WAHAHA GROUP'S MANAGEMENT INNOVATION
Dr. Fangqi Xu (Kinki University, Japan, fangqijo@yahoo.co.jp)
Dr. William R. Nash (Texas A&M University, wnash8@gmail.com)
ABSTRACT
The Wahaha group is the No.1 maker of soft drinks in China and was founded by Zong Qinghou
in 1987. Wahaha did not have any capital for business registration at the time. Thus, they borrowed
140,000 RMB (about US$21,000) from the local government agency for registration and started their
business of consignment sale. The main goods were notebook, pencil, and ice-lolly.
The Wahaha group has experienced prodigious expansion and reported a sales volume of 43.2
billion RMB (US$6.54 billion) in 2010 and continuously kept its position in China. Why did the company
achieve its growth so rapidly? This paper attempts to answer that question and was written based on
literature research and an interview ZLWK=RQJ7KHDXWKRUVFRQFOXGHDQGH[SODLQ:DKDKD¶V success
from the perspective of management innovation, including innovations of product development,
marketing, and managerial method.
1. Who is Zong Qinghou?
=RQJ4LQJKRXZDVHPSOR\HGLQWKH¶VE\Hangzhou Gongnong, which was a small
factory that produced cardboard boxes. It was established by a local government agency (the
Department of Education, Shangcheng District, Hangzhou City), but the management of the
factory was not effective. Thus, the local government agency decided to introduce a new
management approach in the spring of 1987, which was named the Contract and
Responsibility System. Any employee could contract with the factory to generate money
each year for the factory based on his/her work/sales endeavors, even if he/she undertook
through contractual agreement to achieve a fixed sum every year. This would then allow the
contractor to legally keep any surplus, i.e., any amount over the predetermined fixed sum. In
effect, this system resulted in a competitive approach for promotion with regard to factory
management, and Zong Qinghou, was granted the power of management the first year,
because he undertook to return 100,000 RMB (US$15,000), an amount of money that was
larger than any other offer (Luo, 2008).
Zong was 42 old at the time and did not have a strong educational background. He had
to work away from home because of poverty when he finished a middle school in 1963. He
had been working hard on farms almost every day, but he was unable to save any money
GXHWROLYLQJFRVW$JRYHUQPHQWSROLF\ZKLFKIRUFHGVFKRROµGURS-RXWV¶ZKRZHUHOLYLQJLQD
city to go to a rural area and live by self-sufficiency, had been enforced from the end of the
¶VWRWKHEHJLQQLQJRIWKH¶V,WZDVFDOOHGWKHµ;LDIDQJ3ROLF\¶LQ&KLQHVH%HFDXVH
of it, about 20 million young people went to rural areas, and Zong was one of them. However,
in 1978 Deng Xiaoping became a very strong political leader in China, without ever holding
any official state office, and through his strength of reputation and his vision to help China
PRYH WR D PDUNHW HFRQRP\ WKH µVR-FDOOHG¶ *UHDW &XOWXUDO 5HYROXWLRQ -1976) ended.
142
2QHSROLF\FKDQJHWKDWHPHUJHGWKURXJKKLVHIIRUWVDOORZHGWKHVFKRROµGURS-RXWV¶ZKRKDG
been forced to move to rural areas, to return to their hometowns. Zong came back to
Hangzhou after 15 years. He was very responsible in work and quite ambitious and never
passed up any opportunity (Gao, 2004).
Following his experience with the cardboard box factory, Zong borrowed 140,000 RMB
(US$21,000) from the local government agency for registration and started a business of
consignment sales. Having no subordinates, other than two retired persons, he had to do
everything himself, not only stocking goods, but also delivering them to customers, although
he was the manager. As Zong sold notebooks, pencils, and ice-lolly to elementary schools,
the rate of profit was very low. However, he worked hard every day and cut down on
expenses. The result of his endeavors became apparent after 9 months, and Mr. Zong
received 170,000 RMB (US$25,700), excluding his undertaking of 100,000 RMB (Luo, 2008).
