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6 - The Transformation of Huawei’s HR System

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2020

Xiaobo Wu ,
Johann Peter Murmann ,
Can Huang  and
Bin Guo
By
Hongqi Xu  and
Johann Peter Murmann
Xiaobo Wu
Affiliation:
Zhejiang University, China
Johann Peter Murmann
Affiliation:
Universität St Gallen, Switzerland
Can Huang
Affiliation:
Zhejiang University, China
Bin Guo
Affiliation:
Zhejiang University, China
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Summary

To facilitate its rapid growth over the past thirty years and build an increasingly capable management team and workforce, Huawei made substantial changes to its HR practices. As the number of employees increased, the firm faced different challenges in recruiting, developing, and motivating employees while broadening its geographic focus from China to all corners of the globe. To accurately describe the changes Huawei made to address these challenges, we divide the history of Huawei’s HR system into five distinct stages that we call (1) personnel management, (2) the beginning of human resource management, (3) strategic human resource management, (4) international human resource management, and (5)talent management. With the help of Western consulting firms, Huawei imported many Western HR practices and combined them with the Chinese tradition of cultivating a strong commitment to a large organization. Huawei also adapted Western ideas. For example, it required employees to pay for their own training costs at the company university.

Keywords

HuaweiTransformation of HR systemsPersonnel managementHuman resource managementStrategic human resource managementInternational human resource managementTalent managementHuawei UniversityWestern Practices
Type
Chapter
Information
The Management Transformation of Huawei
From Humble Beginnings to Global Leadership
 , pp. 209 - 243
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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References

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