Haier sticks to disruptive innovation

Household appliance giant's chief calls for a shift of focus from selling products to creating user resources and experiences

Speculation has been rife after Haier Group, a major manufacturer of household appliances, announced in January its plan to buy General Electric's appliance business for $5.4 billion.

Mystery swirls around the future direction of the GE unit under the leadership of Zhang Ruimin, Haier's chairman and chief executive, who at the age of 67, is known for innovative ideas, such as dismantling a traditional corporate structure through building an open platform where staff can bring in their own ideas and resources to develop new products and services. Over the past decade, Haier has got rid of 10,000 middle-level managers, aiming to transform itself into an incubator for innovators.