联想还是老的
IBM pc
部门都在通过改革创新来改变它们自己在市场上的面貌，但是我们双方的注意力都集中在重要创新上。我们并不想为了创新而创新，而想在消费者感到有切肤之痛的地方进行创新。
非常重视市场和客户是我们的主要特点。而且我们双方都很重视在所有交易行为中诚实守信。也许这是
IBM
的独到之处，但是二十年前联想便开始向一些跨国公司，如
hp
和
IBM
学习看齐。两家公司合到一起的时候，往往会有一些特殊的文化差异需要弥合。很多人把注意力集中在中国和美国以及世界其他国家的差异上，但是我认为，这并不是太重要的，因为
IBM
在很多国家都有业务，我们已经习惯于和世界上各种文化差异打交道。
其实更重要的是不同公司之间的文化差异。正如我们所看到的，有些合并和收购从未发挥出它们全部的潜能，这是因为各个公司的文化是非常不同的。但是，在本次合并中，我们切实研究了两家公司的基本价值，并且把它们几乎一个一个地列了出来。创新是我们双方求变的途径，客户服务非常重要，诚实守信在所有交易中也非常重要。从一个领导人的角度，我想说，这些共同的特点——知识界的精英、重视客户，以及在所有交易中诚实守信——是非常重要的。
你还问到我们在
IBM
的经营之道和我在联想看到的经营之道的差异。我在
IBM pc
部门的最后四年中，我们没有为业务增长而进行投资。
90
年代末，我们还退出了个人客户（业务）。我们认定利润率是非常重要的，所以转而把注意力集中到企业市场中去。因此没有很好地重视个人业务增长。然而在联想，我觉得有一种难以置信的乐观和追求增长的渴望。这里的想法是“未来如此光明，我得戴上遮光镜。”当我们把两个团队合在一起的时候，创造一种看重利润增长的文化是重要的问题之一。所以我们在这方面是有点差异的。
其他差异是，在
IBM
，我们的部门是在一个很大的综合性组织之下的一个业务单位。如果有问题需要解决，我们必须确保我们的解决方案和（纽约）阿蒙克（
armonk (n.y.)
）公司总部的政策、制度及其他方面的一致性。然而，在联想，却未必需要这么做，因为这是一家以
pc
为中心的公司，而这个行业又变动频繁，发展迅速，因此如果它认为需要做什么事情的话，它就可以去做。我们合到一起以后，至少对我个人来说，有一种自由的感觉。如果看到问题，你采取行动就行了，你可以迅速行动，并在行动过程中总结经验教训。
张：
张：
你能放开手脚工作吗？
阿德瓦尼：
阿德瓦尼：
完全放得开手脚。我最初向杨元庆主席提出的问题之一就是：当我需要做出决定，特别是营销方面的决定时，我是否需要去找他以求得他的批准。他说：“你是市场营销的头。由你做决定，我会支持这些决定的。”这一点他是非常聪明的。所以我注意到一个现象，不知你能不能把它归结为“东方与西方的差别”，这个现象是，在大公司里，你往往不太愿意冒险。你往往会更保守一些，因为你不想犯很多错误。这在一定程度上会损害你的事业。联想却更富有创业者的精神。如果有什么事情需要做，我们就会说：“瞧，我们来做吧，我们现在就行动。”这里有一种紧迫感。这就是一种不同的领导风格，我认为，对
pc
行业来说，这一点是很难能可贵的。
张：
张：
我的母亲过去经常对我说，任何结合都是困难重重的，跨越文化的结合就更加困难了。现在你们正处于蜜月期之中。我想知道你会不会遇到某些猝不及防之事。
阿德瓦尼：
阿德瓦尼：
会的，现在我已经遇到一些小事情。但是它们无关痛痒不是十分严重。这里有一个例子：今年我到中国也许已经有五六次了。那里的同事以主人的身份极其亲切地接待我。有人到机场接我，日程也都安排好了，这太了不起了。可是，咳，早先一位主管（从中国）到美国访问时，我们就犯了一个错误。我们没有意识到应该派人去机场接他并把事情安排妥当。这是我们没有注意到的一个礼貌方面的问题，我们必须重视这个问题。但是这毕竟还是一件很小的事情。
现在正在发生的是，当你工作完毕，和一些同事渐渐熟悉以后，你发现两家公司有十分相似的文化。我们能够很好地处理大部分问题，就是因为这种文化流传了下来。这种文化体现在一个一个的关系之中，一旦你开始建立这些关系，你就会克服其中的很多障碍。经常发生的情况是，每当我们碰面时，我们会一起外出就餐，把家庭照拿给对方看，说不定在哪一点上我们便建立了实实在在的关系。比如，
