Harman's Words Of Wisdom

The recently completed CEDIA Expo 2002 had the good fortune of having a veteran executive as its keynote speaker. Sidney Harman, executive chairman of Harman International, has been in the consumer electronics business for about 50 years. He has just about seen it all and done it all in this industry. He shared with the custom installers and suppliers in attendance his observations and opinions, some of which were specific to this industry, while others are applicable to running any business.

Here are just some issues Harman discussed in his insightful remarks:

Respecting Customers: "If you lose respect for the customer, it reflects in the work you do, and then you lose the customer."

Be Responsible for Educating Customers: "If your customers don't know as much as you do about your products, you must educate them. They should take along with them [after the sale] some of your expertise, as well as the hardware and software."

The Tyranny of Technology: "Some feel that if an engineer can build it, then it is reason enough to introduce a product. Based on that reasoning there is a graveyard of failed products that this industry has introduced over the years. Technology needs to be our servant. We should not be technology's servants. To make technology our servant you have to understand how people live their lives and then design appropriate products for them."

Respecting Employees: "Honor people who do the work. This isn't just PR, and I'm not being paternal, I mean it. Nothing of consequence can happen if you don't have good people doing the work."

Business Ethics: "Saying that you 'run an ethical company' is fashionable now. But running an ethical company is not just a fashion. Ethics is not a fashion or a convenience. It is the essence of business."

What Keeps Him Going: "Shortly I will be in this business for 50 years. People have asked me what keeps me going. My drive is my unbridled enthusiasm for the work. You must bring joy and enthusiasm to work to be successful no matter what type of business you are in."

As mentioned in this column during mid-September, there was plenty of good news on the HDTV programming front with ABC and CBS providing more prime time programming and college football, in cooperation with promotions Zenith, Samsung and Sears have begun. Executive editor Greg Tarr, TWICE's resident HDTV expert and NFL fan, said when the announcements were made, "That's great, but what about the Super Bowl? You've got to have the Super Bowl in HD."

Well someone at ABC must have been listening. As you read in our last issue (TWICE, September 30, p. 1), ABC and its all-sports cable network, ESPN, will broadcast the Super Bowl, NBA finals and the Stanley Cup in HDTV during 2003. Next year "Monday Night Football" will also be available in HD, along with ESPN's coverage of Major League Baseball, and plenty of other sports programming.

Now I'm no expert on the Washington scene and what may happen in the House Commerce Committee on HDTV, but I think I do know the typical American male. Most of us are sports fans. The HDTV broadcast of Super Bowl in 2003, along with other major sporting events, will do more for HDTV sales than anyone in Washington or Hollywood has done in years.

If — and this is a big if — the economy stabilizes and war clouds disperse a little, 2003 could be a banner year for HDTV.