BUSINESS DIVERSITY: GENERAL ELECTRIC

Business Diversity: General Electric

Business Diversity: General Electric

General Electric

Since Thomas Edison started General Electric in 1876, the company has steadily grown into a tremendously successful organization and one of the largest companies in the world. Several management and organizational strategies have been used through out the years in order to attain the current status of the firm. When looking at an organization's cultural appeal, one must first decide what they are looking for; what appeals to me may or may not appeal to someone else. There are a few categories within GE's organizational culture that appeals to me personally. These categories include but are not limited to:

Leadership: It is important for a company to allow leaders to have the freedom and flexibility to contribute their knowledge and expertise in both their daily job and at company levels. “At the top, we don't run GE like a big company. We run it like a big partnership, where every leader can make a contribution not just to their job, but to the entire Company” (Immelt, J., 2005).

Work Environment: A company should provide a pleasant and vitalizing work environment that is easy to balance with my personal life. “GE is an invigorating place to work. Ours is a high-performance culture that emphasizes high-integrity business practices as well as work/life balance” (Our Culture, 2008).

Training and Education Programs: Successful companies provide additional training and educational benefits that will enhance employee leadership capabilities. “We invest nearly $1 billion a year in career development for our employees at every level of professional growth.” (Leadership Programs, 2008).

Thomas Alva Edison is accredited for his brilliance as an inventor. Often people are unaware about his business acumen and entrepreneurial drive. The General Electric Company traces its beginnings to the Edison Electric Light Company which was founded in 1878 . The Edison Electric Light Company was facing intense competition from the Thompson-Houston Electric Company , run by Charles Coffin . It was increasingly difficult for both companies to co-exist and hence the two merged in 1892, to form the General Electric Company.

Today GE is a diversified media, technology and financial services company with products and services ranging from medical imaging, industrial products, business financing and media content to water processing, security technology, power generation and aircraft engines. GE is one of the largest organizations in the world, operating in over 160 countries with over 300,000 employees (including over 2500 researchers in their four global research centers) and yearly revenues reaching US$163 billion (2006) . Over the last five years GE has grown its earnings on an average of over ten percent per annum. GE earned US$20.7 billion in 2006 and has returned over US$18 billion to its shareholders in the form of dividend increases and stock buyback.

Thomas Alva Edison's motive for starting the General Electric Company in 1878 was to present his product offerings to the mass market at a financial gain. Jack Welch, the chief executive between 1981 and 2001 was famous for his competitive ...