Philips and Matsushita

In the post World War II era, Philips became the leading consumer electronics company in the world. Philips' success in this postwar era can be attributed to their strong Research & Development efforts, their independent National Organizations and the communication between these National Organizations. However, with the creation of the Common Market in the 1960's, the same National Organizations to which Philips attributed its postwar success soon became the reason why Matsushita displaced Philips as …

…of the divisions linked together through a global strategy enabled Matsushita to displace Philips as the leading consumer electronics company in the world. Autonomous divisions, linked through a common vision and global strategy, leveraging economies of scale to bring products to the world catapulted Matsushita ahead of Philips. Philips was not longer able to compete with Matsushita and fell behind due to the very autonomous National Organizations that made them successful in the first place.