The whole premise of this book is that it is, and RenDanHeyi does so. As the subtitle of complexity scientist’s Geoffrey West book, Scale, expresses it, “One law for the universe, organisms, cities, and companies.” Perhaps doctors’ advice to politicians during the Covid-19 pandemic to “Follow the science!” is good advice to company leaders also. Taoism holds that there is one Way (the Tao) for all things in the universe, just as modern science holds that all things in the universe follow the laws of physics, although both the Tao and the laws of quantum physics themselves constantly adapt as the systems in which they operate evolve. Tian Ren Heyi and its Heaven/Man/Earth Triad as an inspiration for RenDanHeyi may also explain why Zhang Ruimin himself was also drawn to look for inspiration and guidance in science, particularly quantum physics and complexity science, while conceiving his model. This basic harmonizing principle, found in all ancient China’s philosophies, is the root of a thousand year old Chinese preference, still very much alive today, for win/win solutions in matters of both business and diplomacy, something I believe is not properly understood about China in the West today. A play on the famous Taoist mantra Tian Ren Heyi, “Man aligned with Heaven,” this emphasizes the model’s deep commitment to alignments of various kinds, reflecting the Taoist view that when Man is aligned with Heaven, and then brings the power of this alignment to his projects and activities on Earth, such alignment brings maximum benefit and harmony to the whole of humanity. RenDanHeyi (roughly pronounced as “RenDanHyoy”) is translated by Haier to mean “the value to the employee is aligned with the value to the user,” and this emphasis on an alignment between people who are partners in a win/win relationship is critical to the deeper philosophical roots of the model. And while, with the exception of the big e-commerce companies, nearly every large retail company in the world suffered major losses and contraction during and as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, the unique features of its RenDanHeyi model saw Haier back in full production by mid-February 2020, and achieving growth as the crisis played out while others were contracting. While traditionally managed Taylorian companies have realized an annual growth of 1.1% during recent years, since fully implementing RenDanHeyi in 2012, Haier has realized a 23% annual growth. Indeed, because of the almost infinite expansion allowed by that model, Haier has now moved well beyond simply manufacturing appliances into products and services such as clothing, food, agriculture, biotechnology and health care, and this expansion is continuing. Haier is the world’s largest supplier of domestic appliances and a leading actor in the Internet of Things (IoT) sector, directly employing more than 75,000 people in China alone, and another 27,000 globally, but today the company is better known for the revolutionary RenDanHeyi Management Model than for its appliances. The RenDanHeyi business model redefines many business sacred cows-what is a leader? what is an employee? what is a customer? what are the metrics of business success? Famous Haier slogans such as RenDanHeyi (“value to employee aligned with value to user”), “everyone a CEO,” “win/win,” “user multiplier,” “building an ecosystem” will be explained. It describes how Haier deconstructed traditionally managed company power and organizational structures (power filtering down from the top, through middle managers, to employees who follow instructions, & all mediated through bureaucratic structures & rules) & replaced them with a network of self-organizing, self-governing “micro-enterprises” serviced by platforms. The material presented in this chapter will be familiar to readers who have been following the Haier story, as it has been presented in several books, case studies, and media features. Thus it is important that readers understand the basic features of the model. The whole raison d’etre of this book is to argue that the business model conceived by Zhang Ruimin for Haier’s transformation program could be a template for the wider transformation of society and the birth of a new world order.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |