How Whirlpool Survived A Rough Recovery From The Housing Crash

Last week Forbes posted an interesting article about Whirlpool and the ways it has adapted to the economic upheavals of the last few years. From the article:

By mid-2011 it was clear that the current earnings stream the company was producing was not sustainable. “With low demand and high costs, we determined ‘we’re not gonna wait for a recovery,’ and re-sized the business” to meet the North American and European demand levels at the time.

The response the company crafted was threefold — cut capacity and costs; raise prices where possible to offset raw materials inflation; and invest in new product innovation with better margins and higher prices as a goal – but it was not painless.