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In China, the development of the consulting industry could be divided into four stages. The first was the
gestation stage. In 1980, the China Enterprise Management Association started carrying out consulting
service research and introduced the theories and methods of foreign consulting firms to China. At the same
time, the Chinese government was leading the creation of consulting firms that helped the government
understand how the market economy worked and how foreign enterprises did business.
The second stage was the formation stage. Starting in 1990, McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting
Group, and other foreign consulting firms, recognizing the great development potential of China’s
consulting market, began to set up branches in China, one after another. Meanwhile, government
departments, private enterprises, and social organizations were also setting up consulting firms. These firms
provided a number of consulting services to governments, the science and technology sectors, and
enterprises.
The third stage was the growth stage. After 2000, senior management teams at Chinese enterprises began to have
a fundamental change in understanding, believing that enterprises needed professional advice from consulting
firms. As a result, demand for consulting firms further intensified. At the same time, consultants with experience
gained at well-known foreign consulting firms began to move to local Chinese consulting firms, which resulted
in a rapid improvement in the professional level of the local Chinese consulting firms. With the increased market
demand and improvement of the professional level, local consulting firms grew rapidly.
Finally, the fourth stage was the mature stage. Since 2010, Chinese enterprises had been increasingly
relying on consulting firms, which further raised the need for such firms. Also, local consulting firms
gradually realized the importance of the consulting knowledge system and professional competence, and
thus began to improve their proficiency. Meanwhile, China Management Consulting Association and its
branches had been formed to further promote the normative development of the consulting industry. These
four stages encompassed the gradual maturation of China’s consulting industry.
Although China’s consulting industry started late, it had developed rapidly. In recent years, China’s gross
domestic product had gradually become the second largest in the world. The number of registered
enterprises in China grew rapidly, reaching 20.4 million in 2015, 26.0 million in 2016, 30.3 million in 2017,
and 34.7 million in 2018.5
In 2019, the number of new enterprises reached more than 10,000 per day.6
The
demand of these enterprises for consulting services provided a solid foundation for the development of
China’s consulting industry. Local consulting firms such as Hejun Consulting Ltd., Beijing Alliance PKU
Management Consulting Ltd. (Allpku), and Kmind seized the opportunity to grow quickly. These firms
built their consulting theory system on the basis of that of Western consulting firms, and had a strong
understanding of the Chinese market and the needs of Chinese entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, Western
consulting firms with high compensation packages to expatriates and Chinese consultants charged higher
fees, while local consulting firms with lower talent costs rapidly gained market share through lower prices.
As a result, the competitiveness of local consulting firms in China increased rapidly. Although Western
consulting firms still dominated the top ten consulting firms in China in 2019 (see Exhibit 1), more than
half of the top 100 consulting firms at that time were local consulting firms.7
The rapid development of consulting firms and Chinese enterprises had further intensified China’s war for
talentthe competition among organizations to attract and retain the ablest employees.8
According to
Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends report, 70 per cent of survey respondents cited recruitment as an
important issue, with 61 per cent agreeing that finding qualified, experienced hires was the biggest
challenge facing them in the recruitment process.9
The war for talent was mainly manifested in three areas.
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The first area was the war for talent among countries. A recent article published by the International
Monetary Fund showed that by 2030 there would be a global shortage of more than 85 million tech workers,
costing US$8.5 trillion in lost annual revenue.10
Amidst the global talent shortage, countries were doing
their best to attract talents. The continuous growth of the Chinese economy for the past forty years had
enhanced the attraction of China for talents.
The second area was the war for talent among cities. In recent years, as China’s economic development had
entered a knowledge-intensive era, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, and other cities
had set off a series of battles for talent. These cities attracted talents through several policies, such as
subsidies for house purchases, preferential car purchases, and guarantees of their children’s education.
The third area was the war for talent among enterprises. In the 1980s, Chinese enterprises mainly needed
product talents, but in the 1990s they mainly needed sales talents. After 2000, Chinese enterprises urgently
needed managerial talents to communicate with international enterprises, in light of China’s accession to
the World Trade Organization. The demand for managerial talents in China had remained strong up to 2020.
