General Electric: Most Storied Businesses In American History

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General Electric is one of the most storied businesses in American History. During the General Electric’s nearly one hundred and fifty years of existence, the organization has grown to nearly unimaginable scope and size. The fact that General Electric has prospered over such a long stretch of time is testament not only to the vision and goals of its founders, but also the adherence of successive leaders to core tenets and prudent business practices. The company has become distinguished as a leader in multiple and well varied fields of commerce. This growth from a more singularly focused American business to a multifaceted, multinational corporation was not achieved through short term planning. This prodigious ascension has possible due to initiatives and innovation that have been born, refined, and improved upon from within the company.
The Birth of a Conglomerate
The lineage of General Electric traces directly to perhaps the greatest inventor in American history, Thomas …show more content…

The organization has strong corporate values that have spanned generations. However, strict and eternal adherence to a fixed set of values is foolhardy, as many variably change. The previous CEO Jack Welch espoused such long-standing employee values and brought great profits to the company. However, his successor, Jeff Immelt has had to face completely different circumstances. Jack Welch’s legacy was that of a deliberate organization dedicated to quality, as evidenced by the company’s Six Sigma values (Pino, 2014). Jeff Immelt’s General Electric faces a much faster paced global economy, where innovation and acceptance of change are imperative. This need for quick decisions on the local level is why Immelt paired down the divisions to their current organization. General Electric now operates numerous overseas operations. In fact the majority of production is now outside the United States (Bradt,