The document discusses opportunities in China's growing HR services market. It notes that China has experienced steady economic growth over the last decade, translating to growth potential for its HR services industry. Emerging markets like China are becoming a major source of revenue and talent, and will be the main driver of growth in the global HR industry in the coming years as major players seek opportunities in these new markets. China's economy has grown at an average of 10.7% annually since 2003 and became the world's second largest economy in 2010, representing about 10% of global GDP. This rapid growth provides opportunities for expansion in China's HR services sector.
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Ranking and whitepaper of TOP100 HR Services Brands in Greater China 2012 by HRoot
2. Contents
Summary
Opportunities in the HR Services Market in China
Seek New Profit in Creative New Business Models
Brand Marketing of Human Resources Services Providers
Case Study
ADP: From Brand Shaping to Value Creation
Kenexa: A Racing Elephant
Lumesse: A New Brand Sets Sail
BEISEN: From Talent Assessment to Talent Management
SHL: A Forerunner in the Niche Market
Top 100 Brands List
Company Profile
About the List
Assessment Mode and Procedure
Introduction of Evaluation Model of the List
Acknowledgement
About Research
Publishing Institution
Disclaimer
Copyright Statement
4. Top 100 Human Resources
Services Brands in Greater
China
Top 100 Human Resources Services Brands in Greater China 2012 003
5. Opportunities in The HR Services
Market in China
Deloitte, a world¡¯s leading professional service institution, points out in its report, the
¡°Human Capital Trends 2012¡±, that development is the top priority of many CEOs, while
the three key strategies, i.e., emerging markets, mergers and innovations, pose myriads
of HR-related challenges. Compared with their developed counterparts, burgeoning
economies are growing faster and posting more opportunities, making these countries
major sources of revenue, profit and talent. In the last decade, China has stunned the
world scene with its steady torrid economic growth, which translates into tremendous
growth potential in her HR services market.
Emerging Markets Become The Industry¡¯s New
Engine of Profit
The performance of global HR resources and recruitment services industry relies heavily
on the economic condition and fluid effect that demand for workforces. Commercial
investments, fluctuation in employment growth, and new function outsourcing produce
Global HR and Recruitment Services Industry Revenue
direct impact on the global HR and recruitment services
industry. In 2009, many regions felt the pang of economic
recession and rising unemployment, while emerging
%change
economies performed robust in this round of recession.
Regardless of their relative small markets of recruitment
services, emerging economies show stronger growth
momentum than developed ones. The liberalization of labor
market has played a critical role in the rise of the HR and
recruitment services industry in developed countries. With the
£Ó£Ï£Õ£Ò£Ã£Å£º£É£Â£É£Ó£×£ï£ò£ì£ä labor markets in emerging economies becoming increasingly
Source: ¡°Global HR and Recruitment Services Industry Report¡± 2011
liberalized, their business growth will further expand, bringing
Major Markets robust revenue increase in the HR and recruitment services
industry in these countries, notably East Europe, China and
Serviceindustries 51.3%
India.
Manufacturing
industries 24%
Construction industries 9.5%
According to the estimation of IBISWorld, a renowned
Other 7.8%
Public administration 6.2%
research company in the US, in 2011 the global HR and
industries
Agriculture industries 1.2%
recruitment services industry posted USD513.2 billion in
revenue, showing a 2% decrease from the previous year.
However, the rebound of the global economy will fuel the
Source: ¡°Global HR and Recruitment Services Industry Report¡± 2011 increase of the revenue of this industry. As it estimates, in
004 Top 100 Human Resources Services Brands in Greater China 2012
6. 2012-16, the global HR and recruitment services industry will achieve an annual growth
rate of 3.5% and hit USD610.3 billion in five years, while two-thirds of the growth will due
from temporary placement. In developed economies, recent business increase in their
HR and recruitment services industry mostly came from their services sectors. During
the recession, the HR departments of enterprises outsourced part of their functions to
professional HR management services.
Although professionals in the industry anticipates a steady increase back to the global
HR and recruitment services in the next five years, this new round of increase will be
different from the pre-recession scenario in its nature. The emerging markets will be the
major driving force while major sophisticated markets will lag behind due to their flagged
economies and slow increase. In the next five years, many mega providers of HR services
will seek opportunities in emerging markets and they will push forward their businesses
in developing countries, e.g., China, India, South America, Southeast Asia, Africa and
Middle East regions. In some countries, however, the development in this field relies on
the reforms in labor markets and government legislations.
IBISWorld estimates that due to the increase in the demand that once gave way to cost-
cutting in the recession era, the profit margin of the HR and recruitment services industry
will start to rebound. However, premier-level competitions based on pricing will ultimately
curb the expansion of the profit margin and make the growth a steady one. In five years,
the profitability of the industry will return to the pre-recession level. Emerging markets
will see major breakthrough in their revenue and profit increase, fueling the continuous
globalization of businesses of the major players and their exploration and search of
emerging markets. At the same time, major clients of service providers will also globalize
their demand. The mergers in the industry will intensify, particularly in those countries and
regions that are complementary to the current major markets.
Top 100 Human Resources Services Brands in Greater China 2012 005
7. China Become The Engine of World Economy
On June 1, 2012, the financial markets in Shanghai and Tokyo kicked off the direct transactions between
the RMB Yuan and the Japanese yen. The rapid rise of the economy of China and of her influence provides
solid foundation for the globalization of the RMB. According to the data of the State Statistics Bureau, from
2003 to 2011, China posts an annual economy growth of 10.7%, versus the average rate of 3.9% worldwide.
The 12th Five-Year Plan of China stresses on the restructuring of her economy and focuses more on the
upgrading of industries and ¡°green growth¡±, to guarantee the steady and sustainable development of her
economy.
The World¡¯s No. 2 Economy Maintains Rapid and Steady Growth
According to the data of the State Statistics Bureau, the economic volume of China occupies an ever-
increasing proportion in the gross volume of the world, from 4.4% in 2002 to some 10% in 2011. In 2010
China was ranked the second largest economy in terms of volume, and it maintained this position in 2011.
