Succession Planning at GE
|
|
ICMR HOME | Case Studies Collection
Case Details:
Case Code : HROB056
Case Length : 14 Pages
Period : 1996-2004
Pub Date : 2004
Teaching Note :Not Available
Organization : GE
Industry : Diversified
Countries : USA
To download Succession Planning at GE case study
(Case Code: HROB056) click on the button below, and select the case from the list of available cases:
Price:
For delivery in electronic format: Rs. 400;
For delivery through courier (within India): Rs. 400 + Shipping & Handling Charges extra
»
Human Resource and Organization Behavior Case Studies
» HRM Short Case Studies
» View Detailed Pricing Info
» How To Order This Case
» Business Case Studies
» Area Specific Case Studies
» Industry Wise Case Studies
» Company Wise Case Studies
Please note:
This case study was compiled from published sources, and is intended to be used as a basis for class discussion. It is not intended to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation. Nor is it a primary information source.
Chat with us
Please leave your feedback
|
|
<< Previous
The Successor Contd...
|
During Welch's tenure of two decades as CEO, GE transformed itself from a
manufacturer of light bulbs and appliances into an industrial conglomerate, with
annual revenues increasing from $27.9 billion to $130 billion.
Given GE's record of effective leadership, and the care and intensity of its
succession planning program (Refer Exhibit I for an overview on succession
planning), most industry observers expressed their confidence in GE's choice of
Immelt.
|
|
The fact that McNerney and Nardelli were taken on as the CEOs of 3M and Home
Depot, respectively, within weeks of their losing out to Immelt, was in
itself taken by observers as testimony of corporate America's confidence in
leaders groomed by GE.
Background Note
The roots of GE can be traced back to Thomas Alva Edison (Edison), the
inventor of the incandescent light bulb. Edison set up The Edison Electric
Light Company (EELC) in 1872, to conduct experiments on electricity, and in
1879, he invented a carbon-filament lamp and direct current generator for
incandescent electric lighting.
|
|
The EELC was comprised of a number of smaller companies involved in
different businesses ranging from power stations and wiring grids to
electrical appliances. The EELC merged with The Thomas-Houston
Electric Company3 in 1892, to
form General Electric (headquartered in Schenectady, New York).
In 1894, Charles Coffin (Coffin) replaced Edison as CEO of GE.
Coffin brought about a number of changes in the company by creating
a rigid hierarchy and organizing the company around different
individual "works," or units dealing with specific product lines or
jobs. |
He also imposed rigid financial controls to keep the
different units on track. By the end of the century, GE was able to consolidate
its position by licensing its electric bulb technology to other companies.
Gerard Swope (Swope), who succeeded Coffin in 1922, played an influential role
in making positive changes in industrial relations at GE.
He introduced many schemes such as group insurance, profit sharing, bonuses,
pensions, home-mortgage assistance, and stock-purchase plans, which were widely
appreciated. He consolidated GE's position in the industry further. GE also
became the first company to establish unemployment pension plans, which
guaranteed its laid-off workers a stipend of $7.5 per week for a period of 10
weeks after layoff.
Charles Wilson (Wilson), who became CEO in 1940, undid most of the changes that
Swope had brought about in industrial relations. After the Second World War
(1939-45), GE faced a major crisis in industrial relations due to the increasing
clout of the trade unions...
Excerpts >>
|
|
