Whirlpool

Marlee McManus

MKTG 430

Whirlpool and the Global Appliance Industry

Due via D2l: 3/26/15

Whitwam’s vision of global opportunity led to Whirlpool’s bold purchase of the flourishing European appliance business, “Philips”, in 1989, a move that catalyzed Whirlpool’s transition into the number-one position in the worldwide appliance industry. When Whitwam adopted the Philips business, he could have made the move to “fix” the company through cost-cutting and production/operations changes. Instead, he transformed two parochial, margin-driven companies into a united, consumer-focused organization that used its combined abilities to achieve revolutionary performance in markets that span the globe. As a result, the new Whirlpool set the standard for the global appliance industry and the pace for the price structure.

In order to achieve this united front, Whirlpool needed to take initiatives to get all internal units on the same page. Whitwam made all facets of the company understand that creating value for shareholders was the only way the company could potentially create the greatest value for all other stakeholders--the employees themselves, the communities employees live in, the company’s suppliers, and the list goes on. He also universalized the quality standards by which Whirlpool’s appliances were produced by combining the best aspects of national quality standards from across the globe into one globally appropriate quality standard program.

Whirlpool’s success can be directly attributed to Whitwam’s awareness of the fact that only in recognizing a common interest, or at least the connection among interests, plays a vital role in acquiring the global, one-company mentality that Whirlpool has successfully achieved and fights to sustain.

References

Cateora, P., Gilly, M., & Graham, J. (2011). Culture, Management Style, and Business Systems. In International marketing (15th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Fazio Maruca, R. (1994, March 1). The Right...