From The Workbench **Before any micro-enterprise can become part of an EMC**, it must successfully engage in a **Digital Bidding** process facilitated by the Workbench. EMCs are supposed to tender out all their goals (or ‘dan’ meaning ‘business opportunities’) they hope to achieve via the internal marketplace. The **goals** must outline what the EMC hopes to **outsource**, along with **contextual** information, in-depth analysis, and a clear description of the goal.
These goals come in all shapes and sizes. Some are minor projects, others are grandiose and ambitious: building a state-of-the-art factory, for example, or achieving a 10 percent market share in a specific region. There is an **art to formulating these goals**. They must be sufficiently clear, and the potential rewards attractive enough, for the micro-enterprises to bid on them.
Bidding on the internal marketplace gives micro-enterprises the freedom to choose their work. However, Haier’s bidding process is not only open for internal micro-enterprises but also for **external partners—the best bids are awarded a place in the EMC**.
All parties must be mindful about their biddings: They must bid high enough to get a place in the EMC, but the risk of overbidding is also present. If one can’t deliver on their promise, they are essentially ‘punished’ by compromising their credibility within Haier’s star-based **performance rating system**. The rating is significant, as parties will eventually be disadvantaged in future bids if their rating is too low.
The Workbench has completely digitalised and automated these goal-setting and bidding processes while greatly increasing the efficiency of Haier’s internal market mechanisms. (To give you a sense of scope: each month, more than 4,000 bids are made through the Workbench, of which 100 are successfully turned into new contracts.)
> 40:1 bid to contract completion ratio.