Haier: Taking a Chinese Company Global in 2011

Posted: 4 Feb 2012

See all articles by Tarun Khanna

Tarun Khanna

Harvard University - Strategy Unit

Krishna Palepu

Harvard University - Harvard Business School; Harvard University - David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Research; Harvard Business Review; NBER; International Academy of Management

Phillip Andrews

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: August 25, 2011

Abstract

In 2011, Haier, China's leading appliance manufacturer, had over $20 billion in worldwide sales and had just been named the leading refrigerator manufacturer worldwide. This case describes Haier's rise over three decades, from a defunct refrigerator factory in China's Shandong province to an international player with $5.5 billion in overseas sales. Haier had followed a nontraditional expansion strategy of entering the developed markets of Europe and the United States as a niche player before venturing into Middle Eastern and neighboring Asian markets. Looking ahead to the next decade, Haier CEO Zhang Ruimin saw opportunities for Haier to grow through product diversification and additional market penetration in both developed and emerging markets. He and his colleagues would depend on their experience of acquiring numerous companies, entering and retaining new markets, restructuring the organization, and managing hundreds of subsidiaries around the world. They would need to determine which of the lessons learned from Haier's international operations should be implemented in China and which skills learned at home could best be applied abroad.

Learning Objective: To discuss global strategy.

Suggested Citation

Khanna, Tarun and Palepu, Krishna and Andrews, Phillip, Haier: Taking a Chinese Company Global in 2011 (August 25, 2011). Harvard Business School Strategy Unit Case No. 712-408, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1998277

Tarun Khanna (Contact Author)

Harvard University - Strategy Unit ( email )

Harvard Business School
Boston, MA 02163
United States
617-495-6038 (Phone)
617-495-0355 (Fax)

Krishna Palepu

Harvard University - Harvard Business School ( email )

Soldiers Field Road
Morgan 270C
Boston, MA 02163
United States
617-495-6759 (Phone)
617-496-7363 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://drfd.hbs.edu/fit/public/facultyInfo.do?facInfo=pub&facId=6527

Harvard University - David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Research ( email )

1730 Cambridge St.
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.drclas.harvard.edu/faculty/directory/professors/view/150

Harvard Business Review ( email )

Boston, MA
United States

HOME PAGE: http://hbr.org/authors/palepu

NBER ( email )

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.nber.org/people/krishna_palepu

International Academy of Management ( email )

Avenida Pearson 21
Barcelona, 08034
Spain

HOME PAGE: http://theiam.ws/?person=palepu-krishna

Phillip Andrews

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Abstract Views
4,100
PlumX Metrics