2
月份，我们在拉斯维加斯召开了一个大约有
30
位主管参加的会议。我们正在互相打招呼时，董事会主席把他的手臂搭在了我的肩膀上，并且说：“嗨，蒂帕克，我听说你二十一点玩得相当好。让我们玩玩二十一点来试试运气吧。”我们大约八个人开了一桌，在那里玩了两个小时。我们玩得很开心。我们建立了非常牢固的关系。
现在，当我们继续前进时，无疑是会遇到挑战。看看联想在中国运作的情况，你会发现它是一个很成功的业务模式。置身于中国，我们更了解了这个业务模式；置身于中国，我们很好地了解了市场的需求。联想有很多产品适合于其他市场，特别是其他新兴市场。然而也不是所有产品都适合这些市场。所以我们正在就什么产品值得尝试，什么产品不值得尝试的问题进行讨论。我们会遇到这些挑战，但是已经牢固建立的人际关系会给我们帮助。
张：
张：
许多中国公司似乎想走国际化的道路。基于你在那里从事经营管理的感受，你认为那些公司已经准备好走国际化道路了吗？
阿德瓦尼：
阿德瓦尼：
毫无疑问，这种现象将会发生。只是发生快慢的问题。我在
IBM
十三年，我的事业行驶在快车道上，所以我原来不想离开。但是后来遇到了这个机会，最近一年左右我和中国同事们一起工作得非常愉快，这给我留下了难以置信的印象。这里人的头脑是很聪明的；他们是了不起的团队管理者。他们确实了解基本商业原理。他们中很多人接受过美国商学院的教育。他们考虑的问题是：怎样才能赢？我们怎样才能为客户创造价值？这个管理团队非常希望了解怎样才能建立起真正全球性的业务。
尤西姆：
尤西姆：
根据你到目前为止的经验，你对希望到美国投资的个别中国公司有什么忠告或警告吗？
阿德瓦尼：
阿德瓦尼：
我想是的，如果它们能为客户创造价值的话，有很多东西可以从合伙人那里得到。我曾为
IBM
做过
linux
的策划，当时
linux
还是一个很新的玩意儿，当时一位
IBM
高级主管提出的看法之一是，作为公司，这是在行业发展趋势上打赌。有的人打赌会成功，有的人则不赞同。但是如果一种趋势将给客户带来经济利益的话，那么不管你参与不参与，这个趋势总是会发生的。所以你最好能找出一种办法，让你的业务模式运作起来，并让它和市场力量结合在一起，这样就会带来经济利益。
我要提出的忠告是，无论这是一家和美国公司合作的中国公司，或者任何其它两家公司要合并，它们都必须真正地协同合作，并且给客户带来经济利益。在最近两个月里我们的整合进行得惊人地好，部分原因就是联想的业务和原来
IBM pc
部门的业务之间几乎没有任何重叠。
IBM
的
pc
部门这方面，超过
60%
的业务是有关笔记本电脑的。再看看中国的联想，
85%
的业务是在台式机方面。我们（
IBM
）的收入来自于世界的每一个角落，而联想的收入主要集中在中国。我们把很大的注意力集中在大企业中间市场，而他们的注意力集中在个人客户和小企业。只要商业动机的基础是牢固的，那么合并就是很有意义的。
张：
张：
作为掌管营销的人，你今天面临什么挑战？
阿德瓦尼：
阿德瓦尼：
我们现在正处在建立联想品牌和把联想引向世界的过程中。外面有竞争者说，客户花在
thinkpad
上的每一元钱都直接到中国政府那里去了。所以这个挑战就是要把联想建成一个世界性品牌，这个品牌要重视创新，这个创新要发生在和客户有重大利害关系的地方。你也许知道联想是意大利冬季奥运会和
2008
年北京夏季奥运会的赞助商。所以我们正在运用奥运会、我们和
IBM
的牢固关系，以及运用我们将在下两个季度推出的重要产品来平衡整个计划。我们还要运用好我们和英特尔（
intel
）及微软（
microsoft
）等伙伴的牢固关系。我们还将利用一切可以利用的因素把联想全面引入世界。这是一个巨大的挑战，然而它是非常激动人心的。
并非很久以前，人们认为韩国的公司不可能生产出自己创造的高质量产品，然而三星和其他韩国公司改变了这种看法。
20
年前，人们也是这样来看日本的。现在我们正处在中国浪潮刚刚开始崛起的时候。看看联想，你就会发现，很多人完全低估了我们将会给市场带来的资产。我们已经赢得了许多人（对我们产品的）夸奖，我想全世界都会感到吃惊的。
沃顿知识在线
沃顿知识在线
：
：
现在回到能力互补和协同运作的话题上来：联想的首席财务官马雪征
最近接受了《商业周刊》（
