CHAPTER 1

MOVING A COMPANY WITH THE TIMES

What Makes Haier Unique?

Change is the only constant in the brave new world of global competition. Organizations that do it well flourish; those that do not can find themselves looking at their possible demise. Either way, change is inevitable: change in offerings, change in locations, change in strategy, and ultimately change in the organization itself. None of this is easy or natural. Jack Welch of GE was famous for saying, “When the rate of change outside [an organization] exceeds the rate of change inside, the end is in sight,” and IBM’s former CEO, Sam Palmisano, observed, “Organizational culture thrives only to the extent that it is open to being re-created.”1 But change, especially big change, ...

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