7KHODWHUSURJUHVVLRQRI=RQJ¶VEXVLQHVVDFWLYLWLHVLQFOXGHGPDQ\FULVHVDQGIDLOXUHV)RU
example, the development of a medicinal drink and packaged foods both failed. A legal
quarrel with DANONE educated him regarding the risk of a joint enterprise with a global
giant. After this lesson, he turned his attention to his own endeavors, persisted, and
eventually achieved great success that resulted in him being listed in Forbes (March 29,
2010) as the No.1 millionaire on the Chinese mainland and with an estimated his property
value of US$7 billion.
2. What is Wahaha?
In 1988, Zong introduced a manufacturing line that produced a nutrient for children. He
placed an advertisement on Hangzhou Daily, in order to identify a good name for the goods.
As a result of this endeavor, the name of Wahaha was chosen by Zong. It means a laughing
YRLFHLQ&KLQHVHDQGLVNQRZQZLGHO\DVDWLWOHRIDFKLOGUHQ¶VVRQJ7KXV=RQJQDPHGWKH
goods as Wahaha Children Nutrient and registered a series of trademarks (Luo, 2008). Due
to an effect the goods had on increasing appetite, parents wanted their children to drink it,
and the nutrient products became an instantaneous hit. Zong then changed the company
name to Hangzhou Wahaha Children Nutrient in 1989, and it was the first unification of the
name and the trademark (Zuo & Liu, 2008). However, there was a limit in production facilities
for expansion, and market demand had been increasing every day. Thus, Zong searched for
an opportunity for M&A.
At the same time, Hangzhou Canned Foods, which was a state-owned company, had
been suffering from deficit operation. It was a bigger company than Wahaha and was
authorized by the Chinese Government as one of the exporters in the canned foods industry.
Due to its failing operation, the Government of Hangzhou City decided to force the company
to go bankrupt or sell off. Zong decided to take over the company for the purchase price of
143
80 million RMB (US$12 million). In the end, it became one of the unusual cases of a small
fish (Wahaha only had 200 employees) eating a big fish (Canned Foods had 2200
employees) in the business history of China. After that, Wahaha Group was abbreviated to
Wahaha and was officially born in 1991 (Zuo & Liu, 2008).
$VLQGLFDWHGDERYH:DKDKD¶VKLVWRU\ZDVWKDWRIDVWDWH-owned company, but several
years later, Zong and WAES (Wahaha Association of Employee Stock-ownership) bought a
great deal of stock back from the Shangcheng District. Now, the composition of stock
ownership is as follows: Shangcheng District has 46 percent; Zong, 29.8 percent; and
WAES, 24.2 percent (F. Xu, personal communication, March 30, 2010). While the district is
the largest stockholder, basically 54 percent is private capital versus 46 percent, national
capital. Also, Zong and WAES have established a number of companies thus far. Such
companies do not include any governmental funds. Therefore, Wahaha Group is a private
company now.
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$FFRUGLQJWRRXU UHVHDUFK:DKDKD¶V PDQDJHPHQW LQQRYDWLRQ FRQVLVWV PDLQO\ RI WKUHH
branches, i.e., product development innovation, marketing innovation, and managerial
method innovation. The details, as we interpret them, are below.
A. Product development innovation
:KHQ:DKDKDZDVDVPDOOFRPSDQ\LWPDLQO\WDUJHWHGFRPSHWLWRU¶VJRRGVDQGDGGHG
some ideas for improvement. For example, a competitor developed a new milk drink, which
became a hit. Wahaha added vitamin A and vitamin B to it and identified it as nourishing
PLON,QWKHHQG:DKDKD¶VVDOHVYROXPHZDVODUJHUWKDQWKHFRPSHWLWRU¶V,QQHJDWLYHWHUPV
ZHPD\EDVLFDOO\FDOOLWµLPLWDWLRQ¶ However, if the product did only simple imitation, it would
never have become a hit. Making additions to the product and including the popularity of the
Wahaha name provided qualities that emphasized the notion of imitation with modification.
