For Whirlpool Corp., healthy competition is one way to keep pursuing excellence and market leadership. In 1993, the company entered a competition sponsored by the Super Efficient Refrigerator Program (SERP). The goal was to create a refrigerator that surpassed the minimum U.S. government efficiency standard by 25 percent, with one catch—it couldn’t cost more than models currently on the market.
Whirlpool won the competition and the $30 million prize, beating out refrigeration giants General Electric and Frigidaire. Whirlpool overcame last-minute difficulties with its prototype to distinguish itself yet again as a company dedicated to responsible innovation.