As China quickly enters the industrial 4.0 era, the rapid development of Internet of Things information technology and the advancement of the "Made in China 2025 Strategy", the business activities organized by enterprises have increasingly shown new era attributes such as flexibility, openness, interconnection, and sharing.
Chinese local entrepreneurs are facing the dual challenges of the development of the times and management practices, and are eager to seek a new management model that conforms to the spirit of the times and transcends the institutional and technical levels, or a management philosophy system, in order to be at the forefront of a new round of management innovation and organizational change.
Zhang Ruimin's water management philosophy and its theoretical system are exactly the answers sought.
Professor Hu Guodong believes that Zhang Ruimin’s water management philosophy and its theoretical system are a breakthrough innovation in Western management philosophy at the level of thinking, a continuous development of Chinese management philosophy and a fusion innovation of Chinese local management theories. It is helpful to improve the practical effectiveness of local management research, and has important guiding value for companies in the Internet of Things era to improve their management level.
What exactly is Zhang Ruimin's water management philosophy? What are its connotations and theoretical dimensions? Haier Model Research Institute takes you to Zhang Ruimin's water management philosophy and its theoretical system topics.
Zhang Ruimin's water management philosophy and its theoretical system
Author: Hu Guodong, Li Miao
Published in "Foreign Economics and Management" Issue 3, 2019
About the author: Hu Guodong, deputy dean and special researcher of Haier Model Research Institute, associate professor of Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, postdoctoral fellow at Xi'an Jiaotong University; mainly engaged in management philosophy and organization theory research. Li Miao is a doctoral student in the School of Accounting, Dongbei University of Finance and Economics.
Brief introduction of the journal: "Foreign Economics and Management" was founded in 1979, with the characteristics of tracking the academic frontiers and research trends of foreign management. The full-text reprint rate and comprehensive index of "People's University Photocopying Newspapers and Periodicals" ranked first in the country for nine consecutive years in management journals, and was selected as one of the top 100 social science journals in national universities, "RCCSE authoritative academic journals, and outstanding academic journals with international influence in China" .
"Foreign Economics and Management" is one of the three core domestic journals to search for "Chinese Social Science Citation Index (CSSCI)" (Nanjing University), "Overview of Chinese Core Journals" (Peking University) and "Chinese Humanities and Social Sciences Core Journals" "(Chinese Academy of Social Sciences) selected journals.
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Zhang Ruimin's water management philosophy
This article proposes Zhang Ruimin's water management philosophy, the main reasons are as follows:
First, Zhang Ruimin is a representative of outstanding local entrepreneurs in China. He has been committed to Haier's management innovation for a long time. Because of his outstanding contribution to management philosophy and organizational change, he has been selected as one of the "Top 50 Most Influential Management Thinkers in the World" twice in a row. "The list is a coordinated figure in the history of management thought.
Second, Zhang Ruimin's management philosophy is derived from Chinese Taoist management philosophy, and the ideological wisdom of Tao Te Ching is an important logic of Haier's management practice system.
Third, the success of well-known Chinese companies such as Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent, which started from the Internet and developed the manufacturing industry, relies more on technical means. Haier started in the manufacturing industry by management innovation to lead in the era of the Internet and even the Internet of Things. excellence.
Fourth, the three times that Haier's management cases have entered the Harvard lecture hall have proved the world-class influence of Haier's management innovation. Therefore, Zhang Ruimin's water management philosophy has high theoretical construction value.
The formation of Zhang Ruimin's water management philosophy
Zhang Ruimin's management innovation practice in Haier is the theoretical construction source of Zhang Ruimin's water management philosophy. In 1984, Zhang Ruimin took the lead in destroying 76 refrigerators of substandard quality, which opened the way for Haier to continue to innovate in management.
Subsequently, Zhang Ruimin innovated the management concept of "activating shock fish" to expand Haier's enterprise scale. Under the guidance of Zhang Ruimin's open management thoughts, Haier has established the status of the Chinese brand in the world. With the advent of the Internet of Things era, Haier has flexibly transformed into a maker incubation platform to create a win-win ecosystem.
