Leading Change at Simmons
Introduction About Simmons:
Simmons, founded by Zalmon Gilbert Simmons, is a family-run company. In 1875, Simmons decided to change their business from wood products to woven wire mattresses, which contributed great profits to the company. During 1920s, Simmons had been an international firm with factories in Mexico City, London, and Paris, unusual for the era. But in 1978, Simmons ceased to be a family-run business. Following this switch came a succession of many owners, leaving Simmons unstable and without a long-term vision. In late 1999, Fenway Partners, who bought Simmons from Investcorp in 1998, decided to pick Charlie Eitel as the CEO of Simmons.
Now headquartered in Atlanta, Simmons has 18 bedding manufacturing facilities that made mattresses across the U.S.
The Simmons Situation
Charlie Eitel, the fairly new CEO of Simmons, has a lot on his plate. His company is struggling, and he needs to rebound. There are many contributing factors that could lead to the demise of Simmons. These factors mostly branch off of the country wide economic struggle following 9/11. In addition to 9/11 backlash, he is also faced with the recall of a product from a supplier. While these issues are quite harmful, they are external characteristics and he can do very little to affect them. What he can effect is his within his organization, specifically, the workers. When analyzing the company he has noticed that there is a large divide in production coming from certain plants, and the culture observed at certain plants. For a large company such as Simmons cultural cohesiveness and a unified vision are necessary to succeed. A unified vision can increase employee job satisfaction, public image, turnover, output and profit. Before Eitel, a long line of changing owners (since 1978) has caused Simmons to lack a vision. With this, Eitel took steps to insure clearly identify the problem and attempted to enact a solution. Moreover, there are many problems in the Simmons’s
Simmons, founded by Zalmon Gilbert Simmons, is a family-run company. In 1875, Simmons decided to change their business from wood products to woven wire mattresses, which contributed great profits to the company. During 1920s, Simmons had been an international firm with factories in Mexico City, London, and Paris, unusual for the era. But in 1978, Simmons ceased to be a family-run business. Following this switch came a succession of many owners, leaving Simmons unstable and without a long-term vision. In late 1999, Fenway Partners, who bought Simmons from Investcorp in 1998, decided to pick Charlie Eitel as the CEO of Simmons.
Now headquartered in Atlanta, Simmons has 18 bedding manufacturing facilities that made mattresses across the U.S.
The Simmons Situation
Charlie Eitel, the fairly new CEO of Simmons, has a lot on his plate. His company is struggling, and he needs to rebound. There are many contributing factors that could lead to the demise of Simmons. These factors mostly branch off of the country wide economic struggle following 9/11. In addition to 9/11 backlash, he is also faced with the recall of a product from a supplier. While these issues are quite harmful, they are external characteristics and he can do very little to affect them. What he can effect is his within his organization, specifically, the workers. When analyzing the company he has noticed that there is a large divide in production coming from certain plants, and the culture observed at certain plants. For a large company such as Simmons cultural cohesiveness and a unified vision are necessary to succeed. A unified vision can increase employee job satisfaction, public image, turnover, output and profit. Before Eitel, a long line of changing owners (since 1978) has caused Simmons to lack a vision. With this, Eitel took steps to insure clearly identify the problem and attempted to enact a solution. Moreover, there are many problems in the Simmons’s