...15-LD-Leadership Stories-2 Thursday, April 10, 2014 Jack Welch I have selected Jack Welch former Chairman and CEO of General Electric. I chose Mr. Welch as he is such a renowned business man and success story. Moreover, he is a local product and I grew up hearing how GE was such a great company as many of my mother’s friends and family were employed by GE. I knew little besides generalities of his abrasive personality and his no-funny-business personality. After reading his biography and researching online, I was not too surprised there was much more beneath the covers. Introduction Jack Welch joined GE in 1960 as a 24 year old junior engineer fresh from a PhD program in chemistry. Born in Salem, Massachusetts, Mr. Welch described his younger self as “earthy, loud, excitable, with a heavy Boston accent, and an awkward stutter.” He made a quick name for himself early in his career, constantly delivering more than expected, and rose throughout the GE ranks. In less than 10 years at GE, he was promoted to General Manager of Plastics where he dropped his PhD title and transferred from engineer to businessman. About 10 years later he became CEO on December 1980. As leader of one of the largest and most successful American businesses, Mr. Welch was continually in the public eye and his decisions constantly evaluated. One of the first actions he took as CEO was to eliminate the underperformers and excess of the company. He self admittedly says he fired a lot of people...
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...Leadership Talents of Jack Welch Jack Welch was a successful Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of General Electric Co. (GE) for twenty years (1981 – 2001). He was admired and feared for the “new vision” that was implemented at GE. Jacks talented strategies were based on how he saw the hierarchy layers of management, how he analyzed the 42 strategic business units, and how he implemented the culture of GE to have the feel and the passion that he had been striving for. These strategies received a lot of positive and negative attention and as a result the company’s value increased by 4,000% during his tenure at GE. Jack Welch was born John Francis Welch, Jr. on November 19, 1935. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Massachusetts in 1957. Then he went on to earn a M.S. and Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois in 1960. He was introduced to Carolyn Osburn through a mutual friend, and then approximately six months later they were engaged. By November, 1959 they married two days after Welch’s 24th birthday. In 1960, Dr. Dan Fox offered Welch a chemical engineering position to work on a new project on a new thermoplastic called polyphenylene oxide (PPO) at GE. PPO was described to withstand high temperatures, which could replace hot water copper piping and stainless-steel medical instruments. Welch realized after his first year at GE that he disliked GE’s bureaucracy, which nearly drove him to leave...
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...GE’s Two-Decade Transformation Case Analysis March 17, 2005 For: Anne Becker From: Scott Ashby 999004953 Phil Parkinson _ Judy Lee 04003094 Gianni Liburdi 049003649 Executive Summary This report’s objective is to provide analysis of the leadership challenge that General Electric (GE) is currently facing, and to recommend solutions. The primary problem is determining what kind of candidate is required to replace retiring CEO Jack Welch. This has left GE to question how much does the company want to change policy over the previous era, and where does the company want to be in future? 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 successful transition from a corporate model that was highly centralized and bureaucratic to one that is dynamic, flexible, and many times more profitable. If GE wishes to sustain and build upon the progress of the Welch era, it would do well to nominate a new CEO from within the organization who is familiar with his brand of leadership, and who can continue to provide it for many years to come. 2 Table of Contents Executive Summary................................................................................................................... 2 Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... 3 Statement of Problem ...........
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...GE’s Two-Decade Transformation Case Analysis March 17, 2005 For: Anne Becker From: Scott Ashby 999004953 _ Phil Parkinson Judy Lee 04003094 Gianni Liburdi 049003649 Executive Summary This report’s objective is to provide analysis of the leadership challenge that General Electric (GE) is currently facing, and to recommend solutions. The primary problem is determining what kind of candidate is required to replace retiring CEO Jack Welch. This has left GE to question how much does the company want to change policy over the previous era, and where does the company want to be in future? 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 successful transition from a corporate model that was highly centralized and bureaucratic to one that is dynamic, flexible, and many times more profitable. If GE wishes to sustain and build upon the progress of the Welch era, it would do well to nominate a new CEO from within the organization who is familiar with his brand of leadership, and who can continue to provide it for many years to come. 2 Table of Contents Executive Summary................................................................................................................... 2 Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... 3 Statement of Problem ...............................
