Haier's CEO Zhang Ruimin wins the Best Practice CEO Award in 2015, presented by Best Practice Institute (BPI).

"Zhang Ruimin is exactly the kind of chief executive BPI's CEO Award is all about," Carter said. "What Mr. Zhang did 30 years ago to rescue and revitalize Haier was heroic. Even more important, though, is what Mr. Zhang is doing today to point the way to what talent management looks like in the Internet era."

Zhang pays high attention to team members' spirit of innovation and leaves them space to develop their abilities, Carter added.

BPI, founded in 1998, is an association of executives and expert pioneers in leadership and management who are dedicated to implementing the best and next practices.

BPI has more than 42,000 subscribers, and its corporate and individual members include executives and employees of more than half of the Fortune 500. BPI began presenting its CEO awards in 2006. Previous recipients include Phil Martens, CEO of Novelis, and Steve Reinemund, CEO of PepsiCo.

Mr. Zhang became director of Haier's predecessor company, Qingdao Refrigerator Factory, at 35. The dilapidated factory was deeply in debt and on the verge of bankruptcy. With no money to pay employees, Zhang had to turn to private lenders just to make payroll during his first months at the helm.

Now Haier Group is a major manufacturer of home appliances and electronics. The company has about 70,000 employees worldwide. In 2014, it received revenues of $32.09 billion and profit of $2.4 billion. The revenue has increased by more than fourfold in 2000.