Huawei and 3Com (A): Ren Zhengfei

Having been hit with a lawsuit by Cisco Systems, the global industry leader, Ren Zhengfei, CEO of China’s Huawei Technologies, was concerned about the impact on the partnership agreement he had been crafting with Bruce Clafin, the head of Cisco’s long-time rival, 3Com. Would Clafin go ahead with their alliance?

This case provides the basis for discussing how to manage an alliance when key environmental conditions change; in this case, when one partner is accused of piracy. Through role-playing (Ren and Clafin), the participants will consider alternatives for restructuring an alliance, as well as the strategic implications of each alternative.