At the same time, the rapid improvement in the technical level of Chinese enterprises led to increasing
demand for high-tech talents.
Competition for talent also existed between Western and local consulting firms in China. McKinsey &
Company, Bain & Company, and other well-known Western consulting firms tried their best to attract
talents in China. They hired local talents at a premium compared to the local pay, which produced a large
number of local consultants in China. They also recruited high-quality graduates from top universities in
China and helped these talents become senior consultants through training and certain business practices.
Local consulting firms also tried to attract talents; they recruited mature consulting talents from Western
consulting firms, which often led to the quick improvement of their professional level. At the same time,
they set up clubs in the universities to attract high-quality talents. However, Western consulting firms were
more attractive to talents than local firms because of their brand and strength.
KMIND AND ITS COUNSELLING SERVICE MODEL
Xie had been in the consulting industry for more than twenty years and had gradually grown into a
consulting service expert. He had worked for many years at a world-famous strategy consulting firm. He
was also one of the global partners of this firm. During his tenure, Xie gained high recognition of positioning
theory, which could aid in providing accurate consulting reports for clients. However, he found that
consulting firms usually had shortcomings in assisting clients in implementing such consulting reports.
Identifying this gap in service led Xie to start his own consulting firm.
In 2015, Xie co-founded Kmind with experienced consultants Xu and Yao in Shanghai, China. The new
strategy consulting firm not only provided strategy consulting reports to clients but also assisted them with
the implementation of these reports as a business partner, thus closing the gap in service Xie had identified
earlier.
In only five years Kmind had achieved rapid development and become a dark horse in China’s consulting
industry (see Exhibit 2 for a timeline of key events). In October 2019, Kmind won the silver award of the
2019 Constantinus International Award issued by the ICMCI, becoming the first Chinese consulting firm
in the field of strategy consulting to do so.
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By June 2020, Kmind had a workforce of nearly 100 consultants. The key to Kmind’s rapid development
had been to build a relatively complete training system for its consulting talents. Kmind’s training system
included four parts.
The first part was the selection of consulting talents. Through a written examination (professional knowledge
examination), talent assessment (logic ability test, mathematic ability test, language ability test, big five
personality test, knowledge worker competency test, emotional intelligence test), non-leadership group
interview (business case analysis), probation period assessment (report), and other methods, Kmind chose
new employees with professional consulting ability, great development potential, and high comprehension.
The second part was the training of consulting talents. Kmind mainly carried out knowledge training,
practice training, and value training for its talents. Knowledge training typically included standardized
training courses for new employees to help them quickly master the knowledge required of them. There
were twenty-four courses in the three stages of knowledge training, including the entry-level course, basic
actual case, and advanced actual case. Practice training helped new employees grow quickly through
participation in real projects. Kmind assigned one to two experienced consultants as mentors for each new
employee. These mentors led employees to work on three to five projects, depending on their development
stage and abilities. The main purpose of the value training was to stimulate the talents’ active learning spirit
and loyalty to Kmind. The chairman, president, and other senior executives of Kmind guided new
employees through special lectures to realize the significance of doing consulting work at Kmind.
The third part was the supervision of training. Kmind’s Talent Training Responsibility and Competency
Standards clearly defined the key abilities and professional knowledge requirements for different levels of
consulting talents, such as project director, project manager, senior consultant, consultant, and assistant
consultant. Consultant talents’ development was supervised according to these standards.
The fourth part was the lifetime study of consulting talents. Kmind had formed a full-member reading club
to establish a learning-oriented enterprise culture. The promotion criteria for talent selection were also
linked to the reading club. Kmind worked with employees to set their goals at each growth stage based on
their personal qualities and abilities.
Ultimately, it would take five to six years for a new employee to move from the position of assistant
consultant to senior consultant, and eight to ten years to move from assistant consultant to project director.
These consulting talents helped Kmind form a consulting service model that included acquiring clients,
evaluating clients, and providing consulting services.
