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2020 | Buch | 1. Auflage

Huawei Goes Global

Volume II: Regional, Geopolitical Perspectives and Crisis Management

herausgegeben von: Wenxian Zhang, Ilan Alon, Christoph Lattemann

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buchreihe : Palgrave Studies of Internationalization in Emerging Markets

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Über dieses Buch

Huawei Goes Global provides a much-needed, comprehensive, and scholarly examination of the business environment and the striving global operations of China’s technology giant. With theoretical research, case studies, data analysis, and empirical studies, this two-volume work tells a fascinating story of internationalization in an emerging economy. As one of the most powerful Chinese companies in the global economy, the largest global telecommunications-equipment producer and a leading consumer-electronics manufacturer, Huawei is a great example of the globalization of the Chinese enterprises in the twenty-first century.

In Volume I, scholars critically examine the rise of Huawei as a Chinese global enterprise from the political economy and public policy perspectives, as well as Huawei’s development strategies, innovations, and talent management. In Volume II, multiple authors carefully study the growth of Huawei from regional and geopolitical perspectives, and its corporate communication and crisis management.

Within the framework of the trade conflicts between China and the US, controversies over economic sanctions, intellectual-property disputes, and espionage and cyber security concerns, this groundbreaking work makes an important contribution to both academic literature and the ongoing public discourse on Huawei.

Volume I is available here: https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030475635

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter
1. Introduction
Abstract
Alon and colleagues introduce volume 2 of 2 edited books on Huawei, which is divided into 2 parts consisting of 16 chapters (including introduction and conclusion). Part I discusses the regional, economic, and geopolitical perspectives and consists of 10 chapters examining Huawei operations in Germany, Russia, Poland, Central and Eastern Europe, Canada, Mexico, Ghana, Southeast Asia, India, and Oceania. These diverse countries’ experiences provide a wide-angle view of the company operations globally. Part II discusses Huawei’s crisis management and corporate communications. The four chapters in Part II provide a deep dive case study of the role of legitimacy in government and media relations, organization learning, and stakeholder management. The last chapter discusses in detail the personal style of the company’s leader Ren Zhengfei.
Ilan Alon, Wenxian Zhang, Christoph Lattemann

