Jack Welch

Evaluating his approach to bringing about change in his organization. Comparing his approach with that of Jack Welch.

Analyzing GE’s corporate-level strategy from 2001 – present with Jeff Immelt as CEO, GE focuses on the growth and development platforms. Technology is the key driving force for GE’s future and growth. Advancements in industries such as energy, health and aviation fueled demand for cleaner and more efficient energy production. GE identified new markets with potential high-growth that offered attractive returns through strategic mergers and acquisitions. As CEO, Jeff Immelt established a process for identifying projects that offered attractive growth potential which were then nurtured and treated as special projects or initiatives that were not subject to strict budget constraints. Immelt introduced GE’s three strategic imperatives as: (1) sustaining its strong business model, (2) strengthening the business portfolio, and (3) driving its growth initiatives. www.ge.com

3. Evaluate Gordon Biersch's efforts to raise outside capital. What would you have done differently?

Did GE in the Welch era fulfill its social responsibility duty? Could it have done better? What should it have done?

3. How easy or difficult would it be for other organizations to duplicate the leadership style of Simonic and the organizational systems practiced at Addy, prior to, and after Simonic’s tenure?

Q : 2 Is Immelt betting on the right things to drive growth in GE ? Can he hope to change a company whose growth was driven by acquisitions and productivity improvement into an organic growth company dependent on innovation, entrepreneurship and risk taking particularly in such a large complex performance driven corporation?

Assess the need for a change in Best Buy 's strategy when Brand Anderson became CEO.

1. Analyze the changes that Al Dunlap had initiated at Sunbeam after being hired from a strategic perspective. Did the changes started by Dunlap allow him opportunities to manage earnings?

Detailed examination of the impact Jack Welch has had as CEO over the past twenty years reveals a leadership style that is the driving force behind a

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

Management guru Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, has been instrumental in forming today’s top business management leaders by imparting effective knowledge in leadership management; he is widely credited with transforming GE into a multibillion-dollar conglomerate.

     When Jack Welch was named CEO of General Electric, Welch saw a company in trouble even though the business world saw GE as an intrinsically healthy corporation, secure in its position as a world industrial leader. Welch knew that the company was too large to fail yet GE was too unwieldy to adapt for further growth. The changes he instituted restructured and revolutionized GE and made Welch the most respected CEO in business today. After reading the book there were three parts that really stood out for me.

In 2001, shortly after Jeff Immelt became the CEO of GE, a series of events changed and impacted the corporate landscape. The immediate challenges that he faced included 9/11, and a subsequent series of high profile corporate scandals (Enron, WorldCom). In 2008, the financial crisis hit and had a severe impact on GE’s primary growth source, GE Capital causing it to accumulate bad debts and asset write-downs. These events caused slow domestic economic growth, crisis of confidence among investors and more global competitors.

How effective was Ron Daniel in leading McKinsey to respond to challenges identified in the Commission on Firm Aims and Goals? What contribution did Fred Gluck make to the required changes?

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?