Organizational Behavior Class

Introduction

General Electronics (GE) before Jack Welch

General Electronics, mainly known as GE, is among the biggest and oldest multinational collective organizations in the United States of America. General Electric organization is incorporated in New York, and it has its headquarters located at Fairfield, Connecticut. The GE organization focuses on Energy, Capital Finance, Technology Infrastructure, and goods in the industrial and Consumer group. The GE Company was founded by Thomas Edison, the developer of the light bulb, in 1878. The GE Company is considered the most successful Company globally since it gained its aggregate status conglomerate became a standard custom for companies. The Company has kept growing and coming up with new products that range from airplanes and electric fans and expanding in several industries and fields.https://penstrokeswriters.com/?p=312&preview=true Advanced Layout Editor

General Electric has grown from its early center of attention on the generation, distribution, and utilization of electric power to diversified industrial organizations. In 1978, the Company engaged in lightning, household pieces of equipment, and power generation and had a variety of businesses such as diesel locomotives, aircraft engines, and medical systems. In the 1930s, GE was a centralized corporate system, and by 1950 it had several managers in different departments leading to a decentralized system. In the 1960s, a “profitless growth” error caused GE Company to develop new strategic goals and objectives and better plan its success.

In 1973, Reg Jones became the General Electronics CEO, and he took over the GE Company after it had achieved significant changes and successful reorganization of its operations. Reg Jones implemented the strategic planning of GE to an art structure, and GE became a role model to many other companies since they used to benchmark its successful strategic planning process and its SBU- based form. Due to excess work reviewing the 43 strategic plans, Reg Jones came up with new organizational sectors that represented other departments, such as consumer items, technical products, and power structures. Reg Jones became the CEO of the year three times, and he retired from GE in 1981, handing the office to Jack Welch (Cheffins et al., 2018). Jack welch used several mechanisms of change to transform and bring change at GE Company.

Jack Welch

Jack Welch was born and raised in Massachusetts, USA. He was the only child in his family, and he was born in 1935, November 19, in a town called Peabody. Welch started business at a very young age, where he engaged in several businesses while at school. Welch started delivering newspapers, worked as a shoe salesperson, and worked as a golf caddy. Jack Welch was an athlete in Salem High School, and he also played hockey and football. Jack Welch left the University of Massachusetts in 1957 with Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering. In 1960, Jack Welch received a Master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in Chemical Engineering (Cheffins et al., 2018). Immediately after his graduation, he was employed at General Electric Company Plastic Division, where he operated as a junior chemical engineer.

Discussion

Mechanisms of Change that Jack Welch used in Transforming GE through Change

Organizational processes, activities, or outcomes: Jack Welch set standards for each business in the organization to become competitive. In 1983, Jack Welch accomplished his mission of dividing the existing two objectives into three objectives. The business operations in the GE organization were focused on investing in the quality of products and productivity of employees to ensure GE remains the best Company in the world. Jack Welch’s priority on the employees’ operations and service delivery resulted in excellent positive outcomes in the Company. In addition to that, Jack Welch improved the Company’s processes and activities by integrating high technology such as investing in R &D. He improved service delivery by employing outstanding and competent individuals in different departments of the GE Company.

Formal Statements: Jack Welch had a strong vision of improving GE Company to be the best outstanding, high spirited business organization. Welch focused on increasing diversity within the Company, increasing its profitability, and having quality leadership in every department within the Company. Jack Welch monitored the value each employee added to the Company and made the Company more competitive and effective.  His close monitoring resulted in more disciplined and hardworking employees, and the unproductive employees were fired, fulfilling the 50% employee reduction strategy. In addition to that, Welch scrapped off the GE laborious strategic planning system and came up with a real-time corporate organization structure (Bartlett et al., 1999). Welch set out a mission to redefine the budgeting procedure by focusing on previous performances, external competition, and how and how sales demonstrate rice in market share. For instance, Welch focused on how margins show a cost advantage concerning competition.

Workflow and Organizational Structure: In 1985, Welch removed the sector level, which was the center point of the power of strategic management by eliminating some hierarchical positions and ensuring that all the business concerns were addressed to him directly. For instance, Welch eliminated some directors, managers, and sector managers’ positions, and people operated from CEO to business directly. The massive reduction of employees and restructuring of the hierarchical organization enabled GE Company to save much money, annual revenue increased, and the operating profits rose significantly. In addition, GE Company increased both in earnings and sales (Bartlett et al., 1999). Furthermore, reducing hierarchical layers helped GE organization empower, motivate and improve the employees’ involvement in decision making and planning for the organization. Reduced control and authority enabled employees to work freely without fear of dictatorship from people in authority.

Deliberate role modeling, Coaching, and Employees Training: Welch acted as a role model to GE employees because of his hard work and commitment to his duties. For instance, Welch’s effort to set up organizational software and improve GE organization’s productivity without cultural change motivated employees to keep working hard for the Company’s success. For example, Welch trained managers and employees on the advanced use of software to manage the Company’s operations and taught them why they had a hard time implementing organizational changes (Bartlett et al., 1999). Welch’s main objective was to engage all employees in the Company’s operations and make sure their voice was heard and their views considered. Welch came up with a platform where employees could hire their suggestions on how the Company could run more effectively.

