一場最匪夷所思的辭職 聯合技術公司CEO爲何主動求去

It was one of the most baffling C-suite resignations in recent memory. At 7 a.m. on Monday, November 24, United Technologies announced that Louis Chenevert, its CEO since April 2008, was stepping down immediately at age 57. His replacement: his long-time CFO Gregory Hayes.

這是近期記憶中最令人匪夷所思的高管辭職事件。本週一，即11月24日早上7點，聯合技術公司（United Technologies）宣佈，57歲的CEO路易斯o切尼維特即將退休。切尼維特從2008年4月開始擔任公司CEO。他的接任者將是長期擔任公司首席財務官的格雷戈裏o海耶斯。

I spent time interviewing Chenevertfor a recent story, and everything about him was big. He stands 6’5”; shaking his hand is like clutching an electrode. And he was all about big ideas and super-stretch goals. It was Chenevert who orchestrated the biggest deal in aerospace history, United Technologies’ $16.3 billion acquisition of Goodrich in 2010. By pursuing a deal in a depressed market, he snagged the maker of brakes and landing gear at a bargain price. That merger made United Technologies, which was already a big engine-maker, a full-service manufacturer that provides everything that goes on an airliner, from tail to nose, except avionics.

筆者最近曾經爲撰寫一篇報道專門採訪過切尼維特，他的一切都只能用“大”來形容。他身高6.5英尺（約1.98米），與他握手時你會覺得特別溫暖有力。他總是有一些大的想法和極具挑戰性的目標。航空航天業歷史上規模最大的一筆交易——2010年，聯合技術公司斥資163億美元收購古德里奇公司（Goodrich）——正是出自切尼維特之手。他抓住市場低迷的機會，推動公司以優惠價格收購了這家制動器與起落架製造商。這筆併購交易也使聯合技術公司從大型引擎製造商變成一家綜合性製造商，提供的產品幾乎涵蓋大型客機除航空電子設備之外的所有部件。

Chenevert also restored United Technologies UTX -1.37% to the front ranks in the largest market for jet engines, those designed for narrow-body airplanes. “Louis’ baby,” as his lieutenants used to say, is the geared-turbofan, a revolutionary engine that saves around 16% on fuel over conventional designs, and reduces noise at takeoff and landing by 75%. It’s the sole choice on the new Bombardier C-Series, and a strong rival to an engine produced by a GE GE 0.04% partnership on the best-selling Airbus A320-neo.

此外，在最大的窄體機噴氣式發動機市場，切尼維特讓聯合技術公司重新迴歸領先地位。切尼維特的助手們經常說，“路易斯的最愛”是齒輪傳動式渦輪風扇發動機，這款革命性的發動機可比傳統設計節省16%的燃油，並且可將起飛與降落時的噪聲降低75%。這款發動機成爲新型龐巴迪C系列（Bombardier C-Series）的唯一選擇，也是通用電氣（GE）一款同類產品的強勁對手。後者是空中客車公司（Airbus）最暢銷機型A320-neo的發動機提供商。

Under Chenevert, United Technologies reigned as arguably the most profitable conglomerate in America. Its cash return on total assets last year was 11.4%, far better than General Electric’s 8.2%. During Chenevert’s time at the top, he’s delivered an 84% total return to shareholders, about 20 points better than the S&P 500.

在切尼維特的領導下，聯合技術公司一舉成爲美國最賺錢的大型企業集團。公司去年的總資產現金回收率爲11.4%，遠遠高於通用電氣的8.2%。在切尼維特掌管公司期間，公司的股票收益率達到84%，比標準普爾500指數（S&P 500.）高出20個百分點。

So, given Chenevert’s excellent record—and typically ebullient optimism about the future, justified or not—why did he resign? The company states that the decision was his alone, and that no financial improprieties were involved. Indeed, the company reaffirmed its current earnings guidance for 2014.

既然切尼維特有如此突出的業績，並且他也一如既往地對公司未來保持樂觀，那他爲何要辭職？該公司稱這是切尼維特自己的決定，不涉及任何財務不當行爲。事實上，聯合技術還再次重申了該公司目前對2014財年的盈餘預期。

United Technologies has suffered a few setbacks this year, including a fire in the prototype for the geared turbofan on the Bombardier C-Series and an engine blowout on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Both problems have been fixed. The C-Series is slated to launch on schedule at the end of 2015.

聯合技術公司在今年曾遭遇過多次打擊，包括龐巴迪C系列的齒輪傳動式渦輪風扇發動機原型起火，還有F-35聯合攻擊戰鬥機的引擎爆炸。兩起事故均已得到解決。龐巴迪C系列發動機預定將在2015年底發佈。

The appointment of Hayes, an insider with a careful eye on operations, also suggests that the company’s board is satisfied with its current performance.

海耶斯一直密切參與公司運營，因此他的任命也表明公司董事會對公司目前的業績非常滿意。

The problem may be Chenevert’s promises for the future. Of course, it’s possible that Chenevert is departing for purely personal reasons. But it’s also possible that he has simply set the bar too high for United Technologies, and that a mature, old-economy stalwart, no matter how well run or how adept at harnessing fresh technology, simply cannot soar as high, and as fast, as the CEO’s flight plan demands.

問題可能出在切尼維特對未來的承諾上。當然，切尼維特辭職也可能純粹出於個人原因。但也有可能是因爲他爲聯合技術公司設立的目標過高，而作爲一支傳統經濟的中堅力量，不論這家成熟的公司運轉得多麼良好，或者多麼善於利用新鮮技術，都不可能達到這位CEO飛行計劃所要求的高度和速度。

Chenvert never stopped pushing his business heads to achieve the near-impossible. Early this year, the buildings systems unit, which accounts for more than half the company’s sales, pledged to lift revenues from $29 billion to $50 billion by 2020, and raise margins by over 4 points to 20%. Getting there requires an epic 8%-a-year growth rate in sales, and an even faster increase in earnings. That 8% is more than twice the rate of projected global expansion in GDP. But that’s what the boss wanted.

