The 1990s have been a great time to be in business—unless, that is, you happen to be a manufacturer. Despite the long economic expansion—and despite their own rigorous focus on improving productivity and quality—most large manufacturers have struggled during the past decade. Titans with household names like Whirlpool, Texas Instruments, Polaroid, and Bausch & Lomb have achieved little, if any, profit growth. And they have plenty of company. Stock valuations throughout the manufacturing sector have been dormant, while the markets in general have soared. Only one in eight of the 1,000 largest manufacturers has outperformed the S&P 500 since 1988, and fully one-third have seen the value of their stocks decline.
A version of this article appeared in the September–October 1999 issue of Harvard Business Review.
