How to Build a High-Performing and Truly Entrepreneurial Global Business

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Ever heard of organizing a company around a conceptual framework?  That's the way Haier's leader, China philosopher-CEO Zhang Ruimin, describes how he built a winning global company by continually reframing his management philosophy.  Haier is the world's fastest-growing appliance maker.  Other things Haier excels at:

"... the largest market share in “white goods” worldwide—about 14 percent of a market with at least seven other major competitors. It is also a world leader in business innovation and one of the largest non-state-owned enterprises in China."

Art Kleiner, Editor in Chief of strategy+business writes a wonderful spread on Zhang and his success tips for running Haier.  Before we get to it, the following statement encapsulates how Zhang pulled off leading a high-performing and truly entrepreneurial global business:

Zhang has steadily initiated shifts in the company’s structure, moving consistently toward participative management, decentralized decision making, and autonomous but accountable work teams and platforms. 

Read the entire article:  China's Philosopher - CEO Zhang Ruimin

Understand the Demands of Customers in Global Markets

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Building strong emotional bonds between consumers and Chinese brands remains a work in progress.  Take Haier (Haier America), for example, which ramped up efforts to go global in 1999.

It sold niche products such as small refrigerators to college students and wine cellars, and opened manufacturing plants in the U.S. and elsewhere to bring production centers closer to priority consumer markets.  Haier has distinguished itself among Chinese companies in efforts to build a global brand.

Understanding the demands of customers in global markets is just one of the many challenges Chinese companies face in light of increased global competition and operating in a fast, interconnected world.

Learn what other challenges lie ahead for Chinese companies here.

Related post:  Why China Has So Few Good Brands