A CASE STUDY ON GENERAL

ELECTRIC

PRESENTED BY: Flora Emokhor

COURSE: Multinationals & Industrial Relations
MATRIC NO: 099023181
DATE: April 2011
 BRIEF HISTORY
• In 1876, Thomas Alva Edison
opened a new laboratory in
Menlo Park, New Jersey. Out of
the laboratory was to come
perhaps the most successful
invention of all- a successful
development of the incandescent
electric lamp. By 1890, Edison
had organized his various
businesses into the Edison
General Electric Company.
 Brief History Cont’d
• In 1879, Elihu Thompson and E.J Houston formed the rival
Thomson-Houston company.
• Mergers with competitors and the patent rights owned by
each company put them into dominant positions in the
electrical industry. As businesses expanded, it became
increasingly difficult for either company to produce complete
electrical installations relying solely on their own technology.
In 1892, these two major companies combined to form the
General Electric Company
• General Electric in the early 1900’s was an old line American
industrial giant and Manufacturing company
• Through 600 acquisitions, mergers and reorganizations, and
disposals GE has grown to be one of the biggest corporate
organizations in the world with interests in diverse fields
including Computers, Plastics, Electricity, Medical imaging
equipments, Aircraft jet engines just to mention a few.
 GE TODAY
• General Electric with its headquarters in Turnpike New
Jersey, now operates in more than 160 countries and
employs about 300,000 people worldwide. In 2009, GE
delivered solid results despite the tough economic climate
with earnings of $11.2 billion; more than half of this revenue
came from the company’s operations outside the United
States of America. Industrial cash flow from operating
activities for the year remained strong at over $16.6 billion.
• GE is the only company listed in the Dow Jones Industrial
Index today that was also included in the original index in
1896.
 GE TODAY CONT’D
COUNTRIES OF OPEATION
ASIA AFRICA EUROPE EUROPE CONT’D AUSTRALIA MIDDLE
EAST
China Algeria Austria Netherlands Australia Bahrain
India Angola Belgium Norway New Jordan
Zealand
Japan Egypt Czech Poland Kuwait
Republic
Korea Ghana Denmark Portugal AMERICA Lebanon
Pakistan Kenya Finland Romania Canada Oman
Indonesia Nigeria France Russia US Qatar
Cambodia South Germany Spain Argentina Saudi
Africa Arabia
Malaysia Greece Sweden Brazil UAE
Philippines Hungary Switzerland Chile
Singapore Ireland Turkey Mexico
Thailand Israel United Kingdom Peru
Vietnam Italy Venezuela
 HERITAGE OF RESEARCH
• Over the years GE has been able to maintain its competitive edge through a heritage of
research and development. It started in a barn in 1900 when General Electric Company was
only eight years old. The space housed some of the company's first breakthrough
technologies and big ideas that would later ignite the world's imagination.
• Charles Proteus Steinmetz, already a distinguished industrial scientist, was hard at work as
GE's chief consulting engineer. After years of persuasion, Steinmetz convinced the GE
leadership that the company would need a research laboratory to maintain its edge in
lighting and electricity and also finding new areas to grow.
• Elihu Thompson, a founder of the company, summed up the mission of the lab: "It does
seem to me therefore that a Company as large as the General Electric Company, should not
fail to continue investing and developing in new fields: there should, in fact, be a research
laboratory for commercial applications of new principles, and even for the discovery of
those principles."
• Charles Coffin, GE's first CEO, agreed and the GE Research Laboratory was born in the
carriage barn in Steinmetz's back yard. Willis Whitney, a young chemistry professor from
MIT who had been conducting experiments for GE, was invited to become the first director.
 HERITAGE OF RESEARCH, CONT’D
• One of the earliest projects of the new lab was to defend the company's primary
asset — incandescent lighting — through innovation. In 1908, GE scientist William
Coolidge invented the ductile tungsten filament that made the GE incandescent
lamp significantly more durable than the original design. The invention secured
GE's technological leadership in the market and epitomized the role of the GE
research lab — bringing innovation to the marketplace.
• Over the years, the research lab has brought many new technologies to GE's
customers. Along the way, GE scientists have amassed thousands of patents (2,370
have been filed till date), and two Nobel prizes: Irving Langmuir won the Nobel
prize in Chemistry in 1932 and Ivar Giaever won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1973.
• Today, GE Global Research consists of more than 3,000 employees working in four
state-of-the-art facilities: Niskayuna, New York (a few miles from the original barn),
Bangalore, India (opened in September 2000), Shanghai, China (opened in October,
2003), and Munich, Germany (opened in June, 2004). In 2009 GE’s R&D budget was
$5.7bn.
 PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
• Appliances/Consumer Electronics
GE is one of the largest manufacturers of major appliances in the world, producing; compactors & garbage
disposal units, cooktops, dehumidifiers, dishwashers, filters, dispensers and softeners, freezers,
microwaves, ranges and stoves, refrigerators, air conditioners, washers and dryers, water heaters, wine
refrigerators and beverage centers.
• Aviation
