Ge Case Study

Date: April 27, 2009 Course 5130: Strategic Thinking Session 3 Assignment: GE Case Study The culture at General Electric, before Jack Welch assumed his role as CEO in 1981, was highly decentralized, where significant emphasis on strategic planning was levied on 43 Strategic Business Units. However, Jack’s vision of changing the culture of the company was a priority to him. As a result, Jack began the culture change by replacing 12 of his 14 business heads. He replaced them with new managers who had a strong commitment to the new management values, with a willingness to break from the old culture, and had the ability to take charge and bring about change. Welch wanted to reflect a management style of openness, candor, and one of facing reality. In addition to the culture change, he wanted the culture to be characterized by speed, simplicity, and self-confidence. Instead of continuing with the old style bureaucracy characterized by large corporation, Welch wanted to create a culture of small companies where everyone had a voice and felt engaged in their business. One of the initiatives Welch implemented in the late 80’s, which was instrumental to changing the culture at GE, was called â€Å"Work-Out†. This process was designed to get unnecessary bureaucratic work out of the system while creating a forum in which management and employees could work out new ways of dealing with each other, and cut out the bureaucracy. This open style forum would bring 40 to 100 employees together to share their views about their business and how it might be improved. The â€Å"work-out† consisted of three-day sessions where employees would get the opportunity to lists all of their problems, debate solutions to these problems, and prepare presentations. On the 3rd day of the session, the employees would make their recommendations and the process would require the bosses to make decisions on the spot in front of every employee and their peers. Welch also focused of realigning skills sets and changing the mindset of his employees with GE’s new strategy and organizational imperatives. Because of this new demanding environment, some employees felt overworked and there was some residual distrust from the layoffs that took place during the 80’s; hence, he recognize this challenge and felt the need to redefining his commitment to his employees. As a result, a new psychological contract developed which gave a sense to the employees at GE that their jobs were the best jobs in the world. They had the best training and development resources, and they provided an environment committed to providing opportunities for personal and professional growth. Another initiative Welch took on, as a way to shock the culture at GE, was by introducing the notion of â€Å"stretch† to set performance targets. In addition to setting their basic targets, managers were asked to set stretch goals for their businesses as a way to reach for a higher mark knowing that they would be rewarded handsomely if they hit these goals. Within a year of introducing stretch goals into the organization, GE was reporting significant progress in areas such as inventory turns and operating margins. Finally, one of the last cultural changes Welch was able to integrate at GE was having a boundaryless company. This vision is characterized by an â€Å"open, anti-parochial environment, friendly toward the sharing and seeking of new ideas, regardless of its origin. He envisioned removing all barriers amongst disciplines and operations, and one that removed labels in titles and hierarchy chain. Equally important to having a boundaryless company was changing the internal mindset of selling products to helping their customer to win. In order to make all of these cultural changes, Jack Welch needed to make human resource changes which will allow him to execute on his vision to be the best company in the world. He introduced the 360degree feedback process where employees were graded by his or her manager, peers, and all subordinates on a 1 to 5 scale in areas such as team building, quality focus, and vision. Management went through rigorous appraisals, development, and succession planning reviews named Session C’s. Welch also wanted to make certain that they maintained their best employees. He asked top executives to identify future leaders, outline planned training and development plans, and detailed succession plans on all key jobs. He didn’t like the reward system of insignificant salary increases year after year. Instead, stock options became the primary component of management’s compensation. In their Crotonville facility, priority became to develop a generation of future leaders aligned with GE’s new vision and cultural norms. The place evolved from a training center to a place where teams of managers worked together on real priority issues and decided on results-oriented action. One of Welch’s concerns regarding some of his managers was their unwillingness to embrace the open and participative values he espoused. As a result, he categorized his leaders into 4 different types: ? First type delivers on commitments and shares the values of the organization. This type of leader certainly had a great future at GE. ? Second type was the complete opposite to the previous type. This type of leader did not deliver