businessweek
businessweek
）的采访。她说，联想有很强的能力来控制供应链，但是它在销售和市场推广方面却经验不足，特别是当它要管理在
160
多个国家的经营活动时，经验就更加不足了，而
IBM
在很多国家都有经营活动。你怎么来管理整个营销过程呢？
阿德瓦尼：
阿德瓦尼：
我负责管理联想的全球市场。我在拉雷和纽约有全球性的营销团队。我还把营销团队派到了世界各地。欧洲总部在法国，亚洲总部在澳大利亚和中国，我把各国的营销团队都本地化。这些团队在工作中了解到所在国家的发展趋势是什么，目标客户已满足或未满足的真实需求是什么，以及沟通我们意见的最佳途径是什么。
我们基本上采取这种组织结构以及在全球采用的营销技巧，我们通过这种组织和技巧来推广原来只在中国销售的产品。所以我们对世界各国都有很深的了解。我们的广告代理商奥美公司对我们有营销业务的国家的当地情况也有它们自己的见解。尽管老联想没有丰富的国际经验，但是它在中国有很强的营销团队。我们是这样来筹划整个营销过程的，我们要把原
IBM pc
部门可贡献的长处，即国际营销品牌技巧，和我们现有的一些力量结合起来。从中国和其他新兴市场中我们可以学到很多东西，这将成为一大重点。
沃顿知识在线
沃顿知识在线
：
：
IBM
的形象将在联想的市场营销中起到什么作用？它会起帮助作用还是妨碍作用？
阿德瓦尼：
阿德瓦尼：
我认为它是绝对有帮助的。
IBM
转售联想的
pc
机，这不但给联想的
pc
机提供了全球性的服务和支持，还提供了资金。
IBM
是联想最大的客户，因为它购买了联想的
pc
机。最重要的是，
IBM
的标志将在
thinkpad
和
thinkcenter pc
机上保留五年。前
18
个月维持现状。然后，
IBM
的标志变小，联想的标志变大。现在我们已经和
4000
多个客户谈论过此事，
90%
以上的客户对这个交易持肯定态度或持中立态度。中立意味着他们喜欢这个交易但还想看看结果。和
IBM
联合是一个很好的桥梁，因为这样可以打消（这些客户的）顾虑……在近期，与
IBM
的关系以及其品牌是我们建立联想品牌的关键所在。我们在全球建立联想品牌时，会仔细观察（客户的）认知程度、喜爱程度和其他方面，以便决定什么时候才是把
IBM
品牌转换成联想品牌的正确时机。
-------------------------------------------------------------
how lenovo is leveraging the brand from east to west
in may 2005, when lenovo group completed a $1.75 billion purchase of IBM"s personal computing division, the china-based manufacturer leapfrogged its way to become the no. 3 computer maker in the world, second only to dell and hewlett-packard. along with rights to the venerable IBM name and logo, lenovo got deepak advani, a wharton graduate who was serving as vice president of marketing for the old regime. michael useem, director of wharton"s center for leadership and change management, and wharton marketing professor john zhang spoke with advani - who is now lenovo"s senior vice president and chief marketing officer - about what it takes to merge an eastern business with a western one.
