Development of Westinghouse

Westinghouse has strong strength and advanced technology in all aspects. However, while its annual sales reached $654.38 +099 1, it lost $654.38+86 million, and its performance was mixed.

In the development of Westinghouse for more than 100 years, the strength of the company has been growing through several successful mergers. At the end of last century and the beginning of this century, Westinghouse merged a number of companies in the three major mergers and acquisitions in the United States in the 1920s and 1960s. After World War II, because Westinghouse monopolized the patent right of nuclear power plant reactor construction, the business was very prosperous and the profits increased sharply. During this period, Westinghouse has been ranked 15 among the largest industrial companies in the United States. Since 1970s, the nuclear power industry has developed slowly, and the demand for nuclear power equipment has been limited, which has limited the company's further development and weakened its ranking among American industrial companies. In the early 1980s, the company's sales were less than10 billion dollars, and it was not until the early 1990s that the company's position rebounded.

Westinghouse Electric Company mainly consists of seven systems: broadcasting system, electronic system, environmental protection system, financial service system, industrial system, office supplies system and electric power system. Due to the influence of the objective environment, the achievements of various departments are also uneven. At present, Westinghouse's broadcasting system has 65,438+07 radio stations and 5 TV stations, which are engaged in the production and cooperative production of radio and TV programs, cable TV program production and the development of satellite and commercial communication. 199 1 Although Westinghouse is very competitive in the field of American broadcasting, it is particularly difficult for Westinghouse to spread TV programs because of the decline in advertising revenue caused by the economic recession and the Gulf War.

Westinghouse's electronic industrial system plays an important role in American military industry and civil industry. It has more than 22,000 skilled employees, including 5,000 engineers and scientists. These researchers are equipped with advanced research equipment to ensure that their research results are world-class For 50 years, Westinghouse Electrical and Electronic Systems Group has been continuously providing the most advanced electronic technology to the US military industry. 199 1 From the "desert shield" stage of the Gulf War to the "desert storm" stage, Westinghouse's electronic technology played an extremely important role. Therefore, in 199 1 year, Westinghouse won the bid for several major engineering and technical projects under the situation that the US Department of Defense cut its military budget. In the business of non-Ministry of National Defense, the system has developed aircraft equipped with multifunctional sensor monitors for law enforcement departments, indoor monitors for security systems and commercial fields, and its products have entered the automotive electronic control equipment market. All these have implemented the company's strategy of "commercializing electronic technology in various forms".

Westinghouse's environmental protection system equipment accounts for 65,438+05% of the American enterprise waste treatment market, most of which is the incineration of hazardous solid waste. However, Westinghouse's profit in this area has been declining because of the delay in paying the construction cost of the purification device. In terms of nuclear waste disposal, Westinghouse investigated the feasibility of placing nuclear waste in Bulgaria and can provide nuclear waste boxes and storage systems. Outside the United States, Westinghouse Electric Company has made great commercial progress. In this year, Westinghouse's environmental service revenue accounted for 30% of the total global environmental service revenue, and Westinghouse was determined to become the world's number one environmental service giant. Westinghouse industrial system is facing economic difficulties in 199 1, among which only four companies are operating well.

Westinghouse's office supplies system is mainly Noel Group. Four companies under this group specialize in producing and selling office furniture and equipment. Due to the poor economic situation, the group's profit dropped sharply at 199 1.

Westinghouse's power production system has been its most important enterprise for more than 65,438+000 years, and its global power sales account for 20% of its total sales. The power system also provides power plant design services and power production equipment for power plants all over the world, but due to the influence of the overall economic environment, the profit of the power system in 1990 shows a downward trend.

The power generation department under the system also manufactures and sells steam and internal combustion turbine generators, and is also responsible for providing even factor magnets to the super superconducting collider planned by the US Department of Energy.

The Department of Energy under this system mainly deals in nuclear power products and services, providing nuclear fuel and other fuels and power generation control systems, which can help manufacturers develop "new generation" nuclear reactors and realize "passive safety", that is, safety measures that are not affected by operator errors, with fewer components and lower cost than conventional nuclear power plants.

Westinghouse's leading position mainly comes from Westinghouse's great emphasis on research and development. Westinghouse's "Science and Technology Center" constantly introduces various new technologies, making the company's new technology patents in a leading position; The research results of Westinghouse's "Productivity and Quality Center" have improved the work efficiency and product quality of the company's management department.