on commitments nor did he or she share the values of the organization. This individual did not last long at GE. ? Third type of leader misses his or her commitments but shared the company’s values. This individual would be given a second opportunity, most likely in a different environment. The fourth type of leader was one whom Welch, and most top managers, had more difficulty dealing with. This is the type of leader who delivers on his commitments, but does not share the values of the organization. These types of managers are typically characterized by being autocratic, and who forces performance out of their employees as opposed to inspiring his people. These types of leaders were e xposed during the 360 degree feedback process, and were subsequently let go. Finally, Welch envisioned only having â€Å"A† players across his organization. Individuals who displayed a vision, had leadership qualities, were energetic, and displayed courage. These individuals were characterized with the 4 E’s: had energy, could energize others, had an edge about them, and were able to execute their job. As a result, GE ranked their employees into the following 5 categories based on long term performance, also known as the â€Å"Vitality Cure†: 1) Top 10%, 2) Strong 15%, 3) Highly Valued 50%, 4) Borderline 15%, and 5) Least Effective 10% In order to mobilize the organization to develop and execute business strategies, Welch did the following: 1. Reduced bureaucracy by being lean and agile, which resulted in 50% reduction of strategic planning staff. 2. Scrapped GE’s laborious strategic planning system, and replaced it with real time planning. 3. Eliminated â€Å"sector† level managers, previously the powerful level of strategic control. Hierarchy levels went from 9 to 4, and they all reported directly into Jack. 4. Instituted the process of â€Å"Best Practices† or â€Å"Benchmarking†. This process was intended to increase productivity by sharing best practices employed by each business amongst each business. In addition, the implementation of â€Å"Best Practice† resulted in development of effective processes rather than controlling activities; customer service was their main gauge of performance; treating suppliers like partners; and an emphasis in providing a constant stream of high quality new products designed for efficient manufacturing. At the end of the day, Welch was regarded as the greatest CEO during his days at GE because he was able to envision, communicate and execute on what he wanted GE to look like. He began by delivering the message that all GE businesses had to be either #1 or #2 in their category, otherwise they needed to disengage. GE took a serious approach to become a global company. During the early to mid-80’s, they made several major acquisitions, and these businesses were responsible for implementing their own plan appropriate to their particular needs. Welch, however, remained very involved with these companies, and he also applied the standard of excellence where they needed to be either #1 or #2 in their business. Welch also wanted to reduce the amount of dependence on the traditional industrial products, which resulted in a new business strategy initiative of pushing for product services. By the supplement the traditional industrial products with added-value services, Welch believed that services would present the biggest growth opportunity for GE. This new initiative led to a number of acquisitions. Benchmarking with companies such as Motorola and Allied Signal, Welch understood how the Six Sigma quality initiative these companies had been utilizing could significantly impact GE. Six Sigma was a discipline, statistic-based system aimed at producing not more than 3. 4 defects per million iterations for any business process†¦from manufacturing to customer transactions. One of GE’s early successes in utilizing the Six Sigma process was in its Lighting division, where the use of Six Sigma was credited for cutting invoice defects and disputes by 98 percent. On his final days at GE, Welch introduced his last business initiative targeted at GE’s e-business. The program called â€Å"destroyyourbusiness. com†, or â€Å"dyb. com†, provided focus and challenged each business to look for opportunities via the internet within their own business. Welch felt the opportunities through this medium loomed large, and Welch was very pleased with the early results. Without a question, Jack Welch made a significant mark during his time at GE both professionally and in society. He changed the way businesses are managed and operated, and he left a legacy of future managers whom have moved on to lead large corporations. Unfortunately, some of them have not enjoyed the same success Welch experienced. Nonetheless, it is impossible to deny Jack Welch’s impact on the global business during his time at General Electric. Porter’s Five Forces We, at Thomas & Betts, are constantly battling against all 5 of Porter’s forces. Following are examples on how our business is impacted by these forces: 1. RIVALRY – We certainly view companies such as Cooper Industries and Hubbell as our primary rivals. For the most, one of us controls a big a portion of the business at the electrical distributors. Because of the legacy products our companies were built on are so similar, our