Furthermore, the platform made it possible for the employees to receive responses from the CEO in time. Welch came up with an initiative referred to as “Work Out “where employees and their employers could discuss ideas of how they can work together to increase the productivity of the GE organization. Employees training provided an in-depth understanding of the values and ethical standards that govern the GE organization. Managers at every department used their experience as the basis for developing and coaching their staff. GE Company has the best development and training programs and an environment devoted to giving chances for professional and self-growth.

Explicit Rewards and Status Symbols: Awarding employees due to their positive outcomes and unbiased promotion motivates employees to increase their productivity and performance. Recognition of best-performed employees amongst peers encourages others to keep working hard to be recognized and appreciated. Rewards make the employees feel much appreciated for their work. For instance, in GE Company, Welch had a deep commitment to grow and develop his employees.  Welch provided honest reviews of employees’ performance, where they were professionally, and what they needed to do to improve (Bartlett et al., 1999). Furthermore, Welch outlined the future expectations from the employees, the positions they could be promoted to hold, and the unique knowledge and skills required to get at the top positions.

Furthermore, Welch came up with a compensation package and incentives for the employees. Welch increased employees’ salaries and bonuses based on individual performance. In addition to that, Welch implemented stock options as the fundamental element of the Company’s compensation. Through the awarding and appreciation process, Welch provided an environment where employees could be their best. Welch had a goal of making GE Company the best organization that nurtures talents and employees have the freedom to be innovative and bring the desired change to the Company. For instance, Welch transformed Crotonville from a training focus to a rewarding or a consolation prize to the employees who missed out on promotion.

Organizational Goals and Criteria throughout the Employee Cycle: In the 1990s, Jack Welch came up with an integrated diversity system that focused on recruiting employees from different cultures, races, ethnicity, and religion. Welch created a friendly, free and open environment for all people regardless of their background. A boundary-free GE environment made it easy for the Company to market and sell its products worldwide (Bartlett et al., 1999).  Employees from different walks of life shared different ideas and skills that helped develop GE Company. Welch developed an integration model that improved the employees’ sharing of expertise and knowledge.

Two mechanisms I would have used to bring change in GE Company

Slogans, Acronyms, and Language: I would use solid slogans and simple language that all clients can understand easily. On the brand of the GE Company, I would use an Acronym that is easy for the clients to pronounce and remember. Individuals shop and do business with companies that are familiar to them. Having a strong GE brand and slogan will enable clients to feel safer and secure when purchasing the Company’s items. Furthermore, a unique slogan helps the Company stand out in the competitive global market. The visual elements on the slogan and logo tell clients more about what to expect. Making it attractive and easy to read will attract more customers. A strong brand motivates employees and gives a clear message that employees must be successful and meet the Company’s goals and objectives. Strong slogan and brand strategy help satisfied customers to refer others to the Company they like. Moreover, quality slogans and brand names help employees remain focused, clarify what is expected of each employee, and help people know what they expect from the Company.

Rites and Rituals: Ceremonies are essential in celebrating the achievements and success of companies. I would develop a culture of traditional celebrations and get-together activities to motivate and encourage employees. Ceremonies enable employers and employees to discuss how best to move forward and strengthen their unity at work. Ceremonies are used to bond with fellow employees and freshen up from busy and tight working schedules. I would initiate a culture of ceremonies in GE Company that would help to have new beginnings, distinguish endings and enable all stakeholders to acknowledge changes within the GE organization.

What I would do to be in Jack Welch’s A team

Jack Welch considered his first-class team a team made up of people with great vision for the GE Company, high-quality leadership skills, courage, and energy to perform their assigned duties and responsibilities.  To have qualified to be an A team member, I would focus my energy on coming up with new ideas, listening, and helping my colleagues implement their opinions towards the success of GE Company. I would motivate and encourage other leaders we work together towards our goal and try my best to respond and make tough calls. I would work-wise to ensure that the GE Company’s ideas are implemented and have positive outcomes that benefit the Company. Furthermore, I would be fully committed to encouraging my fellow leaders to be devoted to their work to meet the Company’s strategic goals.

Conclusion

In conclusion, CEO Jack Welch contributed to the comprehensive transformation of General Electronics Company. The main goal of Jack Welch was to obtain new businesses and ensure that each department in GE Company was operating effectively and appropriately. During his office as the Company CEO, Jack Welch improved the company leadership, enhanced the organizational culture, and increased revenue. Jack Welch used several mechanisms that helped in the transformation of GE Company. Some of the mechanisms of change he used were: developing a culture of training and coaching employees to improve their skills and experience, he focused on achieving the organizational goals and objectives, and he acted as a role model to all the employees within the organization.

In addition to that, Jack Welch introduced awarding and appreciating employees through incentives and allowances to motivate them to continue working hard for themselves and company benefit. Furthermore, Jack Welch created a good working environment in GE by developing an integration diversity model that advocated recruiting all qualified people despite their culture, religion, race, ethnicity, and background. Moreover, Jack Welch improved the leadership system of GE Company by considering only the qualified leaders whose motive and the main goal was to help the Company achieve its strategic goal. Jack Welch remains a hero for incorporating a learning and innovative culture in GE Company. Jack Welch contributed to the development of new GE products, increased revenue, improved employees’ productivity, introduced advanced technology, and improved the Company’s competitive advantage.

Needs help with similar assignment?

We are available 24x7 to deliver the best services and assignment ready within 3-4 hours? Order a custom-written, plagiarism-free paper

Get Answer Over WhatsApp Order Paper Now