The Management Transformation of Huawei: From Humble Beginnings to Global Leadership

by Xiaobo Wu, Johann Peter Murmann, Can Huang, Bin Guo

Overview

Huawei has become China's most prominent multinational company and a leader in the ICT sector. Given unprecedented access to the company, the authors of this book examine the management transformation of Huawei from its inception in 1987 until 2019, observing in detail not only the creation of its organizational routines but also the breaking of routines across most major functional areas: Management, Product Development, HR, Supply Chain, Finance, R&D, Intellectual Property, and International Business. 'Dynamic capabilities' are central to theories of competitive advantage and this book highlights Huawei as an ideal case study for the successful implementation of change routines and change-supporting values. The chapters cover all the major change initiatives the firm has undertaken since 1996 to import best practices from the West, with the help of consultants. The insights presented in the book will be particularly interesting for academics in the field of strategy, management, and business history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781108426435
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	04/09/2020
Pages:	502
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 1.14(d)

About the Author

Xiaobo Wu is Professor of Innovation and Strategic Management, School of Management, Zhejiang University, China. He has received the title of Chang Jiang Scholar Professor from the Ministry of Education, China, for his outstanding achievements in innovation and entrepreneurship research and education.

Johann Peter Murmann is Professor of Strategic Management and Director of the Institute for Management and Strategy, University of St. Gallen. He is the author of Knowledge and Competitive Advantage: The Coevolution of Firms, Technology and National Institutions (Cambridge, 2003), which won the International Schumpeter Prize, and co-editor of China's Innovation Challenge (Cambridge, 2016). He is a deputy editor of Management and Organization.

Can Huang is Professor, Head of the Department of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Strategy, and Co-Director of the Institute for Intellectual Property Management at the School of Management, Zhejiang University, China. He is also a member of the advisory boards for the Research Center for Technological Innovation at Tsinghua University, the CIPRUN Intellectual Property Management Research Center at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, and the Asia Pacific Innovation Conference. He is a Senior Editor of Management and Organization Review and a member of the editorial boards of several other academic journals.

Bin Guo is Professor of Innovation Management and Strategy, and vice-chairman of the Professor Committee, at the School of Management, Zhejiang University, China. He is the deputy director of the Joint Research Center for Global Manufacturing and Innovation Management, at the University of Cambridge and Zhejiang University.

Table of Contents

Preface Xiaobo Wu; 1. The management transformation of Huawei: an overview Johann Peter Murmann with commentary by Arie Lewin, Liisa Valikangas and Ying Zhang; 2. Executive management team and organizational change: a routinized transformation perspective Ziyi Zhao, Bin Guo, Xiaobo Wu with commentary by Jean Chen; 3. Transforming product development at Huawei: the IPD initiative Zihan Zhang, Johann Peter Murmann with commentary by Jaeyong Song; 4. Huawei's transformation of supply chain management Ying Li, Can Huang, Yongyi Shou with commentary by Yongjiang Shi; 5. Financial management transformation in Huawei Can Huang, Xiao Chen with commentary by Ram Mudambi; 6. The transformation of Huawei's HR system Hongqi Xu, Johann Peter Murmann with commentary by Catherine Xin; 7. Huawei's international journey Wen Li, Xiaoran Chang, Bin Guo with commentary by Carl Fey; 8. R&D transformation of Huawei Lanhua Li, Bin Guo, Johann Peter Murmann, Dong Wu with commentary by Frans Greidamus; 9. Huawei's intellectual property management transformation Johann Peter Murmann, Can Huang and Haoyu Zhang; 10. The management transformation of Huawei: concluding thoughts from a comparative perspective Johann Peter Murmann; Appendix A. Number of employees and sales, 1987–2018; Appendix B. List of presentations at Ruihua Institute of Innovation Management, Zhejiang University; Appendix C. Interviews conducted for the book; Appendix D. The Huawei Basic Law (1998).

Editorial Reviews

'This is a ‘must read’ book for whoever is interested in the rise of China. It provides unique empirical and conceptual insights on China’s leading company and draws on world class researchers for analysis and commentaries. Uniquely valuable!' Yves Doz, Solvay Chaired Professor of Technological Innovation, INSEAD

'The Management Transformation of Huawei provides a fascinating account of how Huawei preserved its entrepreneurial spirit as it rapidly scaled up over its 30-year history. Very few studies provide such an in-depth historical account of the evolution of a company over such a long period of time. Any scholar or practitioner interested in understanding the leadership challenges that arise with rapid organizational growth should read this book.' Ranjay Gulati, Paul R. Lawrence MBA Class of 1942 Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School

'Huawei has become a major player in the global electronics industry and has been - perhaps unwantedly - cast into the role of a significant geopolitical force. This book is important and interesting because of the astonishing story of Huawei’s corporate growth. The authors provide an insightful account of how Huawei transformed itself from a small startup into a global giant, making an important scholarly contribution under major headings of the strategic management literature, such as 'knowledge', 'routines' and 'dynamic capabilities'.' Sidney G. Winter, Deloitte and Touche Professor Emeritus of Management, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

'The authors of this book examine how the Chinese telecommunications equipment company Huawei managed to grow from a small Shenzhen-based startup … to a giant company with over 188,000 employees and $105 billion in revenues in 2018 … Their most significant contribution is their detailed documentation … of the process of sequentially building administrative capabilities in multiple critical functional areas to support the company’s extraordinary growth trajectory … In doing so the authors offer … a fascinating perspective on the poetry of strategic leadership.' Robert A. Burgelman, Administrative Science Quarterly

From the Publisher