In the composition of the economy of China, state-owned enterprises occupy a lion¡¯s share. Among the Top
500 companies of China in 2011, 316 were state-owned enterprises, topping over 60% of the total. The
National Institute of Economic and Social Research claims in one of its papers that the total GDP of China
will overtake that of the US and it reaches the conclusion that, based on the annual growth rate of 8% of
China and 3% of the US, the emulation will occur in only nine years.
The tertiary industry occupies an ever-increasing proportion in the national economy of China. The 12th
Five-Year Plan proposes the gross added value of the tertiary industry account for 47% of the GDP volume
by the end of 2015, while the ratio in Shanghai already topped 57.9% in 2011. In Q1 of 2012 the added
value of the tertiary industry reached RMB4,962.2 billion, or an increase of 7.5%. Lu Zhongyuan, Deputy
Director of the Development and Research Center of the State Council has revealed that by 2020, the
tertiary industry will occupy a dominating 51% among the three industries, almost 10% higher than the
second industry. As a branch of the tertiary industry, the HR services industry will certainly benefit from the
trend.
With the upgrading of the industries in China and its shift of focus to the west, the ¡°migration¡± of labor force
from the west to the east will gradually fade out. A survey by Roland Berger, a world¡¯s leading strategy
management consulting firm, shows that the long-running, large scale enterprises tend to further increase
its investment in China; many overseas enterprises voice their intention to move their investments to the
middle and west regions of China. Statistics of the Ministry of Commerce of China suggests that the amount
of foreign capital actually used in Jan.-Apr. 2012 was registered USD37.881 billion, and among it the middle
regions took USD3.05 billion, an increase of 12.6% compared with the same period of last year. Nowadays,
not only the domestic HR services institutions but also their overseas peers have extended their network to
the middle and west regions of China. For instance, Manpower Group, a global pioneer of HR resolutions,
has established its office in Chengdu, and Kenexa, a comprehensive HR resolution provider of international
renown, has also set up its regional headquarters in west China.
Expanding Enterprises Crave for Upgrading and Transformation
In 2011, the gross revenue of the Top 500 enterprises of China hit RMB36.31 trillion, showing an increase of
31.6% over the previous year; while the gross profit scrambled RMB2, 083.9 billion, overtaking the growth
006 Top 100 Human Resources Services Brands in Greater China 2012
10. that are doing HR services and executive search, and
The Era of Cheap Labor Has Gone
to management consultancy firms that perform relevant
Researchers estimate that in 2012 over half of the imports
business.
will be bought by emerging markets, which are widely
Amendments of the Law on Labor Contracts, proposed by considered main engines that power the future development,
the NPC Financial and Economic Committee, regulate labor profit and talent. Emerging markets in developing economies
dispatch in a strict manner. Experts say that China may have long been considered the source of cheap labor.
introduce industry licensing, access audit, and risk margin And now, emerging markets are also providing high-value
systems to increase the threshold of the industry, and the skills such as R & D, knowledge processing and advanced
anti-risk ability and legal liability of relevant companies. analysis.
SASAC will further regulate the management of dispatched
personnel in enterprises directly under the control of the
Corporate Talent Pools Keep Globalizing
central government, and it will take measures to include the In the past decade, talent pools of enterprises maintain
cost of dispatched personnel in the total salary budget. The their globalization trend, and enterprises no longer limit their
revised version of the Regulations on Labor Contracts of business to overseas manufacturing, transactions and call
Jiangsu Province stipulates that dispatched personnel shall centers. Now enterprises have started to use local talent
not exceed 30% of the total number of employees, and the in their R & D, advanced analysis and other high-value
ceiling ratio is 50%. activities. In recent years, China has promulgated various
policies to encourage overseas companies to establish
Regulations On Labor Market Improve
their R & D centers in China. The support of policies and
China is improving its laws on human resources, and many reasonable payment for native R &D personnel have
public welfare issues have been interpreted in the form prompted more and more foreign-funded companies to
of laws. In 2011, China formulated its 12th Five Year Plan establish R & D centers in China. For instance, the world¡¯s
for Economic and Social Development of the PRC, and leading electronics and electric company Siemens has
revised her Individual Income Tax Law. On July 1, 2011, the established 16 R & D centers in China.
Social Insurance Law of the People¡¯s Republic of China, the
first comprehensive law in the field of social security, was
Demographic Dividend Is Disappearing
implemented, and it has established a broad coverage of The demographic dividend that once powered China¡¯s rapid
social security system. In 2012, the Special Rules on the economic growth may be disappearing. A report by the
Protection of Female Employees were promulgated and China Social Science Academy suggests that the country¡¯s
implemented, and the revision to the Law on the Protection working age population will undergo negative growth in
and Control of Occupational Diseases and the Law on the 2017-18, and as a result, China¡¯s labor force demand and
Negotiation and Conciliation of Enterprise Labor Disputes supply relationship will be further reversed, and the wages of
are already put on the agenda. ordinary laborers, especially migrant workers, will see a rapid
increase. As of April 26, 2012, 32 cities and provinces across
China will establish the normal growth mechanism of
the country have raised their minimum wage standards, the
the minimum wages, and the minimum salary will refer
highest being up to RMB1,500 per month. The era of cheap
to the local minimum living cost of employees and their
labor in China is gone and will never come back.
dependents, consumer price index and other factors. The
2011-2013 Working Plan on the Promotion of Collective The Quality and Performance of Talent See
Wage Consultation of the All-China Federation of Trade Significant Increase
Unions requires that, among the Global 500 companies
that have trade unions, 80% of them should establish their The survey of 2010 National Human Resources shows
collective wage negotiation mechanisms. that the building of all types of personnel has achieved
remarkable success, and personnel have contributed to
Top 100 Human Resources Services Brands in Greater China 2012 009
11. 26.6% of the economic growth. By the end of 2010, the country had boasted a talent pool of 120 million
people, or 11.1% of the total human resources. Among them, executive personnel have reached 29.798
million, and the percentage of R & D personnel per 10,000 laborers has reached 33.6%. The highly
skilled personnel have accounted for 25.6% of the skilled laborers, and 12.5% of the prime working age
population have received higher education.
