And he left other core aspects of the business, such as steadily improving the retail offer (Every little helps), untouched. Many scientists also proposed that genetic technology should be gradually integrated with electronic technology to create "new people". Arjun Kharpal: Mr. Ren, as we come to the end of the conversation, I want to focus on your future. Essential in his idea to compete, however, is that it should be done with respect for its opponents. A great increase in material wealth would also help to significantly enrich culture. Bill Gates changed his mind though during his later speeches, suggesting that AI could greatly boost social progress. Do you think Huawei is at that point yet? Without the leadership Ren zhengfei has, there could not have been todays Huawei. By taking a set of coordinated actions that add up to a strategic change, a leader can kickstart the process without creating organized opposition. Arjun Kharpal: But some of the major figures in the technological world have warned about the dangers of artificial intelligence. Everything is limited. Why do they accept these things? Learn how to create a winning business plan. Do you think that companies like yours are too powerful and need to be regulated? Mr. Ren: I think technology will advance even faster than we could ever imagine. Will Europe understand us when they see how much effort we are putting into this? But this year, once the slate is wiped clean, the financial statements they will release in July will be much healthier. Huawei is now the world's largest telecoms equipment maker. Really effective leaders learn early to target only important issues and ones they have a fair shot of winning. Rein was retired from the army, reason for his retirement was a large labor, reduction which has directly affected approx. Mr. Ren: Huawei is based in China. Today, Huawei has developed a decision-making system with limited democracy and appropriate centralisation. That requires stepping out of the normal flow of organizational life. Purpose-driven Ambition The core of Ren Zhengfei's leadership is the undeniable fact that he is very clear about the purpose of Huawei, which is helping customers to realise their dreams. People back then thought his discovery was useless and ignored it for 100 years. The industry had high requirements. Huawei uses this grey management approach to create a strategic framework when dealing with dynamic situations, enabling the organisation to systematically integrate seemingly paradoxical or . His message resonated throughout the Chinese corporate world; one of the sledgehammers now sits in the National Museum of China. Is only slower computing good for us? You're seen as a visionary very much here in China in the technology world. What company can outperform Microsoft in Office and Windows? We support transparent regulation over companies with new technologies, and we are willing to be subject to such regulation. I only care about the growth of my company. These experiences taught me to endure hardships. Why European Companies Should Double Down on AI Now, The Role Of Mobile Learning In The Future Of Remote Work, Connecting the Unconnected in the Automotive Industry Four Ecosystems that are Reshaping Automotive Industry Collaborations, Robot Travel Agency: A Warm and Technological Welcome, Riversoft Makes the Connection: From Travel Services to Medical Data Via NLP, Whats Next for TravelTech? Arjun Kharpal: So would you say the US is scared of Huawei? I majored in architecture back in school, but I studied electronics technology myself. Saying that he was great is an understatement. Harshal Pawar So we would never follow anyone's instructions to install backdoors. Right now, the support of the Chinese government may not necessarily help our sales, but when the US government criticizes us, it tells the world how great Huawei is. So I think Trump is a great president, but he didn't consider all the angles when it came to attracting foreign investment. The US is a strong economy and offers many high-quality products. As society moved forward, AI was made possible. The engineering troop I was in was among one of the first troops to be disbanded. He is very careful not to feed the myth of his leadership and rather emphasises the importance of working hard in the success story of Huawei. Mr. Ren: I don't know. During the day, we were building a highly modernized factory. That's how we started out. If the US thinks we can be used as a pawn, I'd say they probably have the wrong person. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. It is great in that it has always pushed to make the market bigger, not smaller. Therefore, he often uses similar way to manage the company like the military system does. