Business Case Study: General Electric

1. What are the goals and objectives of General Electric? How well has the company performed? Show your analysis and interpretation. 

General Electric was notorious for pushing the envelope in its businesses under the reigns of Jack Welch and Reg Jones, before him. Jones started it off with his push toward strategic business units in the 1970s. Then Mr. Welch took charge, under considerable doubt of his capacities surprisingly, and molded the company into the #1, #2 or get out entity that it has become.

The company has done amazingly well in the last twenty years, thanks mainly to this underlying motivating force. High stock prices derived from top-caliber operating margins and seemingly unending revenue streams. A lot of the credit for these incredible numbers can be attributed to the stretch goals Welch put into play during his tenure as CEO. Stretch goals made all employees push the bar out as far as possible, adding an extra layer of productivity awareness on top of the normal goals that were demanded to be met. While many companies might feel their employees are striving to reach for the stars, only a few like General Electric actually verbalize this mission, and thus make it possible.

2. What are the nature and characteristics of businesses/industries that they are in? What is the business selection strategy? What businesses are they entering or exiting? Are they related or unrelated?

General Electric is the epitome of a holding company. It enters any arenas that it can dominate the market and requires the respective staffs to get there. Its holdings are so diverse that including an exhaustive list here would take many more pages than the assignment requires.