華為崛起背後的重要力量：IBM
國
會批評者聲稱華為技術有限公司(Huawei Technologies Co.)依靠政府的扶持和剽竊過來的技術成了世界上第二大電信設備供應商。而這家中國公司的高管說﹐華為崛起的另一個至關重要的因素是：IBM。華為長期否認不良行為指控。但自從它在過去10年從無名小卒變成電信設備行業的一支強大力量以來﹐其所作所為便備受關注。
美國政府的擔憂在這個星期達到頂點。眾議院情報委員會的一份報告將華為定性為安全威脅﹐提醒美國電信公司不要跟它做生意。
華為曾用它與國際商業機器公司(International Business Machines Corp.﹐即IBM)等企業的關係來解釋自己的擴張。負責美國市場的高級副總裁丁少華(Charles Ding)今年早些時候接受採訪說﹐華為從1997年以來一直與IBM密切合作﹐IBM對華為的成功起到了至關重要的作用。丁少華說﹐沒有IBM﹐就不可能有今天的華為。
眾議院情報委員會的報告沒有說美國咨詢公司對於幫助華為從事受指控行為負有責任。IBM拒絕詳細討論它與華為的關係﹐只說它為全球成千上萬的客戶提供咨詢服務。
中國商務部週二說﹐報告結論沒有根據﹐可能損害中美關係。
據華為高管說法和公開文件﹐IBM向華為傳授了西方管理技術﹐並將自己的技術與華為的產品打包﹐幫助華為從本土角色成長為國際化大企業。IBM的咨詢師從20世紀90年代起跟華為合作﹐並繼續在重要行動中為它提供幫助。
2000年﹐兩家公司公佈聯合開發網絡設備的計劃。去年﹐IBM為華為向智能手機和平板電腦領域拓展提供咨詢。這方面業務約佔華為2011年收入的五分之一。
華為表示它還聘請過埃森哲(Accenture)、波士頓咨詢(Boston Consulting Group)、普華永道(PricewaterhouseCoopers)、美世(Mercer LLC)和合益集團(Hay Group)的咨詢師﹐過去五年為升級管理流程花了4億美元。
波士頓咨詢、美世和普華永道表示它們不談客戶關係。埃森哲和合益集團沒有回復置評請求。
總部位於巴黎、在33個國家開展業務的電信運營商法國電信(France Telecom SA)的首席執行長理查德(Stephane Richard)說﹐西方化的管理模式和客戶關係使華為成為一個強有力的競爭者。理查德說﹐華為在研發方面表現非常出色﹐而且擁有非常強大的管理團隊。
過去10年﹐在為產品和服務尋找快速增長市場的過程中﹐一些美國公司積極地把目光投向中國。但是﹐由於中國政府和商業活動緊密聯繫﹐跨國公司不得不面對一些艱難的選擇。
為了進入在中國看來對國家經濟至關重要的航空和汽車市場﹐通用電氣(General Electric Co.)和通用汽車(General Motors Co.)等公司不得不貢獻出寶貴的資產和技術。由於不願遵守中國的審查制度﹐谷歌將搜索和其他服務搬到香港﹐此後失去了一些市場份額。
華為的主要業務是銷售支持手機系統等電信網絡的設備。美國眾議院情報委員會擔心﹐中國的軍方可能會在這些設備上做手腳﹐從而干擾或是截獲美國的通訊內容。
華為曾多次否認與中國軍方有聯繫﹐並主動提出將其設備交由第三方檢查﹐但是這些指控一直難以被撼動。眾議院情報委員會在週一的報告中建議﹐美國政府和美國公司避免使用華為以及另一家中國供應商中興(ZTE Corp.)提供的設備。
今年以來﹐中美兩國的貿易關係一直呈緊張態勢﹐而該報告的發佈則讓這種緊張關係達到頂峰。中國在貿易上的做法已經成為美國總統奧巴馬(Barack Obama)和來自共和黨的挑戰者羅姆尼(Mitt Romney)在選戰中爭論的焦點。
在本週發佈的一則互聯網廣告中﹐奧巴馬競選團隊試圖通過羅姆尼曾經就職的公司貝恩資本(Bain Capital)﹐將羅姆尼與華為未能完成的一樁收購美國公司的交易聯繫起來。