Technological Innovation Is Inevitable To The HR Services
Industry
The profit due from technological innovation is largely determined by social opinions, hence it is necessary to do
detailed market segmentation with new methods and skills that target a certain proportion of the population. The
business models that have proved successful should be modified before their application to underdeveloped
countries can also succeed. Technological innovations can dramatically restructure an industry, to such a
degree of weakening or even eliminating the competitive edge of a company.
Social media and cloud service have become a necessary part of our daily lives, as they not only change the
operating models of enterprises but also make their impact on the delivery method of HR services and the
direction in which HR shift is heading for. Currently, most HR services institutions start to use mobile app to
deliver information and do market distribution, and cloud computing and SaaS (Software as a Service) are
becoming increasingly popular.
Technological innovations are dramatically restructuring the industry, to such a degree of weakening or even
wiping out the competitive edge of a company. However the ultimate impact of technology and the profit that
innovations can bring are largely decided by social opinions. In the Chinese market, cloud recruitment system,
the mobile learning platform has emerged. The impact of new technology for human resources services market
has been showing up.
Deloitte points out in its ¡°Human Capital Trends 2012¡± that the human resources industry faces two key
tasks, e.g., the fulfillment of overall development goals and the improvement of the work efficiency of human
resources. Enterprises expect to realize the improvement of work efficiency of human resources and strengthen
the control of HR risks with the benefit of professional HR services structure. In China, thanks to the rapid and
steady economic development and better environment of human resources services, the huge potential of
demand will be gradually released, a trend that will make China the largest HR services market global-wide in
the next 10 years.
¡ñ Economic restructuring and industry upgrading will bring tremendous challenge and opportunities to HR
services institutions.
¡ñ Multi-national companies¡¯ shift in operating models will bring a new wave of opportunities to HR services
companies.
¡ñ SOEs and private companies will increasingly become an important customer base of the HR services
market.
¡ñ Corporate mergers and acquisitions, the HR support of the ¡°going-global¡± strategy will create new demand for
services.
¡ñ With the industrial focus shifting to west China, the focus of HR services institutions¡¯ business will also move
westward.
010 Top 100 Human Resources Services Brands in Greater China 2012
12. Seek New Profit in Creative
New Business Models
With its iconic iPod and iTune online store, Apple has created a brand new
business model and established itself as a dominant player in the market of
online music. With its subscription policy, Zipcar, an American online car-sharing
company, provides on-demand vehicle rentals on hourly or daily basis, liberating
urban dwellers from the costly private ownership of cars. In recent years,
creative business models are reshaping the landscapes of various industries on
unprecedented scales and at unimaginable speed. So is the HR services industry,
as a new array of products and service models are popping up on the market.
Creation of business model is the most essential innovation of an enterprise,
without which it is impossible for any managerial or technological innovation to
sustain its development or make profit. Any business model is a 3-D one formed
by customer value, enterprise resources and abilities and profit-making method.
Accenture, a global leading management consulting and outsourcing company,
believes that a successful business model has three characteristics: they are
inimitable in its unique value, down-to-earth, and cost-savvy.
Total Solutions: A Mixed Model
Pursued by Industry Leaders
In recent years, the service model of integrated solutions is gaining
increasing recognition by many leading companies in the HR services
industry. The model, dubbed as ¡°vertical stack¡± in the IT industry,
provides everything clients need¡ªfrom hardware to apps¡ªso that the
stratification can allow service providers to squeeze more efficiency:
server, operating system, database, middleware, and application
software. Fundamentally, the HR market has three resources in total,
i.e., outsourcing, consulting and IT, which used to be independent and
separate from each other but share the same client resources. At
present enterprises¡¯ existing HR systems are usually based on different
ͳһœâŸö·œ°ž hardware and operation platforms, so that the modules of the same
Unified
ÕûºÏœâŸö·œ°ž
Integrated
Solutions business system or different business systems cannot share information
Solutions
µã(µ¥Ò»)
œâŸö·œ°ž or flow smoothly, leaving a divided operation process that requires extra
Point
Solutions human engagement and lower efficiency. Enterprises should formulate a
ÊÖ¹€ŽŠÀí
Manual consistent basic business information system and an effectively running
Processes
hierarchical information system, smoothly integrating the separately built
business application systems into an organic whole. Therefore, for HR
services providers, they can only mobilize their client resources and
create the barrier for counterparts when they integrate the resources of
outsourcing, consulting and IT.
Top 100 Human Resources Services Brands in Greater China 2012 011
13. Total solutions not only improve the barriers to competition, to keep the standardized process, work flow, information
but also achieve a synergistic effect between businesses, flow and delivery at a relative high level. When the business
thus significantly improving the overall competitiveness expands its scale, the added manpower will reduce the profit
of the enterprise. This all-inclusive value chain is not only margin close to zero. If a company can provide total solutions
reasonable in terms of business model, but also driven by that group RPO, recruitment process management software,
the demand of clients. Provision of a single service is usually recruitment management consulting and employer brand
only piecemeal and stop-gap but cannot fundamentally fix communication, it will create more value for its clients. For
the problem. Another profound reason is that the business HR services providers, integrated solutions can improve the
models of HR services industry also requires of internal synergy between different businesses, share the resources
integration. If the recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) of customers and products, and increase profit margins.
is handled by manual processes rather than a strong Those who can make every effort to bring down the cost of
management system of recruitment process, it is impossible customers and maximize their value can achieve the best
benefits.
The China International Intellectech Corporation (CIIC), China¡¯s largest HR services company, has completed
its layout of total solutions, spanning its businesses from HR BPO, consulting, assessment, software, training,
to head-hunting. Through internal integration, it has entered the phase of integrated solutions and is heading for
united solutions. Among overseas companies, Kenexa is a trailblazer of this business model. Through mergers
and acquisitions, it has proved to be one of the few enterprises in the HR services industry that can provide all-
chain solutions. Now many companies in this industry are aware of the value of diversified services, and they are
taking urgent measures to expand their business areas in an effort to achieve their business mix. For instance, ADP
has emerged from a payroll and benefits outsourcing company to a comprehensive solution provider of process
outsourcing and integrated talent solutions. Korn/Ferry International, a head-hunter of international renown, has
extended its services from head-hunting to assessment and consulting, among others, while Randstad, a world-
renowned talent dispatch service agency, can already provide executive search, dispatch and RPO services.