GE is the world's leading provider of aviation services and the leading producer of jet engines.
They supply the world with engines for commercial, corporate, military and marine industries.
In 1969 Neil Armstrong took the first step on the moon with boots made from GE silicone rubber.
• Electrical Distribution
GE provides a wide assortment of integrated equipment and systems to ensure safe and reliable
power delivery. Electrical distribution and control solutions manage power in a variety of residential,
commercial
and industrial applications.
• Energy
GE electrifies the world by providing energy products and services to more than 120 countries. With coal,
oil, natural gas, nuclear energy, water and wind technologies they deliver solid productivity returns and
significant environmental benefits.
 PRODUCTS AND SERVICES CONT’D
• Finance – Business
GE Commercial Finance serves clients in over 35 countries by providing loans, operating leases, financing
programs, commercial insurance and equipment leasing to help global business grow.
• Finance – Consumer
GE Money is a leading provider of credit services, offering credit, loans, mortgages and more. They serve
consumers, retailers, auto dealers and mortgage lenders worldwide.
• Healthcare
GE provides medical technologies and services for patient care. From medical imaging and information
technologies to diagnostics and drug discovery, they help clinicians around the world re-imagine new ways to
help their patients live longer fuller lives.
• Lighting
They provide a range of innovative products for consumer, commercial and industrial markets.
• Oil & Gas
GE provides global technology-based products, services and complete solutions to the oil and gas industry.
• Rail
GE is the leading supplier to the world's railroads, pioneering locomotive and railroad management
technologies that are economically advantageous and ecologically sound.
• Software & Services
GE is a global provider of software, hardware, services, and expertise in manufacturing; remote monitoring
and diagnostics; and customer vertical solutions.
• Water
For over 100 years, GE has been a leading global supplier of water treatment, wastewater treatment and
efficient process systems solutions.
 GE LEADERSHIP
• GE's leaders through the years have built a
diverse portfolio of leading businesses; a stream
of powerful company-wide initiatives that drives
growth and reduces cost; financial strength and
Controllership that allow it to capitalize on
opportunities through numerous cycles; and a
set of common values that allows it to face any
environment with confidence. Below is a list of
the imminent and past leadership of GE.
 GE LEADERSHIP CONT’D
NAME PERIOD
Jeffrey Immelt 2001-date
John F. Welch, Jr 1981-2001
Reginald H. Jones 1972-1981
Fred J. Borch 1967-1972
Gerald L. Phillipe 1963-1967
Ralph J. Cordiner 1958-1963
Phillip d. Reed 1945-1958
Owen D. Young 1942-1945
Gerard Swope 1922-1940
E.W. Rice 1913-1922
Charles A. Coffin 1892-1912
 GE LEADERSHIP – JACK WELCH
• The growth of GE into one of the largest corporate
organizations in terms of Market capitalisation can
be mainly traced to the leadership of one man John
Francis Welch, popularly known as “Neutron Jack”
by friends and admirers.
• Welch at 45 became the youngest CEO GE had ever
had, this position he maintained from 1981-2001
when he retired. Within this period his radical
methods and change management principles
transformed the face of the corporate world.
• Welch led the company to massive revenues. In
1980, the year before Welch became CEO, GE
recorded revenues of roughly $26.8 billion; in 2000,
the year before he left, they were nearly 130 billion.
Through its strong earnings and future growth
estimates it was valued at $400 billion at the end of
2004, the world’s largest corporation up from
America’s tenth largest by market capitalization in
1981.
 GE CSR INITIATIVES
GE has been at the forefront of corporate social responsibility in all the
countries they operate via their corporate citizenship programmes. Find
below a some of their corporate social initiatives;
• GE donated $2.5m to the relief efforts in Haiti
• The John F. Welch Leadership Center- Worldwide, GE invests about $1
billion annually on training and education programs to develop some of the
best leaders and some of the most widely practiced business techniques.
The centerpiece of its commitment to excellence in leadership
development is the John F. Welch Leadership Center at Crotonville, New
York, the world's first major corporate business school.
• Health Initiatives- Every year, physicians from the University of Ottawa
Heart Institute travel to Canada's remote Arctic with GE's Vivid i
cardiovascular ultrasound system to help heal the hearts of the local Inuit
population.
 CONCLUSION
• GE has supplied over 100 gas turbines in Nigeria in an effort to
improve power generation. With their custom solutions in the oil
& gas, energy and healthcare industries GE has fostered growing
relationships with both the government and private business
sectors, helping the country reach its potential.
• The future for GE is very bright with strong earnings capability. In
2010, GE ranked #1 in healthcare and #19 overall on Fast
Company's list of the world's top 50 most innovative companies.
They were also named in Ethisphere's list of the world's most
ethical companies.
• With their heritage of research and development and strong
leadership, the world is open for GE to conquer.