Publications
Publications
- October 2014
- HBS Case Collection
Honeywell and the Great Recession (A)
By: Sandra J. Sucher and Susan J. Winterberg
Abstract
CEO Dave Cote spent six years turning around an ailing Honeywell and in 2008 Cote and his team face a new challenge: how to respond to the Great Recession. Cote does not want to give up the gains he made in transforming and unifying Honeywell. With a fall-off in demand, Cote and the team must decide how to enact spending cuts in all parts of the business. They face choices in whether to employ layoffs or furloughs (unpaid leaves) for any needed workforce reductions, and whether to enact hiring freezes and other cost-saving changes to employee and executive compensation programs and benefits. Each of these choices is hard, and together they may derail the company's momentum if not handled carefully.
Keywords
Layoffs; Furloughs; Downsizing; Work Sharing; Short Time Work; Recessions; Earnings Forecast; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Cost Management; Executive Compensation; Crisis Management; Financial Crisis; Manufacturing Industry
Citation
Sucher, Sandra J., and Susan J. Winterberg. "Honeywell and the Great Recession (A)." Harvard Business School Case 315-022, October 2014.