¡ñ ADP realizes diversified services
In 2012, ADP announces its acquisition of The RightThing, the largest American RPO company.
In 2012, ADP introduces its critically acclaimed small enterprise payroll management platform on iPhone and Android
smartphones.
In 2012, ADP announces that it has over 150,000 small enterprises are using its cloud-based creative online payroll
management solutions.
In May 2012, ADP announces its launch of talent management system services, and unveils its total solutions, a
trailblazing package in the industry that includes talent recruitment, performance management, payroll management,
succession management and learning management module.
¡ñ Korn/Ferrry International¡¯s Mutual Complementary Model
The internationally renowned head-hunter Korn/Ferry International has recently announced its milestone
accomplishment of the completion of its1, 000,000th executive assessment. The company is now providing
assessment of Decision Styles Assessment, via EDGE, Choices Architect, LFT, Voices, Prospective Assessment,
SIE, Coaching Effectiveness Survey and other products and services related to reviews and researches.
012 Top 100 Human Resources Services Brands in Greater China 2012
14. ¡ñ The services that Korn/Ferry International provides include:
? CEO and executive search
? Executive coaching
? Talent management and leadership consulting
? Managerial talent assessment
¡ñ Randstad¡¯s Total Solutions
Randstad has evolved from a professional agency of talent dispatch to the world¡¯s largest comprehensive HR services
company; it seeks to provide enterprises with one-stop HR solutions: from short-term employment to recruitment of long-term
employers, from HR outsourcing to position and business outsourcing, from single services to comprehensive HR solutions.
Solutions Talent Demand Basis of Charging
Talent Search Middle/Senior Commission
Level Managerial Talent
Dispatch Junior Level Talent Project Fee
RPO Middle/ Junior Level Talent Commission, Annual Salary
or mixed basis
Cloud Computing Has Far
Reaching Impact On HR Services
Industry
With the wide spread of the cloud computing concept,
almost all the info-technology companies, those of hardware,
software or platform technology, are all trying to embrace
it. Forrester Research Inc. estimates the market volume of
cloud computing to top $241 billion by 2020. The entire HR
services market is enveloped by ¡°clouds¡± of all kinds: cloud
recruitment, cloud training, cloud assessment, among others.
longer necessary for people to buy power generators
What is cloud computing? It is an Internet-based super
themselves, but just buy the power that a large power plant
computing model through which thousands of computers
produces and channels to the grid. It means that computing
and servers form a computer cloud in the distant data center.
power can be circulate like gas, water or electricity, which
This enables enterprises to switch resources to their apps,
can be retrieved easily and at low prices. The only difference
and visit computers and storage system on demand. It is
lies in its net-based transmission.
a product of the development and integration of traditional
computers and web technologies, such as grid computing, The resources in the ¡°cloud¡± can be infinitely extended from
distributed computing, parallel computing, utility computing, the customer¡¯s end, and they can be retrieved any moment,
network storage technologies, virtualization and load used on-demand, extended when necessary, and paid on
balances. the basis of the amount of use. Its contents mainly include:
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Data-storage as a Service
Cloud computing serves several consumers through a multi-
(DaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Software as a Service
user model, comparable to the way of using electricity: it is no
(SaaS), cloud safety and virtualization, etc.
Top 100 Human Resources Services Brands in Greater China 2012 013
15. Why Cloud Computing Rules?
1.Faster
Cloud computing pools computing resources together, making the use of cloud apps comparable to
owning a much-enhanced mega-computing power supported by thousands of computers.
Users do not have to prepare complex hardware infrastructure and application software, rather, they can
access the resources of cloud computing via the Internet or the Intranet in the enterprise. The data of
cloud computing is distributed to various data centers across the world and they can be available anytime
and anywhere, making it unnecessary for enterprises to verify the data and minimizing the redundancy.
Cloud computing can speed up the response to business and delivers higher flexibility. For example, when
an enterprise needs to use more storage space or more powerful computing capability, just like at the peak
hours of electricity use, users can conveniently apply, allocate, and obtain on the net according to their
actual needs.
2.Cheaper The safety of software is based on various dimensions,
systems, personnel, hardware, software and the Internet.
Cloud computing also boasts more flexible payment methods,
Although based on the Internet, cloud computing also
and it usually is charged on the basis of actual use. Annual
transmits data through the net in the process of using, but
rental paid by installment replaces one-off purchases at high
these transmissions are based on highly strengthened
prices lower the risk in decision-making and risk-binding and
encryption measures, certificates, SSL, etc., to guarantee the
enhance the transparency of the cost.
absolute safety in the transfer process.
Through long-distance visit via the net, enterprises can
Cloud computing boasts strict internal control systems
save complicated process of software implementation; they
that involve policies, personnel, legal affairs, and internal
don¡¯t have to update and maintain systems themselves, but
data risks, compounded by hardware security facilities like
can use flexibly without the expenses of maintenance and
powerful firewalls, all combine to guarantee the safety of the
upgrading.
system in terms of hardware. Under the traditional model,
3.Better servers running HR software are on Internal LAN. The latter
is mostly connected with the Internet and the likelihood of
Using traditional software models, 70% of the IT budget is being attacked is no lower than that of the facilities of the
devoted to the maintenance of the existing system. Every cloud computing providers, while their security measures are
one dollar of investment in IT necessitates 6-8 dollars in the far inferior. Just consider that in the past people buried the
maintenance, upgrading and customization. The room for gold bar they had bought under the ground of their homes,
innovation in an enterprise is eroded by the maintenance while now it is common knowledge that the safety deposit
of the existing system. With cloud computing, enterprises boxes in the banks are even safer. Similarly, in most cases,
can focus the greatest benefit of limited resources on their the data are safer when stored in the data bases of cloud
core businesses, and support their quick innovation in their computing providers than stored on the servers of Internal
businesses. LAN.
