What competitive advantage(s) do you think the Haier Group has? What competitive strategy does the com- pany appear to be following? Explain your choices. What strategic goals does Zhang have for Haier? Do the company's strategies appear to be helping it reach these goals? How might SWOT analysis be useful to Zhang Ruimin? What other strategic management concepts might Zhang use to help him continue managing the Haier Group for successful performance?

Practical Management Science
6th Edition
ISBN:9781337406659
Author:WINSTON, Wayne L.
Publisher:WINSTON, Wayne L.
Chapter2: Introduction To Spreadsheet Modeling
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 20P: Julie James is opening a lemonade stand. She believes the fixed cost per week of running the stand...
icon
Related questions
Question
Case Application
Poga ©
Poze ®
Higher and Higher
You may not be familiar with the Haier Group (sounds
like "higher"), but if you've ever shopped for a refrigera-
tor, microwave, wine cellar, or air conditioner at Wal-
Mart, Bed Bath & Beyond, Lowe's, Home Depot, or
Target, you've undoubtedly seen, if not purchased, the
hurts Chinese brands, with the biggest challenge to
Chinese companies being to change the impression of
Chinese products as cheap, poor value, poor quality, and
unreliable.
company's products. And Haier's name surfaced in U.S.
business news headlines in late 2005, when it made a bid
to purchase domestic appliance maker Maytag. Today,
Haier exports its products to more than 160 countries and
regions, and its annual revenues are over $12 billion.
Haier Group is China's largest home-appliance maker
and CEO Zhang Ruimin has ambitious goals for his com-
pany. Whereas the United States has General Electric,
Germany has Mercedes-Benz, and Japan has Sony, China
has yet to produce a comparable global competitor.
Zhang is hoping to change that. Haier enjoys enviable
prestige in China (a survey of "young, fashionable"
Chinese ranked Haier as the country's third most popular
brand behind Shanghai Volkswagen and Motorola, with
Coca-Cola fourth), but Zhang isn't satisfied. He wants to
gain worldwide recognition, build the company into
China's first truly global brand, and be listed on the
Fortune Global 500. But accomplishing those goals may
mean losing the "Chinese-ness." In an online survey
conducted in 2005 by Interbrand, 79 percent of the
respondents believed that a "made in China" label
The Haier Group started as the Oingdao Refrigerator
Plant. When Zhang took charge of the government-
controlled company in 1984, his first action as CEO was to
take a hammer and smash 76 refrigerators because of their
poor quality. Why? To drive home the point that product
quality was going to improve. At that time, the company
had only one product and 800 workers. Today, the com-
pany has over 50,000 employees in various locations mak-
ing some 15,000 different products in over 96 categories
ranging from air conditioners to mobile phones to vacuum
cieaners and more. It has manufacturing facilities in
13 countries including the United States and throughout
Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. In addi-
tion to its manufacturing facilities, Haier has 18 research
and development and design centers around the world.
On average, Haier innovates 1.3 new products per day.
Continuous innovation is the soul of Haier's corporate cul-
ture. And the company's products are now known around
the world for quality and innovation.
In Zhang's push to make the brand global, Haier
began sponsoring an Australian basketball team now
known as the Melbourne Haier Tigers. It also recently
signed a sponsorship deal with the Wests Tigers Rugby
League team in Australia, and has become the marketing
Pege partner of the NBA in the United States. And in its
biggest strategic coup of all, the Haier Group has been
selected as the official home-appliances sponsor of the
Beijing 2008 Olympic games. This type of exposure is
likely to go a long way toward Zhang's strategic goal of
becoming a truly global brand.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What competitive advantage(s) do you think the Haier
Group has? What competitive strategy does the com-
pany appear to be following? Explain your choices.
2. What strategic goals does Zhang have for Haier? Do
the company's strategies appear to be helping it
reach these goals?
3. How might SWOT analysis be useful to Zhang Ruimin?
4. What other strategic management concepts might
Zhang use to help him continue managing the Haier
Group for successful performance?
5. What strategic leadership characteristics does Zhang
Ruimin exhibit? Explain.
Transcribed Image Text:Case Application Poga © Poze ® Higher and Higher You may not be familiar with the Haier Group (sounds like "higher"), but if you've ever shopped for a refrigera- tor, microwave, wine cellar, or air conditioner at Wal- Mart, Bed Bath & Beyond, Lowe's, Home Depot, or Target, you've undoubtedly seen, if not purchased, the hurts Chinese brands, with the biggest challenge to Chinese companies being to change the impression of Chinese products as cheap, poor value, poor quality, and unreliable. company's products. And Haier's name surfaced in U.S. business news headlines in late 2005, when it made a bid to purchase domestic appliance maker Maytag. Today, Haier exports its products to more than 160 countries and regions, and its annual revenues are over $12 billion. Haier Group is China's largest home-appliance maker and CEO Zhang Ruimin has ambitious goals for his com- pany. Whereas the United States has General Electric, Germany has Mercedes-Benz, and Japan has Sony, China has yet to produce a comparable global competitor. Zhang is hoping to change that. Haier enjoys enviable prestige in China (a survey of "young, fashionable" Chinese ranked Haier as the country's third most popular brand behind Shanghai Volkswagen and Motorola, with Coca-Cola fourth), but Zhang isn't satisfied. He wants to gain worldwide recognition, build the company into China's first truly global brand, and be listed on the Fortune Global 500. But accomplishing those goals may mean losing the "Chinese-ness." In an online survey conducted in 2005 by Interbrand, 79 percent of the respondents believed that a "made in China" label The Haier Group started as the Oingdao Refrigerator Plant. When Zhang took charge of the government- controlled company in 1984, his first action as CEO was to take a hammer and smash 76 refrigerators because of their poor quality. Why? To drive home the point that product quality was going to improve. At that time, the company had only one product and 800 workers. Today, the com- pany has over 50,000 employees in various locations mak- ing some 15,000 different products in over 96 categories ranging from air conditioners to mobile phones to vacuum cieaners and more. It has manufacturing facilities in 13 countries including the United States and throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. In addi- tion to its manufacturing facilities, Haier has 18 research and development and design centers around the world. On average, Haier innovates 1.3 new products per day. Continuous innovation is the soul of Haier's corporate cul- ture. And the company's products are now known around the world for quality and innovation. In Zhang's push to make the brand global, Haier began sponsoring an Australian basketball team now known as the Melbourne Haier Tigers. It also recently signed a sponsorship deal with the Wests Tigers Rugby League team in Australia, and has become the marketing Pege partner of the NBA in the United States. And in its biggest strategic coup of all, the Haier Group has been selected as the official home-appliances sponsor of the Beijing 2008 Olympic games. This type of exposure is likely to go a long way toward Zhang's strategic goal of becoming a truly global brand. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. What competitive advantage(s) do you think the Haier Group has? What competitive strategy does the com- pany appear to be following? Explain your choices. 2. What strategic goals does Zhang have for Haier? Do the company's strategies appear to be helping it reach these goals? 3. How might SWOT analysis be useful to Zhang Ruimin? 4. What other strategic management concepts might Zhang use to help him continue managing the Haier Group for successful performance? 5. What strategic leadership characteristics does Zhang Ruimin exhibit? Explain.
Expert Solution
trending now