Acquiring Clients
There were three main channels through which Kmind acquired clients:
The first channel was word-of-mouth publicity. A good reputation had become the key for Kmind to
obtaining clients. Kmind had provided services to more than fifty enterprises, among which nine had grown
into industry leaders and five had reached revenue exceeding ¥10 billion. The success of these clients had
formed a good reputation for Kmind in the industry, thus greatly enhancing its influence and credibility,
which became the key to transforming potential clients into final clients.
The second channel was training courses. Kmind itself held nearly twenty strategic training courses each year.
Kmind also co-operated with well-known universities in China, such as Peking University and Shanghai Jiao
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Tong University, to provide training courses for entrepreneurs. Through these courses, entrepreneurs could
gain a preliminary understanding of Kmind, of competitive strategy methodologies, and of management tools,
thus laying a foundation for follow-up co-operation between the entrepreneurs and Kmind.
The third channel for acquiring clients was through social organizations. Relevant social organizations and
conferences with Chinese entrepreneurs provided opportunities for Kmind to communicate with potential
clients. For example, Yabuli China Entrepreneurs Forum was a thoughts exchange platform for Chinese
entrepreneurs11
that was attended by many of China’s influential entrepreneurs. Kmind used the forum to
make Chinese entrepreneurs aware of Kmind and its competitive strategy. This forum had thus become an
important channel for Kmind to acquire clients.
Evaluating Clients
Kmind’s top executives evaluated potential clients in different ways to determine whether to provide
services for them. Xie explained, “What I pay the most attention to is whether the entrepreneur has the
ambition to become an industry leader. I need to have one-on-one communication with him to understand
his vision, mission, etc. If he doesn’t want to do great things, then basically we would not co-operate with
him. If he wants to run the business for a long time, and wants to be the leader of the industry, then we are
very willing to work with him.”
Yao, president of Kmind, said, “What I value most is whether the enterprise has the opportunity to grow in
the industry. Through analyzing the market space and current situation of the enterprise, we would evaluate
its development potential. If it has the opportunity to become the industry leader, then we are very willing
to provide services.”
The general manager of Kmind’s Business Division Two valued entrepreneurs’ decision-making power.
She explained, “During the implementation of Kmind’s consulting reports, the strategy, channel, operation,
human resource, and other aspects of the enterprise need to be adjusted. If the entrepreneur doesn’t have
decision-making power, Kmind’s consulting reports would be difficult to be implemented.”
On evaluating potential clients, the general manager of Business Division Three said, “I think we have to
consider the fundamentals of the enterprise. The implementation of Kmind’s consulting reports requires the
support of various resources, which couldn’t be handled by one department. Therefore, the capital, team,
and product of the enterprises couldn’t be too poor. Otherwise, it would be difficult to push forward
subsequent implementation.”
Providing Consulting Services
After signing a co-operation agreement with the client, Kmind’s consulting service mainly included three
stages: the strategic research stage (lasting about three months), the strategic implementation stage (lasting
about nine months), and the strategic adjustment stage (lasting from the second year to the end of the service).
Strategic Research Stage: Identifying Competitive Opportunities
The main purpose of this stage was to generate the consulting reports through analyzing the client’s problem
and the competitors’ weaknesses according to the positioning theory.
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During the strategic research stage, Kmind analyzed the problems faced by the client; identified the
competitive opportunities; created the consulting reports through qualitative and quantitative data collected
through market research, interviews, clients, and third-party firms; and then submitted the reports to the
clients. The consulting reports usually consisted of two parts: strategic positioning and the supporting
system around strategic positioning. The former was the core development direction for the client (after its
problems had been identified); the latter included the respective strategic goals and key tasks, by the
decomposition of the client’ strategic positioning in terms of the product, price, channel, market, promotion,
customer service, and so on, which were the key to ensuring the realization of the strategic positioning.
For example, when providing its consulting services to Bosideng, in the strategic research stage Kmind
recommended the strategic positioning of “down jacket expert” for Bosideng. Around this positioning,
Kmind formed a supporting system including eight aspects: the product (improving quality and upgrading
the design), price (raising the price), channel (expanding the mainstream channels), operation (focusing on
the down jacket and paring down its other clothing business), research and development (building a global
research and development centre), flagship store (upgrading the image and establishing global flagship
stores), advertising (using well-known media outlets), and public relations (leveraging global brands).