Cloud computing can help with the exploration of new Cloud apps have been widely used in daily lives; for instance,
business. Their flexible expansion can help enterprises the iCloud of Apple can automatically back up the most
shorten their development cycles without much investment. important data on iOS5. In the future, more and more data
will be moved to the cloud.
4.Safer
014 Top 100 Human Resources Services Brands in Greater China 2012
16. SaaS Reshapes HR Software Industry
On the information superhighway of the Internet, software is comparable to vehicles on
the highway, which carry the ¡°goods¡± that an enterprise really needs, i.e., contents, expert
knowledge, and services. It should be understood that the cloud only improves the condition of
the highway, but cannot make the vehicles better. The process of cloud computing only moves
the software from an ordinary server to a virtual server in the cloud, but brings no change to the
functions, logic layer, presentation layer or the data structure.
However, the software based on the SaaS of cloud computing is absolutely reshaping the HR-
related software industry, as it provides a brand-new business model, that is, service on demand,
and thus overthrows the permit-centered traditional business model of software.
Compared with the ¡°firm sale¡± model typical of the infrastructure of C/S (Client/Server) or B/S
(Browser/Server), SaaS only needs users to pay service fees as per the use amount on monthly
basis, thus enjoying obvious advantage in cost, speed of upgrading and compatibility.
Traditionally, the cost of using software includes that of the intellectual property, a variety of
software runtime program and the environment that support the whole software, such as plenty
of infrastructure and development tools used by developers. In most cases, in addition to the
cost of intellectual property, each piece of software of the user is duplication of investment.
Differently, users of SaaS only needs to pay for the intellectual property but leave all the others
to the expense of SaaS providers, that is, they don¡¯t have to spend much on hardware pieces,
operating systems, database or licenses of software.
The Difference Between SaaS and C/S,B/S
C/S¡¢B/S SaaS
Way of purchase Licensing, one-ff purchase On-demand rental
Requirements on High-capacity server, net equipment, storage equipment Internet only
hardware Server operating system, database Browser
Requirements on Yes No
software N/A or paid upgrading Zero cost, smooth, frequent upgrading
Self-maintenance ?Software licensing fee; Service charge
Upgrading and flexibility Software maintenance fee
Cost ?Technical support fees
?Human cost (system maintenance personnel)
?Software and hardware cost
?Upgrading cost
Risk cost (in case of failed selection)
Requirements on IT Yes No. Enterprises can focus on
capability their core businesses
Another profit-making way of the corporate software industry is the provision of updates after
years of development and an annual maintenance charge for fixing bugs. With the adoption of
the SaaS rental model, enterprises do not have to have technical maintenance personnel, as
technology upgrade is left to SaaS providers. Users can focus on their businesses assuredly.
Salesforce.com, a leader in the customer relations solutions, is exemplary of SaaS providers.
Founded in 1999, the company is the earliest champion of online rental model, and is dubbed a
Top 100 Human Resources Services Brands in Greater China 2012 015
17. ¡°software terminator¡± due to its motto ¡°terminating software.¡± HR Software Giants Are Embracing SaaS and
Benefiting from its multi-renter model, freely payment model Talent Management
and powerful system flexibility, it went public at the New York
To cope with the looming threats from the SaaS providers,
Stock Exchange in 2004, turning a profit in the same year. In
traditional software giants are also trying to catch up in recent
the 2011 fiscal year, Salesforce.com posted a sales volume
years. SAP and Oracle are switching to cloud computing
of $2.3 billion, an increase of 37% over the previous year.
by providing software, storage and other remote services
Now Salesforce.com is managing customer information for
(including remote data center, etc) via the Internet, and even
over 100,000 companies on different scales, and it processes
spend heavily on acquisitions.
36 billion deals each day for its clients. In 2012, the company
scheduled to increase its sales by 32% to $3 billion. It is In December 2011, with $3.4 billion, SAP completed its
prohibitively difficult for a traditional software company to acquisition of SuccessFactors, a trailblazer of the SaaS
maintain 2-digit growth. model in the HR software industry with 40 years¡¯ successes
and expertise in on-demand and prefabricated solutions.
Workday, another subversive company in the HR software
SuccessFactors has over 3,500 clients and 15 million users
industry, helps enterprises manage human resources and
of its online performance management software.
finances with the software deployment model of cloud. Now,
Workday is servicing some 300 enterprises, with its annual After the acquisition, SAP put over 5,000 employees in
growth in user base close to 100%. Around half of its clients charge of the design, construction and implementation of
come from its rivals like Oracle or SAP. In the 2011 fiscal perfect cloud solutions. Its newly established cloud computing
year, Workday posted $300 million in revenue, twice the department services over 17 million users. In May 2012,
amount in 2010, and it is expected to go public at the end of SAP announced its brand-new cloud computing strategy,
2012. which introduces cloud computing solutions related to four
business lines, e.g., personnel, capital, clients and supplier
016 Top 100 Human Resources Services Brands in Greater China 2012
18. management. Among them the Employee Central, the core HR solution of SuccessFactors, is incorporated
into the cloud computing solutions that face personnel and capital.
At the same time, SAP also internally uses the SuccessFactor BizX kit as its new human resources
management system. The kit can simplify the HR management process of SAP employees and
management, helping managers integrate their daily work into the corporate strategy and providing staff with
more control over their career development tools.
Oracle, a competitor of SAP, is also strengthening its layout and has established advantages in the cloud
computing market through acquisitions. In February 2012, Oracle bought Taleo, a talent management
cloud computing company, at a purchase price of $1.9 billion. Taleo¡¯s solutions can enhance the ability of
assessment, recruitment, training and employee deployment of enterprises of all sizes, and thus increases
the efficiency of business. Now over 3,600 enterprises across the world are using Taleo¡¯s products to handle
recruitment and performance assessment. Taleo¡¯s talent management platform is celebrated for its strong
configurability and usability, achieving a whopping 99.9% efficiency rate when running on world-class
infrastructure.
Oracle¡¯s acquisition of Taleo is considered a responsive move to SAP¡¯s acquisition of SuccessFactors.
However, the explosive growth of the talent management software market is another reason for Oracle to
buy Taleo. As Bersin & Associates investigates, the market for online recruitment management software
increased by over 15% in 2010. Through the acquisition of Taleo, Oracle has filled in the gap of its own
product line.
