Abstract
The Chinese company Li & Fung was created in the Guangzhou area in 1906. This is a family company founded by Fung Pak Liu, the grandfather of the actual director Victor Li. The first goal of Li & Fung when it had just been created was to act as a ‘broker': Fung, who was an English speaker, was the intermediate between Chinese manufacturers and American or European buyers, as they didn't speak Chinese. During the twenties and thirties, the company diversified its activity with proposing storage and high intensity labor force production. After the Second World War, Li & Fung was relocated in Hong-Kong and extended its activities in several fields as toys, apparels, plastic flowers and electronic products. The reason why Li & Fung's history has been so long and so successful is thanks to a smart positioning and strategic management during all those years. The brand is now recognized as a reliable trading brand, having prospectives and looking forward while keeping the old efficient methods. Moreover, Li & Fung has a very strong corporate culture, but the fact is that this corporate culture is humble and works on the bases of meritocracy. Moreover, salary bonuses are calculated on profits and not as a fixed percentage, which makes every employee do the best he can. The company works on decentralization which helps managers to be in partial autonomy and also in centralization, with their centralized IT.