中國政府週二發佈的聲明則是到目前為止針對美國國會報告的最強硬的回應。中國商務部發言人沈丹陽說﹐這份報告僅憑主觀臆測和不實依據﹐對中國進行無端指控。
美國白宮發言人海登(Caitlin Hayden)說﹐美國政府正在仔細研究這份報告﹐並且正在與電信業密切合作﹐以發現國家安全面臨的風險。
她說﹕我們有責任保持警覺﹐以確保我們國家安全方面的利益得到保護。
此事引發的政治辯論掩蓋了全球化業務的複雜性。在全球拓展業務的過程中﹐企業必須力求在各種利益間實現平衡。
丁少華說﹐在華為發展的早期﹐其創始人任正非聘請IBM幫助公司建立核心業務部門﹐包括研發、產品開發、供應鏈和財務管理。他說﹐當時IBM向華為派出了約200名顧問從事這些項目。
IBM當時正在首席執行長郭士納(Louis V. Gerstner)的領導下扭轉自身局面。郭士納的計劃核心是要將這家電腦公司轉變為一個全球服務巨頭。
而華為當時是數家業務重心為在農村地區銷售電話設備的中國公司之一。1998年﹐華為將業務擴大至中國的城市。在之後的兩年中﹐該公司在印度的班加羅爾和瑞典首都斯德哥爾摩設立了研究中心﹐這是IBM的經典手法﹐幫助華為拉近了與潛在新客戶的距離。
2000年9月﹐IBM宣佈與華為達成一項協議﹐以加快華為高性能網絡通訊系統的推出。根據該協議﹐IBM為華為的路由器和光纖傳輸系統提供了電腦芯片和其他成熟的技術。這兩家公司還合作進行研發﹐使雙方的技術能夠更緊密地結合在一起。
丁少華說﹐該協議幫助加快了華為的產品開發﹐並贏得了歐洲的訂單。2001年﹐華為贏得了與西班牙和德國電信提供商的首批合同。
2003年至2005年﹐華為成為全球電信設備市場的主要提供商之一﹐與愛立信(Ericsson)和阿爾卡特(Alcatel SA)等老牌公司競爭。阿爾卡特後來與朗訊(Lucent)合併。
華為與巴西、韓國、拉美和歐洲的主要電信運營商達成了交易。到2006年前﹐華為年收入為110億美元﹐其中國際銷售收入佔了65%。西方顧問如今正幫助華為向新的業務領域擴張。2010年﹐華為說﹐該公司與IBM和埃森哲合作﹐聯手設計一個旨在為電信提供商管理網絡的外包業務流程。這是一種日益增強的行業趨勢。
去年9月﹐華為聘請IBM的顧問為其新建立的手機業務提供品牌營銷方面的建議。手機業務是華為消費產品部門的一部分。去年華為實現銷售收入324億美元﹐其中消費產品佔了21%。
今年2月﹐在西班牙巴塞羅納舉辦的一個大型無線行業展會上﹐華為宣佈與IBM全球企業咨詢服務部(IBM Global Business Services)在中國建立戰略合作伙伴關係﹐以便開發使工人可以用移動設備收發電子郵件和獲取商業軟件的技術﹐這是企業界一個迅速增長的新型業務。
西班牙電信運營商Telefonica SA前高管希利(Trevor Healy)說﹐華為利用西方公司的現代管理技術﹐這將美國政府置於一個有些尷尬的處境之中。
希利說﹐你不能先是教別人如何嘗試做一件事﹐然後當別人真的嘗試時又抱怨個不停。他目前擔任無線廣告公司Amobee首席執行長。
SPENCER E. ANTE
Huawei's Ally: IBM
Congressional critics allege Huawei Technologies Co. relied on state support and stolen technology to become the world's second-largest provider of telecom equipment. Another factor has been crucial to Huawei's rise, say the Chinese company's executives: IBM.