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis. Fostering an ethos requires taking two important steps. Consequently, Huawei's performance took a nosedive and employee satisfaction also sank. We have given up on supercomputing and intermediate computing. If the US government speaks ill of Huawei, why couldn't the Chinese government speak in our favor? At Huawei, we often talk about the term of "Van Fleet Load", which was invented by a general of the US army. Second, develop an organizational persona. Leading Huawei: Seven Leadership Lessons of Ren Zhengfei, The relationship between China and the European continent carries much history with it. Add copies before, China Europe International Business School, A Better Way to Manage Corporate Alliances, Primerica: Sandy Weill and His Corporate Entrepreneurs, J. C. Penney: Activist Investors and the Rise and Fall of Ron Johnson, Competing in the Age of AI: Strategy and Leadership When Algorithms and Networks Run the World, Buy 5 - 10 For example, as the products of Huawei in their pioneering years were not yet well developed he visited many R&D offices abroad. But if you were in the room with the US President, what would be your message to him? Arjun Kharpal: But what was the personal effect of her arrest on you as a father? We are not that important in the bilateral relations between the two countries. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. That's my only ideal. Part of making the dreams of customers to come alive is the idea that providing the best service possible is crucial to the success of the company. The US has highly developed technology, but it also has a shortage in labor. For example, in the early years of Huawei (Phase 1), he regularly told stories to employees that he believed that in 20 years Huawei would have 1/3 of the market share in the world, despite the fact that at that time Huawei only employed about 200 employees. They need to recognize what aspects of the status quo need to be challenged and they need the discipline to avoid wasting time rebelling in ways that are not strategic and wont move the organization forward. By the time I got my business license, I didn't have a single penny left. Leahy succeeded with both dramatic changes in part because he maintained a modest demeanor throughout. Ren Zhengfei, founder and CEO of Huawei, speaking at the company's headquarters in Shenzhen on May 24, 2019. He lives with his daughter Cathy Meng who is also the CFO of Huawei. They had thought that disbanding was to weed out unnecessary troops and strengthen the remaining units. Now we talk a lot about genetic modification, or gene editing. Obviously this has required a strict control of information, which attaches a flavor of secrecy and even mystery to the behavior of Mr. Ren Zhengfei. I liked reading books, doing homework, and solving math equations on scrap newspaper. We invest heavily in our focus area. She will be a hero if she makes it back to us. Interesting in this journey so far is that each phase is characterised by a specific focus and strategy. That future may be closely related to our business, but it also may not be. But I don't think Huawei can help solve the disputes between the US and China. As a result, we set our prices at a relatively low level, which made it hard for Western companies to compete with us. Leading Huawei: Seven Leadership Lessons of Ren Zhengfei. Many Chinese believe the blueprint for Huawei's success was created by its founder and long-time CEO, Ren Zhengfei. Mr. Ren: She will continue to do what she has been doing. Mr. Ren: First, Mr. Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made a statement at the Munich Security Conference that the Chinese government always requires Chinese firms to abide by international rules and laws and regulations of the country where they operate, and that China has no law requiring companies to install backdoors or collect foreign intelligence. Living in such extremely harsh conditions and working on such a highly modernized project was really a good experience for me. Indeed, as the Chinese say: Every generation produces its own great character (Jiang shan dai you ren cai chu) and each exerts impact for hundreds of years (Ge ling feng sao shu bai nian). He realized he would not be able to institute rapid change through persuasion, because the national culture emphasized slow, intensive consensus building. At that time, Zhengfei clearly used a competitive mindset as the driving force to grow as a company. On the other hand, Zhengfei is also known to give much freedom when it comes down to how decisions are executed. Arjun Kharpal: But the US has put intense pressure on some of its allies in Europe, for example, Germany and the UK, to block Huawei from 5G networks. Instead, we will use it to fund universities and scientists for their research and explorations into the future. At the time, the market economy was beginning to take shape in China, at least in coastal cities. I can share some numbers with you. I couldn't really get what the market economy was about, so I ended up making a mistake while working for a state-owned company which got me let go. We will not be affected by increased tariffs, either. Mr. Ren: As technology develops, the future world will become "winner-takes-all". At this time, Ren Zhengfei's family was starving. Decisions were taken much slower than in the first more chaotic years of the company and fear existed that the bravery and courage underlying the companys striving for innovation would disappear. No backdoors. Huawei is to a large extent no stranger to this system. Arjun Kharpal: If you say that Meng Wanzhou is maybe a hostage in this US-China trade battle, does that mean some of the allegations, from a legal point of view, you don't believe in? With Huawei becoming the largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer in the world, Ren zhengfei has already become a paradigm Arjun Kharpal: But you created the world's largest telecom company. