Jeff Fettig è ai vertici della corporation dal 2004. Prendere il posto di David Witwam, presidente per diciassette anni, e passato alla storia come l’uomo che aveva avviato una vera rivoluzione nell’azienda, non era facile. In più ci si mise una pesante crisi economica con i prezzi delle materie prime che crescevano a due cifre. Fettig però dimostrò una forte visione del futuro incentivando l’internazionalizzazione di Whirlpool, scelta che si rivelò vincente. Molte delle domande sono arrivate da giornalisti dei paesi emergenti. Il presidente si è detto molto soddisfatto di come sta andando in India e Brasile. Il cruccio maggiore è invece la Cina, dove le potenzialità sono enormi, ma per ora è stata conquistata solo una parte della quota di mercato.

Quando sente parlare di Varese si illumina perché ha vissuto per un periodo a Luvinate, proprio a due passi dal campo da golf, una delle sue passioni. “L’innovazione riguarda tutti i nostri lavoratori che siano operai alla produzione, come quelli di Cassinetta, impiegati o manager di Comerio. Valorizziamo le idee e le proposte di tutti sia che arrivino da momenti formali che informali”. Per Jeff Fettig di fronte alla “stella polare” della sua azione fa poca differenza la classe sociale o lo status dei lavoratori. Tutti possono essere importanti.

Deep, blue eyes, and the hint of a smile that lasts only a moment. He misses none of what happens in the Executive Dining Room. He observes and listens carefully. It is important for him to have so many journalists from every part of the world. From his behavior, it is clear he understands that the questions are one of the best indicators of how his company is perceived.

Jeff Fettig has been part of the corporation’s top management since 2004. It was not easy to take the place of David Witwam, who had been the chairman for seventeen years, and who went down in history as the man who began a revolution in the company. Then, there was a serious economic crisis, with the cost of raw materials that increased by double figures. However, Fettig demonstrated a strong vision of the future, by encouraging the internationalization of Whirlpool, which proved to be a winning choice. Many of the questions came from journalists from emerging countries. The chairman said he was very satisfied with how the situation is going in India and Brazil. The greater concern, however, is China, where the potential is enormous, but where only a part of the market has been conquered so far.

When he hears Varese mentioned, his face brightens up, because be lived, for some time, in Luvinate, at a stone’s throw from the golf course, which is one of his loves. “Innovation concerns all our employees, whether they are manual workers, involved in production, like those in Cassinetta, office workers or managers in Comerio. We give importance to everyone’s ideas and suggestions, whether they come to us by formal or by informal means.” Against the guiding light of Jeff Fettig’s acts, it makes little difference what the social class or status of the employee is. They can all be important.

&nbsp

“At the time, it was thought that innovation was the work of the few, and the intuition of our chairman appeared unprecedented. But it was the best, winning idea. We began with a team of 75 people, 25 in America, 25 in Comerio and 25 in San Paolo. We put them all together, with a new way of working. At the time, there was a sea of white in the shops, with electrical appliances all the same. I thought that, by bringing these people together, we would find the solution, but we understood this wasn’t enough.”

Since then, Whirlpool has come a long way, and is one of the companies that focuses most on innovation. Nancy Tennant continues, “For us, innovation must have three requisites. It must be unique and significant. It must create a real and competitive advantage, and lastly, it must be so new that the consumer is willing to pay something extra to have that product. The perception of what innovation is has changed over the last few years. We’re proud to have changed the rules of the game; the crisis distracted us a little, but we have to start working even more in that direction.”

Nancy happily talks about when the chairman Richard Withwam retired, he declared that he would only give his name for Brandywine Creek, the Whirlpool lodge, where we are staying, because he was convinced of the need for the continuous training and development of the employees.

Coming back to the innovation that is so dear to the corporation, the question now is how to step up a grade. “We realized we were all talking the same language, but interpreting differently. So we decided to introduce concepts, sharing and applying them in all regions. Another important point, given the new markets, is that innovation must not be expensive. It can be conceived and realized also for the masses, with low technology materials, introducing entry level products that enable a part of the population, who would never be able to purchase some products, acquire them. This innovation needs the same inventiveness and skill, and is possibly even more difficult.”

In short, processes that are not only revolutionary, like the iPod, but also small, incremental changes, that do not change people’s lives, but improve the product.

“We attach importance to the innovation of process and of product, and we use the same instruments and people that are in charge of developing it.”

It is a central theme for the economy and the life of companies that would require days of work. Here, you have to run, but you won’t have an evening with Nancy Tennant every day.