GE: The lessons of a corporate giant's decline

"The weight of the past can be heavy indeed"

A General Electric building.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Mike Groll)

The smartest insight and analysis, from all perspectives, rounded up from around the web:

"The weight of the past can be heavy indeed," said The Economist. John Flannery, who took over as chairman and CEO of General Electric 14 months ago, has learned that the hard way. A company veteran, Flannery tried to downsize and decentralize the 125-year-old industrial conglomerate, announcing plans to spin off its health-care division and sell its majority stake in Baker Hughes, an oil-field services firm. So it came as a shock when GE's board ousted Flannery last week, less than a year after he unveiled his turnaround strategy. The board might have been quick to give him the boot because it knew it had waited too long to hasten the departure of his predecessor, Jeffrey Immelt. During his 16 years in charge, Immelt bought and sold businesses worth $126 billion — paying $6 billion in fees to Wall Street banks in the process — but had "rather little to show for it." The company is now worth $100 billion, down $500 billion from its 2000 peak. GE's new boss, Larry Culp, has his work cut out for him. He'll need to make more savings, but shutting down big plants "may well attract the ire of President Trump."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us