《乐高大电影》（The Lego Movie）所取得的惊人成功可能不会让人把它和苹果公司（Apple）扯上什么关系，但其实我们应该想到这一点。尽管它们处在完全不同的领域中，但乐高集团（Lego Group）和苹果公司的成功之道并无二致，都可以为我们带来丰富的启示。

    《乐高大电影》是一部3D儿童电影，电影里所有东西都是用小塑料块搭建的（正如预告片略带自嘲所说的那样，“这是有史以来组装的最伟大的一部电影”）。它可能不算是一个激动人心的说法，但这部电影在美国只用了不到两周就斩获了约1.4亿美元的票房。这个成绩接近、或者可能已经创造了每年这个时期上映的新片的票房新纪录。考虑到这部电影的制作成本只有约区区7000万美元，且由于乐高品牌风靡全球，它的全球票房将十分可观。这部电影对乐高公司和影片的制片方华纳兄弟影业公司（Warner Brothers）来说都是一个重大成功。后者（与《财富》杂志的母公司一样）也属于时代华纳公司（Time Warner）子公司。

    那么这部影片和苹果公司有什么关系呢？一言以蔽之，整合。苹果之所以能征服世界，很大程度上是因为，它是一家最善于把各种业务资源整合为令人倾倒的客户体验的公司。硬件、软件、产品设计、在线体验，甚至包装——在苹果公司，所有这一切都是同时以相互强化和促进的方式打造的。咨询师拉姆•查兰是分析及研究整合领域的顶级专家，他说：“核心决策是靠同时整合专家意见做出的，很大程度上没有经过行政管理专家的筛选过滤。”

    但难道不是每个公司都在这么做吗？事实上远非如此。实际上，绝大多数大企业都发现这种整合几乎就是不可能完成的任务。这也就是为什么索尼公司（Sony）没能击败苹果的iPad，甚至连跟它平起平坐也没有做到，尽管当时索尼的规模比苹果大得多。时任索尼首席执行官的霍华德•斯金格后来坦承，索尼公司无法让各个所需部门协同攻关。而史蒂夫•乔布斯在苹果却把整合工作做得很出色，而且他对整合的重要性有深刻的认识。正如他所说：“整合是我能打造完美产品的唯一方法。”

    乐高也正在大举整合。它正在打造一套独特的体系，它能在多种媒体和物理空间中借助自己的品牌创造更丰富的用户体验。这并不是老套的乐高组装玩具的辅助营销手段，乐高实际在每个环节上都能赚钱。电影里出现的人物和产品可能也会在乐高和卡通频道（Cartoon Network）合拍的节目、电子游戏、遍布全球的六个乐高乐园以及十一个较小的乐高乐园探索中心（Legoland Discovery Centers）中发挥作用。

    乐高用来驱动这个商业网络的角色多种多样，绝不仅限于自家打造。它非常善于说服那些彼此是对手的公司将自己的卡通形象授权给乐高。它的玩具产品线角色众多，有时代华纳公司子公司DC Comics所拥有的蝙蝠侠，沃尔特迪士尼公司（Walt Disney）子公司漫威公司（Marvel）的钢铁侠，以及卢卡斯影业公司（LucasFilm）的尤达大师和其他星战人物。这些角色都在所谓的乐高诗篇（Lego-verse）中和谐共生。整个系统像一个有机整体一样茁壮成长，欣欣向荣。

    由于企业成长起来后往往会发展出自己的独占领域，因此整合绝非易事。而整合者能够打破这些樊篱，创造出令人惊叹的成果。其他人最好想一想，怎样在自己的企业中做到这一点。（财富中文网）

    译者：清远

    The startling success of The Lego Movie probably didn't make you think about Apple (AAPL), but it should. In their widely different worlds, the Lego Group and Apple are succeeding in the same way, with lessons for the rest of us.

    The Lego Movie is a 3-D kid flick in which the entire world is apparently made of little plastic bricks ("the greatest movie ever assembled," as the trailer wryly puts it). The description may not make your heart beat faster, but in less than two weeks it has grossed an estimated $140 million at the U.S. box office, nearing or maybe setting a record for a film released at this time of year. Considering that the movie cost only an estimated $70 million to make, and that its global prospects are extremely strong in light of Lego's globally popular brand, the film is a major win for both Lego and the film's producer, Warner Brothers, which (like Fortune's parent company) is part of Time Warner (TWX).

    So what's the link to Apple? In one word, integration. Apple has conquered the world in large part because it's the best company anywhere at integrating all the parts of the business into a knockout customer experience. Hardware, software, product aesthetics, online experience, even packaging -- at Apple they're all created simultaneously in ways that reinforce one another. Consultant Ram Charan, who leads the field in analyzing and understanding integration, explains, "Core decisions are made by integrating inputs from experts simultaneously and largely without the filters of the administrative managers of the experts."

    But doesn't every company do that? Far from it. In fact, most large organizations find this kind of integration almost impossible. That's why Sony (SNE) notoriously failed to defeat or even match Apple's iPad, though it was a far larger company at the time. It couldn't get the necessary divisions to work together, as then-CEO Howard Stringer later admitted. Steve Jobs made integration work at Apple, and he realized its importance. As he said, "Integration is the only way I could make perfect products."

    Lego is integrating. It's building a machine that creates an extended customer experience with its brand, in multiple media and physical spaces. This isn't old-fashioned ancillary marketing for Lego construction toys; Lego is making money at every step. Characters and products that show up in the movie may also play roles in programs that Lego creates with Cartoon Network, in video games, at six Legoland theme parks around the world, and at 11 smaller Legoland Discovery Centers.

    The company fuels this network of businesses with more than its own creations. It has proven extraordinarily persuasive in getting companies that compete with one another to license their characters to Lego. The company has toy lines featuring Batman, which is owned by DC Comics, part of Time Warner; Iron Man, which is owned by Marvel, part of Walt Disney (DIS); and Yoda and other Star Wars characters, owned by LucasFilm. They all cohabit peacefully in the Lego-verse, as it's called. The whole system grows and prospers as one organic unit.

    Integrating isn't easy because companies naturally generate siloes as they grow. Integrators tear them down, and the results are impressive. The rest of us had better figure out how to do it in our own organizations.