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Drawing on this experience, we developed our own 40-line switch for rural markets that could support 40 users. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Chinas Huawei rapidly became one of the worlds most successful telecommunications equipment companies, with revenue exceeding $122 billion in 2019. When he talks about his skills and qualities he always emphasises that he is not the most knowledgeable. Mr. Ren: First, it's understandable that government leaders would take pride in the great companies of their country. The government would find it hard to address its deficit. . Arjun Kharpal: I want to go back a little bit to talk about the US-China trade war because Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada on behalf of the US authorities. I hadn't realized that the communications industry was so cruel. When we were negotiating with the German government about signing such an agreement, we didn't know top officials from the Chinese government were also discussing the same thing. I had a vague feeling at the time though, that the communications industry was about to explode and so I started looking for opportunities in this market with tremendous potential. Smartphone was badly hit. Before I was able to settle into this new position though, China disbanded many of its military forces and everyone had to go find another job. Famous is the story where Zhengfei in Huaweis fifth year of existence, suddenly rushed out of the kitchen when cooking for Huawei employees abroad his hobby is cooking and announced, Huawei will be a top three player in the global communications market 20 years from now!. 5G made progress. During China's Cultural Revolution, I designed a small instrument using my math skills, and actually received recognition from the government for this device. Specifically, in this section the leadership style of Huawei will be analysed, as well as its impact on the employee engagement and overall organisational performance, and findings and discussions will be presented. Given these achievements combined with a certain myth of a Chinese emperor rising to the global stage, it begs the question what the philosophy and driving force behind this business success is. The Opportunities and Challenges of Global Teams. He is also the author of the book The Huawei story and founder and Editor in Chief of Top Capital magazine. Huaweis competitors assumed that they only had to provide the technology to the customer. So instead, we choose to narrow our focus, like a needle point, on a specific area where we can make breakthroughs. What did you learn at the time that helped you start Huawei and guide your philosophy? The billionaire founder of Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei rarely. Arjun Kharpal: Have you spoken to her recently? Don't worry that Huawei would end up having no successor. The multinationals that were present in China at that time did not consider this to be their problem, but rather that of the customer. China has a population of 1.3 billion consumers. Mr. Ren: Huawei's future iterative succession system is clearly defined in our Articles of Governance. Precisely speaking, the core of his leadership strategy is the purpose-driven ambition. And its founder Ren zhengfei is thought be be one of the best leader in the business world. As a result, I went back to where I started and jumped into the market economy. Also, he tries to avoid unnecessary interviews from the media and devote his time energy into working. That creates a kind of balance. In fact, the company only seems to be growing stronger. The slogan at that time was: We shall drink to our hearts content to celebrate our success, This idea of adopting a cooperative mindset in a competitive market can be illustrated by Huaweis efforts in the UK. He is frequently quoted as saying that the most important thing to value is the power to think. And they are generally low-cost and relatively easy to execute. Arjun Kharpal: You said you've not had any communication with Donald Trump. However, most of us didn't really understand how important this decision made by the CPC's Central Committee was. There has also been questions about your past as a communist party member and what that means for Huawei. One opposing force is the idea