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Honeywell International Inc. is a multinational engineering and technology conglomerate based in America.

Honeywell offers services and products in four primary business areas, including:

  1. Aerospace
  2. Building Technologies
  3. Performance Materials
  4. Safety Solutions

Honeywell has an illustrious history. What started off as the Honeywell Heating Specialty Company in the early 1900s later became a multinational conglomerate and advanced technology company.

Honeywell pioneered thermostats and even developed thousands of parts for the famous Apollo Moon Mission. The company was also the major defense contractor for the military during challenging times such as World War II. 

Today, Honeywell has a significant market share in aerospace, building controls and safety, and automation of business processes through its arsenal of software. Plus, it is also a key provider of analytics and automation solutions to businesses.

Honeywell’s Success Evident From 2021 Statistics

Let’s dive deep into its history and analyze what strategies helped Honeywell transform into the iconic company that it is today!

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File:Honeywell-charlotte-hq-1.jpg
Source: Scott Ritchie, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Honeywell’s Humble Beginnings As a Heating Company

The story of Honeywell begins in 1885, with the invention of a unique thermostat for coal furnaces.

The patent for this thermostat was later sold to a separate company that eventually merged with Honeywell.

From that point on, Honeywell began to expand through acquisitions of more patents and mergers.

Damper Flapper - The Product With Which It All Began

It all started in 1885 when Albert Butz invented the ‘Damper Flapper’, a thermostat that began the automation of heating systems in homes. It would flip the damper of coal furnaces in homes when needed and was deemed a game-changer in the heating industry.

However, Mr. Butz was less of a businessman and more of a technical genius focused on the innovative side of things.

Instead of using his innovation to spread business, he sold the patent to his lawyers who formed the Consolidated Temperature Controlling Company. The company, however, could not perform well in its early years.

It was taken over by William Sweatt, a skilled businessman. With some tinkering and resultant improvements over time, the thermostat became popular as the ‘Minneapolis Regulator’. 

Considering the popularity associated with the ‘Minneapolis’ Regulator, the company was eventually renamed the Minneapolis Heat Regulator Company in 1912.

How Was Honeywell Formed?

In 1906, the Honeywell Heating Specialty Company was formed by Mark Honeywell in Indiana. Its primary product was Honeywell’s innovation, the Mercury heat generator.

Both Honeywell and the Minneapolis company understood the increasing competition in the market and the rapidly changing technologies.

By 1914, Minneapolis Company had annual sales of $200,000 ($5.8 million today after adjusting for inflation) and more than five thousand employees. As for developments in the sector, in the 1920s, new heating systems were being introduced but most failed due to safety concerns. 

The Minneapolis company finally changed the game, coming up with its ‘Series 10’ model in 1922 that solved the issue and made it a market leader.

Honeywell, on the other hand, had its market share due to its unique mercury-based product. The companies sold complementary products and so, therefore, a merger made perfect sense. That is exactly what they did in 1927, forming the Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Company.

The merger was a smart strategic move by both companies. The synergic merger allowed it to withstand the economic woes of the 1929 market crash.

From that point on, the company embarked on a trajectory of several mergers and acquisitions for expansion.

Key Takeaway 1: Innovate To Lead In The Market

From the start to the merger and onwards, it was all about who took the lead in the heating sector.

As an innovation distorts the market, the one who can incorporate that innovation before competitors, ends up being the leader and hence reaps the maximum benefits.

This is what Butz’s lawyers realized when they purchased the patents from him for the damper flapper, which later became popular as the Minneapolis Regulator. 

Honeywell had its mercury product. Rather than both the companies competing for newer technologies, they decided a merger would give them more grip on the market and the combination of expertise would help Honeywell stay the leader in the sector.

This merger, as evident from further expansion of the company, proved to be the right decision in making Minneapolis-Honeywell a leader.

Acquisitions Bolster Growth Despite Challenges of 20th Century  

With a strategic merger completed, the company was well on its way towards expansion through mergers and acquisitions.

Since the heating sector was still developing, Honeywell leveraged it to its advantage and acquired several competitors, eliminating any patent advantages. 

During the Second World War, the company became a key contractor for the military, undertaking several projects to gain expertise and experience in high-end aero technologies.

As the war ended, the company looked toward the aerospace and computer market as avenues for growth. 

How Did Honeywell Grow In The First Half Of the Twentieth Century?

