Chinese companies’ management experience enriches global database

Zhang Ruimin, chairman of the board of directors and CEO of Haier Group, gives a presentation “Creating Business Models for the Internet of Things (IoT) era” at Harvard University, March 7, 2018. (Photo by Zhang Penghui from People’s Daily)

The management model of China's top home appliances manufacturer Haier has for the third time been written up in Harvard Business School (HBS) case studies, enriching the global database.

The Haier-proposed model of “Win-win Combination between Employee and Order” is a successful exploration in the Internet and the Internet of Things (IoT) era, said Zhang Ruimin, chairman of the board of directors and CEO of Haier Group.

Chinese enterprises have transformed from a follower to a leader, or at least a leading path finder in terms of management model, Zhang pointed out.

"Chinese companies have accumulated a lot of advanced models in company management, which I believe will gain more attention from the international academic and business circles in the future," he added.

Haier’s “Win-win Combination between Employee and Order” model makes the company an incubating platform on which the employees will act as makers, entrepreneurs and innovators to meet customized demands from the users.

This model, as an effective way to stimulate the creativity of staff, allows each employee to realize self-fulfillment while maximizing the value of shareholders and customer satisfaction.

This successful trial in the era of IoT made “Haier incubating entrepreneur in a Chinese giant” onto the case list of the top international business school.

"Though the Haier model is still at the phase of exploration, it has proved to be a successful one. This revolution is unprecedented," said professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter with HBS.

Haier's case came as more "Chinese elements" were incorporated by HBS in recent years. Chinese firms previously only made up a few dozen of the nearly10, 000 cases collected by the school, but provided an increasing number of diversified and classical study cases to the school in recent years, thanks to the rise of the Chinese economy and its global influence.

Besides Haier, other Chinese companies, including Alibaba, Hainan Airlines, Huawei, the China National Cereals, Oils & Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO) and Lenovo have also been selected for their impressive performance and huge influence.

Haier was featured in two case studies of the HBS in 2005 and 2015, respectively. “From having no business model to creating business models, Haier now walks in the front row of practice. In the future, more Chinese companies will contribute their experiences to case study of the HBS,” Zhang told the People's Daily. 

Attendees at the presentation “Creating Business Models for the Internet of Things (IoT) era” applaud Zhang Ruimin, chairman of the board of directors and CEO of Haier Group at Harvard University, March 7, 2018. (Photo from website of Haier Group)