Nelson Mandela, Turnaround Leader

Rosabeth M. Kanter; Euvin  Naidoo

Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2003

Nelson Mandela, Turnaround Leader

Abstract

Nelson Mandela was the first democratically elected president of South Africa. He had to shift the culture of a country after the end of the apartheid regime, which enforced separation of the races and stifled freedom of the press. He established more open dialogue, encouraged communication about past abuses without taking revenge, created new relationships among people, and focused on economic empowerment for the black majority. Data on South Africa's economic and social performance can be used to weigh the accomplishments of this leader and leadership style.

Keywords: Government and Politics; Governance; Policy; Political Elections; Culture; Communication Intention and Meaning; Relationships; Leadership Style; Welfare or Wellbeing; South Africa;

Format: Print

31 pages

Educators

Citation:

Kanter, Rosabeth M., and Euvin Naidoo. "Nelson Mandela, Turnaround Leader." Harvard Business School Case 304-035, September 2003.

Zhang Ruimin's change management efforts as CEO of Haier Group attempted to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in the digital Internet of Things age. His transformational initiatives involving micro-enterprises and platforms aimed to create an ecosystem that would help the Chinese company achieve zero distance between employees and users, making it fast, agile, and responsive. This Teaching Note helps instructors teach the Harvard Business School case, Haier: Incubating Entrepreneurs in a Chinese Giant, presenting analysis of the case and a teaching plan to guide classroom discussions.

In 2018, CEO Lowell McAdam led efforts to transform Verizon through digital innovation, media acquisitions and integration, and changes to the company culture. He sought to manage change at the company as growth in traditional areas slowed, and position it as a leader in a 5G world.

Case | HBS Case Collection | February 2018 (Revised April 2018)

Haier: Incubating Entrepreneurs in a Chinese Giant

Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Nancy Hua Dai

CEO Zhang Ruimin must plan how to accelerate the growth of self-managed micro-enterprises. Platforms were Haier’s business platforms operating in five major sectors: white goods transformation, investment and incubation, financial holdings, real estate, and cultural industry. Platform owners incubated micro-enterprises on their platforms with the resources Haier had, but they were not the supervisors of micro-enterprises. His goal was to tear down the walls between the organization, shortening the time the company took to respond to users’ needs, with the ultimate goal of “zero distance” between employees and users. Haier had engaged in a series of organizational changes since 2005, the most recent of which started in 2012. His latest experimentation was turning Haier into a platform for entrepreneurship. Employees and those outside Haier could set up micro-enterprises on Haier’s platforms. Zhang thought Haier was on the right track, but the model had to prove itself in practice. He set a timetable: the micro-enterprises must reach the tipping point by September 20, 2018, which meant the micro-enterprise would have become a platform to which all resource providers would flock and stay loyal. There was no precedent of transformation like this anywhere. Would Haier succeed? What could Haier do to push the micro-enterprises to get to the tipping point?

Keywords: China; microenterprise; entrepreneurship; appliances; platform; Change; innovation; leadership; Opportunities; Entrepreneurship; Market Platforms; Transformation; Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; China;

Citation:

Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, and Nancy Hua Dai. "Haier: Incubating Entrepreneurs in a Chinese Giant." Harvard Business School Case 318-104, February 2018. (Revised April 2018.) View Details

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Nelson Mandela, Turnaround Leader

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