切尼維特從未停止推動公司各部門主管爲一些幾乎不可能實現的目標而努力。今年早些時候，佔公司銷售額一半以上的建築系統部門，承諾截至2020年將收入從290億美元增加到500億美元，並將利潤提高4個百分點以上，達到20%。而要實現這些目標，該部門必須保證銷售額按每年8%的速度增長，收入的增長速度還要更快。8%甚至是全球GDP預測增速的兩倍以上。但這正是他想要的。

Since Chenevert set those goals, the outlook in Europe has only become more dire. His plan also counts on big growth in China to drive sales of its Otis elevators. The rise of ghost cities, and the specter of vast overbuilding, means the biggest, fastest-growing elevator market on the planet may slow substantially in the years ahead.

自切尼維特設定這些目標以來，歐洲的前景卻變得更加黯淡。此外，他的計劃還要依靠奧的斯電梯(Otis)在中國銷量的大幅增長。但頻頻曝光的鬼城和過度建設的噩夢，意味着這個全世界規模最大、增長最快的電梯市場，在未來幾年將顯著放緩。

So one possibility is that Chenevert’s goals exceeded what the board believes are achievable. In fact, United Technologies already downgraded its expectations for this year’s EPS growth. Another possibility is that the directors advocated splitting the aircraft engine and building services businesses. The former is the less profitable of the two. At United’s engine-maker Pratt & Whitney, operating margins stand at 12.9%. Sikorsky, the company’s helicopter unit, which has suffered from cutbacks in defense spending, earns just 9.5%. By contrast, buildings systems—consisting of Otis, as well as Carrier HVAC products—boasted margins of 15.7% for 2013. The idea is that an independent building systems company would merit a premium multiple and a split would provide big gains to shareholders.

所以，一種可能性是切尼維特的目標超出了董事會認爲可以實現的程度。事實上，聯合技術公司已經調低了今年的每股收益增長預期。另外一種可能性是，董事會曾主張拆分公司的飛機發動機與建築服務業務。其中，飛機發動機業務的盈利能力相對較低。在聯合技術公司旗下的普惠發動機公司（Pratt & Whitney），營業利潤率爲12.9%。此外，受到美國國防開支削減的影響，該公司直升機部門西科斯基（Sikorsky）的營業利潤率僅有9.5%。相反，建築業務，包括奧的斯電梯和開利（Carrier）HVAC產品（譯註：供暖、通風與空調），在2013年的利潤率則爲15.7%。股東們的觀點是，獨立的建築系統公司可以獲得溢價倍數，拆分可以爲股東帶來更大收益。

It’s long been rumored that United Technologies is pondering a sale of Sikorsky. Chenevert is a big believer that United Technologies should stand on two strong legs. It’s unlikely that he would favor either the aerospace-building systems split or the sale of the helicopter-maker. Nor do we know the board’s view on either, or whether it conflicted with the CEO’s. What’s obvious is that 57-year old CEOs with sterling records seldom step down without some sort of clash in strategy with their boards, assuming the reason isn’t health-related or personal.

一直有傳聞稱，聯合技術公司正在考慮出售西科斯基。切尼維特始終堅信，聯合技術公司應該堅持“兩條腿走路”。所以，不論是拆分還是出售直升機業務，都不太可能得到切尼維特的支持。我們不知道董事會對這兩種觀點的態度，或者董事會與這位CEO在這些問題上是否出現了矛盾。但有一點是顯而易見的，假如辭職原因與健康或個人問題無關的話，一位有着出色業績、只有57歲的CEO，如果沒有與董事會在經營策略上產生衝突，是不大可能辭職的。

The Canadian-born Chenevert deserved to be far better known. It’s instructive that one of his few outside activities was serving as a director of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation, whose mission is to promote awareness of the valor of its recipients, many of them in their 80s or 90s. “He’s obviously inspired by stories about soldiers who succeeded in taking the hill against all odds,” says Jack Jacobs, a Medal of Honor winner from his service in Vietnam. “Louis has a view that nothing is impossible if it’s important enough.”

出生於加拿大的切尼維特本來應該享有更高的聲譽。他爲數不多的外部活動是擔任國會榮譽勳章基金會（Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation）的董事，這對我們很有啓發。該基金會的使命是宣傳勳章獲得者們的英勇無畏，其中許多獲得者都已是80歲或90歲高齡。因參與越南戰爭獲得榮譽勳章的傑克o雅各布斯表示：“士兵們克服重重困難成功佔領高地的故事，令他很受啓發。路易斯認爲，萬事皆有可能，只要這件事情足夠重要。”

Did Chenevert push his troops to do what was genuinely impossible, and let his success in reaching elastic goals convince him that the next one was always within reach? All we know is that, for the most part, his relentless optimism worked as a management style. Under Hayes, we’ll probably see a more conservative United Technologies. But it will greatly benefit from the growth engines that Chenevert put in place.

切尼維特是否曾帶領他的部下去完成不可能的任務？成功實現彈性的目標，是否讓他以爲下一個目標一定能夠實現？我們知道，大多數時候，他那種不屈不撓的樂觀態度是一種有效的管理風格。在海耶斯的領導下，我們或許將看到一個更保守的聯合技術公司。但切尼維特爲公司裝好的增長引擎，必將令公司受益匪淺。（財富中文網）