Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • April 1999 (Revised May 2005)
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Jack Welch's Leadership

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Meg Wozny
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:24
ShareBar

Abstract

GE is faced with Jack Welch's impending retirement and whether anyone can sustain the blistering pace of change and growth characteristic of the Welch era. After briefly describing GE's heritage and Welch's transformation of the company's business portfolio of the 1980s, the case chronicles Welch's revitalization initiatives through the late 1980s and 1990s. It focuses on six of Welch's major change programs: The "Software" Initiatives, Globalization, Redefining Leadership, Stretch Objectives, Service Business Development, and Six Sigma Quality.

Keywords

Transformation; Global Strategy; Leadership Development; Goals and Objectives; Six Sigma; Management Succession; Service Operations; Quality; Corporate Strategy

Citation

Bartlett, Christopher A., and Meg Wozny. "GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Jack Welch's Leadership." Harvard Business School Case 399-150, April 1999. (Revised May 2005.)
  • Educators
  • Purchase

About The Author

Christopher A. Bartlett

→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • March 2020
    • Faculty Research

    Forbidden City: Launching a Craft Beer in China (Brief Case)

    By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Carole Carlson
    • March 2020
    • Faculty Research

    Forbidden City: Launching a Craft Beer in China

    By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Carole Carlson
    • February 2020
    • Faculty Research

    Amanda Tremblay at Citrine Software Solutions Teaching Note (Brief Case)

    By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Paul S. Myers
More from the Authors
  • Forbidden City: Launching a Craft Beer in China (Brief Case) By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Carole Carlson
  • Forbidden City: Launching a Craft Beer in China By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Carole Carlson
  • Amanda Tremblay at Citrine Software Solutions Teaching Note (Brief Case) By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Paul S. Myers
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College