customers tend to use price as a way to get what they want. As a way to combat pricing pressures, our focus is to bring new products to market providing financial benefits, such as labor savings, to the end-user. . THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES – Unfortunately, there are a significant number of competitors that we compete with in every product line we manufacture. Many of these competitors do not have the capacity or product breadth Thomas & Betts has, and that’s the value proposition we offer to our customers. The ability to purchase multiple electrical lines, and placing it in one order, having one shipment, and paying one in voice. However, it has being difficult to quantify what this means to our customers from a financial perspective. As a result, our customers continue to pin each supplier against each other by using pricing, rebates, and/or promotions as a stick to get a better deal. 3. BUYER POWER – Fortunately for us, we have a high level of brand recognition and demand at the end-user level. We work with Specifiers and Engineers to get our products specified on jobs, which gives us leverage when dealing with a distributor on how much business they should award us. 4. BARRIER TO ENTRY – As previously mentioned, one of the barriers of entry in our industry is controlled by what type of brand or product the specs calls for on specific jobs. For the most part, specs list a primary supplier and a substitute brand that allows us to compete in most situations. Another barrier to entry could be at an account where the relationship of the existing supplier is so strong that we’re better off spending our time developing other distributors. 5. SUPPLIER POWER – Once again, the supplier has the power in situations where the end user specifies which supplier they would want to use in a specific job. At that point, the distributor has to work with the specified supplier and the leverage swings in the supplier’s side. Pricing and competitive threats are removed off the table.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a disease that destroys nerve cells and causes disability. The nerve cells gradually break down and die. Muscle twitching, weakness in a limb, or slurred speech is how ALS typically starts. It eventually affects the muscles needed to move, speak, and breath.The disease is progressive, and currently there is no cure for ALS. It belongs to a larger group of disorders known as motor neuron diseases, which are caused by gradual deterioration and death of motor neurons. In ALS, both the upper motor neurons and the lower motor neurons degenerate or die, and stop sending messages to the muscles. Most people with ALS die from respiratory failure, usually within 3 to 5 years from when the symptoms first appear. The majority of ALS cases are considered sporadic, which means the disease seems to occur at random with no clearly associated risk factors and no family history of the disease. Whereas around 5 to 10 percent of ALS cases are familial, which means that an individual inherits the disease from his or her parents. Signs and symptoms include: difficulty walking or doing ADLs; tripping and falling; weakness in the leg, feet, or ankles; hand weakness or clumsiness; slurred speech or trouble swallowing; muscle cramps and twitching in the arms, shoulders, and tongue; difficulty holding the head up or keeping good posture. ALS most often begins in the hands, feet, or limbs, and later spreads to other parts of the body. Muscles will progressively weaken as the disease advances. ALS doesn’t typically affect senses, thinking ability, or bowel or bladder control. In some ALS cases the disease is inherited, while the others remain with no known cause. Researchers are also looking into gene mutation, chemical imbalances, disorganized immune responses, and protein mishandling. Research is also being done into cellular defects, stem cells, family versus sporadic ALS, biomarkers, and new treatment options.Various risk factors include heredity, age, sex, and genetics. Environmental factors that may tri gger or affect risk of ALS include smoking, environmental toxin exposure, and military service. Complications that people with ALS may experience include breathing problems, speaking problems, eating problems, and dementia. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis can be hard to diagnose early on because it mimics many other neurological diseases. Tests to rule out other conditions may include electromyogram (EMG), nerve conduction study, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), blood and urine tests, spinal tap, or muscle biopsy. Treatment for ALS can slow the progression of symptoms, prevent complications, and make a person more comfortable. Two medications are currently approved for the treatment of ALS, Riluzole (Rilutek) and Edaravone (Radicava). A doctor may also prescribe medications to provide relief from symptoms including muscle cramps and spasms, spasticity, constipation, fatigue, excessive salivation, excessive phlegm, pain, depression, sleep problems, and uncontrolled outbursts of laughing or crying. Some therapies that people with ALS can do include breathing care, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, nutritional support, psychological and social support.

