Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • April 2005 (Revised March 2006)
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

Change at Whirlpool Corporation (A)

By: Jan W. Rivkin, Dorothy A. Leonard and Gary Hamel
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:17
ShareBar

Abstract

In 1998, the CEO of Whirlpool Corp. decides to change the company's strategy significantly to escape an increasingly unattractive "stalemate" in the appliance industry. The change he proposes involves a fundamental shift in the company's focus--from manufacturing to branding--and requires the development of altogether new organizational capabilities. Examines the full range of adjustments that the CEO must lead his management team to make throughout all the functions of Whirlpool. Distinguishes itself from other cases on strategic change by examining the challenge of change in a company that is not in crisis (yet).

Keywords

Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Competitive Advantage; Strategic Planning; Production; Brands and Branding; Management Teams; Consumer Products Industry; United States

Citation

Rivkin, Jan W., Dorothy A. Leonard, and Gary Hamel. "Change at Whirlpool Corporation (A)." Harvard Business School Case 705-462, April 2005. (Revised March 2006.)
  • Educators
  • Purchase

About The Authors

Jan W. Rivkin

Strategy
→More Publications

Dorothy A. Leonard

→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • April 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Connecting Students in Chattanooga (B)

    By: Jan W. Rivkin and Manjari Raman
    • April 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Connecting Students in Chattanooga (A)

    By: Jan W. Rivkin and Manjari Raman
    • March 2022
    • Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory

    Sensitivity Analysis of Agent-based Models: A New Protocol

    By: Emanuele Borgonovo, Marco Pangallo, Jan Rivkin, Leonardo Rizzo and Nicolaj Siggelkow
More from the Authors
  • Connecting Students in Chattanooga (B) By: Jan W. Rivkin and Manjari Raman
  • Connecting Students in Chattanooga (A) By: Jan W. Rivkin and Manjari Raman
  • Sensitivity Analysis of Agent-based Models: A New Protocol By: Emanuele Borgonovo, Marco Pangallo, Jan Rivkin, Leonardo Rizzo and Nicolaj Siggelkow
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College