Electrolux Redesigns Itself

Johan Hjertonsson's drive for change

BusinessWeek, November 27, 2006 — Johan Hjertonsson was lounging around his house outside Stockholm late one Saturday afternoon in 2003 when his boss, Electrolux CEO Hans Straberg called. "Hans said: 'We have a problem,"' recalls the 38-year-old Hjertonsson. "Things aren't moving fast enough." Sales were falling, products were taking too long to get to market, and consumers weren't sure why they should buy from Electrolux instead of the competition. Straberg told Hjertonsson: "I want you to fix this."