Haier, taking the middle management out - Bill Fischer

Bill Fischer

Home appliances manufacturer Haier has become of of the leading forces in China's drive for innovation, says IMD-professor Bill Fischer in the People's Daily. "Reinventing Giants" is a recent book he co-authored focuses on Haier's transformation process: the middle management is taken out.

The People's Daily:

In the new structure, the customers' needs are learnt by the sales team and fed back to Haier's top managers, who make decisions about the company's strategies based on this information. The role of middle management is taken out of the model.

"Once customers are at the top, why do you need middle management? Is it to manage the top managers?" Fischer asks. "No. Many companies in the world say that they put customers first without knowing what it means. But Haier has executed it well." 

At Haier, the company's management structure pivots around ZZJYTs (zi zhu jing ying ti,which in English means independent operation units). 

Each new project or market opportunity leads to the formation of a ZZJYT, a dedicated small team of workers with a separate budget, functioning almost like an independent company. Fischer and his co-authors studied Haier's three-door- refrigerator ZZJYT in detail. First a leader is selected who is then responsible for recruiting the team. The ZZJYT model inspires entrepreneurial spirit in workers, Fischer says. It gives them decision-making power and motivation to work hard because their salary is directly related to the performance of the unit. The key benefit of the ZZJYT arrangement is fast response to customer needs, he says,but such a structure requires courage by a company's top management to implement it.

More in the People's Daily. Bill Fischer is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

China Weekly Hangout
Shadow banking is on the agenda of the +China Weekly Hangout for Friday 30 August, featuring shadow-banking expert assistant professor Sara Hsu . You can read or announcement here, ask questions, or register for live participation at our event page.

Discussion on the ability of China to innovate, by the +China Weekly Hangout  on October 11, 2012, with political scientist +G. E. Anderson and China consultant at-large Janet Carmosky. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra of the China Speakers Bureau.

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Why princelings are disappearing from the investment banks - Wei Gu

Wei Gu

When the US financial authorities went after investment bank JPMorgan for hiring princelings in China - the sons and daughters of high officials - many in China scratched their heads. Hiring princelings was common practise, but is now reversing because of the changes in the banking business, WSJ's Wei Gu discovers in a discussion Tjun Tang of the Boston Consulting group.

(click here if the video does not display)

Wei Gu is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

China Weekly Hangout

Shadow banking is on the agenda of the +China Weekly Hangout for Friday 30 August, featuring shadow-banking expert assistant professor Sara Hsu . You can read or announcement here, ask questions, or register for live participation at our event page.

After GSK got into trouble with China's authorities in July for large-scale corruption, foreign firms have been complaining they are singled out for anti-corruption actions by the government. At the +China Weekly Hangout China veteran Janet Carmosky and sustainability professor +Richard Brubaker explored on August 22 whether that complain is correct. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra Fons Tuinstra, president of the China Speakers Bureau.

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Shadow banking - China Weekly Hangout

Sara Hsu

Banking outside the official banks - shadow banks - has always been a major feature in China's financial industry. Some media reports have estimated its size last year on around US$ 2.2 trillion. But now the central authorities try to reign in lending by the banks, shadow banking is getting a bit out of its shadow.
The +China Weekly Hangout is happy to announce it will be joined by Sara Hsu of , one of the leading experts on shadow banking in China, on Friday 30 August to discuss this financial feature. Dr. Hsu is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the State University of New York at New Paltz.
How large is shadow banking, compared to the official industry? Who are the major players? Can the central government control it? If you have questions for Sara Hsu, you can leave your questions here, or join the debate on Friday. You can register for participation or leave your questions also at our event page here.
The +China Weekly Hangout will be held on Friday (not Thursday, our usual broadcasting time) at 10pm Beijing Time, 4pm CEST (Europe) and 10am EST (US/Canada).
Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra of the China Speakers Bureau.

China Weekly Hangout

After GSK got into trouble with China's authorities in July for large-scale corruption, foreign firms have been complaining they are singled out for anti-corruption actions by the government. At the +China Weekly Hangout veteran Janet Carmosky and sustainability professor +Richard Brubaker explored on August 22 whether that complain is correct. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra, president of the China Speakers Bureau.

