Appliance Design - February 2009 - (Page 4)

EDITorIal oo big to fail. The foreboding phrase has been reverberating for months now and it perturbs us for two reasons. First, it reminds us that goliaths can be felled, though such reminders should not surprise those who pay attention. Secondly, the idea that some companies are so big that we simply cannot allow them to collapse violates long nurtured notions about meritocracies and free markets. How would Adam Smith respond to that rationale for rescue? The father of modern economics was instrumental in defining how free markets would operate, and coined the term “invisible hand” to describe how all the various forces would interact to achieve the optimal results. But the invisible hand seems to move a bit stiffly these days, its grip not quite as strong. Part of the problem stems from the classically stated requirements for freely competitive markets, such as the condition that a competitive market should include a multitude of competitors and the market should have low barriers to entry and exit. That is, there should be many companies in the same business, and they should be able to easily get in or out of it. Those conditions clearly no longer describe the current world of manufacturing where key product lines are dominated by a mere handful of companies, where the necessary capital investments make it difficult for new players to break in, and where the role of the established players in the economy virtually compels their survival. The conceptual facilitator of free market economics is the assumption of fluidity — prices rise and fall, products succeed or fail, companies grow or shrink — all in response to changing conditions. When conditions change slowly, only slight adjustments are necessary, but when things get choppy, faster moves are in order. A mammoth bred for plowing straight ahead is a fine model for stable periods, but not for the current disruptive times. It’s like some weird new reality television show where sumo wrestlers are forced to play basketball. Possessing agility quickly becomes the top T Does the Invisible Hand Have arthritis? imperative during volatile situations, and the pertinent question is whether some companies have gotten too big to make the right moves. The assertion is that behemoths can’t react quickly enough, that bloated organizations are too unwieldy to be managed, and too vast to be even understood by those in charge. Some pundits suggest that leviathans need to be broken up into smaller components, restructured into more focused, nimble units. Underlying such remedies is the assumption that size inversely correlates with agility. But is that in fact the case? How then to explain any number of giant companies weathering the storm quite well, setting their jibs adroitly? Leadership and vision, or lack thereof, often prove more crucial than size. I remember a long-ago interview with the captain of an appliance company who smugly declared that no foreign appliance maker would ever sell product in the U.S. because the cultures are too different for them to understand the U.S. market. He scoffed at me for even raising the question. I recall another conversation from the same era during which an industry chief from a different company condescendingly instructed me that no American will ever buy a front-loading clothes washer. Business writers who have been around for a while can fill pages with such anecdotes, the collected un-wisdom of myopic navigators who were nonetheless given the wheel. The problem with our bureaucratic age is that we are obsessed with designing ideal frameworks for organizations, while devoting too little attention to the acquisition and grooming of people who will inhabit them. We need to worry less about discovering smarter structures, and worry more about finding smarter people. The great secret of agile companies is that they are led by agile minds. < ® www.applianceDESIGN.com publishing staff Fern Sheinman Publisher richard J. Babyak Editor larry adams Managing Editor Daryl Delano Economics Editor E’lisa Campbell Production Manager MaTT Britcher Art Director (619) 233-4585 sheinmanf@bnpmedia.com (440) 886-1210 babyakr@bnpmedia.com (773) 467-8590 adamsl@bnpmedia.com (508) 746-7986 dhdelano@comcast.net (248) 244-6257 campbelle@bnpmedia.com (248) 486-7800 britcherm@bnpmedia.com circulation Christine a. Baloga (248) 244-8262 Corporate Audience Development Director balogac@bnpmedia.com amy Schuler (920) 231-4932 Group Audience schulera@bnpmedia.com Development Manager alison Illes (248) 244-1730 Corporate Fulfillment Manager Illesa@bnpmedia.com Catherine M. ronan (248) 244-8259 Corporate Audience ronanc@bnpmedia.com Audit Manager robert liska 800-223-2194 List Manager robert.liska@edithroman.com marketing lynn Davidson Marketing Director Paul Dykstra Trade Show Coordinator (248) 244-6417 davidsonl@bnpmedia.com (248) 786-1609 dykstrap@bnpmedia.com editorial advisory board Mark Skaer, Senior Editor, The News Susan Sutton, Editor, Ceramic Industry roy Sakelson, Editor-in-Chief, Circuitree Tom Williams, Publisher/Editor, Quality Magazine Darlene Brezinski, Ph.D., Editor, Paint and Coatings Industry Don Hegland, Editor, Assembly BNP Media Helps People Succeed in Business with Superior Information BNP Media 2401 West Big Beaver Rd., Suite 700, Troy, MI 48084, (248) 362-3700, Fax: (248) 362-0317; www.bnpmedia.com For subscription information or service, please contact Customer Service at: call (847) 763-9534 • Fax: (847) 763-9538 or email: AD@halldata.com APPLIANCE DESIGN Volume 57, Issue 1 (ISSN 1552-5937) is published 12 times annually, monthly, by BNP Media, 2401 W. Big Beaver Rd., Suite 700, Troy, MI 48084-3333. Telephone: (248) 362-3700, Fax: (248) 362-0317. No charge for subscriptions to qualified individuals. Annual rate for subscriptions to nonqualified individuals in the U.S.A.: $161.00 USD. Annual rate for subscriptions to nonqualified individuals in Canada: $198.00 USD (includes GST & postage); all other countries: $211.00 (int’l mail) payable in U.S. funds. Printed in the U.S.A. Copyright 2009, by BNP Media. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the consent of the publisher. The publisher is not responsible for product claims and representations. Periodicals Postage Paid at Troy, MI and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: APPLIANCE DESIGN, P.O. Box 2148, Skokie, IL 60076. Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement #40612608. GST account: 131263923. Send returns (Canada) to Bleuchip International, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON, N6C 6B2. Change of address: Send old address label along with new address to APPLIANCE DESIGN, P.O. Box 2148, Skokie, IL 60076. For single copies or back issues: contact Ann Kalb at (248) 244-6499 or KalbA@bnpmedia.com. Richard Babyak, Editor E-mail: babyakr@bnpmedia.com | HVAC | Majors | Water Processing | Housewares | Commercial Appliances | | Vending | Medical | Lab | Test & Measurement | Lawn & Garden | Electronics | | Computers | Communications | Business Equipment | 4 applianceDESIGN February 2009 www.applianceDESIGN.com http://www.appliancedesign.com http://www.bnpmedia.com http://www.bnpmedia.com http://www.appliancedesign.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Appliance Design - February 2009

Appliance Design - February 2009 Contents Editorial Shipments/Forecasts News Watch Force-Sensing Technology Offers Designers an Alternative Approach to Creating Touch-Control Interfaces A Flammable Vapor Sensing Technology that was Originally Developed for use in Water Heaters has Evolved for use in a Broader Array of Applications Latches, Hinges, and Slides Must Reliably Secure Parts Together, Sometimes for Hundreds of Thousands of Cycles. Beyond their Utilitarian Functions, They Can Also Change Consumer Perceptions Elastomeric Electrical Connectors Can Solve Space Constraint Problems in Electronic Products and Provide Some Cost Advantages as Well A Multi-Layer Ceramic Capacitor with a Novel Electrode Design Can Suppress Electromagnetic Interference, Improve Circuit Performance, and Reduce the Number of Needed Components Design Marts Association Report: AHRI Advertisers’ Index

Appliance Design - February 2009

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