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...Software Services and Water. They are now one of the most diversified companies in the world. Findings In 1960 Jack Welch joined General Electrics in the plastics division in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA, where he developed his leadership skills and ideas. In 1968 Jack Welch was made the company’s General Manager; for GE in 1981 he was elected Chief Executive Officer. His vision was to become one of the most competitive business enterprises in the world. Shortly after Jack was elected he identified the organisation was bureaucratic - the environment was controlling, upper management made the rules and the juniors followed. The lower level in the hierarchy is controlled by the upper ones, and the planning and decision making is done in one place. The higher levels in the hierarchy have more freedom in doing their work as compared to the lower levels. In this case GE was represented by 9 layers of management from the shop floor to the CEO. Unfortunately in a bureaucratic environment people are afraid to speak out; employees find it difficult communicating with each other, and as a result the work is not productive. Analysts projected that GE would become unprofitable by the end of 1982 if the company was not dramatically reconstructed. Jack Welch needed to change the culture of the organisation; he wanted to create a culture of openness, confidence, leadership and creative thinking. His goal was to lead and not manage...
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...Jack Welch is one of the most successful business leaders in the world. He spent 40 years at General Electric. He retired in 2001 after spending 21 years as chairman and chief executive officer. His nickname at GE was Neutron Jack, because of the fact that 118,000 people left the company in his first 5 years at chief executive officer. Since he retired from General Electric in 2001, he has traveled the world giving speeches and lectures to business audiences. In his book, Winning, Jack Welch tells his story on how to win in business. Jack Welch wrote Winning after speaking to audiences all over the world. He summarizes the most frequently asked questions he has received over the years. The book is broken out into 5 main sections; Underneath It All, Your Company, Your Competition, Your Career, and Tying Up Loose Ends. In the first section, Underneath It All, Jack Welch talks about mission and values, candor, differentiation, and voice and dignity. Throughout his book, he talks about how other companies operate. One of them is Bank One. One of their values is “We treat customers the way we would want to be treated.” They identified some behaviors that made the value come to life. Some of them are: • Never let profit center conflicts get in the way of doing what is right for the customer. • Give customers a good, fair deal. Great customer relationships take time. Do not try to maximize short-term profits at the expense of building those enduring relationships...
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...Jack Welch Biography Jack Welch was CEO of General Electrics for 20 years and known as one of the best business leaders of all time. He made GE one of the most profitable companies in the world. Jack Welch was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1935. During his schooling life he attended Salem High School and after graduating moved on to study for a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering at the University of Massachusetts. Next Welch moved on to the University of Illinois to complete his Masters and Doctorate degree’s by 1960. In 1960 after graduation Welch joined General Electrics with a starting salary of just $10,500. Not long after starting his new job Welch wanted to leave the company to take a job offered to him at International Minerals & Chemicals because of his low wage and poor company management. Welch felt unappreciated by his boss but must have made quite an impression on an executive named Reuben Gutoff, with Gutoff taking Welch and his first wife to dinner trying to convince Welch to stay with the company promising big changes for the company and Welch. While working at GE Welch helped invent a new plastic called PPO, and soon after he was promoted to general manager of the plastics factory and soon after promoted again to managing the entire plastics division of GE. By 1972 Welch had made a name for himself and was again promoted becoming vice president after only 12 years at GE. After working as vice president for 5 years, in 1977 he became...