Huawei has long denied claims of bad behavior. But its practices have risen to the fore since it emerged from obscurity in the past decade to become a potent force in the telecom-equipment business.
U.S. government concerns culminated this week in a report by the House intelligence committee that labeled the company a security threat and warned U.S. telecom companies against doing business with it.
Huawei has pointed to its relationships with companies like International Business Machines Corp. to explain its expansion. In an interview earlier this year, Huawei's senior vice president for the U.S., Charles Ding, said his company had worked closely with IBM since 1997, and that the U.S. company has played a key role in Huawei's success. Without IBM, Mr. Ding said, 'We could not have had the Huawei of today.'
In its report, the House panel absolved U.S. consulting companies of any responsibility for enabling Huawei's alleged practices. IBM declined to discuss its relationship with Huawei in detail, saying only that it provides consulting services for thousands of clients across the globe.
On Tuesday, China's commerce ministry said the report's conclusions were groundless and could hurt relations between China and the U.S.
IBM helped teach Huawei Western management techniques and packaged its technology with the Chinese company's products, helping Huawei evolve from a local player into a global competitor, according to Huawei executives and public documents. Its consultants have worked with Huawei since the late 1990s and continue to assist it with important initiatives.
In 2000, the companies announced a plan to jointly develop networking gear. Last year, IBM advised Huawei on its expansion into selling smartphones and tablets, which in 2011 accounted for about a fifth of the Chinese company's revenue.
Huawei says it also has hired consultants from Accenture, the Boston Consulting Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Mercer LLC and Hay Group, spending $400 million over the past five years to help upgrade its management processes.
Boston Consulting Group, Mercer and PricewaterhouseCoopers said they wouldn't discuss client relationships. Accenture and Hay Group didn't respond to requests for comment.
Stephane Richard, Chief Executive of France Telecom SA, a Paris-based telecom carrier with operations in 33 countries, said Western-style management and customer relations have made Huawei a tough competitor. 'They are quite impressive at research and development,' Mr. Richard said. 'They have very strong management.'
U.S. companies have aggressively targeted China over the past decade in search of fast-growing markets for their products and services. But close ties between the Chinese state and commercial activity have created some hard choices for multinational companies.
Companies such as General Electric Co. and General Motors Co. have had to contribute valuable assets and technology to participate in markets such as aviation and automobiles that China considers critical to its economy. Google Inc. lost market share after moving its Web- search and other services to Hong Kong to avoid complying with China's censorship policies.
Huawei's main business is selling the gear that keeps telecom networks like cellphone systems up and running. The House panel's fear is that China's military could tamper with that gear and use it to disrupt or intercept U.S. communications.
Huawei has repeatedly denied having ties to the military and has offered to open its gear to inspection by third parties, but the allegations have been hard to shake. In Monday's report, the House panel recommended that the U.S. government and U.S. companies avoid using equipment from Huawei or another Chinese supplier, ZTE Corp.
The report caps a year of strained trade relations between the two countries. China's trade practices have become an issue in the election race between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
In an Internet ad unveiled this week, the Obama campaign attempted to tie Mr. Romney─through his former buyout firm, Bain Capital─to a deal Huawei failed to complete to acquire a U.S. company.
China's statement Tuesday was its strongest yet about the congressional report. Shen Danyang, a spokesman for the commerce ministry, said the report was 'merely based on subjective conjecture and untrue foundations, and made groundless accusations against China.'
White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said the administration is reviewing the report, and is 'working closely with the telecommunications industry to identify national-security risks.'
'We are committed to being vigilant to ensure that our national security interests are protected,' she said.
The political debate obscures the complexities of globalized business, where companies have to juggle a variety of interests.
Early in Huawei's development, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei hired IBM for help setting up core functions, including research and development, product-development, supply-chain and financial management, Mr. Ding said. IBM sent around 200 consultants to the company to work on the projects, he said.
