收缩业务的智慧：宝洁如何靠“瘦身”来实现增长

    经过十几年的全面扩张，宝洁（Procter & Gamble）已经无所不包，从美容用品、刮胡刀到电池不一而足。上周该公司宣布，将砍掉一大半品牌以实现增长。首席执行官雷富礼表示，宝洁最多将剥离100个品牌，以便将注意力集中在70-80个收入最高的品牌上。这家全球最大的消费品公司，希望通过“瘦身”来变得更强。

    宝洁的这份公告很好地阐释了一个有些矛盾的模式，那就是扩张的诱惑和收缩的智慧——在不同行业大大小小的公司追求增长的过程中都能看到这一点。

    每家公司都被寄望于实现增长、创造股东创造价值。这往往会造成它们为了增长而采用所有可能的手段：延长产品线、扩充现有品牌、争取到更多消费者、进入新的市场。每个扩张机会似乎都很诱人，因为它能带来收入。但并非所有的增长都具有同样的价值。不顾一切地追求增长机会就是扩张的诱惑。如果公司不为如何增长定下规矩，它们的业务复杂化速度就会迅速超过收入增长速度。由此产生的结果是，经营变得笨重，重点模糊，成本上升，盈利水平下降。

    那么，为什么像宝洁这样聪明的公司也会让局势发展到这样的地步才采取行动呢？它为什么会把边缘品牌保留这么长时间呢？有时候，问题暴露时已经太晚。就像过量饮食——吃饱了这个信息从胃部传递到大脑需要15分钟，公司在意识到实际情况方面也存在延迟。等它意识到了，“赘肉”已经堆积了起来。

    宝洁的经历并不特殊。和宝洁一样，另一家大型消费品公司卡夫食品（Kraft Foods）也早已意识到了“收缩的智慧”。

    几年前，卡夫的发展中市场业务规模庞大，包含几十种产品，在60多个国家和地区拥有150多个品牌。这项业务已经变得步履蹒跚，缺乏凝聚力和方向。2007年，它推出了一项策略，目的是找到业务重心。这项策略的代号为“5-10-10”，内容是集中于5大品类、10大品牌和10个关键市场。这种做法让卡夫的注意力更加集中，同时锁定了资源，使该公司得以采取一些重大行动。6年内，这项业务的收入规模就从50亿美元增加到了160亿美元，内生性增长达到了两位数，盈利水平高达50%。

    稍后，作为世界上业务覆盖面可能最广的科技公司，微软（Microsoft）看来也进行了类似的转型。经过多年来无所顾忌的产品扩张和收购，新任CEO萨提亚•纳德拉着手为该公司瘦身。微软开始压缩诺基亚手机业务，把重心放在了成为一家以移动为先、云为先的公司。

    确定优先度是其中关键——要找到真正起作用的东西，然后聚焦。做更少的事，但把它们做的更好。这就是我们所谓的“收缩的智慧”。

    After more than a decade of widespread expansion, picking up everything from beauty products to razors to batteries, Procter & Gamble announced last week that it was going to prune more than half its brands in an effort to grow. CEO A.G. Lafley said the company would divest up to 100 brands and focus on the 70 or 80 in its portfolio that produce the highest revenue. The world’s largest consumer products company wants to slim down to get bigger.

    P&G’s announcement illustrates a contradictory pattern we have seen in companies both big and small and across industries as businesses pursue growth—the seduction of more and the wisdom of less.

    Every business is expected to grow to create shareholder value. Too often, this results in growth by any means possible. Extend product lines. Expand existing brands. Acquire more customers. Venture into new markets. Every expansion opportunity seems attractive because it brings in revenues. But not all growth dollars are equally green. The mindless pursuit of growth opportunities is the seduction of more. If companies aren’t disciplined in how they grow, the complexity of their business increases at a faster rate than revenues do. The result: unwieldy operations, dilution of focus, higher costs and lower profitability.

    So why do smart companies like P&G let things get so far before they act? Why did P&G hang on to its marginal brands so long? Sometimes, the problem doesn’t make itself apparent until it’s too late. It’s like overeating—just as it takes 15 minutes for the message that you are full to get from your stomach to your head, companies suffer a delay in recognizing what is happening. By then, the corporate calories have piled up.

    P&G’s experience isn’t unique. And like P&G , Kraft Foods , another big consumer products company, came to see what we call, the “Wisdom of Less.”

    A few years ago, Kraft’s developing markets business carried a sprawling portfolio featuring dozens of categories of products – more than 150 brands in over 60 countries. The business was sputtering—it lacked cohesion and direction. Starting in 2007, the division kicked off a strategy to bring focus to the organization. Labeled 5-10-10, the strategy called for concentrating on five strong categories, 10 power brands and 10 key markets. The new approach narrowed attention and targeted resources, allowing the company to make a few big bets. Within six years, the developing markets business for Kraft Foods soared from $5 billion in revenues to $16 billion, with double-digit organic growth, while profitability shot up 50%.

    More recently, Microsoft , perhaps the world’s most sprawling technology company, seems to be going through a similar transformation. After a multi-year binge of product expansion and acquisitions, Microsoft’s new CEO, Satya Nadella, is slimming the company down. Microsoft is cutting back on its Nokia devices business and focusing on becoming a mobile-first and cloud-first company.

    Prioritizing is the key—finding what really works and focusing on that. Doing fewer things, but doing them bigger and better. That’s what we call, “the Wisdom of Less.”