Excerpt from Revitalizing Large Companies

In these turbulent times, many large companies in Europe and America are trying to cope with growing domestic and international competition, rapid technological change, sudden shifts in consumer preferences, and other changes in their business environments by making major changes in strategies, structures, and management systems all at once. The struggles of some corporate giants trying to transform themselves - AT&T, , Ford, Kodak, Levi Strauss, and Siemens, among others - are becoming quite well known through frequent stories in the business press.

The track record for large companies that attempt fundamental transformations is not too encouraging. Addressograph Multigraph's ill-fated attempt to move from electromechanical to electronic technologies demonstrates how difficult it can be to bridge a major technology gap. When computers and xerography began to cut sharply into Addressograph Multigraph's traditional duplicating markets in the 1960s, management was slow to respond. In the late 1960s, though, the company abruptly reversed its conservative course and introduced a barrage of new products. Unfortunately, almost all of them were unsuccessful, and the company was forced to write off over $30 million in discontinued equipment in the early 1970s.

Addressograph Multigraph's weakened financial condition prompted a change of management, and Charles Davis was brought in from Honeywell in 1973 to overhaul the company's product lines and management systems. Davis's efforts had little impact, however, and three years later Roy Ash, head of the Office of Management and the Budget (OMB) under President Nixon and co-founder of Litton Industries, was named CEO.

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