General Electric (GE) was founded by Thomas Edison in 1878 as a way for him to fund his research into electric light. Only one year later in 1879 he accomplished that mission when he created the first incandescent light. Incandescent light was only the beginning, over the next 128 years GE became an innovator in the advancement of technology and implementing new ideas. Some of these products included the first electric powered X-ray machine, television, radio, locomotives, home appliances and radar systems. While GE was building a name for itself with great new products it also became a leader with its innovations in management. In 1900 GE embarked on its first management initiative by creating the first corporate research and …show more content…
They began to see employees as valuable resources and were the first to offer pension and profit sharing plans. GE was beginning to understand that to maximize a workers potential you must consider their thoughts, feeling and emotions. In the 1960s when the quantitative perspective was emerging GE developed the Business Screen. The screen was one of many new tools that used mathematical concepts to help guide a company’s business dealings. As described previously the screen was used to to identify the optimal portfolio of business units that a company can hold.
2. Which of GE’s management innovations seem to draw on a classical management perspective? Which seem to draw on a behavioral management perspective? I believe that GE’s innovation of Six Sigma, Workout and Blub Books all drew on the classical management perspective. More specifically the Blue Books drew on scientific management as they were more concerned with improving the performance of each manager. The Six Sigma quality initiative was more administrative management as is dealt with the idea an entire organization can become more efficient. There are two innovations that I believe drew on the behavioral management perspective. First, the pension and profit sharing plans for its employees that I discussed earlier. Second, is the policy of firing the lowest performing 10% of workers. Without question I believe this
I think that if GE stays the course with innovative, ground breaking technology and development, investing in greener more efficient materials and
* Technical Leadership – Immelt identified technology as a key driver of GE’s future growth and emphasized the need to speed up the diffusion of new technologies within GE and turn the corporate R&D into an intellectual house.
Behavioral approach comes with trust and one’s individual character. Managers have been seen trusting and respecting the employees more now than ever due the production that each department has put out for our clients.
Also; Citigroup, Inc. another competitor for the GE Company made a total of $64.95 billion in 2011, and when we compare it with GE and SI its earnings where even less in the same year, making General Electric a leader in the industry. With this valuable information GE management can analyze its competitor’s financial statements results and from there they can evaluate their faults and create new ways to increase their annuals earnings and secure their place as one of leading companies in their industry. Another way GE can go forward in the industry is by adapting its services and products to other countries that need them.
GM also was forward thinking when considering their employees. G.M. was a leader in compensating their employees favorably, while continually churning out a steady income for investors resulting from their high-speed growth. The organization also provided by far one of the country’s most copious health care and benefit plans. Throughout the 1950s G.M. leaders and workers were pleased to declare the company had the highest compensated employees in the US. To ensure employees were accessible to return after shutdowns for model year changes, G.M. consented to a revolutionary union clause that compensated workers idled by shutdowns. Also, G.M. made available great pension plans with significant retirement compensation and maximum benefits for long-time employees. This “Success Formula” permitted G.M.to take control of the industry. The company’s identity to be the largest – the General – was wedded to their strategy of owning the biggest distribution along with the broadest product range. And the Success Formula was effective, as each and every year G.M. sold far more cars and trucks compared to anyone else even while creating outstanding rates of return from the 1940s throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s.
Nikola Tesla is regarded as one of the most brilliant inventors in history. His work provided the basis for the modern alternating current power system, as well as having developed both radio and the fluorescent light bulb. He worked with Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse, among others. He was also widely misunderstood by his peers and the public at large.
General Electric is a well-known company in many regions of the world, but what people aren’t particularly aware of are the steps that General Electric has taken to get to where it is at today. When I think of General Electric the first thing that comes to mind is the role that the company plays in the production of household appliances, but General Electric is a much bigger contributor to people’s lives than is most people realize. People aren’t familiar with the internal business decisions that General Electric makes to ensure that the company continues to grow and run as smoothly as possible, allowing the company to continue to provide people with the services that they have grown to recognize as being a trademark of General Electric.
Analysis - GE has likely been so successful over the years because of its ability to foresee major trends and capitalize upon them. In the 1960s, for instance, GE was one of the eight major computer companies. Even recently, since 1986, GE has continued to acquire several organizations; portions of NBC, wind manufacturing, universe pictures, aerospace industries, international firms, software and hardware manufacturing, even oil companies abroad. The company culture describes itself as not one company, but many each unit a vast and complex enterprise in and of itself, with a corporate
The classical management theory focuses on finding the “one best way” to accomplish and manage task (p.37,2008. W.Plunkett, R. Attner, G. Allen). The behavioral management theory recognizes employees as individuals with real human needs. It is very important for the manager to establish trusted relationships and value his/her
GE managers also note there is no shortage of partners willing to enter into a joint venture with the company. The company has a well-earned reputation for being a good partner. GE is also well known for its innovative management techniques and excellent management development programs. Many partners are happy to team up with GE to get access to this know-how. The knowledge flow goes
GE was entering a new generational era, one where technology is at the forefront of growth and adaptation. Immelt identified Technology as one of GE’s major drivers for future growth which was signaled by his expansion of GE’s R&D budgets. He shifted the importance of Technology within GE by focusing on the R&D projects that offered large scale market potential, reffered to as “Imagination breakthroughs”.
Jack Welch’s vision of what GE was possible of gave the company a vision for twenty years while he was the CEO and chairman. He states, “leaders make sure people not only see the vision, they live and breathe it.” (Winning, pg 67) He not only allowed for employees to stretch, but demanded it. In teaching workers to stretch Welch knew that workers “may fail. In fact, they probably will fail. But stretching, and stretching the business, is going to improve performance results.” (Jack Welch on Leadership, pg 105) He also states that “only by setting the performance bar high did it become possible to discover people’s capabilities.” Jack Welch’s emphasis on candor and breaking the bureaucracy of modern business separated him from his contemporaries. He excited others of the possibility of being the biggest and best company in the world and rewarding his best employees that shared the values of GE. According to FORTUNE Editorial Director Geoffrey Colvin In "The Ultimate Manager, Welch leads the annals of management history not for anticipating the new world's changes ahead, but for acting on them: "His great achievement is that having seen it, he faced up to the huge, painful changes it demanded, and made them faster and more emphatically than anyone else in business. He led managers into this new world, which we still inhabit, and just as important, he showed business
GE was found by Thomas Edison in 1893. It has around 343,000 employees and operation over 100 countries. The company experienced continuous
In 1990’s Jack Welch launched Six Sigma in GE in a big way. He implemented Six Sigma in all areas and ensured that the entire organization participates in the initiative. He changed the performance incentives and made them based on individual’s ability and enthusiasm to take part in Six Sigma initiatives. He transformed GE to a state where Six Sigma had become the culture of the organization and not just a methodology for brining organization-wide improvements.
1. How difficult was the task facing Immelt assuming the CEO role in 2001? What imperatives where there to change? What incentives to maintain the past?