Jack Welch at GE

Jack Welch began his career at General Electric as a chemical engineer in the early 1960s, and concluded his career in 2001 as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Over the course of those 40 years, he earned several nicknames, including "Neutron Jack" and "Jack in the Box," but he is credited with helping reshape GE from a bureaucratic and stodgy traditional corporation to an entrepreneurial and high-technology company that embraces change. Marketing--himself, his people, his vision as well as his products--played a key role in the success of GE during Welch's tenure, and he recently put many of his observations together in Jack: Straight from the Gut. This research examines the concepts that Welch puts forward in his book and considers why GE was successful in some projects, unsuccessful in others, and how their competitors fared against them.

Welch recognized the importance of maintaining a strong brand from his first days as CEO. The GE brand carried considerable weight with customers, representing quality and value, but the company had also been in business since the late 1800s. That history was part of what led to the company's bureaucratic structure, but it also provided the company with the resources--because of brands--that could sustain the growth that characterized the company during the 1980s and 1990s. Moving to protect the GE brand, Welch sold the air conditioning business of GE to Trane early in his tenure as CEO. At the time, GE air

Related Essays

Leadership Traits of Jack Welch at GE According to Tichy and Sherman (1993), Jack Welch created a new organization at General Electric (GE) that depended as much on shared values as on hierarchy or .... (1875 8 )

Jack Welch and Leadership According to Tichy and Sherman (1993), Jack Welch created a new organization at General Electric (GE) that depended as much on shared values as on hierarchy or .... (1878 8 )

Attributes of Jack Welch Compared to The Prince This paper will .... When applied to the GE setting, this attribute seems applicable to Jack Welch. .... Slater, R. (1999). Jack Welch and the GE Way. New York: McGraw-Hill. .... (3386 14 )

GE CEO Jack Webb .... GE still maintains its management school, which .... Welch represents consultative decision making as he .... "Jack Welch Reinvents General Electric--Again." Economist .... (1916 8 )

General Electric's Growth Strategy .... Investment guru and wizard Warren Buffet says of Welch: "People admire Jack for what he has done at GE more than they would if he had been at IBM and merely .... (1295 5 )

rand on smaller housewares. Selling the housewares business, although it was a wellrecognized GE brand, cause considerable internal strife, but did not greatly affect the company's brand image or its longterm sales (p. 119). Understanding why consumers buy a product, as well as who buys the product, is critical. Marketing Research It is not clear that Welch and GE support marketing research per se, but Welch definitely appreciated the need for current information about the market. For example, when his nuclear power managers forecast new plant orders at the rate of three per year in the early 1980s, Welch disagreed, arguing that the accident at Three Mile Island made it likely that no more orders would be placed in the United States in the near future. His assessment was correct, and he drove his company to enter the power services industry, which proved lucrative and successful (p. 101). Market research also provides a way to keep informed on what customers think about services and products currently offered in the marketplace, which is critical to the ability to serve customers well. Customer Service Customer service is broadly defined by Welch and encompasses everything from delivering products on-time to reducing pr

Category: Business - J