Driving Results

2What Is Bridgestone Americas?

BRIDGESTONE IS A large, global company but it is not as well‐known as, say, Coca‐Cola, Disney, Apple, or Amazon. So, what is this company? What is Bridgestone Americas? It is hard to appreciate both the scope of the changes that we made and the reasons for many of the changes without a basic understanding of these questions.

Bridgestone Acquires Firestone

Bridgestone Americas' roots go back to the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, founded by the remarkable Harvey Firestone in 1900. His company was best known for tires, but his business expanded over the years into an international conglomerate including, by way of example, department stores, automotive service centers, auto parts, beer kegs, gas tanks for fighter planes, and even radio and TV shows. In fact, the Voice of Firestone, which aired first on NBC and then ABC, ran for about fourteen years. The company was a global empire.

Mr. Firestone's success hinged on a few key business approaches. Build a great product, first and foremost. In fact, he believed a company had a duty to make such a good product that it wouldn't need to hire “cracker jack” salespeople.¹ Second, provide great customer service. For Mr. Firestone this included developing profound friendships with his customers. Firestone was the primary tire supplier to the Ford Motor Company, and Harvey became best of friends with Henry Ford. They, along with Thomas Edison, went “camping” together with their entourage of assistants. ...