I am a GE employee, not by choice, but through chance as the company I worked for was taken over 9 years ago (I was a bit disappointed that the takeover was not mentioned in the book, although I guess $3 billion dollars is small fare in this story). I recognize that this was not central to the book's focus, but I can unequivocally state that the engineers and scientists I had the privilege of working with every day were immensely talented.įirst let me put in context my interest in this book. The one topic that the book did not cover was the exceptional talent and dedication of GE's employees. Unfortunately, as the authors described, what we often saw was the eventual destruction of value that was reflected in company performance. We also watched GE acquire companies that had the potential to enhance our existing portfolio. The authors captured the essence of what many employees inside the company saw including Jeff Immelt's endless optimism and the ability to cast a vision of where GE was heading. Already at GE for six years when Jeff Immelt became CEO, I can still remember sitting in a large conference room with many of my colleagues as we listened to Jeff Immelt's employee meeting his first full day on the job - September 10, 2011. I had the privilege of working at GE for 20 years, so I had a front-row seat for many of the topics covered in this book. The authors captured the essence of what many employees inside the company saw including Jef Reading this book was a trip down memory lane. Reading this book was a trip down memory lane. Lights Out details how one of America’s all-time great companies has been reduced to a cautionary tale for our times.more In the end, GE’s traditional win-at-all-costs driven culture seemed to lose its direction, which ultimately caused the company’s decline on both a personal and organizational scale. Lights Out examines how Welch’s handpicked successor, Jeff Immelt, tried to fix flaws in Welch’s profit machine, while stumbling headlong into mistakes of his own. Yet, fewer than two decades later, the GE of old was gone. And after two decades of leadership under legendary CEO Jack Welch, GE entered the twenty-first century as America’s most valuable corporation. GE electrified America, powering everything from lightbulbs to turbines, and became fully integrated into the American societal mindset as few companies ever had. For generations, it was job security, a solidly safe investment, and an elite business education for top managers. Since its founding in 1892, GE has been more than just a corporation. This is the definitive history of General Electric’s epic decline, as told by the two Wall Street Journal reporters who covered its fall. For generations, it was job security, a solidly safe How could General Electric-perhaps America’s most iconic corporation-suffer such a swift and sudden fall from grace? How could General Electric-perhaps America’s most iconic corporation-suffer such a swift and sudden fall from grace? This is the definitive history of General Electric’s epic decline, as told by the two Wall Street Journal reporters who covered its fall.
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