IBM was in the middle of its own turnaround under Chief Executive Louis V. Gerstner, whose plan centered on turning the computer company into a global-services giant.
Huawei, meanwhile, was one of several Chinese companies focused on selling phone equipment in rural areas. In 1998, iti expanded to China's cities. In the next two years, it established research centers in Bangalore, India, and in Stockholm, a classic IBM technique that helped Huawei get closer to potential new customers.
In September 2000, IBM announced an agreement with Huawei to 'accelerate the introduction of Huawei's high-performance network communication systems.' Under the deal, IBM provided computer chips and other sophisticated technology for Huawei's routers, and optical-transmission systems. The two companies also set up a joint R&D effort to make their technologies work more closely together.
The agreement helped to speed up Huawei's product development and win orders from Europe, Mr. Ding said. In 2001, Huawei won its first contracts with telecom providers in Spain and Germany.
Between 2003 and 2005, Huawei established itself as a top player in the global telecom-equipment market, competing against established incumbents such as Ericsson and Alcatel SA, which later merged with Lucent.
Huawei scored deals with major telecom operators in Brazil, South Korea, Latin America and Europe. By 2006, international sales represented 65% of the company's $11 billion in revenue. Western consultants are now helping Huawei expand into new lines of business. In 2010, Huawei said it teamed with IBM and Accenture to design an outsourcing business process aimed at managing networks for telecom providers, a growing industry trend.
Last September, Huawei hired consultants from IBM for advice on branding its nascent cellphone business, part of a consumer unit that accounted for 21% of the company's $32.4 billion in sales last year.
In February, at a big wireless-industry trade show in Barcelona, Huawei announced a strategic partnership with IBM Global Business Services in China to develop technology allowing workers to access email and business software over their mobile devices, a fast-growing new line of business in corporations.
Trevor Healy, a former executive at Spanish telecom operator Telefónica SA, said that Huawei's adoption of modern management techniques from Western companies puts the U.S. government in a slightly awkward position.
'You cannot teach people how to go to market and then complain when they go to market,' said Mr. Healy, now CEO of wireless advertising firm Amobee.
Huawei has long denied claims of bad behavior. But its practices have risen to the fore since it emerged from obscurity in the past decade to become a potent force in the telecom-equipment business.
U.S. government concerns culminated this week in a report by the House intelligence committee that labeled the company a security threat and warned U.S. telecom companies against doing business with it.
Huawei has pointed to its relationships with companies like International Business Machines Corp. to explain its expansion. In an interview earlier this year, Huawei's senior vice president for the U.S., Charles Ding, said his company had worked closely with IBM since 1997, and that the U.S. company has played a key role in Huawei's success. Without IBM, Mr. Ding said, 'We could not have had the Huawei of today.'
In its report, the House panel absolved U.S. consulting companies of any responsibility for enabling Huawei's alleged practices. IBM declined to discuss its relationship with Huawei in detail, saying only that it provides consulting services for thousands of clients across the globe.
On Tuesday, China's commerce ministry said the report's conclusions were groundless and could hurt relations between China and the U.S.
IBM helped teach Huawei Western management techniques and packaged its technology with the Chinese company's products, helping Huawei evolve from a local player into a global competitor, according to Huawei executives and public documents. Its consultants have worked with Huawei since the late 1990s and continue to assist it with important initiatives.
In 2000, the companies announced a plan to jointly develop networking gear. Last year, IBM advised Huawei on its expansion into selling smartphones and tablets, which in 2011 accounted for about a fifth of the Chinese company's revenue.
Huawei says it also has hired consultants from Accenture, the Boston Consulting Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Mercer LLC and Hay Group, spending $400 million over the past five years to help upgrade its management processes.
Boston Consulting Group, Mercer and PricewaterhouseCoopers said they wouldn't discuss client relationships. Accenture and Hay Group didn't respond to requests for comment.
Stephane Richard, Chief Executive of France Telecom SA, a Paris-based telecom carrier with operations in 33 countries, said Western-style management and customer relations have made Huawei a tough competitor. 'They are quite impressive at research and development,' Mr. Richard said. 'They have very strong management.'