Since this aVSHFWRI LQQRYDWLRQ EXLOWRQ DFRPSHWLWRU¶V DFWLRQ =RQJ ODEHOHG LWDV ³)ROORZLQJ
7\SH,QQRYDWLRQ´;X
When Wahaha became a medium sized company, they had been doing what they
LGHQWLILHGDVµLQQRYDWLRQE\LPSRUWDWLRQ¶LQFOXGLQJWKDWRIQHZWHFKQROogy and equipment. For
example, when a competitor developed a mineral water from mountain springs and
advertised the characteristics of natural water, Wahaha developed Chunjing Water by using
the newest manufacturing facility and measurement instruments, and advertised the quality
of the water. In Chinese, the word of Chunjing means water that is pure and clean. Now,
Wahaha has the top consumer share in the water market in China. According to Zong, such
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144
In UHFHQW \HDUV:DKDKDKDV EHHQ GRLQJ µRULJLQDO LQQRYDWLRQ¶ E\ WKHPVHOYHV PHDQLQJ
WKDW WKH\ ZDQW WR GHYHORS JRRGV WKDW GR QRW \HW H[LVW LQ WKH ZRUOG )RU H[DPSOH ³1XWUL([SUHVV´DPL[WXUHRIIUXLWMXLFHDQGPLONLVDJRRGFDVH7KLVSURGXFWKDVQRZEHFRPe one
of their best sellers. The sales volume was 9 billion RMB (US$1.36 billion) in 2009. Zong
H[SODLQHGVXFKLQQRYDWLRQLV³2ULJLQDO7\SH,QQRYDWLRQ´;X
Underlying these three types of innovation are two basic characteristics of Wahaha
product development. One involves starting from a simple case and gradually building
upward to higher levels of difficulty. The other focuses on meeting the demands of
consumers, i.e., innovations do not always use high levels of technology, but always attempt
to gUDWLI\WKHLUFXVWRPHUV¶WKLUVWIRUQHZJRRGV
B. Marketing innovation
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In the middle of the 1980s, local makers entered the cola market one after another.
There were many brands of cola in China, such as Tenfu Cola, Shaolin Cola, Happy Cola,
etc. But, once the two cola giants, Coca Cola and PepsiCo, started to counter-attack, the
local cola brands were soon driven out of the cola market. The same eventuality may be
found in many countries around the world. Consumers naturally associate Coca Cola and
3HSVL&R ZLWK WKH ZRUG µFROD¶ ,Q IDFWIRU WKHVH WZR FROD JLDQWV WKHUH KDYHQRWEHHQ PDQ\
competitors anywhere, if any at all, who have achieved success without some sort of cooperator or partnership arrangement.
It was big news in China when Zong decided to enter the cola market. Everyone who
knew the cola history opposed his decision, because Coca Cola and PepsiCo seemed too
powerful. But Zong did not alter his intention. His competitive strategy became WKDWRIµIDUP
DUHDV DQG VPDOO WRZQV VXUURXQG FLWLHV¶ ZKLFK VRPH PLJKW WUDFH WR WKH WKLQNLQJ RI 0DR
=HGRQJGXULQJ&KLQD¶VJXHUULOODDJH:DQJ0DRZDVWKHILUVWSUHVLGHQWRIVRFLDOLVP
LQ&KLQDDQGLPSOHPHQWHGDµUXUDODQGVPDOOWRZQ¶SROLF\WKDWUHflected his strategic thinking.
In market economy terms that was developed in later years, this strategy might suggest that
a new cola company should not try to compete initially with Coca Cola and
PepsiCo giants in the big cities, but, rather should focus on servicing the
vast farm areas and small town, and then to attack big cities after building a
consumer base in areas near the big cities.
Wahaha developed a cola with more Chinese characteristics, in order to
meet the needs of customers who live in farm area and small towns. For
example, it contained more sweetness than general cola, and was initiated
with a sale price about 10% cheaper than Coca Cola and PepsiCo. They
145
started promotion on a large scale through TV commercials, newspaper advertisements, and
so on.
