During China's Cultural Revolution, I designed a small instrument using my math skills, and actually received recognition from the government for this device. November 12, 2015. What did she speak about? Underlying his focus on story telling is his strategy to energise people and introduce a sense of vitality to the projects that need to be undertaken. Ren has unique qualities which make him different from other, leaders. 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 carry a clear message. They have great technologies, skilled labor, and economic strength. Also, he tries to avoid unnecessary interviews from the media and devote his time energy into working. I only care about the growth of my company. Divested mid-price range Honor brand in Nov 2020. So AI should be a force for good. He has indeed has proven that he has influence as well as insights which are needed for formulating strategies. Western companies are no different. 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. Germany proposed the establishment of a unified global convention that would bar all equipment vendors from installing backdoors, and require them to sign a no-spy agreement. I would be afraid that they would pull out suddenly and stop doing business with us. Arjun Kharpal: Would you support similar ideas about no-spy agreements in other countries, including the US? He made this persuasively clear by literally saying that it is necessary To cut off your feet to wear the shoe (xue zue shi lu). 2023 | A2Z Pte.Ltd. Google is now helping blind people see the world with nerve sensors, although they are not as good as human eyes. For example, In the UK, Huawei has put much effort into convincing the British government and general public that they and their procedures can be trusted, by (a) Setting up the Cyber Security Evaluation Centre in Banbury to ensure the quality of their equipment, and (b) Cooperating with the GCHQ, the UKs signals-intelligence agency, to ensure that the, The European Business Review uses cookies to improve site functionality, provide you with a better browsing experience, and to enable our partners to advertise to you. Mr. Ren: If they aren't scared of us, why are they advertising for us everywhere they go? But if you were in the room with the US President, what would be your message to him? Where does this idea of competing in a cooperative way come from? We'll buy them directly." Harshal Pawar If the US opens its telecom industry and its operators say they are going to purchase tens of billions of dollars in equipment from us, I wouldn't believe it and wouldn't be willing to make billions of investments. These figures show that we are still growing, not declining. Intel only makes chipsets. As a result, I went back to where I started and jumped into the market economy. He realized he would not be able to institute rapid change through persuasion, because the national culture emphasized slow, intensive consensus building. Indeed, looking at the Fortune Global 500 list, Huawei is the only mainland Chinese company (out of 91 Chinese companies listed) earning more revenue abroad (67%). So we would never follow anyone's instructions to install backdoors. company using his skills and core competencies. When Huawei dominated the domestic market on a large scale, its problem in human resource was more than Huaweis original management system can handle. CNBC is the leading global broadcaster of live business and financial news and information, reporting directly from the major financial markets around the globe with regional headquarters Singapore, Abu Dhabi, London, and New York. although employees even management employees were not used to it, since it need a thorough change. On April 12, at the "16+1 Summit" in Croatia, Premier Li repeatedly told all our employees not to install backdoors on networks. Mr. Ren: She will continue to do what she has been doing. Fostering an ethos requires taking two important steps. There are various types of leadership styles (Fiaz et al., 2017) 1. But what we've seen publicly is senior officials in the government talking at times on Huawei's behalf. If a country is poor and they have nothing to lose, they aren't afraid of being attacked. There's a lot of disagreement, of course, on what the right course of action is in Europe. In the third phase, after 2007, the strategy was to simplify management and be creative with top talents to turn Huawei into an efficient and creative creator of customers dreams. We are supportive of this. In China, leadership has traditionally been grounded in a hierarchical top-down management system. Ren Zhengfei had very clear vision for Huawei, which is to help customers realize their dreams. Mr. Ren: I think the biggest technological advances will be seen in AI experimentation and applications. An interesting consequence was that because of this purpose-driven strategy they acquired much experience in developing robust equipments and materials, which helped them later on to win several big business accounts in the Middle-East. All Rights Reserved. Is that something you would welcome? For example, as the products of Huawei in their pioneering years were not yet well developed he visited many R&D offices abroad. Is this a battle for you? Some US politicians are criticizing Huawei everywhere they go. To reinforce the message, he sent congratulatory emails when faculty had acceptances in such journals (but not for acceptances in academic publications). Will Europe understand us when they see how much effort we are putting into this? In the Qingdao headquarters of the Chinese company Haier stands a display case containing a sledgehammer. Today, only 30 years later, ultra-broadband has become accessible in most rural areas around the world. He relentlessly convinces his employees through stories and actions. After learning from the West for almost 20 years, Huawei has established an increasingly standardized and institutional decision-making system. Indeed, as the Chinese say: Every generation produces its own great character, The first phase ran from 1987 to 1997 and can be characterised as the years of chaos, in which Huawei, in the words of Zhengfei: was trying to survive the entrepreneurial stage. This does mean though that many translators and stock analysts and the like will lose their jobs. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. I would say he is a great president. Jobs then dropped the device into an aquarium, and bubbles floated up. Before moving to UK, he was a Professor of Management at China Europe International Business School in Shanghai. Around 2008, Professor Arikan published a mathematics paper. Leading Huawei: Seven Leadership Lessons of Ren Zhengfei. This way, we will be able to make world-leading products. Ren is the son of school teachers and grew up in a mountainous town . So we will leave these issues up to the courts. Every generation produces its own great character, and each exerts impact for hundreds of years. True to this Chinese saying, Zhengfei has indeed proven that he had the influence and insights needed to design the most effective strategies to ensure that Huawei has grown into a world leading company. Learn how to create a winning business plan. Mr. Ren: I often talk about staying focused. When attending a summit in Croatia, Premier Li also told our employees not to install backdoors. What else can we talk about? Investor and consumer confidence will increase, and the US economy may take a turn for the better. One story that stayed with Zhengfei was the overthrow of King James II of England by a union led by William of Orange in 1688, which was called the Glorious Revolution. After, completing his school, He attended the university named Chongqing and then Ren Zhengfei, joined Peoples Liberation Army research institute as, he wishes to work as a military technologist, reportedly in the PLA's Information Technology research unit. It was hard times. Huawei is to a large extent no stranger to this system. So we gritted our teeth and pushed ahead. At first, this focus approach let us start pulling ahead of our Western peers in a given area. A great opportunity arose when one senior professor complained that the teaching program staffers acted as if the faculty worked for them, rather than the other way around. These cookies do not store any personal information. When he reduces taxes, he must be hoping to attract more investment. Back then, it would reach minus 20-something degrees Celsius in the winter. Microsoft focuses on Windows and its Office Suite. Instead of issuing an EQ response to mollify the professor, George sent an OQ response: We all work for RSM.. .. . .. .. Ren Zhengfei is successful Chinese businessman. We are also collaborating with many vendors in the storage domain, trying to do better, because in edge computing, we will see either CPUs embedded into storage devices or the other way around. Back then, China was still going through the Cultural Revolution. Arjun Kharpal: You were in the People's Liberation Army. For me, it was an exciting experience. We will put more money into research in new frontiers. Arjun Kharpal: I want to switch focus a bit to a big bright spot in the company, and that's the consumer business; it's a multi-billion-dollar business now. CNBC.com is the preeminent financial news source on the web, featuring an unprecedented amount of video, real-time market analysis, web-exclusive live video and analytical financial tools. Mr. Ren: The first time I heard warnings about the societal impact of AI was from Bill Gates and Stephen Hawking. That means there is space in there. The university had charged him with increasing revenue and strengthening relationships with the business community while maintaining RSMs high level of academic research. They wouldn't need to rest, just to refuel. However, there was no way back. Do you think that companies like yours are too powerful and need to be regulated? With Huawei becoming the largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer in the world, Ren zhengfei has already become a paradigm If a single backdoor was found in even one of the countries where we operate, our sales would shrink in all of them. Zhenfei introduced the leadership style to the IT firm several years ago after observing the intricate migration . By then, we will have probably found solutions to the potential problems surrounding the creation of "new people". For example, Huawei plans the development of the company by decade, whereas most of their competitors such as Ericsson and Motorola plan it by financial quarter or year. 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!. October 01, 2018, Source: They can transfer to other industries though, and take on new roles. His tax cuts are helping revitalize enterprises. I majored in architecture back in school, but I studied electronics technology myself. Mr. Ren: As technology develops, the future world will become "winner-takes-all". It incorporates respectability well and great lead . They viewed the rat problem as one the company had the responsibility to solve. One of the consistent qualities that have been attributed to Ren Zhengfei is his ability to inspire others. Mr. Ren: We have calls quite often, talking about family. Essential in his idea to compete, however, is that it should be done with respect for its opponents. If we couldn't make ends meet, we wouldn't be able to survive. In the early years, Huawei, as a private company, had to battle primarily the State Owned Enterprise (SOE) dominated market. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies. 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