The Regional, Economic, and Geopolitical Perspectives

Frontmatter
2. Market Entry Strategies of Huawei in Germany and the Russian Federation from a Network Theory Perspective
Abstract
The Chinese company Huawei has strengthened its global market presence during the last decade in Germany and the Russian Federation, among other countries. Russia recently moved into Huawei’s focus as a result of the economic sanctions launched by western countries. Through a comparative analysis, the market entry activities of Huawei in Russia and Germany are introduced and compared with the aim of figuring out the similarities and differences of Huawei’s networking efforts in the two countries. Particular attention is paid, through relationship lens, to identify the most important network actors (e.g., telecom provider, industry, and governmental authorities) for Huawei during the course of its international market entry in Germany and the Russian Federation. Research outcomes allow further conclusions for the future in terms of Huawei’s positioning in the global high-technology telecommunication industry network.
Mario Glowik
3. Huawei’s Growth Strategies and Challenges in Russia
Abstract
Convinced that Chinese companies could have a global influence, Ren Zhengfei, the founder of the telecommunications company Huawei, chose Russia as the first country for international expansion. In 1997, when its overseas office opened there, Russia was facing an economic crisis. Many domestic companies had slowed down their operations due to political and financial uncertainty. Huawei seized this opportunity and invested in Russia. However, initially it faced severe difficulties in attracting orders. Today, the Russian market is among the key priorities for Huawei. It has 11 offices, R&D and learning centers throughout the country, and is among the top three suppliers of smartphones. How did this company overcome the lack of presence and other difficulties? This chapter examines Huawei’s experience in doing business in Russia. In particular, it focuses on the growth strategies that Huawei adopted to facilitate its expansion and examines the challenges it faced in its quest to achieve the leading position in the market.
Tatyana Tsukanova
4. Crouching Tiger in a Transition Economy: Development of Huawei’s Operations in Poland
Abstract
The chapter discusses Huawei’s presence in Poland, with the company becoming a key player in the smartphone market and a critical provider of supercomputing infrastructure, using various tools of theoretical analysis (including theories on non-market strategy and on the relationship between internationalization strategies and the institutional framework). After presenting the specificity of the Polish market for digital consumer products and communication networks, the chapter depicts Huawei’s business activities and market position in Poland, including partnerships with industrial and scientific actors. Subsequently, the chapter offers an overview of legal developments, which are expected to influence the market dynamics. In particular, it considers the balance between security concerns of the Polish regulators and the openness and competitiveness of the market for 5G networks.
Krzysztof Klincewicz, Magdalena Marczewska, Laura Zoboli
5. Huawei in Central and Eastern Europe: Strategic Partner or Potential Threat?
Abstract
Szunomar and her coauthors analyze Huawei’s operations in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) by focusing on the company’s activities in Poland, Hungary, and Romania, as these three countries are among the most important European bases for Huawei in the CEE region. The chapter identifies the most important characteristics of Huawei’s operations, how it cooperates with host country institutions, relates to competitors and how employment relations look like. These questions will be examined by relying on firm-level data available from desk research and interviews with current and former Huawei managers. The chapter will also show CEE countries’ approach toward and engagement with the company before and after the Huawei security scandal. The authors examine how China, Huawei, and its growing presence are perceived by the media in the analyzed countries, by using media content analysis.
Agnes Szunomar, Joanna Karas, Iulia Monica Oehler-Sincai
6. Huawei in Canada: Doing Business in the Midst of Game of Thrones
Abstract
Scholars of business have long studied how government politics, as one group of exogenous macro-level factors, can influence cross-border firm strategies. This chapter investigates Huawei’s business in the U.S. and its close ally, Canada. Adopting a case study approach, the authors review the disruption of Huawei’s business in the U.S. and how this country’s growing pressures, epitomized by the arrest of the company’s CFO in Vancouver, impacted Huawei’s strategy in Canada. In contrast to what the conventional wisdom may suggest, the arrest did not lead to a defensive strategy by Huawei and to this date, the company aggressively preserved its business in Canada. Adopting the perspectives of strategic resources and non-market capabilities, the authors discuss business-politics dynamics of multinationals from developing countries in sensitive industries such as IT.
Hadi Chapardar, William X. Wei, Houssam Chamseddine
7. Huawei Mexico: Between the Construction of Upgrading and the Uncertainty Caused
Abstract
The presence of Huawei in Mexico is significant. It represents 2% of the global market of the company and is the HQ for part of Latin America. Its growth strategy has been aggressive: it has built assembly and logistics capacities for the region, R&D activities, a global call center and important participation in the shared network. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the growth and upgrading trajectory of Huawei Mexico is at a crossroads due to pressure from the Trump administration. The Huawei’s expectations of greater growth in Mexico seem to have been left behind, which has resulted in its new strategy. For instance, it has positioned its branch of devices in Mexico with a new subsidiary. Starting from the analytical perspective on the new innovative multinationals that should be reactive in changing national contexts, this chapter shows the organizational evolution of Huawei and points out the dilemmas of its future strategy.
Jorge Carrillo, Jordy Micheli
8. Assessing the Impact of the Huawei Brand on the Information Communication Technology Infrastructure of Ghana
Abstract
This chapter provides an empirically grounded assessment of Huawei’s contribution to the Ghana’s ICT (Information and Communication Technology) infrastructure and evaluates the performance of the Huawei brand on Ghana’s mobile phone market. Analysis of our field data suggests that, by far, Huawei is the largest foreign IT company with significant investments in Ghana’s total IT infrastructure managing and controlling the nation’s central datacenter. Within the mobile telephone market, Huawei phones are considered to be of high quality with its unique performance features. On the other hand, customers and potential customers of Huawei mobile phones consider its prices comparatively higher. Relevant stakeholders tend to deny fears of any negative consequences of the recent US sanctions against Huawei as far as the latter’s operations in Ghana is concerned.
Kwame Ohene Djan, Wilberforce Achiaw Owusu-Ansah
9. Huawei’s Carrier Business in Southeast Asia
Abstract
This chapter discusses Huawei’s carrier business in Southeast Asia, focusing on the 5G rollout in the region. The first part discusses the history of Huawei in Southeast Asia and explores how Huawei created a valuable partnership with telecommunication companies through low prices and excellent customer and community services. The second part discusses the possible repercussions of U.S. accusations of espionage and intellectual property theft on Huawei’s 5G business in Southeast Asia. Huawei is poised to capture the majority of the 5G market in Southeast Asia, except in Vietnam, where geopolitical disputes with China influence the country’s approach not to work with Huawei. The general outlook on Huawei’s 5G business in the region is favorable because it offers the most advanced and affordable 5G technology.
Sheryll Namingit, Serina Al Haddad
10. Huawei Goes to India: Can the Dragon and the Elephant Marry?
Abstract
Huawei is not yet a major player in India’s competitive smartphone market. The company has a low-end brand, called the “Honor” brand in India, and they expect that the Indian smartphone market will use Huawei brand for high-end devices. Both brands had a combined market share of 3.4 percent in 2018. Huawei, by the end of 2018, has chartered out a three-year plan for the Indian market through its dual-brand strategy, backed by investments of over $100 million starting from 2019 with an expansion of local manufacturing activities. Will this global telecom giant become a major player in India? The current chapter explores the issue in light of the Sino-India relationship and the alleged security issues related to Huawei.
Deepraj Mukherjee
11. Exemplar Partner or Controversial Outsider? Huawei’s Strategic Engagement in Oceania
Abstract
Huawei’s pioneering partnership with Oceania took a dramatic turn in 2018 as its business model is under critical scrutiny. This chapter seeks to examine Huawei’s strategic engagement in Oceania and the rationale behind its recent difficult situations. With an inter-subjective approach, it focuses on Huawei’s strategy and practice, and local partners’ interpretations of and responses to them. The chapter argues that the underlying cause of Huawei’s current difficulty in the region is the fundamental incongruity of values between Huawei and the West, intensified by geopolitical competition. While there is no easy way to resolve the structural problem of great power rivalry in the long term, this chapter suggests Huawei adopt some short- and mid-term tactics to mitigate the risk of getting trapped in geopolitical conflict.
Jake Lin