[Edit this paragraph] Organization and management of multinational corporations

The Victory of the Organization and Management of Multinational Corporations —— The Competition between General Electric and Westinghouse Electric

Westinghouse Electric Company and General Electric Company, founded in 1886 and 1892 respectively, are world-famous electrical and military electronic products manufacturing companies. However, while GE was still able to compete with Wal-Mart, Intel, Microsoft and other emerging enterprises, ranking among the top 10 in the world for many years in succession, Westinghouse Electric, which stood side by side with it in the early 1970s, lost its competitiveness after the 1980s, fell into an insurmountable dilemma and lost its position as one of the top 100 enterprises in the world.

Westinghouse and General Motors, like the American economy, have accumulated huge wealth through two world wars. However, why do two enterprises with similar history, products and regions show such a huge contrast in development? Looking back on the history of the two companies since 1960s, we can think that organizational management is one of the main reasons leading to different development.

Since 1960s, the enterprise management system of American large companies has adopted a system that emphasizes systematicness and flexibility, and combines centralization and decentralization to meet the needs of technological progress, economic development and market competition. At the end of 1960s, Westinghouse decided to compete with GM with internationalization strategy. They soon found that the original organizational structure of international companies and four product companies operating in parallel hindered the company's international growth, decisively canceled the international companies, and formed a "decentralized business division system" based on products. From 197 1 to 1976, this adjustment was very successful, and overseas business increased significantly. In fact, as early as the early 1950s, GM adopted a similar organizational structure, and the whole company was divided into 20 business divisions. Each department operates independently, accounts separately, and has achieved the performance of leading Westinghouse. It can be considered that this organizational structure is very effective for large companies with diversified operations and complex varieties and specifications to cope with fierce market competition.

Facing the market challenge of Westinghouse Electric, GE was once in crisis in the early 1970s. 197 1 year, the senior management of GE reformed the enterprise management system, that is, set up a "strategic organization" in the division. This "strategic organization" is an independent organization department, which can selectively manage some products independently in the division, so that the division can allocate manpower and material resources flexibly and effectively, and make strict and predictable strategic planning for various products, sales, equipment and organizations. This kind of "strategic organization" can be equivalent to the level of the group or the level of the business department. That year, GM set a record in sales and profits. From the rapid development of General Electric Company in the 1960s to the mid-1970s, this measure has played a lot of roles. In ten years, GE's sales doubled and its profits nearly tripled.

In the mid-1970s, the American economy stagnated again, and Ge worried that there might be a long-term economic depression in the 1980s. 1977 ended. Ge further reorganized the company management system and implemented the "executive department system", that is, the "super-division system". This system is to establish some "super divisions" in each division to govern and coordinate the activities of each division, that is, there is another layer of management above the division. In this way, on the one hand, senior leaders can reduce their daily work and concentrate on the strategic planning of enterprise development, on the other hand, they also enhance the flexibility of enterprises, lay an organizational guarantee for the sustainable development of GM, and significantly improve their business performance.

At the same time, Westinghouse still operates freely in the hierarchical structure with perfect management and emphasis on bottom line income, so it only makes some gradual improvements in the organizational structure piecemeal. Westinghouse implemented the matrix system in 1980s. When it is found that the product person in charge and the regional person in charge are often unable to keep consistent, which affects the successful implementation of matrix management, Westinghouse's measure is to implement internal guarantee, that is, a department guarantees to provide high-quality services to its internal customers, and to achieve timely, accurate and continuous feedback and courtesy. Internal customers can be employees in the next process, or they can be clients of auxiliary departments. At the same time, Westinghouse also set up a business committee to adjudicate disputes between different departments and complete communication and cohesion between departments. During this period, Westinghouse focused on industrial restructuring and international alliances and joint ventures. On the one hand, Westinghouse withdrew from the low-income electrical and consumer goods industry and invested in industries with relatively stable competition and great market potential, such as refrigeration, heat preservation, transportation and land development. On the other hand, under the great pressure of imported products competition, Westinghouse adopted the business strategy of "if you can't stop it, just follow it" and conducted joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions and alliances with non-American enterprises. The alliance has promoted Westinghouse's international operation and realized industrial diversification, which has become an important aspect of Westinghouse's long-term strategy.

However, sticking to the rules and ignoring the change of management thought still greatly dampened the development of Westinghouse and eventually lost in the competition with GM. Although the Reagan administration's national policy of increasing military spending was undoubtedly a shot in the arm for Westinghouse in the early 1980s, Westinghouse won a large number of military contracts such as nuclear submarines, fighter jets and missiles, and the value of electronic equipment products produced for the military reached 20% of the company's total output value, which made Westinghouse once make a comeback. Unfortunately, since 1990s, Westinghouse Electric has been left behind in the race to reshape itself and its management mode. At present, Westinghouse only maintains a leading position in the global nuclear power field, accounting for 50% of the global market share and 60% of the United States, but it has been unable to reproduce its glory.

