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Oticon

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Oticon
Gegründet1904
GründerHans Demant
Hauptsitz
Smørum, Egedal
,
Dänemark
ProdukteHearing aids
Number of employees
3000+
ParentWilliam Demant Holding Group

Oticon is a hearing aid manufacturer based in Copenhagen, Denmark. The company is a subsidiary of the Demant Group. It is one of the largest manufacturers of hearing aids.

Oticon has branches in several countries, including a production plant in Poland, with more than 3,000 employees worldwide.[1]

Corporate history

The company was founded in 1904[2] by Hans Demant, whose wife was hard of hearing. Initially the company imported inventory from the US and distributed it, establishing a foothold in the Scandinavian market before moving on to more of Europe. Once World War II began affecting the supply chain for their products, the company began production of its own brand of hearing aids.[3][4] The company remained small and family-owned until 1956, after which it began mass production of hearing aids under new management.[5]

An Oticon power hearing aid

From the late 1950s to the mid 1970s, the company held around 15% of the worldwide hearing aid market, even being the largest hearing aid producer at some points. However, the company's market share went on to drop considerably in 1985 to 1986. In 1985, Starkey, a competitor, released an in-the-ear (ITE) hearing aid, leading to other companies offering in-the-ear hearing aids that were desired by a large portion of customers. In contrast, Oticon took years to release an in-the-ear hearing aid, with management actively rejecting the idea,[5] feeling that ITE hearing aids were not commercially viable, despite having developed an ITE prototype in 1977.[6] In the next few years, due to demand for ITE hearing aids from the public,[3] Oticon's marketshare plummeted from 15% in 1985 to 9% in 1986,[7] and then to only 7%, rendering it only the third largest hearing aid producer.[8] In addition, as competitors began producing digital hearing aids, Oticon stuck with the traditional analogue devices.[9] With losses mounting, eventually the CEO and top managers collectively resigned, leading to Lars Kolind becoming the new CEO in 1988.[10] He heavily changed the structure and business model of the company, introducing an unconventional management style dubbed "spaghetti organization" in 1991, removing much of the corporate hierarchy and making management much more project-based.[11][12] Eventually the company recovered from it's downturn, and despite being late to incorporate digital technology at first, it went on to release the first fully digital hearing aid (the Jump 1) in 1995, and soon went on to make ITE products with the digital technology too.[6][3] Eventually in 1996 some aspects of spaghetti organization were removed.[8] In 2004, the year of the hundredth anniversary of the company's establishment, it was the second largest producer of hearing aids.[6]

Produkte

In 2016, Oticon launched what they claim to be the world's first internet-connected hearing aid, called the Oticon Opn. The company employs an "open sound" approach designed to manage multiple speech and noise sources, even in complex listening situations. The company says the new OpenSound Navigator scans the environment 100 times per second to analyze and balance every sound individually. Environmental sounds are said to be accessible, but not disturbing.[13]

The company also produces behind-the-ear pediatric hearing aids, which come in a variety of colors.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Oticon Hearing Aids". Apex Hearing. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  2. ^ Lovas, Bjorn; Ghoshal, Sumantra (1998). Strategy as Guided Evolution. INSEAD.
  3. ^ a b c Aubert, Benoit; Rivard, Suzanne; Patry, Michel; Pare, Guy; Smith, Heather (18 February 2004). Information Technology and Organizational Transformation. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-39555-0.
  4. ^ Andreasen, Lars; Coriat, Benjamin; Hertog, Frisio den; Kaplinsky, Raphael (11 January 2013). Europe's Next Step: Organisational Innovation, Competition and Employment. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-30278-7.
  5. ^ a b Lucas, Henry (29 April 1999). Information Technology and the Productivity Paradox: Assessing the Value of Investing in IT. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-802838-3.
  6. ^ a b c Beech, Nic; MacIntosh, Robert (5 July 2012). Managing Change: Enquiry and Action. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-18485-4.
  7. ^ Tushman, Michael L.; O'Reilly, Charles A. (15 January 2006). Winning Through Innovation: A Practical Guide to Leading Organizational Change and Renewal. Harvard Business Press. ISBN 978-1-4221-5810-4.
  8. ^ a b Cattani, Gino; Ferriani, Simone; Frederiksen, Lars; Taube, Florian A. (12 October 2011). Project-Based Organizing and Strategic Management. Emerald Group Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78052-192-3.
  9. ^ French, Ray (2011). Organizational Behaviour. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-71033-3.
  10. ^ Christensen, Lars Thoeger; Morsing, Mette; Cheney, George (28 February 2008). Corporate Communications: Convention, Complexity and Critique. SAGE. ISBN 978-1-84920-833-8.
  11. ^ "Oticon A/S: Spaghetti Organization and Beyond". IBS Center for Management Research. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  12. ^ "Case Study: Revolution at Oticon A/S: The Spaghetti Organization (Condensed)". Harvard Business Review. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  13. ^ Nuber, Christa. "Oticon's New Hearing Aid Takes 'Open Sound' Approach". www.hearingreview.com.
  14. ^ "Xceed Play". REM Audiology - Hearing Aids and Hearing Tests. 20 November 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2022.

Template:Hearing device manufacturers

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