Honeywell’s growth began in 1931 when it made its first major acquisition of Time-O-Stat Controls Corporation.

As other companies struggled to bear the shocks of the 1929 market crash, Honeywell was busy making acquisitions. This was mainly due to its strategic merger in 1927 that gave it a lot of patents and a competitive advantage. 

Time-O-Stat had many patents related to heating regulators and mercury switches. Its acquisition meant access to the mercury-products market and a ton of new patents.

The next acquisition was of Brown Instruments Company in 1934. This marked the beginning of international expansion for Honeywell.

This is because Brown Company had relations with vendors in Japan and the acquisition meant access to the Japanese market for Honeywell. 

Another aspect worth mentioning is that Honeywell primarily dealt with low-temperature environments and catered to homes. With the acquisition of Brown Company, Honeywell entered the industrial market providing high-temperature products as well.

In the same year, the company inaugurated its first foreign plant in Canada and supply chain center in London. By 1937, ten years post-merger, they had more than three thousand employees and sales of $16 million ($321.2 million today after adjusting for inflation).

The strategy remained pretty much the same, acquiring competing companies and valuable patents. In 1937, the only two key competitors in large-scale heat regulators were acquired, namely the National Regulator Company, and Bobs & Babcock Company.

The strategic advantage was strengthened when Honeywell was awarded defense contracts by the military for engineering projects during World War II.

Honeywell Venturing Into Aerospace and Defense Industry

In 1941, during the war, Honeywell was reached out by the military for manufacturing military equipment.

Though camera stabilizers and other products were contracted, the primary requirement of the military was the autopilot bomber system, called the C-1 autopilot. This marked the beginning of Honeywell’s entry into the aerospace and defense industry.

Honeywell’s C-1 autopilot panel:

File:Honeywell C-1 Autopilot Control Panel.jpg
Source: Sanjay Acharya, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

In 1942, Honeywell opened its aero division, focusing primarily on autopilot systems. In 1950, it was again awarded a military contract, this time for the control system of the first US nuclear submarine.

Experience with high-end radar systems, autopilot, and tank periscopes made Honeywell a key player in aerospace. The C-1 system changed the game in autopilot systems. Interestingly, the same C-1 autopilot system was used in the atomic bombing of Japan.

As the war concluded, Honeywell had established itself as a favorite for defense contracts, dozens of which it would secure in the future.

Honeywell’s Entering The Computer Industry By Collaborations

After gaining experience with defense projects, Honeywell ventured into the computer and information systems market.

In the 1950s, computers were very huge machines and called mainframe computers. At the time, not many competitors existed besides IBM. 

Honeywell was approached by Raytheon, an American electronics company, to collaborate on a collective computer business. The two companies reached an agreement in 1955 and formed the DATAmatic Corporation, a subsidiary owned partly by the two companies. This way, Honeywell was able to enter the computer business without too much capital expenditure.

Just two years later, they developed the DATAmatic 1000 mainframe, which sold for 2 million ($20.6 million today after adjusting for inflation) but overall, the company could not penetrate the customer base of IBM. Soon enough, Raytheon left the partnership and DATAmatic became a segment for Honeywell.

Although the entrance into the computer market was bumpy at first, later on as we will see, Honeywell became a key player in the market. This was done through innovations rather than by acquisitions. Honeywell had started making a name as a top-notch tech and engineering company.

In the 1960s, Honeywell was one of the seven key competitors in the computer market, in addition to IBM. 

Later, it became part of BUNCH, an abbreviation for the initials of the five top computer companies of that time.

Key Takeaway 2: Accelerate Growth With The Right Acquisitions 

Once established, the owners of Honeywell desired growth. Two main options were either to go slow and steady solo or acquire synergic companies to accelerate expansion. Honeywell chose the latter.

Its first acquisition, of Time-O-Stat, was the right choice. Why? 

Time-O-Stat was not a completely different industry but it offered mercury products as well as modified heating regulators not part of Honeywell’s product line.

The next acquisition, Brown Company, provided high-temperature environment products and international expansion opportunities. The acquisition of two more competitors in the industrial niche helped eliminate further competition for Honeywell.

Honeywell was a thermostat company. For sustainable growth, it had to diversify. The acquisitions into defense and technology helped it do just that.

Honeywell Diversifies Its Operations in the Late 1900s

Having entered the computer business, and provided high-end technological equipment to the military, Honeywell soon became a giant in the tech and engineering sector.

