programs for Midea group
Midea Group is an electrical appliance manufacturer that produces home electronics, ventilation and air conditioning devices, as well as robotics. it is headquartered in the Shunde district, China and listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. it employs 135'000 people and generates approx. 40 billion USD revenues annually. the group is listed on the Fortune Global 500 since 2016. part of Midea Group is German KUKA, Japanese Toshiba Home Appliances, US Carrier and other companies and brands.
its Europe HQ is situated in Eschborn, Germany - where many products are sold under the comfee brand.
the task
As External Program Director, I developed and delivered international leadership development programs for Midea College, the corporate learning academy of Midea Group. These included intensive 7–10 day learning expeditions, workshops and other development formats for selected middle and senior managers from different countries, functions and subsidiaries who were part of Midea's development programs for future leaders.
Leadership and team development provided the overarching framework. Participants worked in diverse teams, tackled real-life business challenges, exchanged ideas with senior executives and academics, visited companies, and presented and defended their solutions. Rather than focusing on a single management discipline, the programs exposed participants to different industries, organizations and perspectives, integrating broader themes such as strategy, innovation and digital transformation. Cross-cultural collaboration and learning were an integral part of the experience.
The programs were deliberately demanding and combined development with assessment. Pre-readings, individual and team assignments, presentations and final assessments challenged participants to demonstrate their capabilities. Their work was graded in a way comparable to MBA and Executive MBA programs, providing participants with feedback on their performance while also giving Midea HR additional input for evaluating the development of its future leaders. The learning expeditions therefore went considerably beyond conventional study trips: participants were expected to analyse unfamiliar business problems, develop solutions in teams and present and defend their thinking.
Given the importance of the programs within Midea's leadership development activities, senior executives were personally involved in their development and delivery, including Vivi Yin, Dean of Midea College, and Françoise Liu, Chief Human Resources Officer of Midea Group.
the challenge
Delivering these programs required a considerable organizational effort. As External Program Director, I assembled and coordinated a project team of trainers, academics and other specialists and worked closely with Midea College and Midea Group HR. Depending on the program, numerous executives, professors, trainers and company representatives contributed presentations, workshops, discussions, company visits and feedback to participant assignments. The programs combined academic input, interaction with senior business leaders, company visits and applied case work throughout the week.
The intensive schedule was itself part of the development experience. Participants had to absorb new perspectives, collaborate across cultural and functional boundaries, work on assignments between formal sessions and perform as teams under considerable time pressure. In one example, participants worked on a Midea-specific team assignment and subsequently presented and discussed their conclusions. At the end of the program, teams reflected on their key learnings, presented them to one another and received feedback.
Behind the scenes, coordinating changing locations, speakers and company visits, simultaneous Mandarin translation of presentations and discussions, transportation and a tightly timed schedule required equally close collaboration and flexibility from the project team.
results
The programs received strong feedback from both participants and Midea HR. Participants particularly valued the combination of leadership development, exposure to different organizations and industries, direct interaction with senior executives and academics, and the opportunity to work intensively with colleagues from different cultural and professional backgrounds.
For Midea HR, the programs served a dual purpose: developing selected future leaders while also providing opportunities to observe and assess participants as they worked in teams, tackled unfamiliar business challenges and presented their solutions. The programs also contributed to cross-cultural learning and stronger connections between managers from different parts of the Midea Group.
Below are selected results from the participant evaluation as well as an appraisal by Midea HR executives.
Christian's passion and effort to design a great program module for our Voyager participants, as well as the insights he delivered throughout the program, were simply beyond my expectations.
Vivi Yin, Dean of Midea College at Midea Group
paramount partners
Such complex and highly customized programs cannot be developed and delivered without a star-studded team. Besides the faculty and speakers, a sincere thank you goes to terrific partners that made these programs a big success. In particular:
a big thank you to Jonathan and his team for providing excellent program management and logistics
special thanks to Roy and his team for taking great care of corporate clients and keeping a cool head in turbulent situations
a big thank you to the Institute for Industrial Design at Technical University Munich for providing exceptional workshops and lectures