7KURXJKDWWHQWLYHVXSHUYLVLRQDQGPDVVSURPRWLRQ=RQJ¶VVWUDWHJ\VXFFHHGHGFRQWUDU\
WRDORWRISHRSOH¶VH[SHFWDWLRQ:DKDKDSXWLWV)XWXUH&RODSKRWRRQVDOHLQDQGWKH\
gained a 14% share of the cola market in China by 2001, although Coca Cola and PepsiCo
had 42% and 23% share in the same year (Bagchi, 2009). While this ratio has not changed
JUHDWO\RYHUVXEVHTXHQW\HDUVLWLVVWLOODQLQGLFDWRURI=RQJ¶VYLVLRQDQGVWUDWHJLFSODQQLQJ
Moreover, this innovative business venture demonstrates a very important concept of
differentiation, which was developed by Professor Michael E. Porter of the Harvard Business
6FKRROLQWKH8QLWHG6WDWHVRI$PHULFD3RUWHU,IZHLQWHUSUHW:DKDKD¶VFRPSHWLWLYH
strategy in terms of Professor PorteU¶V FRQFHSWXDOL]DWLRQ :DKDKD¶V DFWLYLWLHV FOHDUO\
demonstrated that they used differentiation strategy. Concretely, their differentiation strategy
included five factors:
1) Differentiation of area
Coca Cola and PepsiCo focused on big cities, but Wahaha targeted farm areas and
small towns, where about 70% of the Chinese people live, providing the potential of a much
large market.
2) Differentiation of customer
Coca Cola and PepsiCo appealed to white-collar customers living in bigger cities, while
Wahaha sought to appeal to blue-collar workers, as well as the common people living in farm
areas and small cities.
3) Differentiation of taste
Coca Cola and PepsiCo used their traditional taste recipe as they expanded globally, but
Wahaha developed a cola with Chinese taste characteristics.
4) Differentiation of price
There are no differences in price between Coca Cola and PepsiCo, but Wahaha Future
Cola is cheaper of 10% than them.
5) Differentiation of advertising medium
&RFD &ROD DQG 3HSVL&R SULPDULO\ XVH HDFK FLW\¶V DGYHUWLVLQg medium, i.e., local TV,
radio, and newspapers, because of most people who are live in cities do not watch National
TV. However, Wahaha uses mainly National TV for advertising, which is popular in rural
areas and small cities.
C. Managerial method innovation
:DKDKD¶V PDQDJHPHQW LQQRYDWLRQ VRPHWLPHV DSSHDUV DV QRW RQO\ SURGXFW
development, but also management methodology. For example, it is a very difficult in China
for a product production company to collect accounts receivable. Wahaha had tackled the
146
problem without exception, and their accounts receivable remain at almost zero. How was
this achieved?
In fact, Zong had been troubled by it for several years after he started the business. So,
he decided to solve the problem fundamentally through quality and trust. He paid much
attention to quality improvement and made sure quality was up to both national standards
and ISO standards. At the same time, he visited a lot of dealers and proposed mutual trade
principles, making it necessary for the dealer to pay a percentage in advance. The amount of
money is about 10% of expected turnover in one year. Once the payment was confirmed,
Wahaha ships the goods quickly. As for his part of the trade agreement, Zong guarantees
WKHGHDOHU¶VSURILW1HHGOHVVWRVD\LWLVDOPRst impossible for the dealer not to trust Zong.
Swindlers do appear anywhere in China. For example, in one instance a dealer paid in
advance to a company, but the company disappears suddenly after receiving the advance
payment. Such risks exist, but Zong never compromises and held fast to own consent. Only
a few dealers believed him at the start. But now, Wahaha has over 2,000 primary dealers
and the number has been increasing every year in China (Li & Zou, 2009). Competitors have
attempted to introduce the same method, but it has not gone well. Why? Apparently, they
were unable to develop a trustful relationship, as did Zong. Personal contact and years of
business relationships have helped him develop a reputation based on his integrity.