It became a key player in the Apollo 11 Moon Mission and sure enough, its aerospace segment finally took off. 

File:Apollo 11 Launch2.jpg
Source: NASA; restored by Michel Vuijlsteke, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In just a few years after releasing its first mainframe computer, Honeywell became a major competitor in the computer market, yet eventually, it ended up exiting the computer business.

Honeywell Becomes a Part of the Historic Moon Mission

1969 was a landmark year not only for the space exploration industry but also for Honeywell as a company.

The space mission that reached the moon had several components designed and manufactured by Honeywell. 

More than 15,000 parts of the Stabilization and Control System of the Mission were provided by Honeywell. Similarly, display devices and warning switches were of Honeywell. Lastly, flight testing was done by Honeywell pilots.

NASA’s trust in Honeywell enhanced its position in the market and marked the beginning of Honeywell’s aerospace business.

Honeywell’s Strategic Exit From the Computer Business

In 1970, Honeywell purchased the computer division of General Electric (GE) in hopes of expanding the computer business. The division was renamed Honeywell Information Systems (HIS).

The acquisition of the GE division did not bear much fruit. Competition at that time was fierce in the computer market. 

Honeywell managed to attain profits through the 1970s through its microcomputer product line, but it was barely able to show any promising growth.

After a new president and corporate overhaul in 1982, Honeywell decided to shift its computer business toward complementary products, especially concerning IBM, the key competitor at the time. It had realized the market power of IBM and HIS ' dwindling profits. By 1986, it had sold majority ownership in the computer division, and the focus shifted to thermostats, automation, defense, and aerospace.

By 1991, Honeywell had completely sold the computer division and therefore, exited the industry. 

Honeywell’s Strategic Focus On Aerospace

Having exited the computer business and planned to invest in the aerospace division, Honeywell started by acquiring the Sperry Aerospace Group in 1986.

Honeywell was still a key defense contractor for the military, especially after its involvement with NASA’s moon mission. The contracts were worth millions of dollars and a testament to the company’s growing expertise in engineering.

Honeywell was hit with allegations in 1988, all relating to the company's defense division. The firm had to endure significant cost overruns in several contracts.

As a general slowdown in defense contracts along with the Pentagon's waste-reduction initiatives made it more difficult for defense contractors to do business, James Renier, the new CEO, turned to the company's commercial aerospace industry to fill the void. Defense contracts and aerospace accounted for about half of Honeywell's sales and contributed considerably to the company's bottom line by 1989. At the same time, an increase in capital expenditure gave automation systems a boost.

Honeywell maintained its dominance in the automation-systems sector and remained a market leader in heating and alarm systems. Despite a $435 million loss ($1.1 billion today after adjusting for inflation) in 1988, sales in its space and aviation sector increased by 21% a year, boosted by the acquisition of the Sperry Aerospace Group in 1987.

Honeywell also improved inventory turnaround time and accelerated receivables collection by eliminating 5,000 employees and streamlining processes. Even though the company's primary markets were experiencing a recession in 1991, operational margins had increased to 11% whereas the net income had reached $331 million ($702.6 million today after adjusting for inflation).

The 1990s Prove To Be A Bumpy Ride For Honeywell’s Financials

The 1990s brought high profits in the automation market, losses in the aviation unit, and surprisingly, a myriad of lawsuits that tarnished the public image.

Renier stepped down as CEO in 1993 and was followed by Michael R. Bonsignore, the company's president. 

Despite its enhanced marketing emphasis and an effective new line of building controls, the company's revenues decreased. Profits, too, plummeted substantially, and a lawsuit endangered the company's viability even further when a jury gave a verdict against Honeywell.

The corporation met its expected financial targets for 1994 under Bonsignore's leadership. Nonetheless, when the company's long-term reorganization strategy was regarded, at best, a lukewarm success, investor confidence started waning. 

Even in a weak market, Honeywell's competitors, Emerson Electric as well as Rockwell International had roughly double the operating margins of Honeywell.

In 1994, net income yet again. Analysts pointed out that Honeywell should have been more proactive in cutting expenses and accused management of avoiding difficult decisions. Safe to say, all was not well, and this was reflected in the decreasing stock price. Honeywell's stock prices dropped.

The management remained firm about Honeywell’s growth prospects. Honeywell was still a giant in the tech and engineering sector. The main uphill task was regaining investor confidence after the wavering financial performance in the 90s.

