Change management-an imperative for Philips Electronics

The management of an electronics company is synonymous with that of change. The last quarter of the 20th century has witnessed revolutionary development; in electronics, challenges come from changing scale, scope, competition and technology. The author presents the story of change with respect to Philips which begins with a review of the company´s first 100 years, then examines the position at the beginning of the 1990s and finally discusses Philips´ change management programme-Centurion-describing what it is, what is required of the change programme and the results to date.<>