The authors describe seven characteristics of Zhengfei's leadership style, including 'adaptive vision', 'humble dedication' and 'winning by cooperating'. Founder of Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Ren Zhengfei has called on the company's staff to "dare to lead the world" in software as the company seeks growth beyond the hardware. People don't object to the editing of plant genes. Even if we were ordered to, Huawei would still not install backdoors. If they attack a country, that country will fight back. This way, we will be able to make world-leading products. Is this a battle for you? The differences of leader skill in America and China. Apple is also a great company. However, most of us didn't really understand how important this decision made by the CPC's Central Committee was. After getting the retirement from the army, Ren then worked with, ). That's my only ideal. If a country is poor and they have nothing to lose, they aren't afraid of being attacked. If you'd like to share this PDF, you can purchase copyright permissions by increasing the quantity. Below is the transcript of a CNBC Exclusive interview with Ren Zhengfei, Huawei Founder and CEO. In phase 2, running from 1997 to 2007, Huawei became more structured by hiring IBM to implement management structures as these were completely lacking at that time. Executives may want to develop these OQ competencies on the way up the ladder and theyll certainly need them if they are to succeed at the most senior levels. Ren is the son of school teachers and grew up in a mountainous. The company is growing rapidly and Forbes has estimated Zhengfei's wealth at $2.1 billion. February 9, 2021. What did she speak about? You're seen as a visionary very much here in China in the technology world. For example, Huawei equipment broke down frequently, so Huawei technical engineers went to customer equipment rooms to repair the equipment at night when the equipment was not being used. Ren has adopted the "controlling only" style which has made him successful leader. In 2019, soon after Metro Bank revealed an accounting error involving the misclassification of more than $1 billion in loans, Hill resigned. So productivity will be greatly improved. And you've said that you want to be number one in smartphones. The Opportunities and Challenges of Global Teams. We don't need customers' information. This is a challenging competency and a powerful one. Elon Musk, for example, has continuously warned about the impacts on jobs and actually, artificial intelligence getting more intelligent than humans. So AI will make the world better, not worse. This approach transformed Huawei into a company of strivers and fueled rapid business growth. We will not be affected by increased tariffs, either. Ren Zhengfei, a founder of Huawei, conducts the personal communication style inspiring employees to achieve high results. I stuck our 180,000 employees together, and encouraged them to forge ahead. This statement was understood as underlining that his global ambitions were there to stay and grow. Among his other, achievements, Ren is accountable of development of cooperative programs, Chinas interior regions. As I said, this is because we have no real presence in the US market. On the other hand, Zhengfei is also known to give much freedom when it comes down to how decisions are executed. Where was I supposed to go from there? High-OQ leaders use action strategy rather than consensus building to pursue strategic goals. I want to use a case analogy here. The US needs the Chinese market, and China needs technology from the US. What else can we talk about? In his view, it was necessary in the second phase to wear the shoes of the Americans, and if your feet would not fit then we have to cut it. This company philosophy was inspired by the heroic tales of the Glorious Revolution that took place in England in 1688. Some US politicians are criticizing Huawei everywhere they go. Many of them thought at that time that he was crazy. In fact, the company only seems to be growing stronger. If a single backdoor was found in even one of the countries where we operate, our sales would shrink in all of them. During the day, we were building a highly modernized factory. So Microsoft is the winner and it dominates the market. 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. At that time, Ren zhengfei often told all kinds of stories to encourage its employees to imagine the splendid future and try to cast them into reality with their own hands. He is frequently quoted as saying that the most important thing to value is the power to think. I liked reading books, doing homework, and solving math equations on scrap newspaper. Moments of theater are a potent part of a CEOs toolkit for communicating and reinforcing an ethos. Technology has moved on so rapidly in the past few years that a lot of people are talking about the impact of technology on society. In China, leadership has traditionally been grounded in a hierarchical top-down management system. Ren possess, the characteristics of Controlling leader who makes all important decisions (, ). Mr. Ren Zhengfei has been capable of pioneering the development of technology while growing in the world. When he reduces taxes, he must be hoping to attract more investment. Of course, large equipment still relies on an architecture of no other elements but computing, storing and connecting, so we will also work hard to contribute to a cloud world. The road to success