GE\'s Two Decade Transformation Jack Welch\'s Leadershiip

¶ … GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Jack Welch's Leadership, Christopher A. Bartlett and Meg Wozny describe the sometimes unorthodox leadership style of General Electric CEO Jack Welch. It is hard to argue with the success of Jack Welch's tenure as CEO at GE. He led the company from a floundering, outdated, bureaucratic monolith when he took the reins in 1981 to a diverse, successful, and globalized corporation as he faces retirement. However, as the authors describe some of the techniques that Welch used during his tenure, it is tempting to try to discern if the success of GE is due to the techniques Welch describes as important, or if other factors are at work in GE's spectacular success. In the article, the authors describe many of the key components of Jack Welch's leadership style, including his six major change programs: 1) The "Software" initiatives, globalization, redefining leadership, stretch objectives, service business development, and Six Sigma quality initiatives. Perhaps one of the most notable of Welch's initiatives was the implementation of the Six Sigma program. The program is enormous in scope, and may be the largest quality initiative ever taken in North America. Critics argue that the program seems to increase the bureaucracy that Welch so despises, while Welch argues that all that matters is that the program gets results. For all the talk of his innovative approaches, many of Welch's initiatives seem to adhere tightly to known strategy theories. For example, Welch's use of the Six Sigma program seems-based soundly upon an understanding of the value chain. This chain focuses on a number of generic activities that can be used to create a competitive advantage, and include inbound logistics like inventory and receiving, operations, outbound logistics like warehousing and order fulfillment, marketing and sales, and service (Porter). The Six Sigma initiative seems aimed at improving GE's efficiency at almost each level of the value chain, thus increasing the firm's competitive advantage.