The full range cloud computing solutions that Oracle provides include sales automation, HR, talent
management, social networking, database, and Java, all being part of the public cloud of Oracle. On June 7,
2012, Oracle issues a cloud-based package that includes some 100 auto-service applications and platform
services, which charges according to subscribers¡¯ use amount.
The acquisitions of SAP and Oracle also highlight another trend in the HR software industry: Talent
Management System (TMS) rules. Different from HR management system software that is based on HR
management and centered on data, talent management software is based on industrial and organizational
psychology and cares more about the people and the processes. A complete Talent Management System
should include modules like talent planning, recruitment, payroll, performance appraisal, succession, and
Talent Management System
Top 100 Human Resources Services Brands in Greater China 2012 017
19. training. Representative companies of the previous kind are At the same time, the paper also points out that the features,
Oracle, SAP, yonyou, Kingdee, while those of the latter kind cost and service of HRMS are the major incentives for
include Kenexa, Taleo, Peopleclick, Pageup People and enterprises to implement them. The rental model of SaaS can
Beisen. flexibly configure the features, cost and service requirements
that enterprises need, and thus tremendously shrink their
The talent management software industry has no lack of
cost. In the HR market of China, providers of cloud-based
mergers and acquisitions. But given their scales they cannot
SaaS have great prospect and huge development potential.
subvert the entire industry. This time, however, the entry of
Oracle and SAP may incur a major share-out to the industry.
Social Media Reshapes the
Through mergers and acquisitions, Oracle and SAP have
established their competitive edge in cloud computing Recruitment Market
services, e.g., better understanding of the market and
Any human activity is fundamentally information activity; the
expertise in implementation. For the acquired enterprises,
difference in the delivery media and management method
they can tap into the huge user base, capital, branding of
of information flow means the difference in the information
Oracle and SAP and increase their own strengths.
you receive. From the agrarian age carved by agricultural
Acquisitions in the HR Management Software Industry
equipment to the industrial age made by machines to the
Acquirer Acquiree Time of Acquisition net era created by computer technology, each important
Jambok March 2011
SuccessFactors technology revolution is coupled with media revolution. The
Plateau April 2011
Taleo Learn.com September 2010
entire history of human civilization is arguably the history of
Lumesse (formerly Stepstone) Mr. Ted August 2010 the evolution of the way humans use tools.
SumTotal GeoLearning January 2011
The Three Waves of Business Models of the
China¡¯s HR Market Calls for HRMS Internet
Information technology is the prime driving force of the In 1993, the US government announced to build the National
development of HR management, as it liberates HR Information Infrastructure, a project that heralded the birth
professionals from tedious affairs and thus allows them to of the Internet. Portal sites were the earliest business model
focus on the strategic affairs of their companies. However, of the Internet. In terms of creation time, the trailblazer was
China still lags behind developed countries in human capital Yahoo!. With the passage of time, however, the nature of
management systems. In ¡°Retrospect and Lookout of the portal sites also underwent gradual changes. They grew to
HRMS in China 2011¡±, a paper jointly issued by ADP and be larger and all-inclusive, but their gauge also underwent
HRoot, only less than half of Chinese enterprises are using dramatic changes in the later stage. Previously they were
HR management systems, and among them 30% of the HR gauged by the number of registered subscribers and click-
management systems they use fall into the category of C/S through rates, but are now measured by the average time
infrastructure and need to be upgraded. subscribers spend on them.
With the Internet became faster, more popular, personalized
Composition of Corporate Use of HRMS
and compatible to mobile devices, new apps emerged in
a rapid succession. The technology of Web2.0 brings the
business model of the Internet to an era of search engine
model. The essential customer behavior of a search engine
Not clear
is ¡°to obtain¡±: obtain materials, pictures, music and more.
C/S
Through search, the act of ¡°obtaining¡± is fulfilled. Therefore,
B/S
the value of search engine itself is the value of media.
SaaS
To maximize the value, the act of obtaining should be
continuously fulfilled. In this stage, Google is indisputably a
representative of the search engine model.
018 Top 100 Human Resources Services Brands in Greater China 2012
20. With the development of the web technology, social The most significant discovery in social networking is its
networking sites appeared and developed by leaps congeniality, i.e., the tendency of mutual relation between
and bounds. The IPO of Facebook suggests that social people of similar temperaments. Such similarity not only
networking services (SNS) model has become the third determines the frequency of mutual relating and the
business model of global Internet following those of portal discussed topics, but also determines what information they
sites and search engines. seek as an individual in the network. Congeniality suggests
frequently relating people are similar to each other, and they
Influences of Social Media On Interpersonal may consume a larger quantity of identical information. The
Relationships
less-relating individuals are more likely to have differences
Prior to the emergence of social media, the distribution of and consume a larger quantity of different information. The
information followed an end-to-end pattern, but after that it information is spread through the network. Strong ties are
gave way to the fission pattern. similar to each other and more likely to visit the same sites,
while weak ties are more different and tend to visit different
In the 1970s, sociologist Granovetter first proposed the websites.
concept of strong / weak ties in interpersonal relationships.
He has discovered that in a highly developed commercial
society, people within communities/organizations interacts
frequently and exchanges often and thus forge typical strong
ties, while the ties that transcend communities/organizations
are far weaker and apt to be neglected. However, studies
have found that in either job hunting or other social activities,
the information obtained through strong ties is invariably
repetitive, while weak ties can better transcend the social
limit to obtain differentiated information and other resources.
Granovetter illustrates how social network inter-connects
with information obtaining. When one person interacts
with two close friends, the latter may also strike up mutual
communication. So when people tend to forge closely-knit
compact groups, all those in the group may relate with each The network effect is apparent n the distribution of
other. We all relate to the core group forged by strong ties information. Although a person is more likely to share a
and frequently communicate with the people in the group, single message from a close friend, the collection of weak
while the less-related weak ties also exist. ties shoulders most of the responsibilities of information
distribution. It is more likely for people to share information
from strong ties, but
one of the whole,
most of the influences
still come from weak
ties.
