On January 16, 2009, Ren Zhengfei, the founder of Huawei, spoke at an awards ceremony for the company’s sales organization. He said Huawei should “let those who can hear the gunfire call in the artillery” (让听得见炮声的人来呼唤炮火). The idea was to give decision-making power to the staff on the front line.
The phrase was widely praised in Chinese business.