Ge: The Immelt Initative

General Electric was formed in 1892 by merging a few of the biggest electric companies at the time. In 1876, Thomas Edison, (one of the founders of General Electric) opened a new laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. Out of the laboratory came arguably the most famous invention of all--a practical incandescent electric lamp. General Electric expanded business by creating a division of their company soley for lighting. They then later became one of the top producers of computers. Some argue that they took this route because their company used more computers than any other company in the world. They later sold their computer division and reacquired RCA, who owns the NBC television network. While purchasing and selling, General Electric was able to become the third largest media conglomerate in the world. The company is composed by a number of subsections that could be Fortune 500 companies from a stand alone situation. This boosts GE's image as well as customer loyalty.

From a development point of view, GE has been buying and selling businesses as if they were financial securities. This is ironic since over half of the company's revenue is earned through financial services. GE's diversification provides the company with a degree of protection against poor performance in any one market, industry, or business category. They also have a large international presence, which helps compete with companies around the world. Strategic growth strategies for a giant of this nature takes a well-seasoned manager that has been in the business for some time. Since General Electric consumes so much market space, the leaders of the company must have a very diverse knowledge base.

General Electric: Strength and Weaknesses

General Electric is a company that builds everything from light bulbs to power plants and straddles markets such as prime-time TV and commercial finance. So it wouldn't be wrong when one of their corporate managers attempts to generate the company's strengths and weaknesses, but his or her results may seem to span across several areas. General Electric may be acknowledged by the company's well-built strengths such as its rich history (Thomas Edison opening a new laboratory in America in 1876) and brand name recognition (being one of the original 12 companies listed on the newly formed Dow-Jones-Industrial Average and still remaining there after 111 years), but weaknesses still come in to play.

Strengths

* Well developed R and D skills (cleaner technologies)

Ecomagination" is a play on the company's "Imagination at Work" slogan. Ecomagination, a business strategy based on providing more environmentally friendly products to the company's customers, has won GE a good deal of acclaim. G.E. also doubled research and development spending on cleaner technologies. On May 10, 2005, seeking to be seen as "green," GE became one of only a few business titans to call for broad action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that many scientists say lead to global warming.

* Broad product line

The Ecomagination line now features 45 products with $12 billion in sales. Although skeptics might look upon Ecomagination as the latest version of corporate "greenwashing," it has impressed socially conscious investors with memories of Mr. Welch. The company pledged to spend $1.5 billion a year on such research by 2010, more than double the $700 million it spends today. Immelt (current Chairman) said GE also aims to double the revenue goal over that period for products that provide better environmental performance, to $20 billion a year, and expects more than half of its product revenue to come from such products by 2015.

* Business strategy environmentally friendly

At the same time, GE promised to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of its factory operations 1 percent by 2012. Without the initiative, those emissions were expected to increase 40 percent, the company said.

* Sophisticated manufacturing

Mr. Immelt and Ms. Bolsinger say that the point of Ecomagination isn't to save the planet but to make money. And the best evidence that G.E. can do both lies in a windowless Greenville, S.C., plant that is the largest gas turbine factory in the world. Alongside huge gas-fired turbines destined for Saudi Arabia (half of G.E.'s overall revenue comes from overseas customers, and the Middle East in particular is booming) workers are busy assembling ultra-efficient wind turbines as quickly as they can get the components. Since G.E. acquired the wind unit from Enron after it went bankrupt in 2001, annual sales have grown to more than $4 billion from $500 million, and the $2 million machines are nearly sold out until late 2009. The wind turbines contain some 8,000 different parts, says Frank Ferraro, a manager at the plant, "but we can do the final assembly in less than a week." G.E.'s success in Greenville is an impressive example of its prowess when it comes to sophisticated manufacturing, as well as a sign that Ecomagination is more than just another slogan.

* Excellent Marketing, Broad Market Coverage

G.E.'s sponsorship of the Summer Olympics in Beijing next year has given G.E.'s infrastructure unit a leg up in winning lucrative orders for locomotives and power turbines from Chinese buyers, according to G.E. executives.

* Strength as a Conglomerate

The bottom line in this business is stock price performance. G.E.'s huge infrastructure business is the company's largest division in terms of revenue. "Infrastructure is carrying the company, that and citing surging orders for locomotives, power turbines, jet engines and other big-iron products that boast fat margins and lucrative long-term service contracts.

* Well developed corporate strategy

In 2004 G.E. Bought Vivendis' TV and movie assets becoming the 3rd largest media conglomerate in the world naming it NBC universal. G.E. also formed the spinoff of mortgage and life insurance assets into an independent company Genworth Financial.

* Growth with direction, building international image

As soon as Jeffrey R. Immelt, General Electric's chairman, became chief executive in 2001, his foreign-based managers began pressing him to move some major operations overseas. In 2004, he moved G.E. Healthcare from Wisconsin to outside London, the home of Amersham, a company G.E. had just bought. G.E.