Case 9.2 A rising star from China: Haier Group[i]
After almost going bankrupt in 1984, the Qingdao General Refrigerator Factory from Qingdao (China) was restructured. Presently known as the Haier Group (in the following: Haier), it has become one of the world’s leading consumer electronics and home appliances manufacturers. In 2021, Haier’s sales reached almost US $33.6 billion, [ii] a year-on-year increase of more than 15% percent.[iii] Refrigerators and washing machines made up almost 56% of the total revenue. The remaining share came from air conditioners, kitchen appliances, water appliances, and its integrated channel services. In 2021, the company was recognized as the number one global brand in major appliances for the 13th consecutive year.[iv] Haier was also the only company outside the United States to be listed on Fortune magazine’s World’s Most Admired Companies 2022 in the Home Equipment and Furnishings category. Haier in 2021 served over 1 billion families in 160 countries and regions around the world.[v]
Success stories such as Haier’s are not an exception anymore, yet Haier can be seen as an exemplary MNE from an emerging economy that worked its way up to become a renowned global brand across the world.[vi] Thanks to the high skill level of its management, its focus on knowledge generation, and well-thought-out strategy execution, Haier’s local and international expansion turned out to be more than satisfying. However, in its early internationalization stage, Haier had to face many challenges, related mainly to the company’s poor reputation and low-quality standards. Some drastic changes were necessary to improve Haier’s market positioning and save it from bankruptcy.
The early years: Improving product quality and reputation
In 1984, then-35-year-old Zhang Ruimin, deputy manager of a home appliance company in Qingdao, China, was appointed director of Qingdao General Refrigerator Factory. At that time, the firm was deeply in debt and suffered from decreasing demand; employees were notably demotivated. Zhang identified a need to introduce far-reaching measures in order to manage a successful turnaround.
While investigating a client’s complaint about the poor quality of a refrigerator purchased from the firm, Zhang discovered that 76 out of 400 refrigerators in stock were of inferior quality, reflecting a failure rate of close to 20 percent. Zhang asked for all defective models to be lined up and ordered his staff to destroy these. This incident represents the turning point in the firm’s history and marked the beginning of the company that is known today under the brand name Haier.
Under Zhang’s management, employees began to understand the importance of product quality and reliability, and Haier established a successful brand strategy. With the goal of providing high-quality products and services, Zhang established his “always cautious, always meticulous”[vii] philosophy of achievement that shaped Haier’s corporate culture and is largely responsible for Haier’s reputation for innovation as well as for the enthusiasm of its 100,000+ employees.[viii]
One of Zhang’s strategies was to learn from best business practices in developed countries such as the United States, Germany, and Japan. Following this strategy, Zhang revolutionized his company: He tied salary to performance, sent technical personnel abroad for advanced training, and developed a worldwide supply chain system. Zhang was aware of the fact that Haier could best improve its image by partnering with a foreign company. Therefore, in 1985, he entered into a joint venture with the German firm Liebherr, a leading home appliance manufacturer.[ix] During this partnership, the Chinese manufacturer benefited from access to Liebherr’s refrigerator technology, improved product quality, and built up its reputation. Moreover, several years later, the firm was renamed after the second part of the Chinese translation of its partner Liebherr to receive its current name, Haier.
