Model your company's future on the success of tech's quiet giant

BusinessWeek once listed Chinese tech firm Huawei as one of the ten most influential companies on the planet, and Time placed its founder Ren Zhengfei in the top 100 most influential men in the world. Once considered an insignificant upstart bound for failure like so many other early tech companies, Huawei is now a $62 billion company employing 190,000 people worldwide.

Huawei's upward trajectory is the classic story of a company that beat all the odds. Founded in 1987 with...