Strategic Implementation Stage: Seizing Competitive Opportunities
After submitting the consulting report to the client, Kmind moved on to the second stage of its consulting
service. The main purpose of this stage was to provide a strategic execution plan, a product optimization
execution plan, and the corresponding operation tools to promote the implementation of the reports and
seize competitive opportunities. Kmind ensured implementation of its reports through three steps.
Step 1Report Importing to Clients
This step was the most critical action in the initial stage of implementation. If the consulting reports were
not correctly understood by the clients’ employees to realize the same cognition, problems would arise in
the implementation process. Kmind therefore usually trained its clients’ employees to achieve the reports’
implementation.
The training mainly included two aspects: one focused on the key issue of what the strategic positioning
was, to ensure that employees had a unified understanding of the development direction for the enterprise.
For example, five training sessions on what a down jacket expert was were carried out for Bosideng
employees. The other aspect involved training employees from different functional departments on the
supporting system. For example, Kmind conducted thirty training sessions for Bosideng’s sales employees
on selling Bosideng down jackets in a way that fit the strategic positioning of “down jacket expert.”
Step 2Joint Implementation of Reports with Clients
In this step, Kmind and the client jointly identified a “Key Campaign” and corresponding “Daily
Preparation” to promote the implementation of the report. Key Campaign referred to the key breakthrough
the enterprise would strive to achieve through taking certain key actions. Daily Preparation referred to the
day-to-day preparatory work that had to be carried out in relation to aspects such as product, channels, and
markets in order to support the Key Campaign. For planning the Key Campaign and Daily Preparation,
Kmind and the client identified industry characteristics and the enterprise’s advantages, and applied their
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own professional knowledge. Then, they jointly defined the responsible persons to ensure the
implementation of the Key Campaign and Daily Preparation.
For example, to realize Bosideng’s positioning of down jacket expert, Kmind and Bosideng jointly defined
participation in New York Fashion Week as Bosideng’s Key Campaign, which could enhance the Bosideng
brand image. Around this Key Campaign, Bosideng developed a high-end down jacket product series, used
mainstream media for promotion, set up a down jacket research and development centre, co-operated with
well-known designers, and so on.
Step 3Supervision of Report Implementation with Clients
Kmind further monitored the implementation of its reports through data from clients, such as sales revenue
and profit margins; data from market research conducted by a third-party market research firm such as Ipsos;
and data from market research conducted by Kmind itself. Through these data, Kmind could stay abreast
of changes the clients had made, brought about by the reports, as well as of the gaps between the current
situation and the target, so as to monitor the implementation of the report. For example, Bosideng had
achieved the goal of its Key Campaign to participate in New York Fashion Week. The same year,
Bosideng’s sales of high-end products increased by more than 500 per cent.12
An Ipsos survey revealed that
the brand, which had the cognitive advantage of being synonymous with the down jacket, was recognized
by 93 per cent of Chinese customers.13
Strategic Adjustment Stage: Controlling the Competitive Pattern
The dynamic adjustment of strategy was the third stage of Kmind’s consulting service. The main purpose
of this stage was for Kmind to dynamically adjust strategies in a timely manner according to the changing
situation of the client, internally and externally, to control the competitive pattern. In this stage, Kmind
normally carried out two steps.
The first step was for Kmind and the client to jointly review Kmind’s report and its implementation. Here,
there were two forms of review: a periodic review and a non-periodic review. The former included a
monthly review and a quarterly review; the latter included a review after the completion of the Key
Campaign and a review after any internal or external emergencies had been addressed. The periodic and
non-periodic reviews ensured that Kmind and the client would be able to deal with critical issues or to seize
opportunities in a timely manner. For example, after Kmind’s report for Bosideng had been implemented,
Kmind and Bosideng undertook a quarterly review and found that brand cognition for Bosideng had
gradually changed to high-end brand, but the change had not been not obvious. The reason for this
phenomenon was that Bosideng had invested significant resources only in advertising, with insufficient
investment in its flagship stores, high-end product series, and other aspects.