for Huawei started in 1987 where it was founded in the economic testing zone of Shenzhen. However, Ren zhengfei and Huawei made it in the end. Arjun Kharpal: In terms of the way he's negotiated with China, some people would say that actually he's managed to get concessions for the US. David De Cremer is the KPMG Professor of Management Studies at the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, UK, an honorary professor at Wenzhou University, China, and a research fellow at the Ruihua Innovative Management Research Institute at Zehjiang University, China. Every night, we took turns fueling the stove, because if it went out, we would have frozen. Mr. Ren: I don't know about technology, management, or finance. We are actually learning from US companies. During one of these visits, in 1997, he visited the Bell labs in the USA. 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. If they don't, they might not buy our products. AI is also developing faster than what we can imagine. OQ, as well call it, consists of five competencies: sending messages that reinforce strategy, fostering an ethos, using action strategy, rebelling from the top, and staging moments of theater. To reinforce the message, he sent congratulatory emails when faculty had acceptances in such journals (but not for acceptances in academic publications). If they do, they will buy some of our products. and pay only $8.00 each. It was all about hard work to bring the company up to the level that it was able to provide higher-quality service. I believe China and the US should stress collaboration and shared success. Copyright 2023 Harvard Business School Publishing. Google is now helping blind people see the world with nerve sensors, although they are not as good as human eyes. Therefore, we will count on the law to address these issues. I would have to repay tens of billions of dollars in debts. It helps reduce many people's workloads. Secondly, hes full of enthusiasm and ambition. That creates a kind of balance. Steve Jobs is known more internationally. As the dean of Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), one of us, George, set the strategic objective of persuading faculty members to publish in practitioner journals like HBR and MIT Sloan Management Reviewin addition to academic journals. Learn how to create a winning business plan. 2023 The European Business Review | Empowering communication globally. Early life. If the US government speaks ill of Huawei, why couldn't the Chinese government speak in our favor? Unlike many Chinese companies that set up many businesses but most cannot be called successful, US companies know how to narrow their focus and then charge forward. The European Business Review is not responsible for any financial losses sustained by acting on information provided on this website by its authors or clients. If they have too much money, they would be obsessed with capital gains. The country wanted to reform and open its doors. So firstly, we must abide by Chinese laws and regulations. Just tell me what you think are going to be some of the significant technological developments over the next two years that you see coming. Without the leadership Ren zhengfei has, there could not have been todays Huawei. We will need to sort out our problems with the US by ourselves. High-OQ leaders send messages that reinforce the strategy and minimize other messaging. For more information, visit www.cnbc.com. We earned a bit of money this way. Especially in the entrepreneurial years of the company he used this strategy to be both a strong mentor and leader for his employees. Arjun Kharpal: Would you support similar ideas about no-spy agreements in other countries, including the US? Indeed, EU officials initially wanted to investigate the anti-dumping act in relationship to Huaweis products. That's why some deep-pocketed countries with rich oil reserves are buying from us. No reviews should be taken at face value, always conduct your research before making financial commitments. Ren is an active supporter of Communist Party of China. October 01, 2018, Source: and pay only $8.50 each, Buy 50 - 499 In the early years, Huawei, as a private company, had to battle primarily the State Owned Enterprise (SOE) dominated market. That requires stepping out of the normal flow of organizational life. 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. And its founder Ren zhengfei is thought be be one of the best leader in the business world. We did not know that these small things were designed to connect the whole city or even the whole world. With AI, workers will be ten times more efficient, so the US will be a major technological powerhouse with an output equal to that of 3 billion people. I would like to express my own opinions instead of as a Huawei representative. Arjun Kharpal: So would you say the US is scared of Huawei? Arjun Kharpal: You mentioned you abide by the local laws here in China. No backdoors. The first is the ability to accurately estimate the level of conflict a particular course of action will elicit. On one hand he possesses the characteristics of a controlling leader who makes all the decisions. 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. Its this kind of spirit in Ren zhengfei that propels his company to become one of the best in China even the world. Lets look at each, drawing on examples from our own experience and that of well-known successful leaders. 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