From 1984, Haier has been truly disruptive. From smashing defective refrigerators and breaking up the organization to being recognized by BrandZTM as the world’s only ecosystem brand, Haier has taken concrete action in walking the talk of its inspirational Chairman and CEO Zhang Ruimin who believes, “There is no such thing as a successful company; there are only companies that move with the times.” The Haier leader was profoundly inspired by Peter Drucker’s idea of the “human-centered organization”. Drucker anticipated “almost every knowledge worker in an organization will either have to become a decision-maker himself or will at least have to be able to play an active, an intelligent, and an autonomous part in the decision-making process”.

Inspired by this wisdom, in 2005, Zhang Ruimin put forward the RDHY model. Haier was split into more than 4,000 microenterprises, self-organized around meeting clearly-defined user needs, and its organizational structure shifted from the traditional command-and-control bureaucracy into a matrix structure. It put user needs at the core and turned front-line employees into touchpoints for zero-distance engagement with users.