When Jack Welch became CEO of General Electric in 1981, he was only the 11th CEO the company had seen in its 120 years of existence. Although GE was a $13 billion a year company, it began showing signs of necessary change as it had reached the stage between maturity and decline. After 20 years at the helm, Jack Welch had turned General Electric (GE) into one of the world’s most successful companies. Welch increased GE’s market value from $13 billion to over $300 billion in 2001. He guided the once struggling company to what was then the biggest corporation in the entire world as well as the most profitable. Through the use of goal setting, empowerment, and communication Welch transformed the gigantic and complacent company into an energized multi-national organization ready to face world competition. Through an analysis of the techniques employed by Welch, one can gain a better Continue reading
Human Resource Case Studies
Case Study: Why Walmart Failed in Germany?
Wal-Mart, the mega-retailer, was founded by Sam Walton in 1962 in Bentonville, Arkansas. It started with $700,000 in its first year and scaled up to $5.4 million by 1974. The retailer continues to grow while others struggled with inflation and recessions. In 1980, Wal-Mart became the youngest US retailer to exceed $1 billion in net sales. During the 1980s, Wal-Mart began to further expand and thus pushing some retailers to closing some of their regional stores. The company engaged in diversification by creating membership-stores such as Sam’s Club, smaller, more conventional pharmacy/grocery stores called Neighborhood Markets, and finally Supercenters with a wide selection of consumer goods. And, in 1991, Wal-Mart became the world’s largest retailer. Wal-Mart had been able to implement its Every Day Low Price strategy by focusing on 1) developing a sophisticated logistics system with heavy information technology investments, 2) efficient distribution system by placing retail stores close Continue reading