At the same time, new management concepts and management tools are constantly evolving in management practices such as strategy, organization, and operation.
Such as "Rendanheyi" at the business model level
"Small and micro" and "enterprise platformization" at the organizational structure level, and "smart interconnected factories" at the production organization level
"Employee creation" and "everyone is a CEO" at the employee value level, and "user multiplier", "customization system" and "user pay" at the incentive mechanism level
The "vertical and horizontal matching table" and "win-win value-added table" at the management mechanism level, etc., promoted the proposal and formation of Zhang Ruimin's water management philosophy.
Taoist management philosophy can also be called water management philosophy. The proposal and formation of Zhang Ruimin's water management philosophy is the continuous development of water management philosophy. Zhang Ruimin pointed out that Haier mainly studied the management philosophy in Laozi's "Tao De Jing". He once proposed that "Haier is the sea", which means "Haier should be like The sea, only the sea can absorb the rivers with a broad mind and not dislike its trickles; it can hold dirt and purify it into clear water." Its philosophical origin is Taoist management philosophy.
In the era of networking, Zhang Ruimin named the building "Haier Global Model Innovation Center" "The Horn of the Iceberg". The surface meaning is that although only one tip of the iceberg is exposed on the sea, the size of the iceberg cannot be seen from just one corner. The iceberg is carried by the endless sea, and the deep meaning is that Haier has unlimited resources, becomes a borderless organization, and continues to track and follow. To meet the dynamic needs of users, it embodies the wisdom of water management philosophy.
In the era of the Internet of Things, Zhang Ruimin mentioned the "Rendanheyi" business model: "Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching" has a saying, "Big system is not cut", which means that all mechanisms are a system and are complete. It can’t be cut into pieces, or it can’t be cut apart, otherwise, you won’t be able to see the overall appearance.”
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Definition of the Connotation of Zhang Ruimin's Water Management Philosophy
This article defines the connotation of Zhang Ruimin's water management philosophy, that is, the core thinking is "goodness is like water" and "big system is not cut".
Laozi's core view on Taoism is that "goodness is like water." "The goodness is like water" comes from the eighth chapter of Laozi's Tao Te Ching. The supreme strength and tolerance in softness help all things in the world without competing for fame and fortune. They are in a place where people cannot see, so they are the closest to "Tao".
Zhang Ruimin has a deep understanding and recognition of "the goodness is like water".
For example, in the architectural design of Haier, the vivid and three-dimensional water ripple appearance of the board of directors building shows the free flow of water like the waves of the sea, implying Haier's spiritual culture of seeking change, innovation and self-organization in an uncertain environment; a building in front of South Gate Plaza The water drop sculpture named "Shangshan is like water" shows Haier's business philosophy of creating value around users.
As the first core thinking of Zhang Ruimin's water management philosophy, "Shang Shan is like water", its core thinking is mutation thinking.
"The goodness is like water" reflects flexible thinking and adaptive thinking, giving dynamic meaning to business management practices in the era of the Internet of Things.
"The goodness is like water" also forms the core thinking orientation of Haier's management practice system from the level of management philosophy. It is derived from Lao Tzu's thoughts on water and Tao, based on the uncertainty of the environment, reflecting flexibility, unbounded tolerance, and altruism. It is based on Haier's management practices, such as helping others and gathering open thinking characteristics, expressing management ideas such as smart change, borderlessness, decentralization, and open development.
Lao Tzu advocates that Tao follows nature. Tao is the same as the flow of water, and it is the law of nature on the overall level. This is very consistent with Lao Tzu's "big system without cutting" thought. "The Great System does not cut" comes from the 28th chapter of Laozi's "Tao De Jing". The original text reads "Knowing his male, guarding his female, and being a river in the world... Pu San is a tool, and a saint uses it as a ruler, so big The system does not cut".