The first signs of the joint venture’s success became apparent as early as 1988 when Haier gained a dominant position in the Chinese refrigerator market.[x] In the same year, the firm completed its first acquisition and integrated a small electroplating firm, the Qingdao Electroplating Company, from Qingdao, China, later transforming the newly acquired division into a microwave producer.[xi]
Over time Zhang’s drive continuously to improve products and services did not fade. Haier took an impressive step forward when it achieved internationally recognized accreditations such as the Underwriters Laboratories Inc. certification from an American independent product safety certification organization, the Technischer Überwachungsverein accreditation from the German technical inspection association, and the qualification of the International Organization for Standardization, a non-governmental organization with headquarters in Switzerland. These certifications marked Haier as an accredited supplier for the international markets.[xii] Today, Haier is a leader in international standards and is the only company in the industry to have certifications from all five major international standard organizations, namely IEC, ISO, IEEE, OCF, and Matter.[xiii]
Diversification through joint ventures and M&A
In the 1990s, Zhang realized that quality alone was insufficient to achieve sustained corporate growth. He decided to spread Haier’s corporate risk by diversifying into various new product lines. Therefore, in 1991, Haier merged with the Qingdao Freezer Factory and the Qingdao Air Conditioner Factory, two financially challenged companies from Qingdao, China, that flourished with rising sales shortly after Zhang’s restructuring was completed.[xiv] Considering high growth forecasts for the acquired businesses, Zhang decided to expand production facilities by buying land for a new industrial park, which would house corporate headquarters and 66 subsidiaries. In order to finance this large-scale project, Zhang listed Haier on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 1993. The IPO became a big success, raising sufficient capital to establish Haier Industrial Park in Qingdao, China, two years later.[xv]
In the same year as going public, Haier started cooperating with the Japanese firm Mitsubishi to gain more expertise in air conditioners.[xvi] Haier also partnered with the Italian firm Merloni Elettrodomestici, at that time the third largest home appliance producer in Europe. Together, the partners built a washing machine production plant for the Chinese market in Qingdao, China. This joint venture enabled Haier not only to acquire valuable technology necessary to produce washing machines but also to implement its diversification plans. It consequently paved the way for Haier’s subsequent acquisition of the Red Star Electric Appliance Company in 1995, which was turned around “from money-losing to profit-generating” within three months.[xvii]
Thanks to the acquisitions of the Huangshan Electronics Group and the Yellow Mountain Television Company in 1997, Haier expanded into the television business.[xviii] Haier’s diversification strategy led to a total of 18 Chinese enterprises in a range of industries being acquired. By the end of the century, Haier’s offerings included traditional home appliances (e.g., washing machines, electric irons, microwaves) as well as the latest consumer electronics goods (e.g., mobile phones, televisions, computers).[xix]
Internationalization
Following the success of Haier’s diversification strategy and continuously increasing exports, Zhang started to implement his plans for more sophisticated international expansion. While earlier-stage exports relied mainly on licensing agreements (e.g., with Liebherr in Germany) and sales alliances (e.g., with Welbit Appliances in the United States), Zhang aimed to increase Haier’s independence and degree of internationalization with the help of a multichannel strategy. “To achieve its balanced country portfolio”, Haier defined three stages:[xx]
- Stage one: ‘Seeding’ – a sales-volume-based approach that emphasizes reputation building and foreign distribution through local sales agents;
- Stage two: ‘Rooting’ – key aspects are rising market share and creating wholly owned production subsidiaries abroad;
- Stage three: ‘Harvesting’– represents the implementation of subsidiary-based local sales and location of R&D capabilities abroad.[xxi]
In guiding the international expansion of Haier, Zhang followed his credo: “difficult things first, easier steps later”[xxii]. He initially intended to enter markets in developed countries first and expand into developing countries afterward. However, this strategic approach, which aimed to gain strong managerial, technological, and reputational competencies in developed economies and to apply these newly acquired competencies subsequently in emerging countries, was not strictly followed.[xxiii] After Haier’s initial market entry in the United States, the firm established itself in emerging countries as ‘Haier ASEAN’ (abbreviation for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations). Haier followed its initial exports to Indonesia in early 1992 by opening its first foreign production site there four years later. In 1997, Haier furthered its expansion into emerging economies by establishing subsidiaries in the Philippines and Malaysia.
During the same year, Haier approached foreign distributors at the World Household Appliances Expo in Cologne, Germany, with the intention to take a share of the world market in home appliances. In contrast to its internationalization strategy in the Americas, Haier had to hire external sales agents to import its refrigerators from China and sell these in the European market, mainly in Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy.
