Newell's Corporate Strategy And How It Adds Value To Its

Businesses

Newell's corporate strategy, inspired by Bob Katz, was in 1967 to describe "its focus as the market for hardware and do-it-yourself (DIY) products to volume merchandisers" (Montgomery 1999:2). The philosophy behind this strategy was Katz's -- and it prompted Dan Ferguson, CEO of Newell, to allow the company to "build" on what it knew how to do best. What Newell knew best was "how to relate to and sell to a large retail institution -- the large mass retailer," and so -- after going public with its stock in 1972 -- Newell began a policy of actively "adding new products by acquisition," which could then be sold in retail stores (Montgomery 1999:2). Newell's strategy was aggressive, centralized (initially -- later departmentalized), and functional, and allowed the company to become a billion dollar corporation by the 1990s. This paper will...
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