For Ge Bingtao, a regular employee on the assembly line of the special refrigerator division, "line operator" is relatively a new "title" - one that is different both in essence and in name. From now on, Ge Bingtao will attempt to transition from an "assembly worker" to a "small boss" by taking on the identity of an "operator."
As an operator (boss), Ge Bingtao's profit = operating revenue - material cost - processing fees - loss. To achieve profitability, he must seek the largest profit margin - he needs to optimize processes, reduce waste, communicate with every member of his operating body, and ensure each member is integrated into the market accounting system. In his eyes, material consumption is no longer just dead numbers but live banknotes. Unnecessary process waste and material waste become the loss of money and benefits, which, for him, is certainly unacceptable.
Like Ge Bingtao, this management reform action, unprecedented in the history of Chinese enterprises or even global enterprises, involves a revolutionary identity change for all 50,000 employees of Haier worldwide - from being workers to being bosses, or independent innovative operators.
In this transformation, Haier aims to establish a structure that most companies have never attempted: making the enterprise smaller and the customer larger.
In this transformation, Haier aims to achieve a goal that carries a somewhat idealistic color: making leadership smaller and employees larger.
In this transformation, Haier aims to address a proposition crucial to the long-term growth prospects of the enterprise: Haier should be flat.
All these transformations ultimately converge on one direction: the global Haier brand in the information age.
Zhang Ruimin elevates the theoretical essence of this transformation into a simple phrase: people-single integration informatization day-clearing.
How does a gazelle become a lion?
All of Haer's practices exhibit foresight and transformative qualities. From the OEC management method implemented in the early 1990s, focusing on daily tasks and clearing them daily, to the eight-year-long business process reengineering started in 1998, from the "people-single integration" strategy launched at the end of 2005 to today's more defined "people-single integration informatization day-clearing" — all these explorations clearly demonstrate Haier's law: adapt to survive.
In the information age, the world is becoming increasingly flat. This is the backdrop Thomas Friedman painted in his book "The World Is Flat" — information technology and globalization.
Haier's proposal of "people-single integration informatization day-clearing" stems precisely from such a backdrop. On December 25, 2005, Haier officially announced the launch of its global brand strategy while setting the growth theme for 2006 as "people-single integration, quick decision, quick victory."
Regarding this, Zhang Ruimin uses a metaphor of lions and gazelles: "The world is flat, walls are gone, all lions can eat all gazelles. For Haier to grow, it should no longer run desperately like a gazelle for survival but continuously transform itself into a lion."
Zhang Ruimin describes his understanding of the flat enterprise to the media thus: The world is flat, and if you cannot flatten yourself, you become a wall — a wall that obstructs your own path.
"People-single integration informatization day-clearing" is the only way to tear down this "wall."
If "people-single integration" establishes a completely new mechanism for Haier's growth, then "informatization day-clearing" ensures the implementation of this mechanism.
Zhang Ruimin explains externally: "Single" refers to competitive market objectives. Everyone is connected to their market objectives, creating their own market. Informatization day-clearing means using IT methods to clear daily work for each employee and each operating body, providing immediate feedback on market changes, operational status, and individual performance, allowing for the fastest possible grasp of market trends.
After an eight-year market chain process reengineering, Haier's proposal of "people-single integration informatization day-clearing" represents another revolutionary change in the entire corporate organizational structure.
How do employees become bosses?
Letting "employees grow," is the most critical value orientation of Haier's "people-single integration" mechanism; and letting "customers grow" is the ultimate value orientation of Haier's "people-single integration" mechanism.
For today's Haier employees, they face what may be the most exciting change in history, participating in an "all-member upgrade action" — becoming independent operators, "bosses."
Establishing a new accounting relationship
To let employees be bosses, the relationship between employees and the company must be one of independent operation accounting. Haier summarizes this relationship in three sentences — "reserve sufficient corporate profits, earn enough market expenses, gains and losses belong to oneself" — Haier wants to calculate each SBU operating body under market laws through an independent operation mechanism. Among these, "reserving sufficient profits" demonstrates the company's competitiveness, "earning enough market expenses" reflects market operations, and "gains and losses belong to oneself" represents a new form of market incentive.
Sun Weijun, the line operator of the washing machine division, tells a story about "1.5 grams of glue": When installing the drainage pipe of a washing machine, according to the procedure, a circle of sealant glue is applied first, and the process guideline specifies "1.5 grams of glue per washing machine." In the past, no employee questioned this. However, after promoting line operation, an employee immediately raised an issue: 1.5 grams of glue is unclear, applying too little affects quality, while applying too much results in waste. Therefore, Sun Weiguo had to devise a way to ensure employees squeezed out exactly 1.5 grams of glue. In this operating body, actually, every employee... [1] [2] Next Page
This article comes from: Training Plan for Young Cadre Growth_4805 Discussion on Positioning Methods for Management Positions_10358 Secrets to Successful Recruitment_8090