The second step was for Kmind and the client to dynamically adjust the consulting report and its
implementation according to the results of the reviews. The adjustment was usually one of two types:
conventional adjustment and unconventional adjustment. The former meant that the strategic positioning
and the supporting system had been determined to be dynamic, upgraded and adjusted at the early stage of
the formulation of the consulting report according to changes to the internal and external conditions. The
latter meant that due to changes in the external situation, competitive situation, customer demand, and the
client’s ability, the client had to make adaptive adjustments to the current report and its implementation
process. For example, the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 had a huge impact on the down jacket industry,
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with the beginning of the outbreak happening in winter. Kmind and Bosideng thus jointly re-planned and
re-formed the Key Campaign: donating down jackets worth ¥300 million to medical workers and other
front-line personnel.
KMIND CLIENTS
Feihe
Founded in 1962, Feihe had been focusing on the research of milk powder suitable for China’s infants for
fifty-nine years.14
Before 2015, although Feihe had high-quality products and a whole industry chain,
Chinese customers could not fully trust that Feihe was a safe and reliable milk powder brand.15
Furthermore,
Chinese milk powder enterprises had long been overshadowed by foreign enterprises.16
In 2015, the market
share of Chinese enterprises was only 39 per cent, while that of foreign enterprises was as high as 61 per
cent. In the high-end infant milk powder market, specifically, foreign enterprises accounted for more than
80 per cent.17
In 2015, Feihe enlisted the consulting services of Kmind to change this situation. Kmind
helped Feihe determine a strategic positioningproviding a milk powder more suitable for the physique of
Chinese babies. Kmind then worked with Feihe to prove that Feihe milk powder was more suitable for
Chinese babies from the aspects of research and development, the supply chain, product, market, price,
channel, and public relations. For example, Feihe used decades of accumulated technologies to strengthen
the product’s suitability for Chinese babies, and carried out publicity on CCTV (China Central Television),
new media, and other channels.
In 2016, Feihe achieved an 80 per cent increase in sales of its high-end milk powder.18
In 2017, this figure
exceeded 200 per cent, and its revenue grew by more than 60 per cent.19
On November 7, 2018, Feihe became
the first Chinese infant milk powder enterprise with annual sales of over ¥10 billion.20
In 2019, Feihe’s
revenue reached ¥13.722 billion, up 32.0 per cent from the previous year, and its net profit reached ¥3.935
billion, up 75.5 per cent from the previous year.21
Youbin Leng, chairman of Feihe, said, “Kmind uses its
consulting reports to make Feihe’s competitive advantage stand out and assists us to implement the reports.
Kmind helps Feihe achieve remarkable results, which further strengthens our confidence in leading the
revitalization of national dairy industry.” Xie commented, “Feihe has a good foundation, and Leng is
ambitious. I think such an enterprise would definitely thrive, and I hope that we and Feihe could join hands
to create a more brilliant future.”
Bosideng
Bosideng was a well-known down jacket brand in China. Founded in 1976, the brand had been focusing on
the development, design, and production of down jackets for almost forty-five years.22
However, since 2010,
with the Chinese people’s attention to the quality of products and intensified competition, Bosideng had
been faced with the competitive pressure of four-season clothing brands and international down jacket
brands.23
Bosideng was confronting a dilemmaincluding aging stores, low product price, deviating from
the mainstream, and so on. In September 2017, Bosideng decided to co-operate with Kmind to overcome
the dilemma. Kmind helped Bosideng define its strategic positioning as a down jacket expert. To achieve
this positioning, Bosideng gave up the non-down jacket business and refocused on the main down jacket
business. Kmind also divided the overall goal into different departments and called for all Bosideng
employees to work for this strategic positioning. For example, at the product level, high-end down fabrics
were used; at the design level, Bosideng co-operated with top designers to launch its Puff series to cater to
the preferences of different customer groups.
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In 2018, Bosideng’s revenue reached ¥10.384 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 16.9 per
cent.24
In 2019, its revenue reached ¥12.20 billion.25
The rapid growth of revenue helped Bosideng shares
to jump by 132.8 per cent in 2018.26
At the same time, Bosideng’s brand recognition rate among customers
was as high as 93 per cent, making it the first Chinese down jacket brand.27
Bosideng’s top management
team appreciated Kmind very much, expressing, “We always have a dream to build a good national brand.