Top 100 Human Resources Services Brands in Greater China 2012 019
21. Six Degrees of Separation Theory Social Media Undergos Explosive Growth
In the field of mathematics there is a ¡°Six Degree of In the US, social media represented by Twitter and Facebook
Separation¡± theory, also known as the ¡°Small World¡± theory. have gradually evolved into a basic application on a par with
It refers to the idea that there are not more than six people search engines, portal websites, and e-commerce. The third-
between you and a stranger, or in other words, you can get party applications stemming from social media platforms
to know a stranger with no more than six people. have led to a brand-new social business changes. In China,
since 2009, social media has been presenting a growth
This phenomenon does not mean that any person-to-
spurt. New media of this kind not only penetrate strongly,
person relationship has to be set up with six layers, rather,
but also give rise to a brand new revolution in distribution. A
it telegraphs such an important idea: any two strangers can
recent survey on 5,700 Chinese Internet users find that the
relate to each other with certain connections. Obviously,
residents in first-, second-, and third-tier cities in China boast
given the difference in the way and ability of networking,
a 95% registration rate of social media. In addition, China
opportunities to realize personal expectations may also vary
also has the most active user group of the world, as 91% of
significantly.
the interviewees say that they have logged on social media
Social networking websites are tellingly on the rise. Recent in the past six months, a rate much higher than the 30% rate
studies show that one can connect with another person in Japan, the 67% rate in the US, or the 70% rate in Korea.
with 4.74 persons or fewer. The advent of social networks At the same time, the expansion speed of Chinese Internet
obviously makes person-to-person relationship closer than users is also unrivalled in the world. By December 2011,
ever. there were 513 million Internet users in China, while the
number was 67 million in Germany, 121 million in India, and
245 million in the US.
China already has the world¡¯s largest population of Internet
users.
Total Internet users1in December 2011 Internet penetration, %
Million
Global China2 US India Japan Germany UK France Korea Australia
1 Including people accessing the Internet via personal computer and mobile phone; data as
of the end of 2011.
2Percentage of overall China population over age 6.
Source: Internet World Status, December 2011
In addition, what dominate the landscape of social media
in China is native Chinese websites. Chinese consumers¡¯
favorite social media websites are: Qzone.com (over 44% of
the interviewees say Qzone of QQ is their most frequently
used website), Sina Weibo and Renren.com (19% each),
T. (8%) and Kaixin001.com (7%).
020 Top 100 Human Resources Services Brands in Greater China 2012
22. The most popular social media in China
Social Networking Recruitment Poses
Challenge To Traditional Recruitment
Social networking websites are changing the marketing
model of recruitment and head-hunting, leading to dramatic
changes to the business model and product model.
For a long time, online recruitment has been the first
choice of enterprises. In China, traditional recruitment
Qzone.com Sina Weibo Renren.com t. Kaixin001.com
websites have long been the major channels used by
enterprises. Companies make payment to the websites
Source: McKinsey&Company <China¡¯s social-media boom>
and run advertisements on them, and then collect the
Chinese social media websites are very similar to their resumes submitted by applicants. For applicants, they can
European and American counterparts, but they also have only passively wait for the interview calls after they submit
their own unique features. their resumes. Under such conditions, both companies and
applicants are in a ¡°passive¡± state, albeit they need direct,
¡ñ Qzone.com: Similar to MySpace, it allows users to interactive communications. The interpersonal functions of
establish their own web pages to issue their updated social networking websites provide a much-needed platform
information, photos, and video clippings. for companies and applicants.
¡ñ Sina Weibo and T.: they provide many features The rise of social networking websites has established a new
similar to Twitter, such as distribution of messages within channel for recruitment. By means of networking, it weaves
140 Chinese characters, of uploaded photos and videos, and the thread of interpersonal relationships into the fabric of
exchange of messages between friends. recruitment process, and builds the ties between enterprises
and candidates. Based on relationship, the data mining
¡ñ Renren.com: a website similar to Facebook that originally
capability of social network sites can make the information
restricted its circulation among college students. Although it
in the recruitment process more accurate. The educational
is open to the public, its user base is still largely constituted
background, employment history, professional advantage,
by college students and new graduates.
interpersonal reputation of a candidate can be learnt at
¡ñ Kaixin001.com: a website similar to Facebook that a quick glance, greatly reducing the cost of talent search
specializes in online games at the beginning, and it focuses and background check. On the other hand, for those social
on office workers. network websites, their result-oriented advertising model
proves attractive to many users, and provides justification for
¡ñ Ushi.com: similar to business social networking sites like
their service charges.
LinkedIn and XING; it has similar peers like dajie.com and
jingwei.com. In 2002, the business social networking website LinkedIn
was established in the US. It seeks to provide a platform
for users to build and maintain their networks, and to
provide recruitment solutions and the service of customer
information. With its user number snowballs, it has become
a major channel for American enterprises to recruit. Official
statistics of LinkedIn reveals that the Global 500 companies
all use LinkedIn to recruit, which means that 100% of them
are recruiting on it. Now LinkedIn has over 2.24 million
Top 100 Human Resources Services Brands in Greater China 2012 021
23. registered users in China, while the number in the US is nearly 65 million.
In November 2011, a latest report issued by the American recruitment website Jobvite suggests that 89%
of American enterprises will recruit with social networking websites, and among them 55% will increase
their budget for recruitment on social networking websites; while recommendations, recruitment on the
company websites, and direct channels will be their other major channels; only 16% of the enterprises will
increase their expenditure on recruitment fairs, one-third of them will cut their expenditure in recruitment
fairs, third-party recruiters and head-hunters; some 64% of the enterprises will adopt two or more channels
of recruitment; among the enterprises that plan to drive their expenditure in recruitment, 95% of them are
using or will use social networking websites. In China, nearly one-third of Chinese enterprises are using
social networking websites in their recruitments.
The rise of social networking websites is posing tremendous challenges to traditional recruitment
websites. Compared with the latter, social networking sites enjoy a much higher traffic than traditional
ones. Facebook has the second largest traffic in the world, while LinkedIn ranks the 12th, Renren.com of
China is in the 102th place.
