In 2008, the global financial crisis broke out, which made the already fiercely competitive market enter a colder "winter".
What is the way out for China enterprises in the global market? There is no way out without thinking. As the fourth largest white goods manufacturer in the world, Haier is thinking about how to correctly understand the current financial crisis and carry out systematic innovation in order to seize the opportunities in the crisis and realize sustainable development.
Haier creates "spring" in the "winter" of the financial crisis and realizes sustainable development.
In response to the global financial crisis, Zhang Ruimin, CEO of Haier Group, put forward the idea of "upgrading overseas markets and deepening the China market", that is, enhancing the brand's high-end image in overseas markets, seizing the opportunity of "home appliances going to the countryside" in China market and deepening the rural market. This concept has continuously improved Haier's business performance:
In 2008, Haier's global turnover reached11900 million yuan, and its profit increased by 20.6% year-on-year, more than twice its income.
From June, 5438 to February, 2007, the country started "home appliances going to the countryside". Up to now, Haier's participation in the market performance of "home appliances going to the countryside" is far ahead in the industry.
Haier has established an innovation system of "product innovation, business model innovation and mechanism innovation" to actively respond to the financial crisis.
The risks and opportunities of the financial crisis are equal for every enterprise, which is an external cause; Whether we can avoid risks and seize opportunities depends on internal factors and the competitiveness of enterprises themselves.
The competitiveness of enterprises comes from innovation. In the early days of reform and opening up, the market demand was strong, so the innovation of enterprises at that time was mainly reflected in seizing opportunities and developing rapidly; With the development of globalization, the current enterprise innovation should be reflected in the construction of innovation system to achieve sustainable development. In this regard, Zhang Ruimin, CEO of Haier Group, said: "Now the innovation of enterprises needs to develop into a system. Just as the viewpoint in the book "The Foundation is Evergreen" says: If an enterprise wants to develop in the long run, it should not be a timekeeper, but a clock maker. Making a clock is to create an innovative system. "
Therefore, when dealing with the financial crisis, Haier's innovative ideas are mainly reflected in three aspects: first, product innovation, providing users with solutions to problems; Second, the innovation of business model requires the implementation of on-demand supply under zero inventory; Third, mechanism innovation, establishing an independent management institution with one person and one person. These three aspects of innovation have formed an innovation system like "Zhong".
Product innovation: providing users with solutions to problems
In the financial crisis, where is the market entry point for enterprises? Zhang Ruimin, CEO of Haier Group, has an image saying: "The users of Haier service are' second-oldest':' outsiders' and' fellow villagers'." Foreigners are overseas users, and' fellow villagers' are domestic users. Specifically, it means' overseas market should be upgraded, and China market should be deeply cultivated', so as to build a high-end brand image overseas and penetrate into communities and rural areas at home. "
In the domestic market, Haier seized the opportunity of "home appliances going to the countryside", accelerated the deepening of the third-and fourth-tier market network, and provided "safe, reliable and practical" solutions for the special needs of rural consumers:
"Home appliances going to the countryside are not simply selling products sold in cities to rural areas, but really meeting the needs of rural users and giving safe, reliable and practical products to rural users." Liu Chi, the head of Haier CMI (Market Innovation Department) in China, said that whoever can "do as the Romans do" when "home appliances go to the countryside" and "zero distance" from users will be able to meet users' needs fastest and most accurately. The secret is innovative products.
In the second round of "Home Appliances Going to the Countryside", a Haier refrigerator with a model of 2 15DF was put on the market. More than 30,000 sets were sold in the first month, and even out of stock in many places. In August, 2007, Pu Xiankai, director of planning department of China District of Haier Refrigerator, took researchers to investigate in rural areas such as Jintan, Jiangsu, Shangqiu, Henan and Pengzhou, Sichuan. They found that in addition to paying attention to price and after-sales service, farmers are most worried that unstable voltage will damage refrigerators. "Change!" Haier specializes in technical research on voltage problems, and soon, a 2 15DF refrigerator suitable for rural users came out: the daily power consumption is only 0.39 kWh, which meets the 6A-level energy consumption standard that the country will soon issue; Computer display screen, low noise; Its freezing capacity is more than five times that of an ordinary refrigerator.