Also, we can providH DQRWKHU FDVH WR H[SODLQ :DKDKD¶V LQQRYDWLRQ RI PDQDJHPHQW
PHWKRGRORJ\)RUH[DPSOHWKHUHLVQRWDµYLFHSRVLWLRQ¶LQ:DKDKD=RQJLV&KDLUPDQDQG
President. Nobody has been appointed to vice chairman or vice president thus far. The mass
media often considers Zong to be a despot and are sometimes critical of him. However, Zong
has stated that:
Why I did not prepare vice president so far? The main reason is I want to
make decision rapidly. We have twenty heads of departments as well as
FRPSHWLWRU¶VYLFHpresident. But since the position is not equal, they will
follow me and not negotiate with me. It is necessary that to concentrate
the power in China. However, it is no problem that to appoint some people
as vice positions, because of my prestige was established and Wahaha
became a big company today. But vice position would not be useful for
competitiveness at the time (F. Xu, personal communication, March 30, 2010).
4. :KDWIDFWRUVFRQWULEXWHGWR:DKDKD¶VUDSLGJURZWKLQLWVEULHIKLVWRU\"
Figure 1 illustUDWHV:DKDKD¶VWUDQVLWLRQRIJURZWKLQRQO\\HDUV
147
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Figure 2. Ratio of Net Profit to Revenues
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IDFWRUVOHGWRVXFKUDSLGVXFFHVV,IZHHPSOR\WKHWHUPµIDFWRUV¶Ln our analysis, we might do
so in terms of outside and inside factors.
A. The outside factors
We think the outside factor included three aspects. The first is the reform of the
economic system for the farm areas, i.e., policy change regarding the farm and city
relationships. The second involves the acceleration of opening China to the outside world.
Finally, the third is the development of a market economy.
As noted much earlier in this paper, the policy of reform of the economic system was
started with the farm area in China in 1987, by liberating the productivity of the farm area.
Since a series of policy changes (for example, the system of land contracting, tax exemption,
OHDVH RI DJULFXOWXUDO ODQG ZRUNLQJ DZD\ IURP KRPH HWF ZHUH HQIRUFHG WKH SHDVDQWV¶
148
standard of living improved quite rapidly. As the result, the purchasing power of the peasants
increased and a consumption market was established and has continued to develop.
Next, the acceleration of opening China to the outside world provided outstanding
business opportunities to individuals who have strong entrepreneurship propensities, such as
+DLHU¶V=KDQJ5XLPLQ/HQRYR¶V/LX&KXDQ]KLDQGRIFRXUVH=RQJ4LQJKRX
1HHGOHVVWRVD\DµVR-FDOOHG¶SODQQHGHFRQRP\KDGEHHQHQIRUFHGLQ&KLQDXQWLO
There were no private companies at that time. After the 1978 policy change, privet
companies were born like mushrooms. Moreover, thanks to the transition to a market
economy, a many private companies were able to grow and prosper. Of course, it has taken
a number of years to make progress in this transition, and many companies, both state
owned and private, have gone bankrupt.
B. The inside factors
7KH µLQVLGH IDFWRUV¶ DUH EDVHG SULPDULO\ RQ =RQJ ,Q RWKHU ZRUGV :DKDKD ZRXOG QRW
have existed without Zong. Although he has a limited formal educational background, having
left school after middle school, he has become a life long learner, and, thus, he has been
able to overcome poverty and a modest beginning in life. An analysis of his personal
characteristics would also define him as a creative entrepreneur, who displays outstanding
abilities with regard to a tendency for reflective thinking, the art of persuasion, decisionmaking, taking action to seize opportunities, endurance during difficult times, and a focus on
uniting those with whom he chooses to develop relationships. Further elaboration of what
PLJKWDSSHDUWREHWKHµP\VWHU\RI=RQJ¶LVGHOLQHDWHGEHORZ
1) =RQJRQFHVDLGWKDW³,OLNHUHDGLQJDQGKDYHUHDGDYDULHW\RIERRNV(YHQQRZWKH
custom never was changed. If I have some time, for example, in the business trip, I
will buy a book or magazine. It made me to learn much knowledge. And since I had
been living in social lower layer, I am able to understand deeply the social present
FRQGLWLRQ´);Xpersonal communication, March 30, 2010). This comment is quite
UHYHDOLQJRI=RQJ¶VGULYHDPELWLRQDQGGHVLUHWRLPSURYHKLVPLQGDQGLWSUREDEO\LV
the basis of his development of his ability to think through issues and reflect on a
variety of possibilities; it seems to come neither naturally nor by accident, but, rather
is based on his constantly seeking to educate himself through reading and taking
risks to experience possibilities.