Server consolidation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Server consolidation - Essay Example At one hand this has increased the competition among various financial institutions and on the other hand it has also elevated the quality of service that a customer expects from the banking sector. This has led to many private and public sector banks going in for an increased focus towards IT deployment. Headquartered in New Delhi, the Alpha bank has more than 500 employees who focus on fund raising, credit lending, international operations, bank cards and intermediary business. As more foreign and local banks emerge to challenge its role in these fields, Alpha must strengthen its competitive advantages and find new ways to please its growing list of customers in the region. In order to do so, alpha decided to revamp its information technology (IT) infrastructure to support an ambitious program of new development. The company’s overall plan was to consolidate its core banking system, implement automatic deposits and withdrawals nationwide, and provide expanded banking service s to its customers through the deployment of new e-business applications. One of the first such applications was an e-banking system providing easy-to-use, 24x7 financial services to its customers via the Internet. This, along with other new e-business initiatives that would follow, needed the support of a highly reliable, available and scalable infrastructure. Alpha’s new revamped e-banking system--supported by a powerful server deployment and Linux platform deployed with the help of Company Alpha--enabled the company to extend traditional services to its customers in a new way.

Topic of your choice Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Topic of your choice - Term Paper Example The resulting electron radiation is released in bundles of light energy which travel at a speed of 299  792  458 m / s, equivalent to the speed of light, as quantized harmonic waves. This electromagnetic waves are grouped according to their wavelength and the this results in the electromagnetic spectrum. The resultant magnetic and electric waves move perpendicularly to each other having certain characteristics which are Amplitude, frequency and wavelength. The movement of the electromagnetic waves is in form of patterns. The distance that exists between two peaks is the wavelength of the wave. The wavelength of a waveform is measured in meters. This is illustrated in the figure below. Frequency can be defined as the number of oscillations of the wave per unit time. The frequency of waves is not constant, it varies and the variation greatly depends on the type and nature of the electromagnetic radiation. The frequency of a wave is measured in Hertz. The wave can have high frequency or low frequency as indicated in the diagram below. This is the process in which two waves superposes to form one resultant wave. For interference to occur, the source of the waves must be coherent. If two electromagnetic waves having the same frequency get together i.e. they superpose, it results into a wave which has the resultant magnetic and electric field strength equal to the sum of fields of the two waves. When two strong waves moving that have their fields moving in one direction, i.e. same direction in time and space, the resulting waveform is twice that of each individual waveform (Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica Online). This results in constructive interference. However, the superposition of a wave having an electric field in one direction in space and with another electromagnetic radiation wave which has the same frequency but with

Research methods Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words - 1

Research methods - Assignment Example In addition, this project will generate both employment and wealth. On behalf of the Ministry of transport and the sponsor Ministry of finance, the project will be implemented in two phases with various contracts, under the supervision of the Saudi railways organisation. The civil works in charge of the construction of civil works for the route such as earth work and bridges has been awarded to one Consortium of four contractors, three Saudi companies and one Chinese company. The work started in April 2009 for a total period of three years and total value of 6.5 billion Saudi Riyal. The construction of four passenger stations was awarded to one Saudi-Turkish Consortium of two companies, Jeddah central and King Abdullah Economic City awarded to Saudi consortium of two companies. The trains and railway infrastructure and systems that encompasses all civil and infrastructure work that was not included in phase one, procurement of rolling stock, tracks and systems, in addition to operation and maintenance of the transportation system for a period of 12 years after commissioning. This contract was awarded to Saudi-Spanish Consortium in January 2012 for a total of 34 months. The Operation Control Centre (OCC) located in the area of the Jeddah Station will ensure and control a high level of safety and security through monitoring by several integrated systems, the automatic train traffic control and security functions, telecommunications network in order to provide radio contact between train and ground, providing on board and on ground security systems with many functions and services. The Supervisory Control and Data Control that will monitor the power supply systems , a Closed Circuit Television system that will be used to monitor the whole railway line and building security systems. The minimum spacing between the trains is set at four minutes and according to

