Huawei's Entrepreneurship And Innovation Essay.

Organizational characteristics of Huawei

Discuss about the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Strategies.

In today’s world, startup culture has acquired a special position in the market. The achievements of the startups in the various domains fill the newspapers daily (Enterprise Innovation | Asia's Premier Business and Technology Publication 2016). The current global players have tried to imitate the startup culture in their industries in the hope of being a part of the current market. In order to stay strong in the arena, the companies have started taking innovative startups under their wings and getting the chance to be a part of the innovation rather than becoming impeded by it (Enterprise Innovation | Asia's Premier Business and Technology Publication 2016).

Huawei is Chinese multinational Telecommunications Company which has been manufacturing mobile phones since the year 1997 (Sarayreh et al. 2013). Recently, the company has joined hands with a popular photography company named Leica to manufacture phones with excellent camera. Leica is a premium manufacturer of exceptional cameras with its area of expertise being the pioneering construction of lens. These two iconic companies have come together with their innovative technologies to bring forth cameras that would create a revolution in the world of smart phones (En.leica-camera.com 2016).

Huawei generally describes itself as the “collective” company meaning that the employees were the shareholders in the company (Fortune.com 2016). The founder of Huawei is Mr. Ren Zhengfei who was a veteran of the China’s Liberation Army. His company was practically unknown in the telecommunication market which was ruled by global players like Samsung and Nokia. From such a humble beginning, rose a brand which is now known all over the world as a leading smart phone manufacturer (Zhu and Jones 2014).

The foremost factor in the rise of the company is its response towards change (Cameron and Green 2015). In a relentlessly changing market, Huawei decided to step up with the needs of the customers and came forward with the smart phones that were demand in the market (Zhu and Jones 2014). The journey began with the imitation of the current models of smart phones. However, the organization was ready to embrace change and recreated their mobiles. The company used to make feature phones in the beginning; in a few years the company started making smart phones and achieved success (Zhu and Jones 2014).

Another factor that went behind the success of the brand was its work culture (Business News Daily 2016). In the company the employees are given a special status, as mentioned above. The employers make sure that the workforce is not neglected which in turn has helped in gaining the loyalty and dedication of the employees (Business.qld.gov.au 2016). The company also started making long term plans for fulfilling their visions and goals (Johnston and Bate 2013). While other companies started making plans on an annual or quarterly basis, the Huawei made plans on a 10 year basis (Harvard Business Review 2015).

Strategic approach analysis

As discussed in the previous section, the Huawei Company has worked towards a prospective future with the help of its dedicated workforce as well as the innovative strategies adopted by the management (Consumer.huawei.com 2016). Ren Zhengfei has reacted positively and prudently to the globalization of the Chinese enterprises. The company has made effort to meet the international demands with its innovative supplies and this has resulted in placing Huawei in one of the sought after brands in the global market or smart phones (English.ckgsb.edu.cn 2016).   

The Huawei Company occupies the third position in the smart phones sales coming just after Apple and Samsung. In Europe it has beaten HTC and Sony in the market share which again shows the supremacy of the brand (Huawei Europe 2015). One of the effective strategies adopted by the Company is its marketing strategy which has enabled it to reign in the market. Huawei has focused on meeting the demands of the customers and providing the best after sales service. Huawei was able to follow the current trend and hence emerged as a winner in the digital market (Theconversation.com 2016).  Huawei was able to make the changes at the appropriate time and hence it was able to connect to the changing needs of the customers.

Innovative strategies could be discerned in the article How Startup Culture is Changing Innovation Strategies at Enterprises by Gareth Wilson. One of the strategies state the growing importance of startup culture in today’s market  (Enterprise Innovation | Asia's Premier Business and Technology Publication, 2016). The Silicon Valley provides many instances where a startup company has brought about ripples in the market by introducing a disruptive innovation. Hence the big players have started adapting workup culture to attract the best talents in the industry and be a part of the change (Burke 2015).  Secondly, the author states that being in touch with the latest innovations also helps in meeting the demands of the customers (Enterprise Innovation | Asia's Premier Business and Technology Publication, 2016). Huawei is a perfect example of this merging with the latest technology by associating with Leica, one of the best manufacturers of the cameras. Another effective strategy could be encouraging creativity and innovations of the workforce. Companies like Google have taken out time and place for the staff when they can innovate on their own which will in turn prove to be profitable for the Company (Enterprise Innovation | Asia's Premier Business and Technology Publication, 2016).