"Pu" is Tao. This sentence can be understood as a perfect person with complete knowledge and action, and the unity of knowledge and defense, and then use it as a tool. If you use this tool well, you will become an excellent leader. The Tao runs through the world, without distinction, so all behaviors and institutions that follow the Tao must also be connected and systematic.
In his important speech about the "Rendanheyi" business model, Zhang Ruimin emphasized that Haier should follow the "big system without cutting" thinking. "Big system without cutting" is the second core thinking of Zhang Ruimin's water management philosophy. The core is system thinking.
The "big system without cutting" reflects the connection and system thinking mode, which fits the objective reality of the rapid increase of information technology productivity and the dynamic complexity of production relations in the era of the Internet of Things.
"Big system without cutting" also forms the core thinking orientation of Haier's management practice system from the level of management philosophy. It is rooted in the fertile soil of oriental culture, based on a system view, and embodies the thinking of connection, integration and overall operation under the embedded complex environment attributes. The characteristics have opened up Haier's management logic in the era of the Internet of Things, expressing the management thinking that management practices are an organic whole and an ecosystem.
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The Theoretical Dimension of Zhang Ruimin's Water Management Philosophy
This article believes that Zhang Ruimin's water management philosophy is a systematic theoretical system with "goodness as water" as its ontology, "big system without separation" as its epistemology, and "variability, difficulty, simplicity" as its methodology.
In the preface to Stewart's "A Brief History of Management", Zhang Ruimin analyzed in detail the principles of "changing, not easy, and simple" in "The Book of Changes" and its application in Haier's management model. Among them:
Change means that management innovation must adhere to the times.
It is not easy to refer to human dignity and self-worth realization,
Simple refers to focusing on "value" to connect users and employees forever.
The "Three Changes" principle is the sum of the methods and tools used by Haier to understand the organization world and guide management practices. Therefore, this article refers to "changeable, difficult and simple" as the methodology of Zhang Ruimin's water management philosophy.
The picture above shows Zhang Ruimin's water management philosophy and its theoretical system is composed of three levels: Zhang Ruimin's water management philosophy, theoretical dimensions and management practice:
On the first level, Zhang Ruimin's water management philosophy, with "goodness as water" as its ontology, "big system without cutting" as its epistemology, and "variability, difficulty, and simplicity" as its methodology, provides a philosophical basis for theoretical dimensions and management practices. The methodology of “difficult and simple” runs through each theoretical dimension separately.
At the second level, based on the above constructions, this article extracts three theoretical dimensions with dynamic change power, co-playing self-driving power, and integrated transformation power as concepts. The three theoretical dimensions are embodied into agility and unboundedness, freedom and openness, connection and system. Three pairs of ways of thinking.
The dynamic change power reflects Haier's ability to adapt to innovation and breakthroughs in a dynamic environment, which is embodied in agile and boundless thinking that guides Haier to adapt to the times to carry out strategic transformation and borderless organizational changes;
The co-acting self-driving force reflects the self-driven ability of Haier employees and the evolutionary ability of co-creation, win-win, and symbiosis with external stakeholders, which is embodied in the free and open thinking mode that guides Haier to always insist on the constant value of human beings;
The integration and transformation power reflects Haier's ability to build an ecosystem through the Internet of Everything, which is embodied in Haier's ecological collaboration and system operation mode that always connects users and employees under the connection and system thinking mode. The three theoretical dimensions and their concrete way of thinking provide theoretical support for management practice.
At the third level, management practice is the ultimate realization of the above two levels, enabling the three pairs of thinking modes to be implemented in Haier's management practices such as strategy and organization, employee management and business model, and mental model.
This article is the first one on Zhang Ruimin's Water Management Philosophy and Theoretical System. Please look forward to the second article "Zhang Ruimin's Water Management Philosophy and Theoretical System Two: Smart and Unbounded, Free and Open, Connection and System"