Having gained self-confidence as well as reputational and financial strength, Haier refocused on the US market a few years later. Based on Haier’s previous sales alliance with Welbit and the US market’s complexity, Zhang opted for a cautious market expansion strategy. Instead of offering Haier’s full product range, Zhang targeted two niche categories, namely small-sized compact refrigerators and electric wine coolers. Zhang believed that those markets were underdeveloped and therefore remained below the US-based producers’ radar yet offered a lot of growth potential. Zhang’s assessment proved to be right: Haier developed into a renowned brand in these previously ignored product niches. Along with this success, Zhang considered a stronger, long-term-oriented commitment to the US by diversifying Haier’s product offerings and establishing local production. Expansion into the market for full-size refrigerators placed Haier in direct competition with the big four American appliances brands: GE, Whirlpool, Frigidaire, and Maytag. In 2000, with the help of its former local distributor, Haier established its first wholly owned production subsidiary in Camden, United States.[xxiv]
Within a 12-month time frame, Haier demonstrated its ambitious growth strategy by building three industrial parks: Haier Qingdao Economic and Technological Development Zone (QETDZ) Industrial Park in Qingdao, China, for export-oriented production; Haier Information Park in Qingdao, China, for the expansion into information technology; and Haier American Industrial Park for local production and research and development (R&D) in Camden, United States. It also built a university, namely Haier University in Qingdao, China.[xxv] By the end of 2000, Haier had grown tremendously and controlled six production plants overseas.[xxvi] By 2001, Haier’s contribution to the US economy was recognized by the naming of a street located near the Haier American Industrial Park as “Haier Road”.[xxvii] Haier was the only Chinese company to receive this honour in the United States, which was particularly important for the company’s reputation in its home country, where these types of favours are considered an important sign of respect and deference.
In Europe, Haier tried yet another approach. Having relied solely on local sales agents in the past, Haier founded a European trading company that would receive the exclusive distribution of Haier products in seventeen European countries.[xxviii] In 2001, Haier’s first transnational merger with an Italian refrigerator company, owned by Meneghetti, took place. As part of Haier’s localization strategy, this deal contributed substantially to its ambitious goal of conquering the European market of refrigerators and freezers.
In the same year, Haier established further production sites in Pakistan and Bangladesh.[xxix] Moreover, Haier established a joint venture in Nigeria, Africa, centralizing the entire production of home appliances for the African continent.[xxx] Furthermore, in 2001, Haier partnered with OBI, the German market leader in the Do-It-Yourself sector which is called after the phonetic spelling of the French pronunciation for “hobby”.[xxxi] Their joint venture, China Homeworld Company Limited, focused on the retail business of construction and home furnishing materials and generated synergies for both partners.[xxxii] On the one hand, OBI predicted potential for its own Chinese retail stores through access to Haier’s local distribution and logistics networks in China while Haier would benefit from extended domestic and overseas market access through OBI’s sales channels. In addition, OBI’s stores in China started to offer Haier’s home appliances and electronics.[xxxiii]
One year later, in 2002, the firm expanded to Jordan and reinforced its strong market position in the Middle East. In the same year, Haier built trading subsidiaries for air conditioners in Italy and Spain, and in the UK one year later.[xxxiv] Following the Nigerian joint venture, Haier opened its second joint African production plant in Tunis, Tunisia, in 2002.[xxxv]
Japan and the entire Asian region were also of great importance to Haier. To strengthen its position in the Asian markets, Haier formed a partnership with Sanyo, a leading Japanese electronics company. The objective of this cooperation was “to exchange market resources with higher efficiency and thus create a larger market”.[xxxvi]
By the end of 2002, Haier had grown into an international company that managed thirteen production plants abroad, generating sales of US $1 billion. Haier’s year-on-year revenue growth was 37 percent in 2002.[xxxvii] In 2003, Haier leveraged its joint venture with OBI in China to enter the German home appliance market by establishing a brand alliance with its German partner.