Plans for strategies

Huawei Company Plan for creating and/or sustaining an Innovative Environment

Strategies	Program	Activities	Tasks	Resource Allocation
Strategy 1	Adaptation of startup culture	·         Free exchange of ideas. ·         Making the vision of the founder the goal of every employee. ·         Good communication (both vertical and horizontal) ·         Mutual respect.	·         Conducting workshops in the company. ·         Rewarding staff on doing a good job. ·         Regular meetings and seminars.	·         Requisite money ·         Requisite manpower
Strategy 2	Being in touch with the latest innovations..	·         To be informed of the latest technology	·         Regular surveying of the market. ·         Keeping contact with the startup companies manufacturing related products.	·         Requisite equipments. ·         Research and Development department. ·         Expert analysts.
Strategy 3	Encouraging creativity and innovations.	·         To bring out the latent creativity of the workforce and profit by it.	·         To keep a separate time and space for the employees to experiment. ·         To hold workshops for encouraging the employees.	·         A separate space allocated for the experimentations. ·         Requisite money.

Whenever a company needs to increase or sustain its innovative strategy, it needs to employ certain innovative business strategies. Hence, the Company needs to have a deep understanding of the needs and demands of the customers, the current scenario of the market and the present position and status of the rivals in the business. On the basis of the information collected, the Company can frame a business strategy to maintain its sustainable innovative environment.

The chosen Company, that is, Huawei, has been a master of change. It has quickly adapted itself to the changing environment so that it would not lag behind its digital rivals. However, the dynamics of the market is such that it keeps changing with every new product with the latest features and technology launched by the various Companies. In the ongoing digital revolution, Huawei needs to make use of the current demands for the latest technology like 5G and cloud computing.

The current trend of the market shows that the demand for wearable gadgets has increased. The customers are not just engaged with traditional desktops and mobile phones. Hence, global players like Apple and Samsung have come forth with smart watches and fitness watches. Huawei should also follow the trend and launch similar products with additional exclusive features to increase its sales.

In case of looks and display of the mobile phones also, the market has seen a vast change. The earliest phones were bulky in shape and then the trend changed to smaller handsets. However, with changing times, the smaller handsets changed to phones with bigger displays. This shows that the trends change from time to time and Huawei should move on with the market.

The advent of newer and better applications has made the customers more addicted to the internet. The customer’s usage of the mobile phones increased in leaps and bounds and hence it has led to higher drainage of battery. The companies are, therefore, struggling to come up with batteries with greater mAh capacity to enable the phones to last longer. Even the wireless charging technologies are developing to keep up with the latest technologies in handsets. The customers feel more comfortable when they have to just keep their phones on a charging pad for charging their handsets. Huawei should also keep these new inventions in note and come up with such charging pads of their own.

Network connectivity is also a big issue in today’s world. The change from 3G to 4G was quicker thn the transition from 2G to 3G. It would come as no surprise that 5G network would soon be seen coming round the corner and capturing the market. Hence, the smart phone market should upgrade its mobiles accordingly so that the handsets are compatible with the latest network. Huawei should keep track of the recent developments in the market and improve its smart phones and other wearable. 

Recommendations

Cloud computing is another feature which is gaining popularity in the market. Previously, cloud computing meant nothing to the common people and it was a concept that was a point of discussion for the geeks. Conversely, the customers are more interested in cloud computing as it has become a suitable answer to the problems of backup. Huawei should keep the provision for the cloud computing to keep its customer base strong.

The after sales service provided by the companies of the mobile phones also determines the mentality of the customers towards them. The Companies are trying their best to improve their relationships with the customers to gain their loyalty. Huawei should also not limit itself to giving best experience for the customers during the sales. In order to increase the customer base of trhe customer Huawei should also provide best after sales experience to ensure that they return to buy new products of the company and also recommend Huawei handsets to their friends and relatives.

The current market trends have seen a surge in the demand for tablets and phablets. Phablets are a cross between smart phones and tablets with 5-inch display or more. These phablets provide the best experience of both a smart phone and a tablet. Global brands have created varieties of phablets to meet the demands of the customers. Huawei should also come out with its range of phablets with new features so that it can also have its share in the market for phablets.

References:

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En.leica-camera.com. 2016. HUAWEI and Leica Camera announce long-term technology partnership for the reinvention of smartphone photography // Press Releases 2016 // Press Releases // Press Centre // Company - Leica Camera AG. [online] Available at: https://en.leica-camera.com/Company/Press-Centre/Press-Releases/Press-Releases-2016/Press-Release-HUAWEI-and-Leica-Camera-announce-long-term-technology-partnership-for-the-reinvention-of-smartphone-photography [Accessed 3 Sep. 2016].

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Fortune.com. 2016. Huawei’s Guo Ping on his company’s unusual governance structure. [online] Available at: https://fortune.com/2013/02/28/huaweis-guo-ping-on-his-companys-unusual-governance-structure/ [Accessed 3 Sep. 2016].

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Sarayreh, B.H., Khudair, H. and Barakat, E.A., 2013. Comparative study: The Kurt Lewin of change management. International Journal of Computer and Information Technology, 2(4), pp.626-629.

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