Jack Welch: General Electric's Revolutionary

Case study- Jack Welch: General Electric’s Revolutionary
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John Welch’s helm at General Electric (GE) is revolutionary as the company acquired a new status as a valuable company with an impressive market capitalization. Welch reign’s in the 1990’s coincided with changes in the working environment focusing on knowledge where collaboration was a key factor. Emphasis on open communication proved successful for the company as employees now participated more, there was more collaboration among departments with constant feedback facilitating effective decision making.
With GE diversified in the electric power industry, managing such a huge company was always a challenge. Thus, the company adopted various measures to deal with the complexity of the company, from focusing on instilling an entrepreneurial culture to divisionalization and portfolio strategic planning. The reign of Reg Jones in the 1970’s was pivotal in changing the company’s management style that resulted in the adoption of six-sector structure (Bower & Dial, 1993). GE reported impressive results and through value addition in the line of business. Thus, Jones acquired a new status as a management guru because of turning around the company’s way of doing business.
Nonetheless, under the leadership of Jack Welch, the company had a better reputation, even as the company operated in an era where there was stiff competition from Japan and the economy had contracted in the 1980’s. With a view to make GE the best, Welch focuses on the need to adhere to quality and excellence in the company’s operations. Consequently, GE adopted the ‘three circle concept’ consisting of core, high technology, and service. The most competitive businesses of the company appeared in the circles, while other businesses had to create better strategies to remain competitive or divest (Bower & Dial, 1993). Thi...