in may 2005, when lenovo group completed a $1.75 billion purchase of IBM"s personal computing division, the china-based manufacturer leapfrogged its way to become the no. 3 computer maker in the world, second only to dell and hewlett-packard. along with rights to the venerable IBM name and logo, lenovo got
deepak advani, a
wharton graduate
who was serving as vice president of marketing for the old regime.
michael useem, director of wharton"s center for leadership and change management, and wharton marketing professor john zhang spoke with advani - who is now lenovo"s s
enior vice president and chief marketing officer - about what it takes to merge an eastern business with a western one.
useem:
useem:
following lenovo"s acquisition of the IBM pc line, could you talk about the kind of leadership you need to exercise under the new chinese ownership?
advani
advani
: when you look at the IBM pc division, remember that the "i" stands for international. the last three jobs i had were all worldwide in scope, so the ability to work with individuals from different cultural backgrounds was really a requirement of IBM. in the leadership positions i held there, my teams were located around the world - in latin america, asia, europe and in the united states.
one of the key leadership attributes necessary to do well at IBM was to find ways to turn diversity into a competitive advantage. that happens when you are very respectful of different individuals and the way they think, because at the end of the day everyone has developed a point of view that has been influenced by the various experiences they have had and the cultures within which they operate.... very often there isn"t a black-or-white, right-or-wrong answer. if you can put aside your biases and look at others ... from an objective perspective, then all of a sudden you start to realize that what they are saying makes so much sense to them.
also, there are cultural differences. some cultures are much more vocal, aggressive and outgoing, and others are more reserved. keeping that at the forefront of your consciousness often helps, since very often you have to draw ideas out of certain people. so at the end of the day at IBM, one of the things i [learned] was to be respectful and to understand different people"s points of view.
[with respect to the lenovo transaction], one of the most fulfilling experiences with the team that i have worked with over the course of the last six months has involved getting to know some of my colleagues. they are very smart, very young, very driven and very good team players. the working relationships have been outstanding on both sides. there"s a burning desire to make this succeed.
i remember in your [useem"s] leadership class that you would say, in the context of apollo 13: "failure is not an option." we are in the sort of situation where we are energized to make this thing work. as [lenovo] chairman yuanqing yang told us six months ago, in order to be a cohesive team we had to remember three key things: trust, respect and compromise. we would need to trust one another, to be respectful of the different points of view, and to compromise - not in the sense of the lowest common denominator, but in the sense of realizing that not everything we do will be done the way we want, or the way we always did it. we are going to look at the best of all worlds and try not to do what we have always done in the past. that is the meaning of compromise, and it has worked very well for us.
useem
useem
: a reporter once asked dale berra, son of [baseball great] yogi berra, if he was similar to his father. and he replied, "no, our similarities are different." given
that you have worked on both sides of the pacific,
what are some significant leadership styles or approaches that are similar or different from those of the u.s., and how do you use them to bridge an international gap?
advani
advani
: we are similar in that both sides are very much meritocracies, so the best ideas rise to the top. i have also seen a very strong focus on the marketplace and what the customer really needs. both the old lenovo and the old IBM pc division differentiated themselves in the marketplace through innovation, but the mantra that we both have is a focus on innovation that matters. we don"t want to innovate for the sake of innovation, but we want to innovate in areas that address customer pain points.
so being very focused on the marketplace and on customers are key attributes. and we are both focused on honesty and integrity in all our dealings. maybe it"s unique to this company, but lenovo modeled itself, 20 years ago, after some of the multinationals like hp and IBM. when two companies come together, there tend to be unique cultural differences to be resolved. a lot of people focus on the differences in china and the united states and the rest of the world, but i think that is less important, because IBM operates in so many countries that we are used to dealing with global differences.
what"s more important are the company cultures and how they are different. as we have seen, some mergers and acquisitions never realized their full potential because the company cultures were so different. but in this case we actually studied the key values both companies had, and they mapped almost one-on-one. innovation is the way we both differentiate, and customer service is very important, [as are] integrity and honesty in all dealings. i would say from a leadership perspective, having those attributes in common - meritocracy, focus on the customer, and integrity in all our dealings - is important.
