Stephan is a Beijing-based graduate of Oberlin College doing translation and communications consulting work for non-profits and technology startups.
Recently two influential magazines boast cover stories on Huawei (SHE:002502) which bring to light the Chinese technology giant’s two contradictory public relations faces: a patriotic company defined by its founder and president, former PLA engineer Ren Zhengfei, faces inward to China, while the outside world sees a company moving to distance itself from those same military ties.
The inconsistency could later haunt Huawei’s public relations efforts in western markets.
The English-speaking world received a report back in June from The Economist which reveals that Huawei is beginning to take measures to quell suspicions of its military and political ties to assuage foreign governments and corporations. Huawei has allegedly “hired lobbyists and public-relations consultants, and assembled well-paid advisory bodies” in important markets to tell one story of Huawei: it is a private-sector firm run by an engineer who retired from the PLA twenty years ago without a military rank.
But the story may not be as compelling as the one being told in China’s domestic market.
This week the Chinese-language China Entrepreneur magazine boldly states “Ren Zhengfei is Huawei, Huawei is Ren Zhengfei.” The article, which focuses on Huawei’s “genetics,” touches on a two-week “military-style training” that is a part of each new Huawei recruit’s six-month training period. According to China Entrepreneur’s report, in order to keep Huawei’s “genes from being diluted,” the same new recruits are subject to a “special” human resources assessment. Results from the assessment are fitted against the results of assessments of current corporate leadership. Huawei, at least culturally, seems intent to stay true to its military beginnings, which is at odds with the message it is trying to promote to the rest of the world.
China Entrepreneur’s coverage ends with a monologue by Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group, that reflects on why he works at Huawei. He derides working solely for money, raves about the hard work of the nearly 70 year-old Ren Zhengfei, and ponders the importance of contributing to society. “How do you contribute to society?” Yu says, “Develop a company, create national income, create profits, create taxes, pay more taxes. That is contribution to society.”
One wonders if Ren Zhengfei’s ideas of contribution to society are as straightforward. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
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