by
N. Peter Kramer
The Chinese giant Huawei has surprised rivals in the past five years with doubling its revenue to nearly $60 billion and becoming the world’s no. 3 smartphone maker. Insiders say that this explosive growth is partly the result of “employees’ willingness to sacrifice holidays, forgo overtime pay, and sometimes risks their lives to further the corporate cause”. A Huawei worker told your reporter: “If you dedicate yourself to the company, the company won’t let you down’.
“It is the founder who plays the most important role in developing common values. That’s why American people respect the Founding Fathers”, Huawei Deputy Chairman Guo Ping said in an interview. He is talking about Mr Ren Zhengfei, a former People’s Liberation Army engineer who founded the company in 1987 and remains its CEO.
The 72-year old CEO has likened Huawei’s staff to a hungry pack of wolves able to defeat lions; a comment that reveals as much about Mr. Ren’s leadership as it does about his 170.000 employees all over the world, wrote The Wall Street Journal. His influence is ubiquitous. His postings to the company intranet are widely read. A year into their jobs, (only!) Chinese staff may sign a “dedicated employee agreement”, voluntarily forgoing paid holidays and overtime. After four years, they start receiving shares of the company as part of the compensation. The closely held company says its shares are owned entirely by its executives and workers.
Huawei aims to become the world’s biggest smartphone maker within the next five years. As Mr. Ren may steps back from daily operations, questions loom about who might succeed him and what changes may be needed to better compete with Google and Apple for top tech talent. Currently, three senior executives, including Mr. Guo, take turns as acting CEO for six months a time. Mr. Ren retains a veto on important decisions, although it seems he hasn’t exercised that right so far.
The point is, that a new leader may not have Mr. Ren’s sway. Can any other individual ever have the same authority? Mr. Ren has said the company’s next leader won’t be a family member, though his daughter serves as Huawei’s CFO, and a son runs a subsidiary. Executives haven’t commented on Mr. Ren’s succession-plans, only saying that Huawei’s rotating CEO system is working well.
