Leadership, Management and Change in a Chinese Public-Owned Corporation: The Case of Haier from 1984-2013

摘要

Despite extensive research on change management in Western corporations, there have been relatively few studies on Chinese corporations. This thesis aims to fill the gap by providing a longitudinal case study analysis of The Haier Group (Haier), because of its distinctive performance in organisational change and management innovation. The thesis answers the central research question, “What were the factors driving the management of change in the Haier Group during the four phases of its development from 1984 to 2013?” In order to answer the central question, a longitudinal case study methodology was adopted. Face to face interviews with Haier employees, managers and scholars were carried out and primary, secondary and tertiary sources were analysed in order to investigate how leadership and organisational change evolved in response to key policy changes and competitive pressures. The theoretical framework adopted in this research is based on Dunphy and Stace’s (2001) contingency model of leadership and organisational change, which provides a useful explanatory framework for the shifts in leadership style during Haier’s four developmental phases, as outlined in the chapters of this thesis.Based on the analysis, this thesis argues that leadership, government policy and management fads, including Total Quality Management (TQM) and Business Process Reengineering (BPR), emerge as the key drivers of change. The leader, Zhang Ruimin, played the role of the change agent, who applied different leadership and management strategies according to the context. Therefore, this study concludes that the leader was the central driver of change, who steered Haier through each stage of its development. Unlike Western companies, whose leadership changes frequently, leadership in Chinese public-owned corporations is comparatively stable and consistent over a long period of time, which mirrors the stability in Chinese political leadership. The case of Haier, which had one leader for three decades, reflects the pattern of leadership evolution in Chinese public-owned corporations. However, the significant influence of consistent leadership is both the great strength and weakness of Haier’s development. Thus, the problem of leadership succession will be the next major challenge facing the corporation.