The Cuban government started cooperating with Haier in 2006 following Cuba’s ‘Energy Revolution’ program.[xxxviii] In return for the approved market entry, Haier announced a donation of energy-efficient street lamps to Cuba, creating a win-win situation for both parties.[xxxix] One year later, in 2007, Haier entered into strategic cooperation with Intel, a leading American semiconductor chip producer, and Cisco, a worldwide leader in networking equipment. In the same year, Haier established its first India-based production plant in Pune, India, by acquiring the appliances production of the company Anchor Daewoo, a joint venture between Anchor Electricals, a subsidiary of the Japanese Panasonic Corporation, and Daewoo Electronics from South Korea.[xl] With this acquisition, Haier took the next step in implementing its localization strategy. The acquisition allowed Haier to circumvent import tariffs, and achieve reduced delivery times, and better customer service.[xli]
Haier had already achieved top sales volumes in the global refrigerator market. The collaboration with numerous partners and various acquisitions only strengthened Haier’s position in the world market. In 2008, Haier became the world’s largest refrigerator manufacturer in terms of sales, surpassing its US rival Whirlpool.[xlii]
At the beginning of 2009, Haier and the Venezuelan government signed a cooperative agreement on household appliances. Plans were made to establish a local production site in partnership with a publicly owned consortium from Venezuela.[xliii] In 2009, in an attempt to strengthen its position in the New Zealand market, Haier acquired a 20 percent stake in Fisher & Paykel, New Zealand’s largest domestic home appliances producer. As a high-end white goods brand, Fisher & Paykel offered a great opportunity for Haier, which was previously under-represented in this upscale segment due primarily to fierce competition, especially from Germany. With the mutual trade agreement, Haier became the exclusive distributor of Fisher & Paykel products in China, whereas Fisher & Paykel took responsibility for Haier’s products in the Australian and New Zealand markets.[xliv] In 2012, Haier successfully bid to acquire Fisher & Paykel, giving it a leading position in the Australian and New Zealand markets as well as control of four plants in New Zealand, Thailand, Mexico, and Italy.[xlv] The acquisition was crucial as it gave Haier a foothold in a premium market and reversed the stigma around the poor quality of Chinese products.
In early 2010, Haier also agreed to a strategic alliance with Hewlett Packard (HP), a leading multinational information technology company. The goal of the agreement was to enhance both companies’ competitive positions. Haier’s distribution network offered HP broad access to China’s rural areas.[xlvi]
In order to get better access to the Japanese major appliances market, dominated by local manufacturers like Toshiba Corporation and Hitachi Ltd, Haier signed an agreement in 2011 to acquire Sanyo. The acquisition gave Haier access to Sanyo’s technological edge in energy efficiency, thereby gaining a competitive advantage against local manufacturers.[xlvii] Additionally, the deal allowed Haier to localize its sales and marketing efforts in Japan and Southeast Asia.[xlviii]
At the beginning of 2016, Haier announced the acquisition of General Electric’s Appliances business for US $5.4 billion. Haier had been operating in the US for 15 years, but its market share was only about 3 percent.[xlix] Haier’s strength in its domestic market – low labour costs and innovative R&D did not help its penetration in the US market, dominated by a few large competitors like Whirlpool and Electrolux that maintained high-cost efficiency while selling products of the highest standards. The acquisition meant Haier would be associated with a “domestic US brand” with 150 years of successful history and an established brand name. Haier’s strategy worked. In 2020, GE was selling to more than half of the American households and represented about 30 percent of Haier’s total revenue.[l]
An ecosystems brand
In 2018, Haier unveiled its vision for the connected smart home solution and its aim to be the global leader in the Internet of Things (IoT) for smart home appliances. It created the “4+7+N” concept that involved connecting four physical spaces in the home through seven ecosystems based on an individual user’s needs – the “N” factor.[li] The same year, Haier disclosed its agreement to acquire Italian company Candy. The acquisition gave Haier access to Candy’s unique innovation capabilities and Italian design and technology, thus accelerating Haier’s position to provide innovative and sustainable home solutions in Europe.[lii] With this addition, Haier is home to seven global brands – Haier, Candy, GE Appliances, Fisher & Paykel, AQUA (under Sanyo), Casarte, and Leader (in China).
