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Communities of Leadership: Wang Jianzhou’s China Mobile
No comments · Posted by Scott in Case Studies
China Mobile (Wang Jianzhou, CEO) is the most valuable telecoms company in the world at $199.7 billion (Forbes Global 2000 listing). It claims (I don’t think anyone disputes this) that it is the largest telecom operator in the world in terms of customer base, with 522.3 million customers. It claims a 70% market share in China’s mobile telecoms market, with customer growth at 14% in 2009. Because of the size of its market, the growth rate of that market, and its market dominance, it is arguably the biggest gorilla in the room in the global telecoms market.
In its annual report, the company proudly reports that it was ranked number 1 in the China section of FinanceAsia’s “Asia’s Best Companies” survey 2009 in four categories — ”Best Managed Company”, “Best Corporate Governance”, “Best Corporate Social Responsibility” and “Most Committed to a Strong Dividend Policy”. The Company also
No surprise: the company is very China-centric in its business and management. All the senior officers are Chinese, many with experience in government ministries. It has four non-executive directors, one contributed from its alliance with Vodafone and three others who would appear to benefit from Chinese heritage and who have spent their careers dealing with Chinese and East Asian business.
China Mobile has this to say about its role in the world: “China Mobile believes that besides pursuing their own development, businesses are also responsible for assisting the poor and the disadvantaged in the society, allowing everyone to share in the fruits of the development of society.”
“In this regard, we have proactively taken actions to help the poor, the disadvantaged and those stricken with disaster. We have also donated funds to promote education, provided learning and development opportunities and actively developed society services to enrich the cultural and sporting aspects of the people.”
“Our goal is to create a healthy and positive social environment to procure the harmonious development of society.”
Reading the annual report, it was clear to me that the company is clearly focused on its role in the development of rural China. The company defines its strategic goal as “becoming a worldwide leader in the telecommunications world and achieving leapfrog evolution from excellence to preeminence”. It says that is core value proposition is “Responsibility Makes Perfection.” I found very little so far about the company’s internal management and leadership culture, but I look forward to learning more.
As one of the world’s true corporate, economic, and technological giants, it will be fascinating to see how China Mobile exerts its influence and builds the culture for its community of leadership.
The growing list of Interesting Communities of Leadership is at http://lovingwork.org/interesting-communities-of-leadership
Scott is scott@lovingwork.org and @scottdowns3 on Twitter.
China · China Mobile · community · culture · customers · emerging markets · innovation · leadership · people · service · sustainability
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