Becoming an Ecosystem:Lessons from Haier's Rendanheyi Model
In this series, we dig into business ecosystems— a business model in which companies, partners, and suppliers band together in a mutually-beneficial structure to bring customer satisfaction to new levels of service—and how to build an ecosystem brand around it.
This year, we at Outthinker embarked on a journey to understand business ecosystems—a business model in which companies, partners, and suppliers band together in a mutually-beneficial structure to bring customer satisfaction to new levels of service.One of the pioneers in this type of model, which they named RenDanHeYi (RDHYM), is the Haier Group Corporation, a Chinese multinational home appliances and consumer electronics company headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong. Since its founding in 2005 by Mr. Zhang Ruimin, RenDanHeyi has empowered employees to directly face and serve users, create user value, and realize their own shared value in doing so.In this special series, over a collection of interviews with experts and professionals in various facets of RenDanHeYi, we distill the top practices you can learn to apply these Ecosystem Brand principles to your own organization to stay competitive in the age of ecosystems.
#1 Interview with Martin Moerhle of EFMD
Martin Moehrle is a thought leader, consultant, and former global head of talent and learning at UBS and at Deutsche Bank, who recently developed a new RDHY certification scheme for organizational transformation in collaboration with the Haier Group.
In this podcast, he shares a thorough overview of what the RDHY model is, what principles it endorses, and the top tips in beginning your own journey of implementing these principles into your organization.
- The origin, meaning and framework behind the RenDanHeyi Model
- A breakdown of the eight principles that the RenDanHeyi model advocates to develop micro-entrepreneurial organizations
- The central concepts critical to the RenDanHeyi model, such as customer-centricity, a cultural of entrepreneurialism, among others
- How more than ever, thinking of how to brand an ecosystem, including its spectrum of services and software, rather than a product is critical
We meet with the most relevant thought leaders in business strategy and innovation to deliver answers to your most pressing business questions and challenges. Featured guests include…

Ram Charan

Whitney Johnson

David Robertson

April Rinne
The Outthinkers podcast is a growth strategy podcast hosted by Kaihan Krippendorff. Each week, we talk with forward-looking strategists and innovators that are challenging the status quo, leading the future of business, and shaping our world.