U.S. companies have aggressively targeted China over the past decade in search of fast-growing markets for their products and services. But close ties between the Chinese state and commercial activity have created some hard choices for multinational companies.
Companies such as General Electric Co. and General Motors Co. have had to contribute valuable assets and technology to participate in markets such as aviation and automobiles that China considers critical to its economy. Google Inc. lost market share after moving its Web- search and other services to Hong Kong to avoid complying with China's censorship policies.
Huawei's main business is selling the gear that keeps telecom networks like cellphone systems up and running. The House panel's fear is that China's military could tamper with that gear and use it to disrupt or intercept U.S. communications.
Huawei has repeatedly denied having ties to the military and has offered to open its gear to inspection by third parties, but the allegations have been hard to shake. In Monday's report, the House panel recommended that the U.S. government and U.S. companies avoid using equipment from Huawei or another Chinese supplier, ZTE Corp.
The report caps a year of strained trade relations between the two countries. China's trade practices have become an issue in the election race between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
In an Internet ad unveiled this week, the Obama campaign attempted to tie Mr. Romney─through his former buyout firm, Bain Capital─to a deal Huawei failed to complete to acquire a U.S. company.
China's statement Tuesday was its strongest yet about the congressional report. Shen Danyang, a spokesman for the commerce ministry, said the report was 'merely based on subjective conjecture and untrue foundations, and made groundless accusations against China.'
White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said the administration is reviewing the report, and is 'working closely with the telecommunications industry to identify national-security risks.'
'We are committed to being vigilant to ensure that our national security interests are protected,' she said.
The political debate obscures the complexities of globalized business, where companies have to juggle a variety of interests.
Early in Huawei's development, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei hired IBM for help setting up core functions, including research and development, product-development, supply-chain and financial management, Mr. Ding said. IBM sent around 200 consultants to the company to work on the projects, he said.
IBM was in the middle of its own turnaround under Chief Executive Louis V. Gerstner, whose plan centered on turning the computer company into a global-services giant.
Huawei, meanwhile, was one of several Chinese companies focused on selling phone equipment in rural areas. In 1998, iti expanded to China's cities. In the next two years, it established research centers in Bangalore, India, and in Stockholm, a classic IBM technique that helped Huawei get closer to potential new customers.
In September 2000, IBM announced an agreement with Huawei to 'accelerate the introduction of Huawei's high-performance network communication systems.' Under the deal, IBM provided computer chips and other sophisticated technology for Huawei's routers, and optical-transmission systems. The two companies also set up a joint R&D effort to make their technologies work more closely together.
The agreement helped to speed up Huawei's product development and win orders from Europe, Mr. Ding said. In 2001, Huawei won its first contracts with telecom providers in Spain and Germany.
Between 2003 and 2005, Huawei established itself as a top player in the global telecom-equipment market, competing against established incumbents such as Ericsson and Alcatel SA, which later merged with Lucent.
Huawei scored deals with major telecom operators in Brazil, South Korea, Latin America and Europe. By 2006, international sales represented 65% of the company's $11 billion in revenue. Western consultants are now helping Huawei expand into new lines of business. In 2010, Huawei said it teamed with IBM and Accenture to design an outsourcing business process aimed at managing networks for telecom providers, a growing industry trend.
Last September, Huawei hired consultants from IBM for advice on branding its nascent cellphone business, part of a consumer unit that accounted for 21% of the company's $32.4 billion in sales last year.
In February, at a big wireless-industry trade show in Barcelona, Huawei announced a strategic partnership with IBM Global Business Services in China to develop technology allowing workers to access email and business software over their mobile devices, a fast-growing new line of business in corporations.
Trevor Healy, a former executive at Spanish telecom operator Telefónica SA, said that Huawei's adoption of modern management techniques from Western companies puts the U.S. government in a slightly awkward position.
'You cannot teach people how to go to market and then complain when they go to market,' said Mr. Healy, now CEO of wireless advertising firm Amobee.
沒有留言:
張貼留言