you also asked about the differences between the way we did things in IBM and the way i see lenovo. when i was in the pc division of IBM, during the last four years we were not investing in the business for growth. we got out of the consumer [business] in the late 1990s. we decided that profitability was very important and instead focused on the enterprise market. so there wasn"t as much focus on growing the business. whereas in lenovo, i sense an incredible optimism and appetite for growth. the mindset is that "the future"s so bright i"ve gotta wear shades." as we bring two teams together, creating a culture of profitable growth is one of the important issues. so we were a little different there.
the other difference is that in IBM we were a business unit within a very large, complex organization. if there was a problem that needed to be solved, we needed to make sure that we were consistent with armonk (n.y.) corporate headquarters" policies, systems and other issues. but what"s incredible about lenovo is because it"s a pc-focused company - in a very dynamic, fast-moving industry - if it thinks that something needs to get done it can do it. as we come together, that"s very liberating, at least for me personally. if you see an issue, you just take action, you take it quickly and you learn as you go.
zhang
zhang
: do you have a free hand?
advani
advani
: absolutely. one of the first questions i asked chairman yuanqing was: when it comes to decisions that i need to make - especially in marketing - do i need to go to him for approval? he said: "you are the head of marketing. you make the decisions and i will support them." he was very clear on that. so one of the things that i have noticed, and i don"t know if you can generalize this as "east vs. west," is that in very large companies you tend to be a little more risk-averse. you tend to be more conservative because you don"t want to make a lot of mistakes. that damages your career to some degree. lenovo is much more entrepreneurial. if something needs to get done we say, "look, let"s do it and let"s go." there"s a sense of urgency. that"s a different leadership style and i think it"s really great for the pc industry.
zhang
zhang
: my mom used to tell me that any marriage is difficult, but a cross cultural marriage will be even harder. right now you are in a honeymoon period. i wonder if you have encountered any sort of surprises.
advani
advani
: yes, there have been some little surprises. but they are more silly than serious. here"s an example: i"ve gone to china maybe half a dozen times this year. my colleagues there are just incredibly gracious hosts. someone picks you up at the airport; the calendar is planned out; it"s terrific. well, we sort of made a mistake early on, when an executive [from china] visited the united states. we didn"t realize that maybe someone should go pick him up at the airport and have things laid out. it was a courtesy kind of call that we were not conscious of, and we had to fix it. but it was a very minor thing.
as you get to know some of your colleagues, you find that companies have very similar cultures. we have been able to work through most issues very well because it comes down to people. it comes down to one-on-one relationships, and once you start building those relationships, then you can overcome many things. that"s what has been happening. whenever we get together we go out and have dinner, show pictures of the family and all of a sudden there is a real bonding taking place. in february, for instance, we had a meeting of about 30 executives in las vegas. we were still getting to know one another, and the chairman of the board put his arm around my shoulder and said, "hey, deepak, i hear you"re a pretty good blackjack player. let"s try our luck at blackjack." about eight of us took over a table and we were there for a couple of hours. we had a great time. we built very strong relationships.
now, as we go forward, without a doubt there will be challenges. when you look at the way lenovo operated in china, it was a very successful business model. on the china side we understand the business model; on the china side we understand the needs of the marketplace very, very well. a lot of it applies to other markets, particularly to other emerging markets. but not everything. so we"re having a dialog about what makes sense to replicate, and what doesn"t make sense to replicate. we will have those challenges, but the personal relationships that have been cemented will help us.
zhang
zhang
: many chinese companies seem to want to go international. based on your interactions with the management there, do you think that those companies are ready to go international?
advani
advani
: there"s no question that it"s going to happen. it"s just a matter of how quickly. i was with IBM for 13 years and my career was on the fast track, so i wasn"t looking to leave. but then this opportunity came along, and now, having had the pleasure of working with my colleagues in china for the last year or so, i have been incredibly impressed. the mindset here is very smart; they are great team players. and they really understand the basic business fundamentals. many of them have been educated at business schools in the united states. the mindset is: what does it take to win, and how can we deliver value to customers? the management team is very hungry to learn what it takes to build a truly global business.
useem
useem
: in light of your experience so far, do you have any advice or warnings for other chinese companies looking to invest in the u.s.?
