Michael
Bonsignore, CEO of Honeywell, states that Honeywell will not be an extension of
the old Honeywell or Allied Signal. He is creating a new culture that blends
the best of the merged companies of Honeywell and Allied Signal. He says that
Honeywell will compensate and reward people that look for best practices from
both companies in creating a new corporate culture and punish those who do not.
Do you predict Honeywell will be successful?
Yes,
Honeywell is a successful organization. Honeywell International, Inc. is an American multinational diversified
industrial conglomerate company that produces a
variety of commercial and consumer
products, engineering services, and aerospace
systems for a wide variety of customers, from private consumers to major
corporations and governments. Honeywell invents and manufactures advanced
technologies for some of the world’s toughest challenges and opportunities
initiated by revolutionary macrotrends in science, technology and society. A Fortune
100 company, Honeywell creates solutions to improve the quality of life of
people around the world. Honeywell has a superior brand recognition and equips customers
to be even more productive and successful. With approximately 132,000 employees
worldwide, including more than 22,000 engineers and scientists, Honeywell has an
unrelenting commitment passion to quality and delivering business results.
Honeywell International is the product of a merger in which Honeywell, Inc. was
acquired by the larger AlliedSignal in 1999 (Michael Bonsignore, CEO). 2014
revenue was over $40 billion and operating income was over $4 billion. In
addition, Honeywell is in process of implementing a "Five Year Strategic Plan
2014-2018" to ensure growth and future success. (Honeywell, 2015)
What
barriers do you see based on what you observed in the video?
Some
of the barriers that Michael Bonsignore, CEO, faced included: convincing
shareholders and Wall Street, workers, customers, managers etc. that the merger
and new enterprise would be "healthy", grow and succeed in the
future. Financials such as revenue, operating income and stock price are important
for all stakeholders. Bonsignore stated there were three things to focus on the
"pivotal moment": 1. (108) years the company has been around 2. don't
take success for granted, i.e., don't be complacent and stubborn 3. "kick
in the seat of the pants" to jump start everything. The economy is now an
era of mergers and acquisitions. The most important thing is to establish a vision:
leadership and control, customers, profit, growth and "stretch
goals." Another huge challenge is providing for public safety, e.g.,
Bendix school bus ABS electronic control unit recall. (Mastering the Art of Corporate Reinvention,
2011)
What
critical success factors should Honeywell consider as it crafts its
organizational strategies around a new culture?
Michael Bonsignore, CEO, is described as a "spectacular
salesman" because of his qualifications. He attended the US Naval Academy
in Annapolis. He is knowledgeable and has confidence his abilities. He has the
passion and drive to go all the way. Organizational strategies include 1.
communication (town hall meetings, leadership eating lunch with employees, and
employee involvement 2. serving the customer 3. be flexible and adaptable 4. era
of mergers and acquisitions 5. reward employees for new and best practices and
punish those that don't perform.
Globalization and global expansion should be a priority. And most
importantly and above all, lead change and don't become a dinosaur or obsolete.
For example, Bonsignore gives an example of a roundtable he had with engineers
on the shop floor concerning computers and programming and he wasn't knowledgeable
in what was being discussed or understanding because it was all new stuff
material to him. Keep your skills and knowledge up to date! The fundamentals
are there for to make a model for 21st century enterprise and it's just a
matter of putting the pieces together and connecting the dots. And most importantly,
be process oriented and focused, e.g., lean manufacturing and six sigma with
change agents and leaders to lead change initiatives. (Mastering the Art of Corporate Reinvention,
2011)
What
can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?
I
have had the opportunity to be part of a huge and successful merger
acquisition. In 1997, Boeing purchased McDonnell Douglas and Rockwell creating
the world's largest aerospace company. At the time, I worked at McDonnell
Douglas which was a "troubled" aerospace company. There were three
cultures to integrate into one. Would this happen overnight or in a few years?
Of course not. Boeing developed a "2016 Vision" of "People
working together as a global enterprise for aerospace industry leadership"
including strategies, core competencies and values. In fact, this journey has
taken almost twenty years. It all starts with leadership at top setting the
vision and executing the strategy and plan. And leading change? Boeing for the
first time hired an outsider Jim McNerney from 3M as CEO for a new approach and
ideas. He also worked at General Electric (GE) and was trained and mentored by Jack
Welch. Boeing is a learning and teaching organization, for example, "The
Leadership Center" (corporate university) in St Louis is a leader in
executive education and leadership development. The college study program "Learning
Together" is one of the best in the world. Self-directed and high
performance teams are in engineering, production, quality and supply chain to
achieve business results. Process management is used to develop and build
products and services. Lean manufacturing and six sigma are used to focus on
waste and variation. I have had a hands on experience in all this too and has
been a great learning and developing opportunity for me. (Boeing, 2015)
References
Boeing (2015). Retrieved from http://www.boeing.com/boeing/
Honeywell (2015). Retrieved from http://honeywell.com/pages/home.aspx
Mastering
the Art of Corporate Reinvention (2011). Retrieved from
http://digital.films.com/play/GWEU7L
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