Lenovo
ORGANIZATIONAL DYNAMICS,
LEARNING FROM PRACTICE
Strategic Action at Lenovo*
Jerry Biediger
Tracy DeCicco Timothy Green
Greg Hoffman David Lei Karthik Mahadevan Jane Ojeda John Slocum Kyle Ward
* This research was sponsored by a grant from the OxyChem Corporation made to the Management and Organizations Department, Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University. Portions of this paper were discussed at the 21st Pan-Pacific Conference, Anchorage, Alaska, May, 2004. The authors would like to thank Anita Bhappu, Billie Boyd, Mel Fugate, Don Hellriegel, Peter Heslin, JoAnn Lan, and Ellen Jackofsky for their constructive comments on an early draft of this manuscript.
Please address all correspondence to:
Professor John Slocum
Cox School of Business
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, TX 75275-0333 jslocum@mail.cox.smu.edu. 214-768-3157
Executive Summary
Lenovo Group Limited is the largest information technology (IT) corporation in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). It has long dominated its home market in the manufacture of personal computers (PCs), and now harbors ambitions to enter other related electronics businesses on a global basis. Using the diamond business strategy model proposed by Hambrick and Fredrickson, we highlight how Lenovo crafted its business strategy to build and sustain its competitive advantage in PCs in Asia. Furthermore, we highlight some of the critical success factors that have enabled Lenovo to attain its competitive advantage over the past two decades in the Chinese market. In addition, we consider some actions that Lenovo may undertake in the next few years to build more enduring sources of competitive advantage as it strives to become a global powerhouse. The lessons that apply to Lenovo may also be instrumental to other Chinese companies seeking to design
LEARNING FROM PRACTICE
Strategic Action at Lenovo*
Jerry Biediger
Tracy DeCicco Timothy Green
Greg Hoffman David Lei Karthik Mahadevan Jane Ojeda John Slocum Kyle Ward
* This research was sponsored by a grant from the OxyChem Corporation made to the Management and Organizations Department, Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University. Portions of this paper were discussed at the 21st Pan-Pacific Conference, Anchorage, Alaska, May, 2004. The authors would like to thank Anita Bhappu, Billie Boyd, Mel Fugate, Don Hellriegel, Peter Heslin, JoAnn Lan, and Ellen Jackofsky for their constructive comments on an early draft of this manuscript.
Please address all correspondence to:
Professor John Slocum
Cox School of Business
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, TX 75275-0333 jslocum@mail.cox.smu.edu. 214-768-3157
Executive Summary
Lenovo Group Limited is the largest information technology (IT) corporation in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). It has long dominated its home market in the manufacture of personal computers (PCs), and now harbors ambitions to enter other related electronics businesses on a global basis. Using the diamond business strategy model proposed by Hambrick and Fredrickson, we highlight how Lenovo crafted its business strategy to build and sustain its competitive advantage in PCs in Asia. Furthermore, we highlight some of the critical success factors that have enabled Lenovo to attain its competitive advantage over the past two decades in the Chinese market. In addition, we consider some actions that Lenovo may undertake in the next few years to build more enduring sources of competitive advantage as it strives to become a global powerhouse. The lessons that apply to Lenovo may also be instrumental to other Chinese companies seeking to design