Case Study

Midea: The digital transformation of a home appliances giant

12 pages
January 2023
Reference: IMD-7-2425

Over the past decade, Asian companies have been launching accelerated and wide-ranging digital transformation initiatives. This has enabled some of them to become leading national and even international players, as well as digital pioneers in their respective industries. This case examines the successful digital transformation undertaken by the Chinese company Midea, one of the world’s leading home appliance manufacturers. By digitally transforming the company, Midea improved its financial performance and reshaped its business on a wider scale. While many cases that address digital transformation focus on the early phases of the process, Midea’s case illustrates a successfully completed digital business transformation. This allows participants to have an overview of the entire digital transformation journey and see what the potential outcomes might be.

Learning Objective
    Participants will discuss the factors that enabled Midea’s rapid digital business transformation, and learn
  • The “three stages” model of digital transformation
  • The value of the digital infrastructure, i.e. the “middle office”
  • The success factors for digital business transformation 
Keywords
Business to Business, Digital Transformation, Disruption, General Management, Strategy, Technology, Chinese Corporation, China, Digital
Settings
Asia, China
Midea, Consumer Goods, Home Appliances
1968-2022
Type
Published Sources
Copyright
© 2022
Available Languages
English
Related material
Teaching note
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