If business were a tug-of-war, Royal Philips’ Frans van Houten would have his team pulling in unison. “We all need to be at the same end of the rope,” he said, which goes a long way to explaining how the CEO has been able to transform Philips from an industrialized holding company in 2011 to a health technology solutions company in 2021.
Van Houten marked 10 years as CEO in March, and later this year will preside over Philips’ final withdrawal from non-health care businesses. That moment will come, as planned, in the third quarter, when the company’s domestic appliances business will be sold