重塑樂高的“男孩”：克努斯托普

Some chief executives rescue a company from the brink of collapse. Others lead already good companies to greatness. But few, like Jorgen Vig Knudstorp at Lego in the past 12 years, do both.

有的首席執(zhí)行官將公司從崩潰邊緣拯救出來，有的首席執(zhí)行官帶領著已經(jīng)很優(yōu)秀的公司走向偉大，但很少有人兩樣都能達成，而約爾根•維格•克努斯托普(Jørgen Vig Knudstorp)過去12年在樂高(Lego)就做到了。

In a valedictory interview before stepping down as chief executive to become chairman at the year’s end, Mr Knudstorp details how he revived the maker of plastic bricks and turned it into the most profitable toymaker in the world — and how his management challenges have shifted over time.

克努斯托普在年底將卸下首席執(zhí)行官職務，成為董事長，他在一次告別采訪中詳述了自己如何讓這家塑料積木制造商重新振作，變成全球最賺錢的玩具制造商，以及他面臨的管理挑戰(zhàn)是怎樣隨時間推移而改變。

Sitting in his office in Lego’s home town of Billund in the heart of rural, central Denmark — surrounded by sets that include a gigantic Disney castle — the spiky-haired 48-year-old retains a boyish air. He was introduced to the toymaker as a child by his teacher and engineer parents when initially all he wanted was a racing car.

克努斯托普的辦公室在樂高的比隆總部，這里位于丹麥中部鄉(xiāng)村地區(qū)的核心。這個48歲、頭發(fā)支楞著的首席執(zhí)行官坐在自己的辦公室里，看上去仍像個男孩，周圍擺滿了樂高積木系列，其中包括一座巨大的迪士尼城堡。童年時，他那對教師和工程師父母將這家玩具商介紹給他——而他一開始想要的是一輛賽車。

But Mr Knudstorp is no wide-eyed romantic. He also brought to Lego much of his professional background as a McKinsey consultant. He gives each of the five phases he has led Lego through since 2004 a pithy description — survive, purpose, let growth loose, step up, leap — before adding: “I apologise for the management lingo.”

但克努斯托普絕非天真浪漫，他還為樂高帶來了自己身為麥肯錫(McKinsey)咨詢顧問的大量專業(yè)背景?？伺雇衅兆?004年執(zhí)掌樂高，帶領樂高走過了五個階段，他分別簡潔概述為：生存、目標、釋放增長、加速、騰飛。說完他補充道：“請原諒這些管理術語。”

The first person outside the founding family to run Lego, his initial task was to staunch the bleeding, as journalists prepared obituaries for the lossmaking and over-extended toymaker. Mr Knudstorp adopted a strict focus on cash, selling off peripheral businesses such as theme parks and video games, and cutting the number of parts Lego made. Foreign outposts were scaled back or closed down. Tiny Billund again became the heart of the group.

作為執(zhí)掌樂高的第一位非創(chuàng)始家族成員，克努斯托普的頭一個任務就是止血，當時記者們已經(jīng)為這家連續(xù)虧損、過度擴張的玩具制造商準備好了訃告?？伺雇衅諏ΜF(xiàn)金嚴加關注，賣掉了主題公園、視頻游戲等周邊產業(yè)，減少了樂高零件生產量。國外機構或縮小規(guī)模，或關閉。小小的比隆再次成為樂高集團的心臟。

In a second phase, he worked on productivity and identity by moving much of Lego’s production to countries such as Hungary and Mexico, and boosting the brand. Only in the third period — 2009-11 — did he feel the toymaker could look to growth again. “Every time you grow, you are hiding your problems. Growth is like sugar-coating your problems,” he adds.

在第二個階段，克努斯托普致力于提高生產率，建立品牌身份。他將樂高大部分生產轉移到匈牙利和墨西哥等國，同時提升品牌形象。到2009年至2011年的第三個階段他才覺得，這家玩具商可以再次期待增長。他說：“每次你增長時，你都隱藏了自己的問題。增長就像給問題裹上糖衣。”

As Lego became more successful, so the problems changed. By 2012, the issue was responding to growth rates that have seen Lego’s revenues increase by an average 17 per cent a year under Mr Knudstorp. He decided to create what he calls “a circular management team” in which the 20 people who reported to the top handful of managers on the executive committee met once a month. The idea was to allow Lego’s supply chain to continue humming even as it expanded into the likes of Asia. “If you make a decision in product design, you need to mirror it in manufacturing,” says Mr Knudstorp.

隨著樂高越來越成功，所面臨的問題也在改變。到2012年，問題變成了如何響應增長率。在克努斯托普帶領下，樂高的收入以年均17%的速度增長。他決定打造一個“循環(huán)管理團隊”，團隊由向執(zhí)行委員會的少數(shù)最高級別高管述職的20人組成，每月開一次會。這一想法旨在保證即使樂高擴張到亞洲等地，其供應鏈依舊保持運轉?？伺雇衅照f：“如果你在產品設計上作出一個決定，你需要在制造上反映出來。”

The latest phase, beginning last year, was born out of the difficulties of becoming so big. Small problems developed: Lego was fined €130,000 for preventing German stores from offering discounts; employee satisfaction levels were flat, and the number of staff increased by a quarter in just one year.

最新階段始于去年，它脫胎于樂高規(guī)模龐大后面臨的諸多難題。一些小問題開始出現(xiàn)：樂高因阻止德國商鋪打折而被罰款13萬歐元，員工滿意度走平，員工人數(shù)在短短一年內增加了四分之一。

Mr Knudstorp says he worries about what consultants at Bain call the “westward winds”, forces that push bigger companies away from what made them successful in the first place. “It is bureaucracy, it is because you are getting bigger, the pressure of scaling, of finding the right talent, of having the entrepreneurial spirit despite being a very big company,” Mr Knudstorp adds.

