Huawei bringing globalization and localization together

Huawei is striving to bring together globalization and localization and integrate best global resources to build a global value chain while helping local innovations to maximize their global value, according to its Deputy Chairman and Rotating CEO.

Ken Hu told the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Leader Dialog forum in Qingdao, China, on Friday that in today's business environment, where capital, goods, talents and knowledge move so fast across the globe, where information technologies are highly advanced, global companies and local companies are no longer two different types of businesses, but becoming one unified concept.

In order to extend global success to local markets, Huawei believes that any global company should understand the unique needs of each individual market and offer products and services that are tailored to respective market needs. On the other hand, in this highly-globalized economy, local culture, products and services can also be expanded globally in a much shorter timeframe. More and more local companies will have the potential to expand businesses globally.

"We believe globalization is not just about operations and investments. It is more about building a new business mentality; we need to treat the global markets as a single one. We need to build a global value chain just like what we do in an individual market and integrate best resources into the global value chain. This way, value created at any one point along the global value chain can be shared globally," said Hu.

At present, Huawei has 16 R&D centers in resource-rich locations, 28 joint-innovation centers and more than 40 professional competency centers around the world. Through these innovation centers and collaboration with partners globally, Huawei is transforming its value chain into a larger global innovation platform, enabling customers worldwide to leverage this platform and the latest innovations from all over the world in the shortest amount of time.

"We don't think localization is just about local hiring, local tax contribution, and localized products. Our view is that the next level of localization is about collaborating with the best local businesses in various disciplines and specialized fields, and integrating their innovation into our global value chain. By doing this, local innovation can be promoted and utilized globally, making local innovation truly valuable in the global ecosystem," he said.

Huawei is collaborating with many outstanding companies globally, and Huawei's products and solutions around the world have integrated the capabilities from these partners. Therefore, when Huawei's global business grows, the businesses of Huawei's partners grow as well. This kind of win-win partnership is exactly how Huawei can bring unique value as a global corporate citizen.

"Practicing 'glocalization' is the way for best companies to contribute more, and it is also the way for a country to better leverage its comparative advantages and benefit from a strong global value chain," said Hu.

"More importantly, behind these successful practices, there must be an open business philosophy that is deeply rooted in a company, and even in a nation," he said.