Additionally, Haier restructured to align better with its goal of being the global leader in smart home appliances. In 2019, the company changed the name of its mainland Chinese entity from Qingdao Haier to Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. The following year, Haier Electronics, listed on the Hong Kong Exchange, was incorporated into Haier Smart Home.[liii]
Zhang has turned Haier into one of the most successful EMNEs and is a global pioneer in both organizational and customer-centric innovation. In 2021, the company operated 10 R&D centers, and 122 manufacturing units and employed 104,874 people around the world.[liv]
Product portfolio and market share
Once a modest refrigerator producer, Haier is presently playing an important role in various types of home appliances. In the course of Haier’s early diversification strategy in the 1990s, numerous acquisitions and joint ventures worldwide helped it establish a strong product portfolio. In 2018, Haier unveiled its smart home vision and its intention on becoming a “one-stop, all scenario” solution. It offers products under three main categories. The first group targets major home appliances including refrigerators, washing machines, and kitchen appliances. Second, the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) category cover everything from air conditioners, and water purifiers to water heaters. The third segment focuses on small home appliances like cleaning appliances and personal care gadgets which are designed by Haier, produced by outsourced third-party manufacturers, and sold under the company’s brands to enrich its smart home solution product mix.[lv] Haier’s position as the world’s leading major appliances brand was largely enabled by the company’s relentless expansion and commitment to innovation. By 2019, Haier had become the world’s number one major appliance company with a market share of 15.7 percent.[lvi]
Haier’s strategy
Today, Haier’s journey to the top league of international home appliances producers represents a great Chinese success story and an inspiring example for MNEs from emerging countries worldwide. After several near escapes from insolvency, the formerly small Chinese refrigerator manufacturer was revitalized and established as a world brand. Haier’s extraordinary transformation, however, was not magical but was based on hard work, endurance, and insight into industry functioning. Haier’s development path can be subdivided into six major phases.
First, in the immediate period after Zhang’s appointment as a director, Haier’s reputation suffered due to past quality problems. As his first order of business, Zhang aimed to improve the quality of Haier’s refrigerators and implemented a ‘brand building strategy’ (1984–1991). In partnership with foreign companies, Haier built up advanced technological knowledge and updated its production equipment. In addition, Zhang created a strong focus on quality and implemented Total Quality Management (TQM), a proven method borrowed from quality-driven Japanese manufacturers. From then on, Zhang asked all employees to participate in continuously improving Haier’s products and processes.
Second, with the new strict quality standards, Haier achieved significant success in the Chinese refrigerator market in the late 1980s and embarked on a diversification path. At the beginning of the 1990s, Haier started to expand into related businesses by acquiring and integrating numerous (and often struggling) local enterprises (1991–1998). It expanded its refrigerator-based product line to a diversified array of products – washing machines, air conditioners, water heaters, and other home appliances. While competitors tried to gain market share through price wars, Haier stuck to its principle of superior quality, which eventually allowed the company to achieve a competitive advantage. Haier’s diversification strategy demonstrated its emphasis on quality and customer-first culture, establishing Haier’s leadership position in the Chinese home appliance industry.
Third, Haier’s diversification phase was followed by internationalization (1998–2005). By introducing a “Three-in-One” strategy, namely the co-location of design, production, and marketing, Zhang was able to achieve customization of products to fit local needs. Haier’s achieved international success by supplying highly differentiated, innovative products designed to meet the local consumer’s preferences. Customers would perceive Haier as a localized brand, rather than just a Chinese exporter, and as a result, Haier’s international expansion succeeded. This improved Haier’s market position vis-à-vis foreign rivals competing on price.[lvii] Haier has followed the ‘Three-in-One’ principle until now. However, some managerial adjustments were needed in order to implement successfully Zhang’s ‘global brand strategy’, to keep up with the speed of globalization (2005-2012). During this fourth phase, Haier acquired major brands with strong local product lines and combined distinctive global resources to create customer-centric products and services. In the globalization phase, Haier consolidated its resources in R&D, production, and sales to be a truly global firm.