of attack versus compromise or also referred to as the simultaneous tendency to cooperate versus compete. This practice differed from the ones used by Western companies, which had advanced technologies and equipment, but ignored their services sector. I had no idea. This is how, John Sutherland on Leadership and Teamwork, Pro-active Leadership: How to overcome procrastination and be a bold decision-maker, ChatGPT and Its Impact on Author Transparency in Scientific and Academic Journals, How New Age Entrepreneurs are Changing the Way We Think About Business, Layoffs in Tech: Redistribution of Resources Amid a Tech Transformation. At the start of his tenure, only 1% of the 300 faculty publications a year were in managerial journals, and those were not the top journals. Ren zhengfei led his group to study and bring in the management system of IBM company. I think it's the right thing for them to do. Arjun Kharpal: Do you feel that your military-style speeches empower the employees here? Arjun Kharpal: Let's talk a little bit about the US for a moment. Below is the transcript of a CNBC Exclusive interview with Ren Zhengfei, Huawei Founder and CEO. One defining feature of the Huawei culture is that it is able to bring together opposing forces and tendencies. Huawei has indeed invested considerably in creating a learning driven culture where the power of the mind is visible. Steve Jobs and Tim Cook have managed to turn Apple to an iconic brand. Merck KGaA Darmstadt Germany Innovation Cup 2023, Back to the Future: The Return and Rise of E-Surveillance at Work, Innovation and Creation in Ever-Advancing Artificial Intelligence, Sounding the Alarm: Early Warning Systems to Build Nature-Positive and Climate Resilient Businesses, Accelerating Business Process Optimisation with Machine Learning, A Guide to Online Payment Transaction Fees and Pricing Models, Supply Chain Management Greater EVA Potential than Any Other Function, The Power of Women Entrepreneurs Across the World, Crisis? One key OQ competency is sending messages that reinforce the strategy. But there are still more than 180,000 employees working at Huawei. Then scientists realized the value of genes and DNA. The best illustration of how rewards are shared is the fact that Zhengfei only holds 1.4% of the companys total share capital whereas 82,471 employees hold the rest of the shares (stated in Huaweis 2014 Annual report, as of December 31, 2014). Second, we strive to become the world's best in edge computing. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to enter the network equipment industry. KPMG wouldn't hide anything for us. As a leader, Ren Zhengfei insists on self-criticism and careful consideration. Because we want to grow our harvest and produce actual results. However, we are not in any position to require other companies to do the same. What else can we talk about? Mr. Ren: I would like to comment on President Trump without considering his administration's treatment of Huawei. And care must be taken that they dont conflict with the desired ethos. This represents Chinese state leaders' position on backdoors, so we will never install backdoors on our equipment. In total, 300,000 to 400,000 people have joined Huawei, but only around 180,000 people decided to stay. So there is no need to worry too much about some comments posted on the Internet. The relationship between China and the European continent carries much history with it. No reviews should be taken at face value, always conduct your research before making financial commitments. As we noted earlier, often references to past historic events are used to shape actions and beliefs towards the future. Like a judo master, you must practice getting the maximum effect from your large organization with a minimum effort on your part: the judicious email, the sharp moment of theater. Huawei, in contrast, decided to provide these services to their customers. Collective decision-making ensured that Huawei made fewer mistakes and absorbed collective wisdom, but it also caused rigidity. And its founder Ren zhengfei is thought be be one of the best leader in the business world. But in both cases he was brought down partly by accusations of inappropriate dealings with insiders, such as getting his banks to buy services from his wifes architectural firm. Zhengfei is a big fan of the practice of story telling and makes extensive use of it as a vehicle to deliver his ideas to employees in a passionate manner. So firstly, we must abide by Chinese laws and regulations. Some governments have criticized the relationship between Huawei and the Chinese government. When Huawei dominated the domestic market on a large scale, its problem in human resource was more than Huaweis original management system can handle. A visionary very much here in China, at least in coastal cities leaders learn early target... Face value, always conduct your research before making financial commitments for his retirement was a large extent no to. 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