We see hope from Kmind.”
Yadea
Yadea was founded in 2001. After nearly two decades of rapid development, Yadea had become China’s
leading supplier of two-wheel electric vehicles.28
On May 19, 2016, Yadea was successfully listed on the
Hong Kong Stock Exchange.29
However, from 2011 to 2014, the homogeneous products and weak price
promotion kept Yadea under the yoke of the industry leader.30
In 2015, Yadea began to work with Kmind to
become an industry leader. Kmind helped Yadea determine the strategic positioning of “higher-end electric
vehicles” and shifted Yadea’s focus from price to quality.31
Aiming at the problem of homogeneous products,
Yadea gradually improved its technical strength and developed higher-end electric vehicles.32
Meanwhile,
Yadea co-operated with Swarovski, KISKA, and other global top brands to improve its brand image.33
With the help of Kmind, Yadea’s sales grew by 20 per cent in 2015, overtaking the industry leader in just
one year.34
In 2016, the sales volume of its high-end electric vehicles increased by 63 per cent year on year,
and it became the first listed firm in the industry.35
In 2017, its sales rose by 22.3 per cent, to more than 4.0
million vehicles.36
In 2018, annual sales exceeded 5.0 million vehicles.37
In 2019, its revenue was ¥11.97
billion, registering an increase of 20.7 per cent. Its sales volume was 6.09 million, ranking it first in the
world for three consecutive years.38
In 2020, Yadea’s revenue was ¥19.36 billion and its sales volume was
10.80 million.39
Jinggui Dong, chairman of Yadea, explained, “In the past, Yadea had no competitive
strategy and development direction. Kmind helped Yadea form the competitive strategy around higher-end
electric vehicles. Then Kmind assisted Yadea in implementing this strategy. At last, Kmind helped Yadea
get rid of the price war and take the lead in the industry.”
KMIND’S DILEMMA
By June 2020, Kmind had helped nine leading enterprises in the industry achieve rapid growth, including
Feihe, Bosideng, and Yadea, and helped five enterprises reach revenue of ¥10 billion. In October 2019,
Kmind won the silver medal at the Constantinus International Award issued by the ICMCI, becoming the
first Chinese consulting firm in the field of strategy consulting to win this award. Moreover, Kmind had
also achieved rapid growth in revenue (see Exhibit 3). Revenue was expected to exceed ¥400 million in
2021. Kmind had thus become a dark horse in the consulting industry in China.
Xie was very proud of Kmind’s achievements, but he constantly worried about the shortage of consultants,
which had become a key factor in restricting the firm’s further development. On the one hand, the number
of clients had increased over the years, from eight in 2015 to twenty-six in 2020. And while the number of
employees had also increased, from thirty-one to 150 (see Exhibit 4), in 2015 all thirty-one employees were
professional consultants, while in 2020 only ninety-eight of the firm’s 150 employees were professional
consultants; the remaining fifty-two employees were mainly responsible for the company’s finances, brand,
and other work. The shortage of professional consultants meant Kmind had had to turn away many high-
quality clients. On the other hand, the workload of Kmind’s experienced consultants kept increasing, and
new consultants were unable to undertake the corresponding work quickly. As the chairman of Kmind, Xie
needed to find a solution to this problem as soon as possible.
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EXHIBIT 1: TOP TEN CONSULTING FIRMS IN CHINA, 2019
Ranking Consulting Firm
1 Accenture Plc
2 McKinsey & Company
3 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd.
4 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC
5 Boston Consulting Group
6 Roland Berger GmbH
7 KPMG International Ltd.
8 Hejun Consulting Ltd.
9 Beijing Genechain Management Consulting Co., Ltd.
10 Beijing Huashang Jiye Management Consulting Co., Ltd.
Source: “China’s Top 100 Management and Strategy Consulting Firms in 2019,” eNet.com.cn, November 15, 2019,
http://www.enet.com.cn/article/2019/1115/A201911151041543.html.