From the century debate between Westinghouse and GM, it can be seen that only by doing well the design and management of enterprise organization can we provide the most critical competitive advantage. If an enterprise wants to operate in a way that its competitors can't emulate, its management system, process and structure are the key. With an appropriate organizational structure, enterprises can launch new products faster, improve product quality better, and meet customer needs faster and more comprehensively. This is completely different from the traditional hierarchical structure. They believe that the competitive advantage of enterprises comes from strong financial resources, human and natural resources, the ability to enter the market and differentiated technologies. Organizational management has become an important key link in management practice, especially for large multinational enterprises. In this sense, the success of GE is the victory of organization and management.

Westinghouse electric company, which has a long history of 100 years, still has a well-known reputation. It was founded in Pennsylvania on 1886 by the famous American inventor and industrialist G. westinghouse. Perhaps even Westinghouse itself didn't think that Westinghouse Electric has become a large electric group with more than 4,000 products in its business field and an industrial giant in the United States and even the world after nearly a hundred years of growth.

After a new round of enterprise transformation, Westinghouse not only developed the original electrical business, but also extended the industrial field to household appliances. Westinghouse appliances with exquisite workmanship, first-class quality and fashionable design have been widely loved by American families as soon as they are listed. What can be seen is quality and fashion, and what really brings unprecedented convenience to thousands of households is the innovative concept advocated by Westinghouse-"kitchen management".

Westinghouse-Westinghouse Electric in China: Problems: Including our three meals a day and lifestyle, Westinghouse Electric was once a household name in all aspects of our lives. 19 17, Westinghouse electric and manufacturing company produced the first electric stove, followed by electric iron and coffee filter. 1934, they opened the first all-electric residential exhibition hall-"All-electric House of Tomorrow" in Mansfield, Ohio. In the 1920s, Westinghouse Electric expanded its household appliances business to many overseas markets, and its products were exported to Britain and China. In the first 50 years of the 20th century, Westinghouse brand kitchen appliances, radios and desktop fans were precious items among wealthy China families living in metropolises like China and Shanghai. Unfortunately, due to the Japanese invasion of China in 1930s, Westinghouse Electric terminated the sales of household appliances in China. Westinghouse Electric returned to the United States and continued to produce household appliances until 1972, when the main household appliances department was sold. But since then, Westinghouse electric products have gradually faded out of the market. Nevertheless, the reputation of Westinghouse electric brand is still a valuable asset in the memory of consumers in the United States and around the world. How to awaken and reshape the sleeping well-known brands through brand authorization and revive their heyday in the Far East-this is the challenge that Hengdian brand faced when it first cooperated with Westinghouse Electric.

Solution: As a professional brand operation and brand authorization organization, LMCA began to conduct extensive research on the history of Westinghouse Electric to find out the specific historical development process of its past sales to China. The research contents include visiting the old Westinghouse Electric Museum (now the Heinz Historical Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA); Visit the antique market in Shanghai, where you can also find some Westinghouse brand household appliances! At the same time, in order to ensure that Westinghouse Electric brand still has a good reputation in the memory of China people, Hengdian Brand conducted a brand awareness survey covering four first-tier cities and four second-tier cities in China. Based on these findings, Hengdian brand has identified diversified brand authorized products (including traditional products and emerging products) for Westinghouse Electric in China by using all its brand extension authorization methods, and arranged them in order of priority according to their brand characteristics, relevance, credibility and leverage. When determining the future authorized party, Hengdian brand also adopted the localization positioning of brand authorization. Therefore, the brand authorization plan formulated by Hengdian Brand (LMCA) for Westinghouse Electric is completely tailored to Westinghouse Electric's unique background in China.

Project Achievements: Since September 2009, various consumer products authorized by Westinghouse Electric have met with consumers in major shopping malls, electrical chain stores and online stores in major cities in China. This marks the first return of Westinghouse brand after leaving China for 60 years. The listing of these products comes from the brand authorization agreement that Hengdian brand recently built and signed for Westinghouse Electric in the Far East. The licensee is a distributor and manufacturer of durable consumer goods rooted in China, and they have a vast retail market in China. The brand licensing agreement signed covers traditional product series, such as small kitchen appliances, desktop fans, indoor heaters and so on. Other products, such as Westinghouse brand air purifiers, humidifiers, personal care and baby products, will be put on the market before the World Expo 20 10 May-10 in Shanghai.