CIFI Group: Forging Organizational Capabilities

This case details how CIFI Holdings (Group) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “CIFI”), a private real estate company in China, built up organizational capabilities through different stages of organizational and HR management efforts. It focuses particularly on an organizational change in 2022. At the beginning of the year, Ge Ming, Chief HR Officer of CIFI, proposed an organizational change, but faced initial reluctance from the company’s chairman Lin Zhong and most regional general managers. In spite of this, Ge insisted on a change after analyzing the situation. Eventually, successful trials in two top-performing regions earned Ge approval from Lin. Ge’s proposal addressed two aspects: 1) Personnel structure: In addition to streamlining its organizational structure and reducing the layers of reporting, CIFI should redesign its job architecture and ensure that individuals would go through a competitive hiring process before being appointed. These measures would lead CIFI to downsize while increasing productivity; 2) Compensation: CIFI should implement a role-based broadband pay structure to bring excessively high salaries down to more reasonable levels, thereby reducing overheads. When implementing change, Ge encountered multiple problems but resolved them by adhering to principles, maintaining timely communication, and allowing for some flexibility. Throughout the change process, senior executives such as Lin Zhong and Lin Feng, along with CHRO Ge Ming, each performed their own functions, demonstrating both the philosophy and tactics of change. Through case analysis and discussion, students will understand the concept of organizational capabilities, the ways to build such capabilities, the driving and resisting forces behind organizational change, and the corresponding implementation strategies.