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...1 GE’s Two Decade Transformation Team Globalization Case Analysis GE’s Two Decade Transformation: Jack Welch’s Leadership Yasmine Abdo Al-Kouraishi Muhammad Howard Steven D. Johns Kenneth V. Oliver Kimberly N. Lomax AMBA 670 Managing Strategy in the Global Workplace July 25, 2012 2 GE’s Two Decade Transformation Executive Summary Team Globalization has conducted an in depth analysis on General Electric's (GE) two decade transformation achieved by the company’s former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jack Welch. This report consists of a reflective examination performed by the team, incorporating perspective gained through professional experience and key concepts gleaned from selected course reading selections. As CEO of GE, Jack Welch's management skills became legendary, with little tolerance for bureaucracy and archaic business processes. Acquiring new businesses and ensuring that each business unit under the GE umbrella was one of the best in its field was a primary concern for Mr. Welch. Under his guidance, the company expanded dramatically from 1981 to 2001 (GE, 2012). The culture of innovation and learning, which included incorporation of measures related to new product development, technological leadership, and rates of improvement, aided Welch and the company in defying the critics as the company continued to profit. 3 GE’s Two Decade Transformation Introduction Surviving in today’s challenging business environment necessitates...
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...strategic management. The chief architect of the strategy is the CEO of a company. This school took formal leadership seriously and CEO is responsible for strategy formulation. It stressed on mental state and processes such as instinctive knowledge, belief, wisdom, experience and insight of a single leader. The leader should be visionary in formulating strategy. The entrepreneurial school promotes strategy as a process which has a clear image and sense of direction which can be termed as a vision. Entrepreneurial strategy often occurs in startup companies and organizations in trouble and needing a turnaround. For any organization to sustain success it must engage in some form of entrepreneurial activity in order to effectively compete in the marketplace and continue to increase stakeholder value. In this school the organization becomes responsive to only one person, the CEO and vision is the central concept of this school. Vision is the mental representation of a leader and it outlines what the organization wants to be or how it wants the world in which it operates to be. It is a long term view and concentrates on the future. It can be emotive and source of inspiration. It serves as a guiding idea and often tends to be a kind of image than a fully clear plan. Visions are often flexible so that the leaders can change them as they like. Visionary Leadership The visionary leadership is the main essence of the entrepreneurial school of thought. Visionary leaders are the builders of a...
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...1.) How difficult a challenge did Welch face in 1981? How effectively did he take charge? When Jack Welch accepted the position of CEO of GE in 1981 he faced a number of looming challenges which firstly included taking the reins of the company following a complete reorganization by a strong, successful predecessor. The second major challenge he faced was the new globalized marketplace in which GE had to compete. Welch had to act fast before GE's territory was taken over by global growth from foreign companies. The third challenge was the beginning symptoms of a contracting economy which, by 1982, would become a deep recession. Jack Welch approached the first challenge of taking over from a successful predecessor by deciding that keeping the status quo would not guarantee GE future success. He felt that GE was to be a standard; they needed to be “better than the best”. This fierce drive to restructure the company during the next 5 years, immediately after the organization had barely finished their prior restructuring, also helped solve his other immediate challenge: the economy. He effectively implemented a new strategy, “Fix, Sell, Close.” If a business could be fixed so it could be #1 or #2 in its competing category then it was kept, otherwise the business was sold or closed. In order to prepare for the incoming global competition, Welch decided to part ways with 12 of his 14 previously hired business heads. The new business heads had to fit a certain billing: “strong commitment...
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...Winning Book Review Welch, J., & Welch, S. (2005). Winning. New York: Harper Business. In the book Winning by Jack Welch with Suzy Welch, Jack Welch talks about how winning is everything in business. If you are not in it to win it, then do not be in it at all. When companies are winning, there are far more opportunities than when a company is losing. A winning company can give back to society by providing more jobs and resources. A losing company is worried about finances; and because there isn’t a lot of profit going around, people can become scared of things like their jobs and families. The book breaks down on how to win into four sections. The first section is the philosophy on management such as mission and values and how everyone should have a voice in any kind of business. The next section is about the inside of a company. It talks about the mechanics of a company which are “people, processes, and culture” (pg.8). The next section talks about the outside of a company such as competitors, growth, and strategic advantages. The next section is the professional life. This section talks about how to find the right job, working with a bad boss, and getting promoted. The final section is about how Jack Welch “answer[s] nine questions that did not fall into any of the above categories” (pg. 8) such as the “China threat” diversity. The purpose of this book is to show that winning isn’t impossible. From these four sections of the book, Jack Welch shows us that in every aspect...
