波克夏控股公司商業模式之研究

Abstract

在過去四十八年中，在巴菲特領導下，波克夏控股公司從一間小的紡織廠，變成全美營收第五大的企業集團，在1965至2012年間，波克夏集團每年的淨值報酬率，每年以19.7%速度成長，超越了標準普爾五百指數的年複合報酬率高達十個百分點。 雖然有亮麗的成績，但因為波克夏集團組成複雜度高，加上獨特的商業模式，使得學術界對於這個全美第五大集團企業，研究甚少。本論文希望藉由Alexander Osterwalder發展出來的Business Model Canvas模型，第一次完整研究波克夏成功商業模式，並期望找出波克夏的成功因子。 本論文發現，波克夏在成立之初，就以創造公司每股的內在價值(intrinsic value)為最終目標，因為強調｢每股」內在價值，因此波克夏控制股東組成成份，及股本膨賬速度，並透過機制設計，包括降低交易量、二級股份制等，選擇認同內在價值的股東，讓公司營運不會受到股價上下過大波動的影響。在創造股東內在價值方面，波克夏主要藉由購併績效好的公司，配合其他投資活動，讓波克夏規模不斷擴大，而購併資金則由旗下產險保險公司所收的浮額金(float)供應，只要保險公司經營績效好，這些資金取得成本就會相當低。此外，在選擇購併標的時，波克夏只選擇績效好及經營團隊佳的公司，透過給予經營的自主權及薪資紅利配套，讓這些經理人在公司並併之後，仍願意留在公司效命，而這些經理人就成為波克夏最重要的人才來源。 總的來說，本論文規納波克夏過去四十八年能靠著購併壯大，主要成功因素至少有三點：一、低價取得購併資金；二、在巴菲特領導下，能正確判斷績效好賺錢潛力的企業，並成功購併；三、成功留住人才。

Over the past 48 years, under the leadership of Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway has established itself into a fifth largest company in America from a small textile factory largely through acquisitions and investments. During the period of 1965-2012, this holding company created an outstanding compounded annual gain rate 19.7% on the book value per share, outperforming S&P 500’s 9.4% by an average of 10 percentage points per year. However, for its unusual and unique way of operation, Berkshire Hathaway is possibly the most-talked-about and the least-understood company in the world. By employing Business Model Canvas developed by Alexander Osterwalder, this thesis aims to map out the comprehensive business model of Berkshire Hathaway by using Business Model Canvas and identify the key factors contributing the success of Berkshire Hathaway. This thesis finds that unlike other asset management peers measuring the economic significance by its size or increase on market value, Berkshire employed the annual returns of the intrinsic value, substituted by book value and benchmarking S&P 500, on per share basis, as the ultimate goal in the value proportion they set. The customers Berkshire aims to serve focused on a small group of long-tern oriented investors, which is naturally selected by deliberately lower turnover rate and no-dividend policy. Berkshire’s shares constantly traded in a lower turnover rate, coupling with corporate governance, board management, and candor communications with shareholders through annual meeting and Buffett’s annual letters to shareholders, proved the invention a success. To outperformance the average large American corporates, Berkshire hired M&A and investment as the key activities, which are fueled and supported by three major resources, capitals, management and leadership of Warren Buffett. Along with the rise of capital infusion from acquired companies and returns on investments, the size of book value, as well as the revenue, climbed accordingly. Besides, this thesis also concluded three successful factors of Berkshire Hathaway’s M&A activities. First, lower-cost capital from insurance business and handsome returns of investments provide the essential fuel to drive the expansion of Berkshire. Second, under the leadership of Buffett, Berkshire accurately pinned targets and acquired companies with good earning powers. Third, the company successfully retained good management after merger and acquisition.