The insulation layer of the power cord of household appliances is a material that mice like to chew. In the past, rural areas were mainly adobe houses, where mice could enter and leave. Now it is a cement brick tile house, and only rats can enter the house. In "Home Appliances Going to the Countryside", Haier specially designed air-conditioning mousetrap net, mouse-proof back cover of refrigerator, mouse-proof base of washing machine, etc. The mouse that can be prevented is only 4 cm long. Haier's "rat prevention scheme" to meet the needs of rural users is very popular among farmers.
Subsequently, in view of the rural reality, Haier successively launched "lightning protection and weak signal scheme", "energy saving and environmental protection scheme", "special demand scheme" and "rural informatization scheme". In rural areas, washing machines are mostly used outdoors, so Haier has specially developed a washing machine with an anti-freezing and sun-proof plastic shell. In some dairy farms, cows need to drink warm water to increase milk production, but there is no running water in rural areas, so it is impossible to install ordinary water heaters. Therefore, Haier designed a solar water heater that can be used normally without running water, and obtained a batch order in wuqing district Dairy Farm.
The electricity environment in rural areas or some cities is not good, and even there is no grounding wire, which is easy to damage electrical appliances by leakage. Haier's products involved in "home appliances going to the countryside" have solved this problem in a targeted manner: water heaters with anti-electricity walls, refrigerators with anti-leakage sockets, washing machines with waterproof and anti-leakage protection, etc. A wire protection bag produced by Haier is made of flame retardant material, which can't be ignited with a lighter, and can prevent leakage well, which is liked by many users. In order to meet the needs of farmers to buy household appliances, it is cheaper to buy and use. Haier has developed a refrigerator that uses one degree of electricity for three days, saving energy by 30% compared with ordinary refrigerators and 59% compared with air conditioners.
How can these good products that meet the needs of rural users be delivered to farmers? To this end, Haier has also established a marketing network of "sales to the village", a logistics network of "home delivery" and a service network of "home service", so that farmers can truly enjoy the convenience and benefits of "home appliances going to the countryside". At present, Haier has 6,500 specialty stores and 2 1 1,000 township outlets throughout the country, delivering products to farmers' doorsteps; Haier has established distribution stations in more than 2,000 counties across the country, and the tentacles of logistics and distribution have extended to cities and towns across the country, which can be delivered to the door 24 hours a day: "Home appliances go to the countryside", and service comes first. Haier has established 73,000 village-level contact stations and more than 4,300 after-sales service centers throughout the country.
In overseas markets, Haier has put forward the idea of "going out, going in and going up", and is upgrading its overseas network to meet the localization needs of overseas users and enhance Haier's high-end brand image:
In the process of coping with the financial crisis, Haier deeply realized that only by establishing a global network and entering mainstream channels can it become a mainstream brand; Only by becoming the mainstream brand of globalization can we resist the global financial crisis.
At present, Haier has established six localized overseas centers in America, Europe, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and ASEAN, and has 28 manufacturing bases around the world, which has realized localized procurement, manufacturing and distribution, accelerated the logistics speed and shortened the capital turnover cycle. Haier has entered the top 10 chain stores in America, the top 5 chain stores in Europe and the top 10 chain stores in Japan, and started to sell mainstream products in local mainstream channels.
The global operation of "marketing network, logistics network, capital network, information network and talent network" established by Haier helps Haier to grasp the localized user needs more quickly and accurately, such as:
In the United States, the international mainstream market, Haier has designed a large refrigerator with a capacity of more than 500 liters. One drawer can hold a complete turkey, which is very convenient for American users to spend Thanksgiving.
In the Japanese market where the competition for home appliances is fiercest, Haier designed a small washing machine named "Personal Laundry Room" in view of the small apartment area of young Japanese users, and the sales volume continued to climb.
The same is true in developing markets. There are as many as 30 families in Pakistan. They wear Islamic robes and small washing machines, which are difficult to clean. Haier specially designed a large-capacity washing machine for Pakistani users, which can wash 32 large robes and is very popular.
Haier's global network has improved the ability of enterprises to effectively cope with the global financial crisis: in 2008, the overall performance of Haier's overseas market increased by 8%, of which "overseas production and overseas sales" increased by more than 20%.