By comparison, traditional website recruitment is declining and urgently in needs of transformation. Pitted
against the robust rise of social networking sites, traditional sites suffer from such problems as single
mode of profitability and congeniality that have weakened their effects, and they have lost a lion¡¯s share of
their clients.
According to iResearch, 51job.com, Zhaopin.com, and ChinaHR.com combine to occupy a 70%-plus
share of the online recruitment market in China. However, the performances of the three companies
are utterly different. Only 51job is still turning a profit while the other two recruitment giants are deep in
Social Networking Sites are Shoveling Away Traditional
Recruitment Sites
Recruitment website Traffic Ranking SNS website Traffic Ranking
The Structure of Online Recruitment Market of China
Website Traffic Ranking Major Investor
022 Top 100 Human Resources Services Brands in Greater China 2012
24. the red. Zhaopin.com has been losing for three
consecutive years, while ChinaHR.com, after it
Fiscal year Fiscal year YoY increase
was wholly owned by Monster, still reported a loss
Annual revenue
of RMB175 million in its earnings. According to the
Profit
earnings of 2011 fiscal year recently released by
51job, its annual revenue reached $205.5 million,
an increase of 26% over the previous year, and
Fiscal year Fiscal year YoY increase its net profit increased by an impressive 56.6%.
Annual revenue Although 51job¡¯s performance is gratifying, it still
Profit
cannot reverse the decline of the entire traditional
online recruitment market.
Fiscal year Fiscal year YoY increase By sharp contrast, LinkedIn is rising sharply in the
Annual revenue recruitment field. LinkedIn is essentially an SNS-
Profit packaged professional recruitment site, whose
added value services in the recruitment field have
created a sizable stream of revenue, in which
¡°Premium Subscriptions¡±, ¡°Hiring Solutions¡± and
¡°Marketing Solutions¡± are three major income
sources. In the 2011 fiscal year, LinkedIn pulled
in $522.2 million in revenue, up 114% from the
previous year, while its profit rose by 32% over
the previous year. According to the newest fiscal
report, LinkedIn earned $102.6 million in revenue
from ¡°hiring solutions¡± in Q1 of 2012, showing an
increase of 121.6% over the previous year and
accounting for 54% of its gross revenue.
In the face of the tremendous challenges from business-
oriented social networking sites, traditional recruitment
enterprises should ride on the rising tide, to change business
directions and perpetuate reforms and attempt in social
networking recruitments, so that they can break the limitation
of homogenization, attract committed users and embrace the
era of social networking recruitment.
Software Platform-Style Process
Outsourcing Model Presents A
Major Opportunity
The HR outsourcing of ¡°Chinese characteristics¡± is originally
Hiring Solutions dominated by its ¡°personnel agency¡± model that primarily
Marketing Solutions based its income on the monthly service fees. Some senior
experts deem zero service fee a general trend. However, in
Premium Subscriptions
Top 100 Human Resources Services Brands in Greater China 2012 023
25. spite of lower unit prices of services, giants like the CIIC, SFSC and FESCO still maintain robust 30-50% increase in their
annual sales and profits, a phenomenon attributable to the fast expansion of the market for HR resources in China, which
translate into quick expansion of staff in overseas enterprises and soaring profit margin from the economy of scale. Another
underlying reason is that the profit from personnel agency has given way to welfare outsourcing, which has become the No.
1 source of profit (welfare outsourcing accounts for over 50% of the overall profit). Therefore, even zero service fee will not
make the profits of these enterprises run dry.
Overseas HR outsourcing model is significantly different from the ¡°personnel agency¡± model of China, as the former uses
more process outsourcing than the latter. ADP, an adopter of this model, is the most profitable enterprises in the HR services
industry, boasting in a profit rate of 26% and a revenue volume of $1.93 billion, an amount equivalent to half of the total of the
other 49 enterprises among the Global 50 HR servicers providers worldwide. Its market value is up to $25 billion, a volume
unrivalled in the global HR services industry. In 2011, the profit margin of ADP ranked the fifth in the global HR services
industry. On May 22, the market value of ADP was reported
$25.775 million.
ADP¡¯s big profit comes from its unique business model: ADP¡¯s Acquisitions and Mergers Strategic
software platform-style process outsourcing model. Clients
can use the software platform it provides to exercise some Global talent
management
self-service operations, a function that lowers the personnel solutions
cost, increase the accuracy and the speed of information Strengthening its
position in payroll
Leading
comprehensive HR
and welfare BPO provider
delivery. At the same time, the model is one of the few management
technology-intensive, capital-light, and high cash flow
Commitment to the
Entry in large,
businesses, promising very high return on investment. growing market
market of small
enterprises
In spite of its inherent advantages in business model, the Multi-lingual & Clients, Talent,
multi-currency Technology,
aggressive ADP is still not satisfied. In the recent four service Channels
years, ADP carried out 13 mergers and acquisitions. In the
second half of 2011, ADP announced its acquisition of the In China, the Manpower Group, Randstad, Career International,
world¡¯s leading RPO company, the RightThing, a move that 51job.com, CIIC, SFSC and FESCO are bracing for competitive
secured its status as the largest RPO company globally and edges in these new models of process outsourcing.
extended its business from payroll outsourcing to recruitment Various kinds of HR Process Outsourcing include:
outsourcing. RPO is highly favored by HR services giant, not ¡ñ HR information system outsourcing
only because of the huge and rapid increase in demand, but ¡ñ Payroll outsourcing
also have very high potential gross profits and profit margins. ¡ñ Talent management outsourcing
¡ñ Learning outsourcing
¡ñ Recruitment process outsourcing (RPO)
ADP¡¯s Service Model
The competitiveness of HR outsourcing is determined
by information technology, but commercial information
Payroll 0utsourcing
+
Social Security Outsourcing
+
System Platform Rental
technology is undergoing massive shift and upgrading. HR
process outsourcing promises high profits but also has higher
Business barriers to entry, such as:
Models
Payroll Outsourcing Social Security
+ 0utsourcing
System Platform +
Rental System Platform Rental
024 Top 100 Human Resources Services Brands in Greater China 2012