EXHIBIT 2: SHANGHAI KMIND ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENTKEY EVENTS
Year Key Events
2015
Weishan Xie, Lianzheng Xu, and Rongjun Yao founded Shanghai Kmind Enterprise Management (Kmind) in
Shanghai.
2016
Within one year, Kmind had provided consulting services to seven clients, helping them out of dilemmas and to
realize rapid growth.
2017
• In April, Kmind and Peking University HSBC Business School jointly held the forum New Ways to Win
Competition.
• In November, Kmind jointly established the Competitive Strategy Center with the Overseas Education College
of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
• In December, Kmind successfully hosted the conference Global Breakthrough of China’s Consulting Industry.
• In 2017, Kmind helped sixteen clients achieve growth.
2018
• In April, Kmind won the Global Internet Economy Conference‘s annual Outstanding Strategy Consulting
Contribution Award for 2017−2018.
• In July, Kmind’s competitive strategy course was introduced to CCTV National Brand Class for the first time.
• In November, Kmind jointly established the Competitive Strategy Teaching and Research Workshop with
China Management Case Sharing Center.
• In December, the 2018 China Enterprise Competitiveness Forum was hosted by Kmind.
• In 2018, Kmind helped nine clients achieve growth.
2019
• In May, Kmind was listed as vice-chair of the Management Consulting Committee of China Enterprises
Confederation.
• In May, Weishan Xie was invited to deliver a speech at the London Business School China Business Forum
2019.
• In August, Weishan Xie was invited to deliver a speech at 2019 Yabuli China Entrepreneurs Forum 2019.
• In September, six cases of Kmind were selected for the national 100 Excellent Management Cases.
• In October, Kmind won the silver medal at the 2019 Constantinus International Award issued by the
International Council of Management Consulting Institutes.
• In December, Kmind was listed as one of the top three management consulting firms in 2019 in China.
• In 2019, Kmind helped five clients to break through ¥10 billion in revenue.
2020
• In May, Lianzheng Xu and Rongjun Yao appeared on China Business News’s special program “Chief
Comments.”
• In July, another batch of consultants from Kmind were designated as International Certified Management
Consultants.
• In August, Weishan Xie was invited to give a speech at Yabuli China Entrepreneurs Forum 2020.
• In August, Rongjun Yao was invited to give a speech at the 3rd New Consumption Forum of Shanghai Press
Group.
• In August, Lianzheng Xu was invited to attend the Summer Summit of Yabuli China Entrepreneurs Forum
2020 in Wuhan.
Source: Created by the case authors using information provided by Shanghai Kmind Enterprise Management.
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EXHIBIT 3: SHANGHAI KMIND ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT REVENUE (2015−2020)
Year Revenue (¥ Million)
2015 31
2016 64
2017 166
2018 263
2019 278
2020 360
Note: ¥ = CNY = Chinese yuan; US$1 = ¥6.38 on May 28, 2021.
Source: Created by the case authors using data provided by Shanghai Kmind Enterprise Management. These data are
disguised to protect confidentiality, but they give a rough idea of Shanghai Kmind Enterprise Management’s revenue.
EXHIBIT 4: SHANGHAI KMIND ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT’S EMPLOYEES AND CLIENTS
(2015−2020)
Year Number of Employees Number of Clients
2015 31 8
2016 33 16
2017 100 18
2018 143 29
2019 138 26
2020 150 26
Source: Created by the case authors using data provided by Shanghai Kmind Enterprise Management.
This document is authorized for use only in Prof. Prashant Kumar's Services Marketing Management (SMKBJ22-5), Term - V, BMJ 2022-24 at Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI) from Aug
2023 to Feb 2024.
12. Page 12 W25485
ENDNOTES
1
¥ = CNY = Chinese yuan; US$1 = ¥6.38 on May 28, 2021; all currency amounts are in ¥ unless otherwise specified.
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This document is authorized for use only in Prof. Prashant Kumar's Services Marketing Management (SMKBJ22-5), Term - V, BMJ 2022-24 at Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI) from Aug
2023 to Feb 2024.
