Changes in the global environment, coupled with the deepest and most prolonged economic recession since the Great Depression, have ushered in a seismic shift in the home mattress industry. The end of conspicuous consumption of high-value items like mattresses and foundations is the result of declining new home sales, a tightening of consumer credit, and a consumer confidence index still well below pre-recession levels ( Wang, 2010) and unemployment in the balance. close to 10%. To remain sustainable in rapidly changing global and business environments, mattress manufacturers will need to reduce material and manufacturing costs, develop products that differentiate them from competitors, or develop new distribution channels for their products. Domestic production of mattresses and foundations in 2010 was slightly less than $6 billion and nearly 16% less than peak mattress production in 2007 (International Sleep Products Association, 2010). Many consumers have lost confidence in the country's economic situation and therefore have begun to believe that, as Newt Gingrich recently stated, “if you can't afford to buy a house, don't buy it” (Gingrich, 2010). The economic crisis marked the end of conspicuous consumption, defined as “the act or practice of spending money on expensive things that are not necessary to impress other people” (Leaner's Dictionary by Merrian-Webster, 2010). Identify functional and dysfunctional control systems within your organization. I am currently Senior Vice President of Sales for King Koil Licensing (“King Koil”). The company licenses mattress manufacturing facilities, called licensees, both domestically and internationally, to produce King Koil-owned brands. The... middle of paper ......having the means to maintain our lifestyle will be difficult to achieve if this strategy fails. From a professional perspective, I have had some level of success as a retail executive over the past 37 years and have built a reputation that I do not want tarnished by association with a failing company. The mattress industry in America has contracted as consumers have suffered in these difficult economic times and will continue to face further changes in the global environment and changes in the work environment. Companies that get stuck in the middle, stick to the “old ways,” react to these changes too late, and will likely go the way of Two Guys, Kobackers, Woolworth's, Montgomery Ward, Circuit City, Studebaker, and too many other companies that failed to advance their organizations through the economic minefields they faced.