克努斯托普表示，他擔心貝恩(Bain)的咨詢顧問所稱的“東風”，即推動大型企業(yè)脫離起初讓它們獲得成功的東西的力量。他補充道：“是因為官僚主義，是因為企業(yè)做得越來越大，還有擴大規(guī)模、找到對的人才、以及盡管公司非常大但仍要保持創(chuàng)業(yè)精神的壓力。”

As Lego opens a new factory in China to service its rapidly growing Asian business, Mr Knudstorp and his successor Bali Padda — the current chief operating officer — work hard to ensure it has the same culture and values as its other factories, as well as a good supply chain. Under its “two in a box” principle, an experienced Lego general manager works alongside a new Chinese general manager.

隨著樂高在中國建設新工廠以滿足公司快速增長的亞洲業(yè)務，克努斯托普及其繼任者、現(xiàn)任樂高首席運營官巴利•帕達(Bali Padda)正全力以赴，確保中國工廠與其他工廠保持相同的文化和價值觀，同時也保持良好的供應鏈。根據(jù)“雙重管理”的原則，一名經(jīng)驗豐富的樂高總經(jīng)理將與一名新的中國總經(jīng)理并肩工作。

Some of the same issues that confronted Mr Knudstorp in 2004 are creeping back in. The number of parts used by Lego has increased, but he stresses that so has turnover. Offices have been opened in London, Singapore and Shanghai but Billund remains the company’s centre. A new headquarters is being built, and an architecturally impressive Lego House to show off the brand. “We are careful about not losing our soul,” Mr Knudstorp says.

克努斯托普2004年遭遇過的一些問題正在悄然再現(xiàn)。樂高使用的零件數(shù)量增加了，但他強調，銷售額也增加了。樂高在倫敦、新加坡、上海設立了辦事處，但仍以比隆為中心。一座新的總部正在建設，還有一座展示樂高品牌的、建筑風格令人印象深刻的Lego House。“我們小心翼翼避免丟失自己的靈魂，”克努斯托普說。

He also stresses humility, saying Lego has learnt that it cannot do everything.

他還強調了謙虛，稱樂高明白自己并非無所不能。

“It is a wonderful thing to have Legoland [the theme park]. But Lego wasn’t a great owner,” Mr Knudstorp says. Films and video games have followed the same model of having another company better suited to those fields using the Lego brand.

“擁有樂高樂園(Legoland)是件好事。但樂高過去并不是一個很好的所有者，”克努斯托普說。在電影和視頻游戲方面，樂高也遵循同樣的模式，即讓另一家更適合這些領域的公司使用樂高品牌。

With scale has come the potential to attack Lego in various ways. In recent years, it has faced controversy for not supplying Chinese artist Ai Weiwei (the company later agreed to the request, blaming a misinterpretation of company policy on political neutrality for the “mistake”); has been the butt of gender protests over pink toys for girls in the Lego Friends range, and stopped collaborations with Royal Dutch Shell and the Daily Mail newspaper after those companies faced public protests.

伴隨規(guī)模的擴大，樂高開始受到各種各樣的攻擊。近年來，樂高曾因拒絕向中國藝術家艾未未供貨而面臨爭議(公司后來同意了艾未未的要求，并將這一“錯誤”歸咎于對公司政治中立政策的曲解);因在樂高好朋友(Lego Friends)系列中為女孩推出粉紅色玩具而成為性別抗議人士攻擊的對象，并被迫停止與遭到公眾抗議的荷蘭皇家殼牌(Royal Dutch Shell)、《每日郵報》(Daily Mail)等公司的合作。

Mr Knudstorp says: “There is no doubt that being such a popular brand we are a good target for so-called brand hijacking.” Lego now follows popular opinion closely on Twitter and Mr Knudstorp personally answers some letters sent in by children and parents. “It’s really important to listen. Twitter and social media give us the possibility to gauge the issue. Sometimes we are caught off guard,” he adds.

克努斯托普表示：“毫無疑問，作為一個如此受歡迎的品牌，我們是所謂品牌劫持的好靶子。”如今，樂高密切關注Twitter上的公眾輿論，克努斯托普親自回答孩子和家長們發(fā)來的部分信件。“傾聽真的非常重要。Twitter和社交媒體使我們能夠評估這一問題。有時我們也會措手不及，”他補充道。

Stepping back from the day-to-day business will allow Mr Knudstorp to focus on new business areas. As well as being chairman of the toymaker, he will head the new Lego Brand Group, an entity that pools all the founding family’s Lego-related interests.

從日常事務中退下來可以讓克努斯托普專注于新的業(yè)務領域。在擔任這家玩具制造商董事長的同時，他將執(zhí)掌新成立的Lego Brand Group——匯集創(chuàng)始家族與樂高相關的所有利益的一個實體。

Mr Knudstorp says it will ensure the family is an “active owner, one who smells the roses, who knows what the business, the culture are like”. The crucial balance for him will be between “brand protection and brand development”. The split will allow Lego to concentrate purely on plastic bricks.

克努斯托普表示，Lego Brand Group將確保整個家族成為一個“活躍的所有者，一個能欣賞平凡事物、熟悉公司業(yè)務和文化的家族”。對克努斯托普而言，關鍵是要在“品牌保護與品牌發(fā)展”之間實現(xiàn)平衡。新成立Lego Brand Group可以讓樂高完全專注塑料積木業(yè)務。