Jack Welch Case Analysis

Jack Welch was considered to be a man of his vision. He believed in his vision for GE and he passed that belief down throughout the company. He passion for his vision changed the culture and structure of GE. In this paper we will analyze how Jack Welch developed his strategic plan, how he used his personal, political and positional power to shape GE. We will also look at how Jack Welch organized, built and planned his teams in keeping with his vision. In the end will look at how this all affected the culture of GE.

Jack Welch 's Organization Vision:

"Become the number one or number two in every market we serve and revolutionize this company to have the strength of a big company combined with the leanness and agility of a small company"(Firestone

Reward Power:

"Reward power is conveyed through rewarding individuals for compliance with one’s wishes"(Abudi 2011). Jack used this reward power, especially to his top 20% ranking employees. This changed the culture at GE in that being rewarded for success was something new. Employees strive for perfection, this really changed how people saw the business.

Expert Power:

"Expert power comes from one’s experiences, skills or knowledge"(Abudi). Jack had been at GE right out of college. When he took position as CEO at GE employees knew that he had the skills and knowledge to do the job. This was a culture change, because employees were use to the bureaucracy of outside executives who tried to run a business they knew nothing about. When Jack took the position this was very inspirational and

Jack 's plan was to put them through rigorous training and he kept a close eye on each and everyone of them. Once they had made it through the recruitment, training and with Jack 's blessing they finally become apart of the executive team.

Two Example of Strategic Planning aligning with Vision:

One of his strategic planning that aligned with the Vision was the strategic staffing. Jack Welch said, "The ideal manager, according to Welch, is one who shares his vision, has boundless energy, and possesses the ability to radiate enthusiasm and ignite that flame in other employees. Along with those highly desirable skills, the best managers also have the indispensable gift of creating, developing and refining a vision and putting it to work in a practical way" (Davis 2010).

This fit with his vision because these specialized staff will help carry out his vision, thus making them the number 1 or number 2 in their field.

Another strategic plan Jack Welch 's used that aligned with the vision was, his main strategic plan of the three strategy circles. These strategy circles lined up with vision, because once he divided up the company into these circles they were able to focus. Once they were able to focus they shot up to obtain that number 1 and number 2