Trending now

This is a popular solution!

steps

Step by step

Solved in 2 steps

Blurred answer
Knowledge Booster
Structures of international business
Learn more about
Need a deep-dive on the concept behind this application? Look no further. Learn more about this topic, operations-management and related others by exploring similar questions and additional content below.
Similar questions
  • SEE MORE QUESTIONS
Recommended textbooks for you
Practical Management Science
Practical Management Science
Operations Management
ISBN:
9781337406659
Author:
WINSTON, Wayne L.
Publisher:
Cengage,
Operations Management
Operations Management
Operations Management
ISBN:
9781259667473
Author:
William J Stevenson
Publisher:
McGraw-Hill Education
Operations and Supply Chain Management (Mcgraw-hi…
Operations and Supply Chain Management (Mcgraw-hi…
Operations Management
ISBN:
9781259666100
Author:
F. Robert Jacobs, Richard B Chase
Publisher:
McGraw-Hill Education
Business in Action
Business in Action
Operations Management
ISBN:
9780135198100
Author:
BOVEE
Publisher:
PEARSON CO
Purchasing and Supply Chain Management
Purchasing and Supply Chain Management
Operations Management
ISBN:
9781285869681
Author:
Robert M. Monczka, Robert B. Handfield, Larry C. Giunipero, James L. Patterson
Publisher:
Cengage Learning
Production and Operations Analysis, Seventh Editi…
Production and Operations Analysis, Seventh Editi…
Operations Management
ISBN:
9781478623069
Author:
Steven Nahmias, Tava Lennon Olsen
Publisher:
Waveland Press, Inc.