2) It has become obvious that Zong is not an ordinary entrepreneur, but, rather, a
brilliant one who leads through the ability to sincerely articulate his vision and lead by
persuasion. Outstanding entrepreneurs understand that they rarely achieve great
success by acting alone. They know that they have to provide persuasive narratives
of their visions to their employees to enable them to gain their trust and commitment
to goals. It also involves more than just being a good talker, particularly when the
149
ability to act is weak; no one will believe him/her. At the same time, if an
entrepreneur has the ability to act but is unable to articulate his/her vision, nobody
will follow. Zong never uses flowery expressions, but his sincerity seems to charm
others.
3) Zong is sensitive to business opportunities and is willing to take calculated risks,
particularly with regard to changing government policy and resultant evolution of
economic conditions. As indicated near the beginning of this paper, he realized what
was transpiring with the change of economic conditions and decided and acted
quickly when the Contract and Responsibility System presented him a management
RSSRUWXQLW\ ZLWK WKH FDUGERDUG ER[ FRPSDQ\ +H GLGQ¶W PLVV WKDW RSSRUWXQLW\ DQG
risked a higher offer than others. Later, he realized a new business opportunity when
he started the consignment venture, even though it involved great hardship and
endurance.
4) It is also obvious that when Zong decides something, he toke action quickly.
Sometimes, his subordinates are unable to follow his vision, but still show respect for
WKHLU ERVV¶ DFWLRns. His entrance into the cola market, when most thought the
endeavor would fail due to large company competition, is a good example. Few
thought he would succeed, but Wahaha was born and became a huge success.
5) =RQJ¶VDELOLW\RIXQLWLQJRWKHUVLVUHPDUNDEOe. During his lifetime, he has experienced
all social levels and finds it easy to associate with everyone. For example, politicians,
bureaucrats, scholars, journalists, suppliers, dealers, employee, competitors,
agencies, customers, etc., all seek to cooperate with him. So, he is not a lonely
entrepreneur. To the contrary, he has built trusting relationships with so many in such
a variety of endeavors that he has built an incredible network that provides him much
insight.
5. What have we learned through this case study?
After reforming the economic system and opening to the outside world, a numerous
enterprises were born and foreign companies expanded to China every year. One initial
result was that many Chinese enterprises underwent bankruptcy due to a lack of
competitiveness. However, some enterprises like Haier, Lenovo, and Wahaha became
stronger through competition with foreign giants. Studying such successful enterprises leads
WRVRPHFRPPRQILQGLQJV$OWKRXJKWKHVH&KLQHVHHQWUHSUHQHXUV¶HGXFDWLRQDOEDFNJrounds
are modest, i.e., none have an MBA degree, they developed outstanding management skills,
DQGWKH\KDYHGLVWLQFWLYH&KLQHVHFKDUDFWHULVWLFV:DKDKD¶V=RQJFHUWDLQO\LVDW\SLFDOFDVH
Many Western people were unable to understand such Chinese enterprLVHV¶FRPSHWLWLYH
strategy in terms of western management theory. This is certainly understandable, since
150
Chinese entrepreneurs had not read any Western books on management nor studied
Western management theory during their student days.
However, they were able to succeed, the main reason being the ability to innovate by
combining what they were observing the as Western management practices with Chinese
conditions. In Chinese, innovation is Chuangxin, and it is accompanied by a common
DZDUHQHVVWKDWµRQO\&KXDQJ[LQLVRXUFRPSDQ\¶VFRUHFRPSHWHQFH¶7KHUHLVRQH:HVWHUQ
creativity researcher, Robert Sternberg, who has proposed that Creativity is a decision
DQGKHDVVHUWV³3HRSOHDUHFUHDWLYHODUJHO\E\GLQWRIWKHLUGHFLVLRQWRJRWKHLURZQ
way. The\ PDNH GHFLVLRQVWKDW RWKHUV ODFN WKHZLOO RU HYHQ WKH FRXUDJHWR PDNH«´ S
6WHUQEHUJDGGLWLRQDOO\SURYLGHVDOLVWRILWHPVHJ³7RGHILQHSUREOHPVLQZD\VGLIIHUHQW
IURP WKRVH LQ ZKLFK WKHLU FROOHDJXHV GHILQH WKHP´ S WKDW VHHP WR EH LQYROved in this
decision to be creative (see website at the bottom of this paper listed for his column when he
ZDV3UHVLGHQWRIWKH$PHULFDQ3V\FKRORJLFDO$VVRFLDWLRQLH$3$6WHUQEHUJ¶VSURSRVLWLRQ
WKDW ³FUHDWLYLW\ LV D GHFLVLRQ´ DORQJ ZLWK KLV OLVW RI 10 items, could possibly be used to
describe Zong, as well as other innovative Chinese entrepreneurs. In any event, these
Chinese entrepreneurs certainly seem to intuitively understand the creative and innovative
process.
