海尔的转型升级——互联网和制造技术驱动的供应链创新

This case tells the story of how Haier, a world-leading home appliance company in China, transformed itself four times in the past three decades. The story demonstrates how Zhang Ruimin, Haier’s board chairman, had implemented different competitive strategies in different stages and built corresponding supply chain capabilities for Haier since he took over in 1984, and how these transformations helped Haier develop step-by-step from the brink of bankruptcy into a “symbol of China” in the world. In particular, the first transformation happened in the initial period of China’s economic transition, and Zhang pursued a mass production strategy for Haier. The second transformation happened after China joined WTO, when Zhang shifted to a mass production strategy to meet diversified customer needs. The third transformation took place after the Internet began to grow in China, leading Zhang to set up a new servitization strategy so as to meet individual user needs in the new environment. Now, the latest transformation was underway, which aimed to help Haier better adapt to the Internet era. However, there was still a series of unsolved issues accompanying Haier’s recent efforts, leaving an open ending to this case for readers to discuss.