His predecessor Reg Jones had left with a vast network comprising of 10 groups, 46 divisions, 190 departments, and 43 strategic business units, which Welch inherited. Reg Jones was also proclaimed as a management legend by the Wall Street Journal. During Reg’s CEO’ship, sales were doubled up to $22 billion and earnings grew fast. When Welch was made the chairman and CEO of GE, the US economy was not in its most stable state. With the economy in recession, high unemployment rates, and high interest rates proved very challenging for Welch to run GE.
By the time that Jones had retired he had not only become the country’s leading business statesman he had also been named CEO of the year not once but three times. On top of all of that at the time Welch took over in 1981 the economy was in a recession; could it have been any more difficult for Welch. Looking back now we can say Welch did an astounding job but I am not so sure at the time everyone felt that he started off so great. One of the first things that Welch did was a drastic restructure. One has to question with the success that Jones had why would Welch want to make such drastic changes.
Jack Stack’s book “The Great Game of Business” describes a business management technique known as Open-Book Management. Mr. Stack developed this technique while he and twelve other managers turned an almost bankrupt division of International Harvester into one of the most successful companies in America, the Springfield Remanufacturing Corporation. This turnaround was made possible by “playing” the “Great Game.” Mr. Stack states, “The best, most efficient, most profitable way to operate a business is to give everybody in the company a voice in saying how the company is run and a stake in the financial outcome, good or bad.” In order to give the employees a voice, the employees must understand why the game is played. Employees need job security. They need to feel their job will exist as long as they want to work for the company.
How difficult a challenge did Welch face in 1981. How effectively did he take charge? According to the Harvard business case “GE's Two Decade Transformation Case Analysis”, Jack Welch assumed as CEO of General Electric year of 1981, he had the task of stimulating the competiveness and prolific capability of the corporation. The United States economy was in a time of recession due to the high interest rates and a strong dollar exacerbated the problem, so it results in the highest unemployment rates since the time of the United States depression. CEO Welch comprehend that GE needed to make some changes in restructuration of the company and this involved the modernization and reorganization of operations, reducing the organization, and decrease of payrolls and strict efficiency measures.
Implementing lean manufa cturing into fabrication Central Problem Interface Standardization : Different clients had various ways of communicating with the company for orders, but since Esterline was becoming the best in its industry, they are trying to mandate a standard interface method for consistency. Analysis: In 1995, Esterline was a multi - industry company with $350 million in revenues. Becoming CEO in 1999, Cremin and his corporate team brought down the company’s focus to key industries and technologies. The 30 new acquiremen ts made between 1999 and 2005
Introduction When Jack Welch became CEO of General Electric in 1981, he was only the 11th CEO the company had seen in its 120 years of existence. Although GE was a $13 billion a year company, it began showing signs of necessary change as it had reached the stage between maturity and decline. After 20 years at the helm, Jack Welch had turned General Electric (GE) into one of the world’s most successful companies. Welch increased GE’s market value from $13 billion to over $300 billion in 2001. He guided the once struggling company to what was then the biggest corporation in the entire world as well as the most profitable.
Implementing lean manufacturing into fabrication Central Problem Interface Standardization: Different clients had various ways of communicating with the company for orders, but since Esterline was becoming the best in its industry, they are trying to mandate a standard interface method for consistency. Analysis: In 1995, Esterline was a multi-industry company with $350 million in revenues. Becoming CEO in 1999, Cremin and his corporate team brought down the company’s focus to key industries and technologies. The 30 new acquirements made between 1999 and 2005 strengthen Esterline’s targeted market-product
GE’S TWO-DECADE TRANSFORMATION: JACK WELCH’S LEADERSHIP DESCRIPTION General Electric (GE) is a multinational company that operates in the following segments: Energy, Technology Infrastructure, Capital Finance, as well as Consumer and Industrial. Thomas Alva Edison, who found the company in 1878, started the company from its early focus on the generation, distribution, and use of electric power to become, more than a hundred years later, one of valuable and competitive companies with various business units that spread in more than 100 countries around the world. When Jack Welch, who were 45 years old, took over GE in 1981 and became the youngest CEO in GE’s history, the GE’s value of market capitalization was $13 billion, whereas when he resigned from GE in 2001, the market capitalization increased to be more than $300 billion. He succeeded to make GE as the most competitive company in the world through five following phases: 1. Welch’s Early Priorities: GE’s Restructuring In the early of his leadership period, Jack Welch set the standard for each of GE’s business units to be number 1 or 2 in its industry – or to be not in the market completely.
Forrest, Forrest Gump / The Symbolical Meaning of Forrest Running He witnessed some of the most significant events of America's recent history including the Vietnam War, JFK, Lyndon B. Johnson, Elvis Presley, and more. He reached fame and glory, met with three different presidents, earned a fortune with his shrimp company and is an awarded war hero. But because of his low IQ of 75, he does not realize his fortunate and the significance of his actions throughout his life. The movie Forrest Gump shows historical events that took place from the 50's thru the 70's out of the perspective of a mentally underdeveloped person. There are no explanations given why things happen, but occasionally Forrest offers his own explanations, which seem stupid to the spectator, but are understandable, because the viewer is constantly reminded of Forrest's low IQ.
[1] How difficult a challenge did Jack Welch face in 1981? How effectively did he assume control? When Welch became CEO in April 1981, the US economy was in recession, with high interest rates and a strong dollar exacerbating the problem. But, contrary to the notion that Welch inherited a moribund company, things were going quite well already. Over the course of Jones's leadership (not forget that this guy also was voted as CEO of the year), which began in 1973, revenue had grown at an average annual rate of 12 percent, and earnings had grown at 16 percent, not much different from Welch’s 20-year-performance.