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...GE’s Two-Decade Transformation Case Analysis March 17, 2005 For: Anne Becker From: Scott Ashby 999004953 _ Phil Parkinson Judy Lee 04003094 Gianni Liburdi 049003649 Executive Summary This report’s objective is to provide analysis of the leadership challenge that General Electric (GE) is currently facing, and to recommend solutions. The primary problem is determining what kind of candidate is required to replace retiring CEO Jack Welch. This has left GE to question how much does the company want to change policy over the previous era, and where does the company want to be in future? 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 successful transition from a corporate model that was highly centralized and bureaucratic to one that is dynamic, flexible, and many times more profitable. If GE wishes to sustain and build upon the progress of the Welch era, it would do well to nominate a new CEO from within the organization who is familiar with his brand of leadership, and who can continue to provide it for many years to come. 2 Table of Contents Executive Summary................................................................................................................... 2 Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... 3 Statement of Problem ...............................
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...Essay Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric Corporation, started his story when was at Salem High School which is north of Boston, as a senior. The hockey team he was part of lost to their rivals yet again. Jack throws his stick down the ice in an angered rage and then goes into the locker room. A short few moments later, his mother walks through the locker room and reprimands Jack, telling him in no uncertain terms he has no business playing if he does not know how to lose, by saying “If you don’t know how lose, you’ll never know how to win” (Welch, Byrne, 2003, Loc. 189 of 6927). Jack’s mother taught Jack the importance of competition in numerous ways throughout his childhood and while becoming his primary influence. Jack learned to lead with warmth, aggressiveness, toughness and generosity through his mother. She instilled management beliefs in Jack that included knowing how to compete while also and facing reality. His mother taught him attentiveness, and he learned that people are motivated through both reward and discipline. Though humility was one of his outwardly weakest management attributes he admitted he was rather humble internally, especially once he won the CEO job. These ideals that Jack’s mother instilled into Jack ran true through the book as he went through some of his most notable accounts of his career. Jack certainly exhibited the numerous traits his mother instilled in him listed on page 38 of the Daft text. As I read the text the most notable traits...
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...CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) Corporate social responsibility (CSR, also called corporate conscience, corporate citizenship, social performance, or sustainable responsible business/ Responsible Business) is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model. CSR policy functions as a built-in, self-regulating mechanism whereby a business monitors and ensures its active compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards, and international norms. The goal of CSR is to embrace responsibility for the company's actions and encourage a positive impact through its activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public sphere who may also be considered as stakeholders. The term "corporate social responsibility" came into common use in the late 1960s and early 1970s after many multinational corporations formed the term stakeholder, meaning those on whom an organization's activities have an impact. It was used to describe corporate owners beyond shareholders as a result of an influential book by R. Edward Freeman, Strategic management: a stakeholder approach in 1984. Proponents argue that corporations make more long term profits by operating with a perspective, while critics argue that CSR distracts from the economic role of businesses. Others argue CSR is merely window-dressing, or an attempt to pre-empt the role of governments as a watchdog over powerful multinational corporations. CSR is...
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...•Vitality Curve forced performance classification, which may not always give the true picture •Depandency on talent from America •Strongly performance-driven appraisal system •Strong sacking policy for under performers •Less weightage given to experience and position for appraisal and promotion •In more hierarchial business cultures, like India, it is difficult to attract & retian managers Opportunity Threat •Aggressive international approach for recruiting •Better candidates could be hired for top positions if GE were open to hiring from external sources (just not focus on internal progression) •Have more external talent acquisition engagements to attract industry experts rather than shifting people from within to leadership roles from different verticals. •Initially, post MBA the top talent preferred to go to Wall Street •People with ambition to become chairman/CEO in their early days, left the organisation •Strict people management system with low flexibility •Competitors opffering leadershiop positions to GE "Highly Valued 70%" employees Q2: a) What kind of people have helped GE to manage and run the business and meet business goals? Answer: GE always promoted its top leaders from its own ranks. The company’s executive development practices were...
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