Business model innovation: realizing on-demand supply under zero inventory
In this financial crisis, the main problems encountered by enterprises are: inventory and accounts receivable.
At this time, Haier put forward a seemingly dilemma challenge: zero inventory and high growth. Zhang Ruimin, CEO of Haier Group, said: "The' winter' for enterprises to cope with the financial crisis is two things: adequate food and clothing. Vegetables are orders, and clothes are cash flows. Without an order, there is no' rice', and if you don't starve, you will be hungry; With the product, it can't be realized quickly, and it becomes inventory. No cash flow means no clothes, otherwise it will freeze to death. "
How to ensure that there is no inventory and accounts receivable? The essence also lies in whether the products produced by enterprises meet the needs of users. In the information age, the status of enterprises has changed: enterprises used to have the final say, but now users have the final say. What enterprises should grasp is two words: speed, and whoever can provide the fastest service to users with the fastest speed will win.
Therefore, Haier put forward an innovative business model: "supply on demand under zero inventory" business model.
Since 1998 began the process reengineering, Haier has been committed to the innovation of process and business model, and implemented "cash spot" in China market. Since Haier started information reengineering in 2007, it has further actively explored "on-demand supply under zero inventory", canceled warehouses and sent real orders directly, forming an end-to-end process from market development, product research and development, supply chain to customer satisfaction, and quickly responding to market demand.
Since July 2008, Haier has proposed to prevent "two more and two less", that is, to prevent more inventory, more receivables, less profits and less cash. At present, Haier's inventory has dropped to five days, which is one tenth of the average inventory days of industrial enterprises in China.
Mechanism innovation: establish an independent management institution with one person.
Product innovation and business model innovation come from dynamic organizations and passionate people. Compared with large international companies with a history of more than 100 years, China enterprises have a great gap in technology, capital and global network construction, which can only be surpassed through management innovation. Just like Gary. Professor Hammer argued in Managing a Great Future that "those enterprises that expect to gain a long-term and sustainable competitive advantage should pay more attention to management innovation". To this end, Haier has been exploring the establishment of a "self-management" mechanism that can actively respond to market changes.
Under the current global financial crisis, Haier's "independent management organization" has played an initial role in coping with external market competition. For example, in Haier's mobile phone department, there is a business entity specially set up for major customers in India. The original fragmented departments were formed into a team with the same goal to create valuable mobile phones for local users. In 2008, the number of CDMA mobile phones exported to India alone more than doubled to nearly 4 million.
In 2008, Haier's mobile phone sales revenue increased by 89%. Haier also extended the same model to Japan and other markets. When Japan's economy was in recession, Haier seized the opportunity of the appreciation of the yen, but rose against the trend, and won orders that exceeded 25% of total sales in 2008.
Haier has improved its ability to resist risks by establishing an innovative system of "products, business models and mechanisms". In the current financial crisis, although Haier is also facing the pressure of the global market, it has maintained a sustained development: in 2008, Haier's global turnover reached 654.38+0.22 billion yuan, an increase of 8% year-on-year; Profits increased by 20.6% year on year.
Haier implements strategic transformation and accelerates the transformation from "manufacturer" to "service provider"
"Father of Competitive Strategy", Professor Michael of Harvard University, USA. Porter put forward in the book National Competitiveness that the development of a country or region's competitiveness usually has four stages, namely, factor-driven, investment-driven, innovation-driven and wealth-driven.
There is a saying in the traditional culture of China: "first frost is strong." . Frost is not ice, but there will be hard ice after frost falls. If enterprises wait until the financial crisis comes before thinking about countermeasures, it is impossible to survive. Globalization has brought a large number of European and American orders to China enterprises, but most of them are still in the stage driven by production factors. If they don't speed up their competitiveness, they can't cope with the next crisis that will come at any time.
Haier believes that only by accelerating the transformation from "manufacturer" to "service provider" can we win survival and development in the increasingly fierce market competition. Therefore, Haier proposed and promoted the strategic transformation. The goal of the transformation is to become "a provider with a long history, sustainable development and the most competitive solution for a better life".