Fifth, in 2012, Haier announced its strategic transformation from a service-focused company to an experience-focused one, offering products and services that customers can engage with, immerse themselves in, or experience.[lviii] Innovating the user experience and creating this added value for its customers, Haier adopted a so-called networking strategy (2012-2019). This strategy broke the traditional organizational structure based on bureaucracy and grouped employees into self-managed microenterprises. To manage these microenterprises, Haier has its own control system (“OEC”) that aims to “accomplish what’s planned each day; evaluate and improve what’s accomplished each day”.[lix] According to “Haier’s definition, ‘O’ stands for ‘Overall’, ‘E’ stands for ‘Everyone’, ‘Everything’ and ‘Every Day’, and ‘C’ stands for ‘Control’ and ‘Clear’.”[lx] This managerial approach focuses on “overall control of everything that every employee does every day” and suggests that all employees finish their daily assignments with an increase of one percent in volume of work each day.[lxi]
In 2019, Haier entered its sixth phase: ecosystem brand strategy.[lxii] In the era of the Internet of Things, Haier transformed itself to be an ecosystem brand that offers “scenarios” instead of products. In the coming years, Haier aims to evolve with users guided by its “value-for-all’ model. The company’s strategy is not only to achieve growth as an end goal, but also create the best experience for all its users together with all parties in the ecosystem, thereby achieving a win-win evolution that fosters sustainable development.
Zhang Ruimin
Zhang Ruimin is one of the most respected and powerful executives in Asia. Zhang’s role in turning little-known Haier into an award-winning, innovative corporation prompted widespread analysis of his managerial practices. Zhang managed to build a successful corporate culture, which he infused with his personal values of modesty, search for knowledge, and a firm commitment to quality. Following best global practices and focusing on continuous product innovation, Zhang updated Haier’s business model and integrated the concept of zero inventory, thus achieving “a subversion of traditional management”.[lxiii] In the later step of Haier’s internationalization, Zhang pushed Haier’s independent operational entities to produce the following “individual-goal combinations”.[lxiv] Like the OEC approach, this management tool focuses on the individual employee. The individual-goal combination defines each employee as “an independent and innovative strategic business unit with the collective goal of achieving primacy in the marketplace”.[lxv] By assigning more responsibility to employees, they get involved in setting business objectives, managing business resources, and creating shared value for the company and clients likewise.[lxvi] Zhang was recognized worldwide for his disruptive innovation model. He was even listed as one of “The greatest 50 leaders all over the world” by Fortune.[lxvii]
Even after Haier became a successful global brand, Zhang never lost sight of the company’s Chinese roots. Respect for Chinese culture and politics remains an integral part of Haier’s corporate values. In return, the Chinese government honoured Zhang’s achievements by appointing him to the alternate committee for the 16th and 17th Central Committees of the Communist Party of China.[lxviii]
QUESTIONS
- What are Haier’s FSAs? How did Haier exploit these in its international expansion?
- Which specific resource recombinations have helped Haier to achieve international success?
- Which market entry strategy did Haier choose for its various international markets?
- Most manufacturing companies move to China to gain advantage of cheap labour. However, Haier – a Chinese company – opened production plants around the world. Why?
- Based on Haier’s case, please discuss differences (if any) between developed economy MNEs and emerging economy MNEs. Can you name specific examples from the case?
- Haier’s CEO, Zhang Ruimin has been the key decision maker in the company for almost 30 years. What has been his unique contribution to the firm’s success? Do you think he could have achieved the same level of success in an MNE from a developed country? Please explain.
- Can developed country MNEs learn from Haier’s worldwide success? Are there any best practices that developed country MNEs could ‘copy’ from Haier?
Notes
[i] This case was co-authored by Ms. Jenny Hillemann, Ms. Kalpita Reddiar, and Professor Alain Verbeke.
[ii] Haier company information, 2021. Any indicated turnover in this case study reflects the turnover of Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd (previously Haier Electronics), a subsidiary of Haier Group. Haier Smart Home is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The turnover of Haier Smart Home is published on the company’s official home page.
[iii] Haier company information, 2021. Exchange rate as of July 20, 2022 (1RMB = 0.15USD)
[iv] Haier company information, 2022.
[v] Haier company information, 2021.
[vi] Haier company information, 2010.