Huawei’s Crisis Management and Corporate Communication

Frontmatter
12. Untangling Legitimacy Complexity: Huawei’s Engagement with Government and Media
Abstract
Despite its phenomenal success in China and beyond, Huawei has encountered serious and prolonged legitimization challenges in some prominent Western countries. We explore a cross-border stakeholder engagement perspective and elaborate that Huawei has had trouble coping with the governments and media in developed Western countries due to its stakeholder engagement deficiencies and local negative national stereotyping it faces. We discuss some possible adaptation approaches such as negotiation and defensive strategies and conclude with scholarly and managerial implications.
Lei Li, Sunny Li Sun
13. Red Teaming Strategy: Huawei’s Organizational Learning and Resilience
Abstract
Red team refers to an imaginary enemy within an organization. With the “winter-is-coming” consciousness, Huawei established its Red Team in the 1990s. The Red Team of Huawei analyzes and imitates its major competitors. It also helps Huawei in learning from its industry peers and ensures Huawei operating robustly against a disturbing external environment. In this chapter, we use three examples to explain the functions and importance of Red teaming strategy in Huawei and discuss how Huawei implements red teaming strategy to promote organizational learning and resilience through the lens of ambidexterity and paradox management.
William Chongyang Zhou, Sunny Li Sun
14. Framing National Security Concerns in Mobile Telecommunication Infrastructure Debates: A Text Mining Study of Huawei
Abstract
Huawei, a major Chinese player in 5G mobile communication infrastructure and equipment, has caused many national security concerns among the Western countries. Using a computational framing approach, this study aims to examine how global news organizations frame Huawei. This study depends on a media corpus of 1527 articles from Nexis UNI (previously Lexis/Nexis Academic) database after using “Huawei” and “national security” as the keyword pair. Prominent key phrases include “national security,” “security concerns,” “security threat,” and “security fears” among non-Chinese media, while Chinese media focus on “trade war,” “Donald Trump,” and (the arrest) of Huawei’s CFO, “Meng Wanzhou.” Linear regression analyses also confirmed the positive relationship between a country’s animosity against China with how Huawei will be framed by news organizations. Increased animosity perceptions against China are found to be positively associated with more likely to frame Huawei with national security and security fear concerns.
Kenneth C. C. Yang, Yowei Kang
15. Image of Ren Zhengfei: Model Entrepreneur or an Agent of State Power?
Abstract
Niedenführ outlines how Ren Zhengfei, the enigmatic founder of Huawei, is represented in and outside China. Drawing on Chinese sources, such as biographies, media articles, and statements from Chinese entrepreneurs communicating through exclusive WeChat groups usually inaccessible to outside observers, Niedenführ finds that Ren appears in domestic discourse as a model entrepreneur and champion of Confucian values. Ren’s personal history and struggles in establishing and developing Huawei evoke sympathy from both the general public and his entrepreneur peers, who see his success as evidence of diligence and resilience. This contrasts starkly with Western media portrayals which rarely include discussion of Ren as a person, instead depicting him and his company as little more than constructions and agents of the Chinese state.
Matthias Niedenführ
16. Final Reflections: Connectivity, Innovation, Transformation, and Global Challenges
Abstract
Despite the beginning of the trade war between China and the U.S. in 2018, and despite Huawei’s competitive disadvantages in its globalization process, such as being a latecomer in the market, lack of technological leadership, and liability of foreignness with a negative country of origin image, within 30 years, Huawei managed to become a leading global provider of information and communications technology. Lattemann et al. summarize the discussions in the edited book on Huawei goes Global—with Vol. II studying the question how Huawei overcomes these challenges stemming from the institutional distances between China and the host country they are operating in. The authors show how latest International Business theories on firm-specific and home- and host-country-specific advantages and disadvantages can contribute to the discussion.
Christoph Lattemann, Ilan Alon, Wenxian Zhang
Backmatter
Metadaten
Titel
Huawei Goes Global
herausgegeben von
Wenxian Zhang
Ilan Alon
Christoph Lattemann
Copyright-Jahr
2020
Verlag
Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN
978-3-030-47579-6
Print ISBN
978-3-030-47578-9
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47579-6