As a leading telecommunication company in China, Huawei has been growing step by step and maintains its stable position in a globally competitive field and environment. The company credits its ability to thrive and compete to a corporate culture that coincides with the nation’s, which includes many traditional Chinese values, such as helpfulness, diligence, and pragmatism.
Huawei Technology Co., Ltd., (Huawei) was founded in 1988 by Ren Zhengfei in Guangdong Province in the south of China. The company is a supplier for telecommunication network solutions and products, which covers mobile networks (such as GPRS/GSM and CDMA2000), core networks (such as Mobile Softswitch), alternate networks (such as LAN Switch), and other telecommunication business. At the beginning of 2007, Huawei was a business partner of more than thirty-one of the global top 50 international telecommunication companies, including Telefonica, FT/Orange France, China Mobile, British Telecom, China Telecom, and China Unicom. In addition, Huawei’s products and solutions are widely used in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Holland, Japan, and the United States.
Departing from the business plan of some other Chinese enterprises, Huawei emphasizes Research and Development (R&D). Every year no less than 10 percent of Huawei’s annual sales income is put back into R&D, with a team of two thousand people (48 percent of Huawei’s total staff) charged with maintaining its cutting-edge technology. Huawei operates R&D centers in Stockholm, the Silicon Valley, Dallas, Moscow, and sites in China, such as Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Beijing. Through this focus Huawei has succeeded in applying for more than 12,500 patents, as of the beginning of 2006. It is considered one of the most intellectually active companies in China.
In telecommunications, standardization means competitiveness to some extent. Huawei sensed and acted on this point long ago. Huawei joined some seventy international standardization organizations and became a leader in some, including the International Telecommunication Union, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the Object Management Architecture. Huawei’s input and effort in positively following industry standardization have helped make the company one of the world leaders in the area of telecommunication (Huawei takes 7 percent of 3GPP basic patents, ranking No. 5 in the world).
Huawei is truly a global player. The international market is the main source for Huawei’s sales. About 70 percent of Huawei’s sales volume came from foreign markets in 2007. The company’s solutions and products have been applied in more than a hundred countries, serving more than 1 billion users. Huawei has eight regional headquarters, more than a hundred branches, and twenty-eight local training centers around the world.
Huawei’s corporate culture is considered a good model among Chinese companies. As part of its business strategy, the company applies the Huawei Basic Law, which specifies nearly every possible aspect of the company, including corporate values, goals, and social obligations. In the opinion of Huawei’s management and employees, the company’s culture coincides with the national culture, which includes many traditional Chinese values, such as helpfulness, diligence, and pragmatism. Teamwork, which is regarded as the soul of the company, is also heavily emphasized at Huawei. At Huawei success is the team’s success; failure is the team’s failure.
The private sector is growing steadily in China, and large enterprises play an important role. The top corporations not only contribute to the national economy but also serve as examples and leaders in many areas, such as social behavior and responsibility. Huawei is considered one of these top corporations. As an international brand, Huawei continues to grow, which not only benefits Huawei itself but also China in general and, increasingly, the global economy.
Further Reading
Chen Guang. (2007). The business culture of Huawei. [In Chinese]. Liaoning: Hai Tian.
Huawei. (2006). The wisdom of Huawei management. [In Chinese]. Beijing: Contemporary China.
Li Huiqun. (2006). The management of Huawei: Innovation. [In Chinese]. Liaoning: Hai Tian .
Li Xinzhong. (2007). The thinking of Huawei. [In Chinese]. Beijing: Oriental.
Liu Shiying. (2006). The godfather of Huawei, Ren Zhengfei. [In Chinese]. Beijing: Zhong Xin.
Wang Yongde. (2007). The characteristics of wolf in the management of Huawei. [In Chinese]. Wuhan: Wuhan University.
Wu Jianguo, Ji Yongqing. (2006). The world of Huawei. [In Chinese]. Beijing: Zhong Xin.
Zhang Guanjing. (2007). The four faces of Huawei. [In Chinese]. Guangdong: Guangdong Economy.
Source: Zhou, Guanqi. (2009). Huawei. In Linsun Cheng, et al. (Eds.), Berkshire Encyclopedia of China, pp. 1098–1099. Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing.
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