advani
advani
: i think that if it makes business sense for the customer, then there"s a lot that can be gained from such partnerships. i did linux strategy for IBM, and one of the comments that was made by a senior executive at IBM - back when linux was very new - was that as companies we place bets on trends in the industry. some pan out and some don"t. but if a trend is going to deliver economic benefits for customers, it"s going to happen with or without you. so you better find a way to make your business model work and get aligned with the market forces that will deliver economic benefits.
the advice i would have is that whether it"s a chinese company working with an american company - or any two companies that are coming together - there have to be synergies and economic benefits to customers. part of the reason that our integration has gone so incredibly well over the last couple of months is that there is hardly any overlap between the lenovo business and the old IBM pc division. with the IBM pc division, more than 60% of our business was with notebooks. and when you look at lenovo in china, 85% of it was in desktops. we [IBM] had revenue coming from every corner of the world, while [lenovo] was focused primarily on china. we were focused a lot on the large-enterprise mid-market and they were focused on consumers and small business. as long as the business reason is sound, then coming together would make a lot of sense.
zhang
zhang
: what are the challenges that you face today, as the person in charge of marketing?
advani
advani
: we are in the process of establishing the lenovo brand and trying to introduce lenovo to the world. there are competitors out there saying that every dollar spent on a thinkpad goes directly to the chinese government. so the challenge is establishing lenovo as a worldwide brand that focuses on innovation in ways that matter to our customers and our stakeholders. you may know that lenovo is an olympic sponsor - of the winter olympics in italy and then the summer in beijing in 2008. so we are leveraging the olympics, the strong partnership we have with IBM, and the great products we will be introducing over the next couple of quarters. we are leveraging the strong relationships we have with our partners like intel and microsoft. we are going to use all these elements to introduce lenovo in a holistic way to the world. it"s a huge challenge but it"s exciting.
it wasn"t too long ago that people thought korean companies could not produce innovative, high-quality products, but samsung and other companies changed that. and 20 years ago the same thing was thought about japan. we"re at the beginning of a wave with china. when you look at lenovo, a lot of people are completely underestimating the assets that we are going to bring to the market. we have won a number of awards [for our products] and i think the world is in for a surprise.
knowledge@wharton
knowledge@wharton
: returning to the topic of complementary capabilities and synergies:
mary ma, the cfo
of lenovo, was interviewed recently by . she said that while lenovo has very strong supply chain control, it doesn"t have much experience in sales and marketing, especially when it comes to managing in more than 160 countries, the way IBM does. how are you managing the process?
businessweek
advani
advani
: i"m responsible for managing the worldwide market for lenovo. i have a global marketing team in raleigh, n.c., and in new york. i also have marketing teams spread around the world. the european headquarters are in france, the asia headquarters are in australia and china, and i have localized marketing teams at the country level. these teams work to understand what the trends are in a given country, what the real met and unmet needs are of the target customer and what the best way is for us to communicate our value proposition.
basically we"re taking that infrastructure and the marketing know-how we have around the world and using it to introduce the product that we sell only in china. so we have in-depth knowledge of countries all around the world. our advertising agency, ogilvy & mather, also has local insights into the countries in which we operate. and even though the old lenovo did not have a lot of international experience, we have very strong marketing teams in china. this whole process is designed to bring together the best of what the old IBM pc division has to offer - the international marketing branding know-how - and couple that with some of the strengths we have. there are many lessons we can apply from china and the other emerging markets, and that is going to be a big focal point.
knowledge@wharton
knowledge@wharton
: what role does the IBM image play in the lenovo marketing? is it helpful or a hindrance?
advani
advani
: i think it"s absolutely helpful. IBM resells lenovo pcs. it provides worldwide service and support for lenovo pcs, and provides financing. IBM is the biggest customer because it buys lenovo pcs. most important, the IBM logo will stay on the thinkpad and thinkcenter pcs for up to five years. for 18 months it remains exactly as it is now. after that, the IBM part becomes smaller and lenovo becomes bigger. right now, we have talked to more than 4,000 of our customers and more than 90% of them say they are either positive or neutral with this deal. neutral means that they love the story but they want to see the results. that IBM association is a very good bridge, because [these customers] get reassured.... in the near term, the IBM relationship and brand are key bridges as we establish lenovo. as i build up the lenovo brand globally, we will carefully watch [consumer] awareness, preference and other metrics to determine when the right time is to switch over from the IBM brand to lenovo.