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• Joining Sinolending board - Marc van der Chijs
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• Chinese labor in Africa - China Weekly Hangout

China visa issues

Old China PRC visa, with entry stamp from Guangzhou. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On September 1 China intends to launch a massive overhaul of its visa systems, at least that is the plan. Earlier July 1 was mentioned as a deadline, but obvious the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs was not able to get the logistics in place.
The China Briefing gave a decent overview of the plans, but as all things in China, the proof of the pudding is the eating. We have seen some initial uproar on visas who suddenly get a maximum of six month, or prolonged processing times when people cannot use their passports. Also, new penalties for expired visa are coming in place.
One of the purposes is stopping foreigners from working illegally in the country.
The +China Weekly Hangout is planning to collect some of the experiences with the new visa system, and discuss them in one of the later sessions.
But we need your help to collect experiences. What is different in the way you are treated? Is it easier, harder or just different to get the new visas?
You can leave your stories here, on our +China Weekly Hangout page or - if you want to stay anonymous - by email. 
When we have collected enough stories, we will set a time for our hangout and invite a few of you to share your experiences live.

China Weekly Hangout

China might become more restrictive in letting foreigners in, European countries are trying to get more Chinese in, especially the rich ones. The +China Weekly Hangout discussed the issue on February, with a focus on Cyprus, and mentioning of Spain, Portugal, Switzerland and Ireland. Business manager +Pol Panayiotides joins +Fons Tuinstra, president of the China Speakers Bureau, from Cyprus. (This was indeed a week before the Cyprus crisis hit the EU, but against all expectations, the number of Chinese applicants for a Cyprus visa only grew.)


Are foreign firms having a hard time in China? That is the question the China Weekly Hangout will address on Thursday 22 August, with as panelists China veteran-at-large Janet Carmosky, CEIBS business professor +Richard Brubaker and international lawyer +Nathan KAISER. You can read our announcement here, or register directly at our event page here.

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Are foreign firms having a hard time in China? - China Weekly Hangout

English: Beijing CBD 2008-6-9 Jianwai SOHO, Yitai Center, CCTV ‪中文(简体)‬: 北京中央商务区夜景（可见央视新址、建外SOHO等） (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Even when you look at the economic conditions in China, life for foreign firms is not as easy as it used to be. Wages go up, prices go up, and economic growth is - relatively - slowing down. On top of that, Chinese consumers are getting pickier, and a range of industries, notably the health care and milk powder industry are under scrutiny. High-profile televised confessions of company representatives and arrests complete the picture.
But even the lobby organization of foreign companies in China admit that profitability of the China operations of foreign firms is up, despite all possible problems. And only traditionally cheap industries, like textile and shoes have been moving to other countries.
Reason enough to discuss the current state of foreign firms in China in the +China Weekly Hangout.

Richard Brubaker

China veteran-at-large Janet Carmosky, international lawyer +Nathan KAISER  and sustainability professor +Richard Brubaker have confirmed

Janet Carmosky

they will be joining on Thursday. "This subject might keep us busy for a 10-15 minutes," Richard told, and of course, we are going to focus on one or two industries

Nathan Kaiser

The China Weekly Hangout on foreign investments into China will be held on Thursday 22 August, at 10pm Beijing Time, 4pm CEST (Europe) and 10am EST (US/Canada). You can register for the event here or watch the proceedings at this page on Thursday.





China Weekly Hangout

The +China Weekly Hangout started last week the new season with an open office session, including +Paul Fox, +Steve Barru and +Fons Tuinstra and discussed the subject for the upcoming months.

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China Weekly Hangout resumes on Thursday

English: Great Wall of China near Jinshanling Polski: Wielki Mur Chiński w okolicy Jinshanling (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After a summer break, the +China Weekly Hangout is going to resume coming Thursday 15 August. We start with a low-key open office meeting where everybody is welcome to drop in to discuss China-related issues, and help to set the agenda for the coming months.
The hangout will take place on Thursday 16 August, 10pm Beijing time, 4pm CEST (Europe) and 10am EST (US/Canada). You can register here for participation.
An overview of past China Weekly Hangouts, you can get here.

Last month both +Steve Barru and +Fons Tuinstra of the China Speakers Bureau started to mark out future subjects.

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