Finally, this paper has presented RQO\ D SDUW RI :DKDKD¶V PDQDJHPHQW LQQRYDWLRQ
However, we hope the readers can discern some things about this outstanding Chinese
company. It is possible that, in the future, some Chinese companies, as well as Wahaha, will
enter the European or North American markets. We hope this paper will be a good reference
for western readers.
References
Bagchi, Rittwik. (2009). Wahaha: Posing a threat to Coca Cola and Pepsi in China. IBS
Research Center.
Gao, Chao. (2004). Wahaha Method. China Workers Press.
Li, Yexin. and Zou, Junhong. (2009). Zong Qinghou tan Yingxiao=HMLDQJ3HRSOH¶V
Publishing House Press.
Luo, Jianxing. (2008). Wahaha and Zong Qinhou. China Machine Press.
Porter, Michael E. (1980). Competitive Strategy. The Free Press.
Sternberg, Robert. (2003). Creativity is a decision. American Psychological Association
Monitor, 34(10), 5.
Wang, Liren. (2010). Zong Qinghou Rushi Shuo. China Economic Publishing House.
Xu, Fangqi. :DKDKD *URXS¶V 0DQDJHPHQW ,QQRYDWLRQ Proceedings of the 13th
Annual Conference of the Japan Academic Society for Ventures and Entrepreneurs. 3437.
Zuo, Zhijian. and Liu, Hua. (2008). The Chinese Divorce of Wahaha and DANONE.
China CITIC.
151
Web links
American Creativity Association: http://www.amcreativityassoc.org/index1.htm
APA, Sternberg Column: http://www.apa.org/monitor/nov03/pc.aspx
Japan Creativity Society: http://www.japancreativity.jp/
Kinki University: http://www.kindai.ac.jp/
Texas A&M University: http://epsy.tamu.edu/
:DKDKD¶VZHEVLWHhttp://www.wahaha.com.cn/
Short Bios
Dr. Fangqi Xu is professor of the School of Business Administration, Kinki University, Japan.
He started creativity research in the beginning of 1980s and became the one of leading
researchers in China. He went to Japan with a government scholarship, which was chosen
as the first national project on creativity research in 1991. After he received his Ph.D. degree
at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, he began doing post-doctoral
research at the laboratory of Prof. Ikujiro Nonaka, who is the farther of knowledge creating
theory at the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy, Hitotsubashi University.
After that, he established the Institute for Creative Management at Jiangsu Polytechnic
University in China in 2005. Also, he established the Institute for Creative Management and
Innovation at Kinki University last year. He is the author of many books, chapters and
articles, and is one of winners of Tudor Rickards Best Paper Award 2007 of Creativity and
Innovation Management.
Prof. Xu is president of Japan Creativity Society and a regular participant of ECCI.
Dr. William R. Nash is Professor Emeritus of Educational Psychology at Texas A&M
University, where he taught graduate courses on the study of Creative Thinking and
biographical studies of Creative Genius and served both as Coordinator of the (then entitled)
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retirement in 2008. He graduated over 50 Ph.D. students from around the world. Dr. Nash is
a former President of the National Association for Gifted Children in the US and served as
Chair of the Charter Board of Directors of the American Creativity Association. He is a
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received awards from the American Creativity Association and the Texas Association for the
Gifted and Talented.
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