Summary Whirlpool Coporation's Global Strategy
7 Summary Whirlpool Coporation’s Global Strategy
Introduction case
1989 Ambitious global expansion emerged:
• Objective: becoming the world market leader in home appliances.
• Purchase of a majority stake in an appliance company owned by Philips.
• Purchased a majority stake in an Indian firm.
• Established four joint ventures in China.
• Made new investments in its Latin America operations.
1990 Serious problems emerged in the international operations:
• 1995 European profit fell by 50 percent.
• 1996 Reported $13 million loss in Europe.
• 1996 Whirlpool lost $70 million in Asia.
• 1997 Lost $62 million in Asia.
• 1997/1998 Victim of spiraling interest rates in Brazil.
• 1998 Appliance sales in Brazil plummeted by 25%.
• 1999 Third straight year of declining sales in Brazil.
1997 In response to these problems, Whirlpool began a global restructuring effort:
• Announced that it would cut 10 percent of its global workforce over the next two years.
• Pulled
Statistics:
Public Company
Incorporated: 1929 as Nineteen Hundred Corporation
Employees: 68,272
Sales: $11.02 billion (2002)
Stock Exchanges: New York Chicago
Ticker Symbol: WHR
NAIC: 333415 Air-Conditioning and Warm Air Heating Equipment and Commercial and Industrial Refrigeration Equipment Manufacturing; 335211 Electric Housewares and Household Fan Manufacturing; 335221 Household Cooking Appliance Manufacturing; 335222 Household Refrigerator and Home Freezer Manufacturing; 335224 Household Laundry Equipment Manufacturing; 335228 Other Major Household Appliance Manufacturing
Company Perspectives:
At Whirlpool, we believe that innovative thinking comes from anyone and anywhere within our company. That's why, in 1999, we launched a worldwide effort to instill innovation as a core competency throughout our