Key Takeaway 3: Embrace Strategic Diversification

For sustainable growth, diversification has to be done. One particular niche cannot offer constant high returns. However, not every entry into a new market is successful.

Honeywell first looked toward the computer business and started making investments. Initially, it even seemed successful, but no significant growth was to be seen. Eventually, the division's profits declined, and Honeywell had to exit the computer business.

On the other hand, the aerospace division was promising. The moon mission had done more than enough marketing for the aerospace division. Military contracts kept coming. Honeywell moved towards the commercial market as well. Honeywell had diversified strategically. It no longer was just a thermostat company.

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The Acquisition of Honeywell and Further Expansion

As Honeywell entered the next century, the management had to revive its growth. By the end of the century, Honeywell had been acquired.

From that point on, mergers and acquisitions led Honeywell to further expansion.

AlliedSignal Acquires Honeywell 

In 1999, Honeywell was acquired by the American aerospace and engineering company, AlliedSignal for $14.8 billion ($25.7 billion today after adjusting for inflation).

File:AlliedSignal logo.svg
Source: AlliedSignal, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Due to the established goodwill and brand name of Honeywell, its name was retained, and therefore, post-acquisition, it was still called Honeywell. 

The synergic acquisition was more of a merger, as both the companies operated in the same domains, although the revenues of AlliedSignal were much higher. At the time, AlliedSignal was one of the largest tech companies on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

AlliedSignal’s market share in the aircraft equipment industry complemented Honeywell’s aerospace and control systems segments.

One hallmark program of AlliedSignal was the Six Sigma Program. With the acquisition of Honeywell, it was reinvigorated as Six Sigma Plus. Six Sigma is a measurement methodology that refers to a plan for improving function inside a company to save money.

For example, a corporation may apply Six Sigma ideas to the production department to guarantee that high-quality requirements are met while still delivering favorable financial outcomes. In engineering, the word Six Sigma refers to the smallest permissible safety margin.

For Honeywell, the term Six Sigma Plus alluded to the company's dedication to operating the business efficiently in all aspects. This approach worked effectively for Honeywell; by 1999, the corporation had saved $2.2 billion ($3.8 billion after adjusting for inflation) by implementing these standards.

Though the Six Sigma program had originated at AlliedSignal, the management of Honeywell collaborated to revamp it.

Honeywell’s Grows Despite GE Acquisition Failure

In 2000, Honeywell accepted a takeover offer from General Electric but was eventually blocked by the European Union on the grounds of too much market share.

Larry Bossidy, a senior AlliedSignal executive, took over Honeywell as CEO. Honeywell was releasing new products, such as its jet engines. The corporation embraced a new acquisition strategy to increase revenues to $12-13 billion. Small, underperforming enterprises were sold, costly suppliers were decreased, and processes were optimized.

Honeywell continued to win contract bids, sales exceeded forecasts, and middle and senior management turnover was not considerably higher than in the previous year.

Acquisitions of Honeywell in the Early 2000s

The series of acquisitions that had been going on since Honeywell’s inception continued even after the purchase by AlliedSignal.

In 2004, Honeywell acquired Novar plc, an American company working in the building controls industry. In 2005, Honeywell purchased a fifty percent stake in UOP, a petrochemical and manufacturing company.

In 2010, Sperian Protection – a French company – was purchased for $1.4 billion ($1.9 billion today after adjusting for inflation). The company was a major automation controls firm in Europe with a significant market share and therefore, helped Honeywell permeate the European market.

Key Takeaway 4: Have At Least One or Two Long-Term Guiding Strategies

After an unsuccessful bid with General Electric, the management regained morale and led the company to further growth.

One of the base strategies applied was the Six Sigma Program. The goal is essentially achieving optimization in processes to save time, money, and wastage of materials.

This remains the guide regardless of what decade we look at Honeywell, and unless new management brings a major change, the strategy remains the terminal guide of the entire corporation.

Honeywell From 2010 Onwards: Growth Via Acquisitions and Digital Transformation

By continuing its series of acquisitions and embracing digital transformation, Honeywell grew at a rapid pace from 2010 onwards.

Honeywell On An Acquisition Spree in The 2010s

Honeywell finalized the acquisition of Elster in 2015 for $5.1 billion, entering the domain of water and energy meters. Elster provided access to the Latin American market as it was a major contractor in Mexico for electric meters.

Honeywell also agreed to buy Xtralis, a key global provider of aspirating smoke detection, sophisticated perimeter security systems, and analytics software. In Atlanta, Georgia, Honeywell constructed a new software center in 2017. 

