Bridging the Cross-Cultural Transformational Li (Distance Measure) at Huawei Technology India Private Limited

The rapid growth of Information Technology (IT) globally fuelled by innovation and customer demands propelled companies to globalize. India witnessed several global technology giants thriving on Indian soils during this phase and Huawei Technology India Pvt. Ltd. (HTIPL) was one such. Huawei entered India in 1999 to set up a software R&D center and take advantage of the availability of skilled IT professionals and the potentially high evolving telecom market. Indian engineers who had built a reputation for being technically superior in software and quality process skills were to be HTIPL’s cash cow. Huawei’s strategy was to combine the strengths of Indian engineers with that of the Chinese hardware design and system integration. Being new to India, attracting and retaining talent was a challenge especially in the initial start up stage and once the initial stage of hiring people was crossed grooming talent was an equally daunting task. Though most of the HR functions like training, performance management, employee relations and compensations were fairly similar to that of most of the other MNC’s in India, HTIPL had unique practices which set it apart in establishing the organization as one that created and sustained a high performance work culture. The case is set in 2007-2008 when a transformation to reorganize and align with China’s HR practices and culture was to be designed and implemented and rolled out at HTIPL in India.