Xiaomi looks to improve decision-making with new governance bodies in wake of management reshuffles, slumping sales
- Founder Lei Jun said the panel of executives from different corners of the company would ‘significantly improve the quality of … decision-making’
- The departure of Manu Kumar Jain from Xiaomi India comes after the Chinese brand was dethroned by Samsung in the world’s No 2 smartphone market
Chinese tech giant Xiaomi has established two corporate governance bodies in the wake of major management reshuffles at its China and India business operations, as the company battles slumping sales in both markets amid weakening global demand for smartphones.
Xiaomi has set up a Corporate Operations and Management Committee consisting of 12 executives plucked from the mobile products division, global business unit, internet and ecosystem business, and finance department, founder and CEO Lei Jun said in an internal email circulated to staff on Monday.
Such a panel of executives from different corners of the company would facilitate inter-unit collaboration and “significantly improve the quality of and efficiency in decision-making, while also being able to respond to business changes swiftly”, Lei said, adding that the committee will coordinate and oversee business strategy, planning and budgeting, among others functions.
The Beijing-based company also set up a human resources committee to review and approve major corporate restructuring plans, as well as overseeing appointments and dismissals among the senior management.
Both governance bodies will be headed by Lei, the 53-year-old billionaire entrepreneur who co-founded the Chinese smartphone giant more than a decade ago and has helmed the company since.
The establishment of the new bodies aims to “promote the professionalisation of group governance and enhance efficiency in decision making”, a Xiaomi spokesman said in an emailed statement.
The move comes after a series of C-level personnel changes late last year.
In December, Xiaomi announced the departure of three senior executives, including company veteran and group president Wang Xiang, who had been responsible for global expansion and intellectual property strategy.
