United Technologies Corporation Case

United Technologies Corporation (UTC) is a diversified company which provides a broad range of high quality technology products and services to customers. UTC has six subsidiary companies: Pratt and Whitney, Carrier, Hamilton Sundstrand, Otis, Sikorsky and UTC Fuel Cells. Every year, UTC spent a large amount of money on research and development in order to offer innovation and high-quality technologies, which brought big profit back to UTC as well. UTC Fuel Cells (UTCFC), now is called UTC Power, is a unit of UTC. It is an experienced and proven leader in developing and producing fuel cells that provided reliable, clean power generation for stationary, transportation, residential and space applications.

The main products of UTCFC are alkaline fuel cell, phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) power plants known as PC25, residential fuel cell generators and Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) cell which is the most favored.

In fuel cell area, UTCFC faced several competitors, including Fuel Cell Energy, Plug Power, GE Fuel Cell and Ballard Power System which is leader in automotive fuel cell race. As changes of customers’ demand, alternative markets and applications, and changing environment concern and so on, UTCFC are facing more challenges. They wonder whether the entrepreneurial opportunities out there could be captured by UTCFC organization and what growth strategy was needed to position the firm.

In order to get answers, I will do analysis about the UTCFC approaches these years.

First of all, UTCFC used quick feedback approach as response to a $3 million fine due to violations of federal laws and regulations in its Connecticut operations. As response, a vice president of environment was created. Not only a position, a new international standards program which was extended to 229 UTC sites globally was established as well. Carothers who was the vice president of EH&S added energy and water efficiency objectives to waste and pollutions emissions reduction targets in the program. These a series of activities reached successful. By 1999, UTC had reduced hazardous waste by 85 percent and total emissions by 95 percent. After that, UTCFC decided to start a EH&S two-to three-day training program in which introduced joint venture partners and new acquisitions as well as existing employees to EH&S management systems, goals, attitudes and value consistent with the company culture. It made everyone in UTC face issues and never made the same mistakes forever. In addition to EH&S training program, Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) operating system was successfully driving waste reduction to lower levels in the firm.

Since the environment issues happened, UTCFC paid more attention on environment issues. By using three-tier approach, UTCFC prohibited environment issues from discontinued operations, ongoing operations and future planning around design issues. This approach is