How Does Interface Design on social networking website Impact on Dissertation

How Does Interface Design on social networking website Impact on today's Youth - Dissertation Example edly taken over by the Digital Revolution. The Internet has changed the face of our world. Web based and Social Networking Websites and Soft wares have broadened our horizons and now we have plenty of new opportunities to choose from. First of all, online learning and Web based teaching have become synonymous with Face-to-Face learning. Secondly, each day new aspects of web based solutions are made available for the ease of online students. The only issue that must not be neglected is the protection of one’s privacy and safety. The young users are vulnerable and prone to many a web based menaces and exposed to a whole new world of Internet crimes. Proper coaching and counseling are required on part of the parents and teachers both, to make them beware of the criminal activities and privacy invasions taking place by mere use of the online social networking applications. 48 3.1 Objectives: 49 3.2 Data Analysis and Methods of Data Collection: 50 Limitations & Ethics Issue: 52 53 3.3Research Methodology – Case studies 54 a)Case Study 1: PINTEREST: A security Issue: 54 b)Case Study 2: Face book the case of Privacy: 55 3.4 Research Methodology: Conclusion of Online Surveys: 56 QUESTIONNAIRE 56 BIBLIOGRAPHY 68 TABLE OF FIGURES 73 CHAPTER 4 74 INTRODUCTION 74 4.1 FINDINGS AND NEW APPROACH: 75 4.2) FINDINGS: 76 5) Uploading music, movies, widgets and related information. 77 6) Downloading games and applications. 77 7) Authoring and showing creativity by uploading your own content such as: Personal blogs videos, music, poetry etc. 77 8) Sharing third party content e.g. liking someone else’s preference or work as hosting a YouTube video or a blog page. 77 9) Posting Public and Private Messages such as: Through Face book and MySpace. 77 10) Collaborating and interacting with other people, as it is the best way for people who are not very social and are introvert and shy. 78 WEBSITES DESIGNED SPECIALLY FOR YOUNGSTERS: 78 Many conventional social network ing services are intended and designed for teens and young people according to their interests and preferences such as: 78 1)Teen Second Life. 78 2) Habbo Hotel. 78 3) Imbee. Com. 78 4) Disney. 78 5)Nick.com 78 6) ClubPenguin. Etc 78 These websites are specifically designed for TEENS AND YOUNG ADULTS, according to their age, maturity levels and basic security requirements as well as profile modifications and identity security as they have a required age limit for signup (National School Boards Association, 200

Strategic Plan and the Structure of the Technology Department Essay

Strategic Plan and the Structure of the Technology Department - Essay Example Strategic Plan on Organizational Needs for Success The process of strategic planning helps an organization to accomplish its objectives. In this context, it can be stated that strategic planning helps to support the policies according to the organizational needs by recognizing the opportunities to make constructive use of Information Technology (IT). In this way, it can also help an organization to achieve competitive advantage. IT is used as a strategic business tool and thus strategic administrators need to recognize and manage the various aspects of IT for taking better advantages of available opportunities. In the Beach Bum gym as well, the prepared strategic plan has played a vital part for satisfying organizational requirements of success. As the business of gym is competitive due to the presence of numerous clubs, IT such as Netpulse can significantly act as a competitive weapon for Beach Bum gym (Segars & Grover, 1998). Strategic planning is meant for long-term management whi ch optimally impacts on IT department. Strategic planning ensures that critical business requirements are fulfilled and more inclusive methods are adopted in business. Strategic planning procedure facilitates in adhering to certain essential disciplines, regulates new systems, institutes good relations and enables to recognize tasks and duties, consequently outlining resource requirements. These activities help for better allocation of resources and cooperatively provide advantages to the business (Ward & Peppard, 2002). IT Department in the Organization The success of an organization in present day’s business environment depends on aspects such as innovation, technology, consistency, quality and supervision. Technology in this sense is a blend of machinery, equipment, techniques and knowledge which can effectively transform the business. Strategic planning can assist in utilizing technology, in order to bring about certain desired changes towards fulfilling business objectiv es. Strategic planning helps to use the IT for conducting business activities in an effective way. The crucial role of IT lies in its capability to support effective business performance (Karadal & Tumer, n.d.). IT resides in an important position in an organization by enhancing the competitive position. Competitive efficiency allows providing services in a unique way than other competitors. In the Beach Bum gym business, Netpulse can act as an innovative tool for supporting the business by facilitating to deliver unique experiences to the customers. As a result, they will be willing to stay in touch with the gym business for the long-run (Karadal & Tumer, n.d.). Innovation and Technology Enable Globalization Technology is a driving factor in globalization. Globalization in business denotes to the high level of interdependency and interrelatedness in diverse and geologically distributed players. Nowadays, technologies such as IT have been shown to intensify complex business procedur es. Technology plays a pertinent role in making the notion of globalization successful. Due to continued new innovations in technology, it becomes possible for people to access and share information rapidly. Thus, technology is changing the way people use information for several purposes. Innovations in technology have simplified efficiency improvements in every segment of business. In this context, it can be stated that IT drives the innovative application of resources to encourage new services and thoughts across nations and