IT Strategy for GE Energy: Advising a New CIO
This paper advises a newly appointed Chief Information Officer (CIO) at GE Energy on leveraging information technology for competitive advantage. It examines GE Energy's position relative to key rivals—ABB Ltd., ALSTOM, and Siemens Energy—and identifies strategic IT priorities including time-to-market improvement, distributed order management, advanced analytics and KPIs, and partner relationship management (PRM). The analysis also highlights the importance of aligning IT investments with established quality frameworks such as Six Sigma, Business Process Reengineering (BPR), and Total Quality Management (TQM). The paper argues that the CIO must function as both a business strategist and a technologist to sustain GE Energy's competitive position in global energy markets.
- Introduction to GE Energy and the CIO Role: GE Energy's business context and CIO advisory purpose
- Aligning IT with Business Strategy: IT alignment with Six Sigma and quality goals
- Competing Against ABB, ALSTOM, and Siemens Energy: Competitor-specific IT strategy recommendations
- Analytics, KPIs, and Performance Measurement: Building analytics platforms to track rivals
- Partner Relationship Management Strategy: PRM systems to protect distribution channels
- Conclusion: CIO's role in driving competitive execution
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper maintains a clear advisory frame throughout, consistently directing recommendations at a specific audience (the incoming CIO), which gives the analysis practical focus.
- Each competitor (ABB, ALSTOM, Siemens Energy) is addressed individually, allowing the paper to tailor IT recommendations to distinct competitive threats rather than offering generic advice.
- The integration of established quality frameworks—Six Sigma, TQM, and BPR—grounds the IT strategy recommendations in GE's documented operational culture, adding credibility.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper uses competitive benchmarking as its primary analytical method. By profiling each major competitor's strategic strengths—ABB's European market share, ALSTOM's supply chain automation, and Siemens Energy's decentralized agility—the author derives specific IT investment priorities for GE Energy. This technique links external environmental analysis directly to internal technology decisions, demonstrating applied strategic thinking rather than abstract theorizing.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a company and industry overview that establishes GE Energy's context and competitive landscape. It then transitions into the advisory body, organized around competitive dynamics and specific IT domains (order management, analytics, PRM). Each paragraph targets a discrete strategic problem. The paper closes with brief reference to execution capability, rounding out the CIO advisory framework. The reference list follows APA formatting conventions.
Introduction to GE Energy and the CIO Role
General Electric (NYSE: GE) is a global leader in a wide variety of technology- and service-based businesses, and operates one of the most profitable financial services divisions in the world. GE's many product lines include business systems and technologies, household appliances, medical imaging systems, power generation, water processing systems and plants, and deep expertise in aviation—including jet engine development, production, and service (Cosco, 1994). The company's core business unit, Technology Infrastructure, is organized into three segments: aviation, healthcare, and transportation. Of the many initiatives GE is pursuing, the most critical is green energy and sustainability.
GE Energy relies heavily on advanced new product development processes that provide the company with significant competitive advantages against ABB Ltd., ALSTOM, and Siemens Energy, according to the latest GE Annual Report and filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. GE Energy employs Six Sigma, Business Process Reengineering (BPR), and Total Quality Management (TQM) strategies to remain competitive over time (Bollapragada & Johnson, 2008). The purpose of this analysis is to advise a recently appointed Chief Information Officer (CIO) of GE Energy on leveraging IT for competitive advantage. The recommendations reflect the dual role of the CIO as both business strategist and technologist—a critically important combination for anyone in this position (Cosco, 1994).
Aligning IT with Business Strategy
Of the many responsibilities the CIO carries at GE, the most strategically important is aligning IT investment and strategy with business objectives and goals. This includes the ongoing challenge of introducing new technologies and processes to support and enhance the company's world-class quality management and customer-driven innovation programs, including Six Sigma and TQM (Ingle & Roe, 2001). At GE Energy, the core competency that distinguishes this division from ABB Ltd., ALSTOM, and Siemens Energy is its depth of expertise in Six Sigma and TQM techniques (Chung, Hsu, & Yen, 2008).
Competing Against ABB, ALSTOM, and Siemens Energy
For the CIO of GE Energy, the primary competitive considerations relative to ABB Ltd., ALSTOM, and Siemens Energy center on improving time-to-market, accelerating development speed, and perfecting the product launch process (Strategic Direction, 2006). ABB's differentiated product and services strategy makes this competitor particularly difficult to displace in Europe, where ABB holds a commanding market share among enterprises. For GE Energy to win against ABB in these markets, more streamlined approaches to new product development are required.
Against ALSTOM, the challenge lies at the supply chain level. This competitor has invested heavily in automating its collaborative planning, forecasting, and replenishment processes. GE Energy must match or exceed this capability to remain credible at the supply chain level. Business Process Reengineering initiatives supported by enabling IT systems are essential to close this gap.
Siemens Energy represents the most challenging competitive threat for any incumbent CIO. The German conglomerate possesses process expertise that rivals GE Energy's own, and its highly decentralized operating structure enables rapid market entry and fast product introductions as core strengths. To compete effectively, the new CIO will need to design and implement a well-orchestrated distributed order management system capable of managing diverse suppliers, customers, and pricing scenarios (Strategic Direction, 2006).
Conclusion
If the new CIO can use IT strategically to create a stronger platform of execution for GE Energy in its chosen markets, the company will be well-positioned to sustain and extend its competitive advantages over time. The convergence of quality management frameworks, targeted analytics capabilities, distributed order management, and a robust PRM infrastructure represents a comprehensive IT agenda that can drive measurable business results across all competitive fronts.
References
Bollapragada, S., & Johnson, C. D. (2008). Operations research at General Electric Global Research Center. OR-MS Today, 35(6), 18.
Chung, Y., Hsu, Y., & Yen, T. (2008). Using the Six Sigma system approach to reduce core process times at a manufacturing plant. International Journal of Management, 25(3), 431–438.
Cosco, J. P. (1994). General Electric works it all out. The Journal of Business Strategy, 15(3), 48.
Goel, S., & Chen, V. (2008). Integrating the global enterprise using Six Sigma: Business process reengineering at General Electric Wind Energy. International Journal of Production Economics, 113(2), 914.
Ingle, S., & Roe, W. (2001). Six Sigma black belt implementation. The TQM Magazine, 13(4), 273–280.
Green is green at General Electric. (2006). Strategic Direction, 22(9), 21.
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