[vii] ‘Zhang Ruimin’, China View (2003).
[viii] Haier company information, 2012.
[ix] Jeannie Jinsheng Yi and Shawn Xian Ye, The Haier Way (Dumony, New Jersey: Homa and Sekey Books, 2003), 32.
[x] Haier company information, 2012.
[xi] Yi and Ye, The Haier Way, 64.
[xii] Haier company information, 2012.
[xiii] Haier company information, 2021
[xiv] Yi and Ye, The Haier Way, 32, 64.
[xv] Haier company information, 2012.
[xvi] Ling Liu, China’s Industrial Policies and the Global Business Revolution (Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 2005), 93.
[xvii] Yi and Ye, The Haier Way, 63.
[xviii] Yi and Ye, The Haier Way, 73.
[xix] Haier company information, 2012.
[xx] Sandra Bell, International Brand Management of Chinese Companies (Heidelberg, Germany: Physica Verlag, 2008), 162.
[xxi] Bell, International Brand Management of Chinese Companies, 162.
[xxii] Yi and Ye, The Haier Way, 90.
[xxiii] Ibid., 188; Ling, China’s Industrial Policies and the Global Business Revolution, 98.
[xxiv] ‘Haier Group Corporation’, Funding Universe.
[xxv] Haier company information, 2012.
[xxvi] Ibid.
[xxvii] Ibid.
[xxviii] Yi and Ye, The Haier Way, 199.
[xxix] Haier company information, 2012.
[xxx] Ibid.
[xxxi] OBI company information, 2012.
[xxxii] Bell, International Brand Management of Chinese Companies, 165.
[xxxiii] Shaohui Chen and Marie Wilson, ‘OBI China: Going, going, gone’, CEIBS (2006).
[xxxiv] Bell, International Brand Management of Chinese Companies, 165.
[xxxv] Haier company information, 2012.
[xxxvi] Ibid.
[xxxvii] Ibid.
[xxxviii] Prensa Latina, ‘China manufacturer Haier sells 300,000 refrigerators to Cuba’, Havana Journal (16 March 2006).
[xxxix] Haier company information, 2012.
[xl] ‘Hayer buys Anchor Daewoo’s appliance biz’, The Economic Times (10 August 2007).
[xli] Haier company information, 2012.
[xlii] ‘Haier tops Whirlpool in global refrigerator sales’, Alibaba (20 January 2009).
[xliii] ‘Venezuela, China’s Haier signs business deals’, Agence France-Presse (14 May 2010).
[xliv] ‘Buying into Fisher & Paykel, Haier overseas expansion still relentless’, China Stakes (31 May 2009).
[xlv] ‘Haier’s Increased Offer Wins Fisher & Paykel’, The New York Times (18 October 2012).
[xlvi] Haier company information, 2012.
[xlvii] ‘Haier Gains Ground in Japan and Southeast Asia Through Sanyo Acquisition’, Euromonitor International (31 July 2011)
[xlviii] Haier company information, 2011.
[xlix] ‘China’s Haier to Buy GE Appliance Business for $5.4 Billion’, The Wall Street Journal (15 January 2016).
[l] ‘Appliance Business Cast Off by GE Thrives Under Chinese Ownership’, The Wall Street Journal (30 November 2021).
[li] Haier company information, 2018.
[lii] Haier company information, 2019.
[liii] Ibid.
[liv] Haier company information, 2021.
[lv] Ibid.
[lvi] Ibid.
[lvii] Haier company information, 2012.
[lviii] Ibid.
[lix] Ibid.
[lx] Yi and Ye, The Haier Way, 40.
[lxi] Ibid.
[lxii] Haier company information, 2019.
[lxiii] Haier company information, 2012.
[lxiv] Ibid.
[lxv] Wenxian Zhang and Ilan Alon, A Guide to the Top 100 Companies in China (Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 2001), 159.
[lxvi] Laurie Young, The Marketer’s Handbook: Reassessing Marketing Techniques for Modern Business (Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 2011).
[lxvii] Haier company information, 2014.
[lxviii] Haier company information, 2012.