These two investments would prove to be key in making Honeywell a major player in the analytics software market. 

Today, Honeywell provides customized automation and analytics suites to industrial clients.

Honeywell Becomes A Mask Manufacturer During The Pandemic

As the pandemic wreaked havoc on the global economy in 2020 and 2021, Honeywell decided to dedicate several of its manufacturing plants to making personal protective equipment and masks for covid-19 protection.

Consequently, it was contracted by the government and the private sector to make millions of surgical and N95 masks resulting in additional revenue for the company when the economy was in a recession.

Honeywell Turns To Automation

With the advent of automation in business processes and especially in the tech sector, Honeywell has brought automation and digitization at several levels.

Being a major engineering company, Honeywell has to perform several costly tests before finalizing any product. This is where 3D modeling comes in. It allows them to make complex models to test different scenarios instead of conducting costly physical tests.

In this regard, Honeywell signed an agreement with Ansys in 2020, one of the top companies today in engineering and 3D modeling software. The agreement provides Honeywell with specialized software and models designed to test jet engines and control systems. Instead of replacing and reassembling parts, the effect of any new part can be observed digitally.

This not only expedites the overall production cycle but saves significant testing costs.

Digitization of Workforce Management

Honeywell has developed a workforce management suite for itself and other businesses to help digitize different levels involved in the workforce.

At Honeywell, the idea of workforce management is focused on safety and efficiency. The workforce suite has digitized the temperature checking process of personnel as well as data entry system at warehouses. While the digitization at Honeywell is being embedded at levels since it is of the pioneers in this, the company develops specialized digital systems for business clients.

For instance, the software assists supervisors digitize the screening process and saving manual labor by restricting entrance access if a high temperature is detected. This aids in the optimization of the workforce risk profiles. Plus, it enables organizations to quickly enroll their staff by digitizing the entrance approval procedure for visitors, returning workers, and contractors, combining management and access checks.

Honeywell Explores Internet-Of-Things

In 2019, Honeywell released its much-anticipated software called Honeywell Forge. It is an internet-of-things (IoT) analytics platform with versions for each type of industry.

Forge marks the beginning of Honeywell’s incorporation of big data and artificial intelligence in business optimization. The software provides a complete analytics package for companies with big infrastructures. Data is collected from equipment, processed in seconds and relevant insights are obtained daily.

In 2022, an update was added to Forge, making it a cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS). Called the Honeywell Forge Warehouse system, the suite has connected Honeywell warehouses on a cloud network, providing timely analytics and therefore, minimizing any unforeseen downtimes or issues in the supply chain.

Honeywell Forge has catapulted the company to not only major hardware but now a big player in the software and analytics market. With the rise of big data, Honeywell is geared up with the release of Forge and more software to come.

Four Primary Segments of Honeywell To Drive Growth

Today, Honeywell is a giant conglomerate in the tech and engineering sector. It operates four main business groups; 

  • Aerospace
  • Honeywell Building Technologies
  • Performance Materials and Technologies
  • Safety and Productivity Solutions

The Aerospace segment is a significant global provider of aircraft components, software, and services to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and other clients in a wide range of end industries, including air transport, regional, business, avionics, airlines, and defense and space.

Honeywell Building Technology is a prominent global provider of specialized software suites for building control and optimization, as well as sensors, switches, control systems, and instruments for energy management.

Performance Materials and Technology provides utilities and businesses with smart energy solutions through its smart energy devices.

Safety and Productivity Solutions is a global leader in providing technologies and software that help companies enhance productivity, employee safety, and plant performance. Personal protective equipment, gas detection technologies, and cloud-based messaging are all examples of safety goods.

Key Takeaway 5: Stay Vigilant of Global Trends

As a conglomerate, Honeywell Inc. was in a difficult position. It had to remain vigilant of worldwide trends for several industries and always be on the lookout for the slightest of profitable opportunities - and the company did just that.

Be it the advancement of tech and Honeywell’s consequent entrance into automated modeling and the Internet of Things, or venturing into the pandemic-protectant industry, the company proved that it was ready to adapt at every step of the way to continue churning revenues and keep its status high.

Honeywell Today & Key Strategic Takeaways

With a 5% growth in revenue to $34 billion and operating cash flows of $6 billion in 2021, Honeywell has come a long way since its inception.

