The business life of the twentieth century, especially of its second part, was characterized by such trends as restructuring, expansion, growing competition, globalization, leadership development and service rendering. As the practice shows, those companies that failed to implement those trends and undergo deep changes, lost their momentum or even went out of business.
However, there are always some good examples and General Electric is one f them. The company was successful in overcoming two economic recesses and tripled its profits under the leadership of its CEO Jack Welch. The question is whether it will be able to continue its success under another CEO. Analyzing some key factors that have kept the company on the cutting edge of the global performance, one can see whether or not GE will be able to sustain the same pace.
GE possesses a highly effective structure that has been developed by its previous leadership. Bureaucracy, which obstructed the company’s operation, was removed and, instead of hierarchical levels, that used to exist, all businesses report directly to CEO now. That simplifies both planning and innovation processes.
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An elaborate and ever-improving process of implementing initiative and best practices has proven to be very effective and has brought honest and energetic interaction throughout the company. That, in turn, led to the participation of two-thirds of the workforce and ended up in productivity increase.
Globalization is another challenge and, if addressed properly, can become a source of successful operation. The company’s decision to move to the international arena has proved very fruitful and its further balanced and profit-making based expansion will increase GE’s image as a highly effective company.
Leadership development together with fostering efficient corporate culture has also been an important global trend that showed a company’s ability or inability to move into the future with good expectations. Fortunately for GE, it is an organization that is deeply committed to developing its employees. Time and money invested into leadership training and development, showed fruit in producing highly professional and effective leaders.
Lastly, the end of the twentieth and the beginning of the twenty first centuries were characterized as a time when offering just a product was not enough any more. Rendering an effective service combined with providing a product became a challenge for companies. GE was successful in overcoming that challenge and, as a result, was able to step into a new dimension of its corporate vision.
Based upon the above facts plus keeping in mind that General Electric has a history of continuous development and striving for excellence, keeps apace with market demands and meets modern business world challenges, one can make a conclusion that GE will stay on the cutting edge of successful business opertion.