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Cover Story

2019-11-02

财经 2019年23期

Scientific and Market-Oriented Manage- ment Is Key to Saving Shenyang Machine Tool

Recently, Shenyang Machine Tool Group entered the legal reorganization process. This state-owned enterprise in the Northeast has been a leading manufacturer in the domestic ma- chine tool industry and was once the largest in the world. Many were astonished that this group went bankrupt and was being reorganized just because millions of arrears. Some industry vet- erans believe the recession in the machine tool industry in the past five or six years was an important reason.

However, counting only the factors of the market envir- onment and business strategy, is not enough to explain why the company has come to this stage. Many people inside and outside the Shenyang Machine Tool Group have mentioned the management mechanism of the group. As a local state-owned enterprise located in the northeast, the influence of the govern- ment on the strategy from business to management cannot be ignored. However, the research and development capabilities and technology accumulation of Shenyang Machine Tool Group are still very valuable, what it needs is introduction of scientific and market-oriented management.

How Hong Kong Can Find Its Way out of the Difficulties

Thanks to the institutional framework of “one country, two systems”, Hong Kong continues to be one of the worlds freest cities after the citys return to China. However, in recent years, deep-seated problems have worsened in Hong Kongs long-term economic and social development, and maintaining “one country, two systems” is even more important.

It is worth noting that there have been some hidden so- cial problems caused by the solidification of the Hong Kong classes. More specifically, on the one hand, the wealthy classes have formed a close interest group; on the other hand, the ordinary peoples upward mobility has frozen, more young people are seeing no hope of changing their destiny, and the spirit of innovation has been restricted. As a result, the Hong Kong economy is losing its vitality and entering a recession. How can Hong Kong break free from this rigid class structure? In this regard, Caijings reporter interviewed the famous eco- nomist Chen Zhiwu who discussed Hong Kongs future way out of current difficulties.

Uncovering Management Reshuffles of Airbnb China

When Airbnb announced its 2020 IPO to much fanfare, the company was experiencing the biggest personnel shock since its entry into China. Caijing exclusively learned that a management change was recently concluded in Airbnb China. A sign of the reshuffle of senior management was that Pan Ji, head of operations at Airbnb China, left in July 2019. As he left, several operating system managers followed suit.

The Chinese market has reached a scale of nearly 20 billion yuan last year. Airbnb is among the leading homestay provider but it hasnt achieved the largest market share. The consensus is that foreign-funded enterprises generally have a hard time adapting to the business environment when they come to China, so its hard for them to get the upper hand in the brutal business competition. Caijings reporter tracked Airbnb for three years, and interviewed ten of the staff at or close to key positions, trying to uncover the companys series of senior management reshuffles in China.

Nobel Prizes Announced, Humanitys Ex- ploration of the Nature Continues

The annual Nobel Prizes were being announced starting on October 7, 2019. Three science awards – Physiology or Medicine, Physics, and Chemistry – were awarded to the 9 scientists from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland, and Japan for their contributions in their respective research such as the hypoxic signaling pathway and lithium-ion batteries.

These scientists, who received award-winning calls in laboratories, academic conferences, and college classes did not stop their scientific explorations even when they learned that they had received the highest honor in the scientific com- munity. Even John B. Goodenough, who is nearly a hundred years old, said that he still plans to work for another five years before he retires. The Nobel Prize is not the end of his scientific exploration. In fact, the award-winning research projects are the result of work more than 20 years, even 40 years ago. Some have changed human understanding of themselves and the uni- verse. Some have provided tools for further exploration.