From a company acquiring patents in the thermostat and heating market, to being a key partner of NASA, to becoming a multi-billion dollar giant, the journey of Honeywell has been quite exciting and eventful. 

Today, it is no longer just a thermostat manufacturer, but a major defense contractor and a global conglomerate pioneering digitization in business processes.

Honeywell’s Mission

Honeywell’s mission revolves around creating value for its customers and making their lives easier while simultaneously staying committed to protecting the environment and investing in sustainable practices.

Honeywell’s Vision

Continue to innovate and create the future rather than waiting for it - that’s what Honeywell aspires to do.

Honeywell’s Growth By Numbers

 

2021

2020

Revenue

$34.4 Billion

$32.6 Billion

Net Income

$5.6 Billion

$4.8 Billion

Earnings Per Share - Basic

$ 8.01

$ 6.79

Number of Employees

99,000

103,000

Operations in Countries

82

70

Key Strategic Takeaways From Honeywell Exciting Journey

1. Make Future-Oriented Decisions

The story of Honeywell begins with a unique thermostat, one that eventually made its way into the hands of an “other” company.

However, a merger strategy geared towards future benefit meant Honeywell took the right step from the get-go; instead of diverting resources into competition that could dent finances, it merged with Minneapolis. It then turned to other acquisitions, such as those with Time-O-Stat which enabled growth - for the company and its market share and put it on the route to success.

2. Diversification Is Key

A company can grow in two ways - expand its own product portfolio and hence target audience or venture into acquisitions and mergers.

Honeywell Inc. chose the latter to pave its journey of growth. These acquisitions weren’t necessarily related to heating, though they did begin with it. Honeywell merged with Brown Instruments Company and marked its entry into high temperature instruments.

It then viewed an opportunity in the aerospace industry during World War II and dove right in to garner huge contracts that bore massive fruit in the long term. It also ventured into the computer and tech industry with a merger with DATAmatic Corp.

Holding true to the notion of the sky is the limit, the company also stumbled into the space arena and managed to play a pivotal part in the Moon mission.

 Diversification into such different yet profitable (mostly) industries meant the company had divided its eggs into various baskets, ensuring the cash flow continued to roll, if not from one industry, then from the other. It was these diversification strategies that transformed Honeywell from a thermostat company into the massive conglomerate it is today.

3. Do Not Fear Difficult Decisions

In the world of business, just as gains are aimed for, loss aversion is close to impossible. Some decisions are bound to fail, but that shouldn’t be seen as a sign of failure or hindrance to success.

For Honeywell, the failure came in the shape of the venture into the computer industry, only to gain losses and several lawsuits. However, the difficult yet strategic decision to exit the industry timely helped keep the company afloat, instead of one failing division anchoring the others down to the bottom.

Another difficult time was during the ‘90s when stock prices plummeted and the Honeywell management regretted not making difficult decisions of cost-cutting at the right time to curb future losses. This hints toward decision-making, and how some decisions, no matter how difficult, prove crucial in mustering entrepreneurial success, such as in the case of Honeywell Inc.

4. Always Have A Direction

For a business to succeed, it is essential that it has a guiding principle or a sense of direction, beyond its mission. For Honeywell Inc. the vision was simple - to become a conglomerate giant.

However, the direction to achieving the vision remained constant; it was a combination of diversification-enriched strategies and the Six Sigma program that kept quality as the highest priority. Therefore, the company understood from the very start that to maintain its high position, it needed to produce what the consumers demanded, and produce it well.

5. Adapt Your Business Model

As the world evolves, business trends do so too. In this regard, Honeywell Inc. had always been a futuristic company, and that is perhaps one of its greatest strengths.

As a conglomerate, the company conducted ample market research to analyze top trends and dove into the right gaps to create a new market for itself - the IoT being one.

The company remained flexible with its business and revenue model, and so when opportunities - such as the pandemic of 2020 - presented themselves, it leveraged them to its benefit. Garnering contracts of masks and PPEs helped make money for the company even when businesses were shutting down across the globe.

This willingness to adapt has kept Honeywell Inc. at the top of the ladder - as the queen bee, one could say.

Honeywell Inc. has come a long way since its inception. In the beginning, it was simply a thermostat manufacturing company with ownership of different patents. But through a series of acquisitions and bold steps, the company eventually became a giant in the aerospace and the technological sector. With a rich legacy of innovation, Honeywell today is committed to transforming industries and creating the future.

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