Jack Welch’s Leadership Practices in General Electric Company

Jack Welch was born in Peabody in Massachusetts by Grace, a homemaker and John, a conductor for Boston and Marine Railroad. In his early life within middle and high school education, Jack was witnessed to work in summers as a newspaper supply boy, golf caddy, shoe salesman, and also a drill press worker. Belatedly his senior year, Jack was allowed a space in University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he learned chemical engineering. Thereafter, Welch was employed as a chemical engineer at PPG and Sunoco industries at his college summers (Amernic, Craig & Tourish, 2007). During his sophomore, Jack emerged as a subscriber of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity. However, he graduated in 1957 with a Bachelor of Science holding degree of chemical engineering, thus turning down various corporate offers thus being chanced to attend University of Illinois’s graduate school.

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In 1960, he graduated from University of Illinois with a Master’s degree as well as a PhD in chemical engineering. It was due to this achievement that he managed to secure job in General Electric (GE) by 1960, thus leading to immense successful and essential changes in this company. Otherwise, this assignment is aimed at providing effectual leadership traits portrayed by Welch while working in GE (Amernic, Craig & Tourish, 2007).

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Overall leadership of Jack Welch

Welch is confirmed to take over GE by 1981 where he managed to become the youngest CEO in the history of GE’s company. Precisely, this legendry leader was confirmed to pressurize various transformations in GE hence making it the global competitive enterprise. Conversely, Jack is viewed as a strategic decision maker, business adviser, management theorist and corporate icon. Indeed, if the leadership can be deemed as an art, then this gentleman can be termed as a master painter since he is endowed with unique headship character and style, which is witnessed during his 2-decade history while working in General Electric. However, this can be plainly explained through depicting various leadership qualities which he demonstrated while working in GE (Bartlett & Wozny, 2009).

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Foremost, Welch was always working as a leader rather than focusing on management. Indeed, this leader did not concentrate on managing since he considered this trait to trigger negative pictures due to keeping individuals in darkness through stifling and controlling them. His objectives were aimed at leading through establishing vision and making people passionate concerning their operations. At this juncture, he ascertained that he excited, energized and motivated his juniors instead of depressing, controlling and enervating them. In particular, he provided immense tips of becoming a great leader where he pointed various issues including; avoiding management of very little issues; concentrating on articulation of vision through leading others to evaluate it; and involving all individuals and welcoming enormous ideas (Henderson & Evans, 2000).

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Secondly, Welch also avoided chances of being much formal while dealing with other staffs as well as workers within the company. At this people, he allowed people to voice their opinions, calling him ‘Jack’ instead of ‘Mr. Welch’ or he seemed to be comfortable during scenarios where his juniors utilized his Work-Out. In connection to this, Jack did not wear ties in work; he always conducted informal meetings and motivated all people to lighten up. Actually, this informality is confirmed to inspire individuals to be contained with more ideas and it is amongst the major factors that triggered the success of GE. Indeed, Jack had provided various things to be exercised leaders thus making them to emerge informal and this includes undertaking more informal meetings, brainstorming with bosses and colleagues, and considering infrequent unceremonious gatherings (Bartlett & Wozny, 2009).

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On the other hand, Welch did not entertain bureaucracy since this is a cancerous element of a firm and is capable of establishing waste and slows process of decision making, thereby leading to unnecessary procedures and approvals which make a company less competitive. Based on this, Welch holds that all employees are supposed work being focused at ridding daily bureaucracy. Plainly, Jack termed bureaucracy as the most stubborn disease, though this can simplify tasks as well as removing formality and complexity that make company to be more agile and responsive. In order to kick simplicity and bureaucracy things, it is important to practice various issues including dropping unnecessary task, making workplace more informal, and operating with colleagues who are aimed at streamlining process of decision making (Cox & Blake, 2001).

Furthermore, Welch also ensured he work with reality instead of concentrating on assumptions. For instance, when Jack joined GE, this company was confirmed to assume to be running suitably, though he detected a sinking ship and various troubles contained by the company since it was losing its market values and it was also cumbered with great bureaucracy. As an alternative of ‘kidding himself’ and presupposing that things would go well, he made a resolution and established a ‘face truth’ agreement. As a result, he designed initiatives and strategies that bettered things. Based on the Welch’s plan for depleting assumptions, there are immense things all managers need to do and they includes avoiding to fall into the counterfeit scenarios trap, harnessing several alternatives or options, and evaluating things with fresh eye (Bartlett & Wozny, 2009).

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Organizational Structure and Culture, Human Capital Management and Employee Development of General Electric and Influence of Jack Welch Based on Shared Vision and Workplace Productivity of the Organization

            The General Electric Company is contained with appropriate organizational structure which eases management of various organizational operations. In general, its organizational structures revolve on immense formal procedures, governance, mechanisms’ control, role configuration, decision making and authority processes. Foremost, GE’s is contained with simple structure where the owner – manager heads all prime decisions directly as well as monitoring all operations within the firm. Secondly, the functionality structure and limited corporate staffs, backed with functional line directors in dominant organizational departments including accounting, marketing, production, human resources, and engineering. Third, this company is comprised with Strategic Business Unit (SBU), comprising of at least three ranks; the top being the corporate headquarters, SBU groups, and departmental group linked with every SBU (Cox & Blake, 2001).

However, General Electric operate being guided with its corporate culture that is aimed at promoting integrity, ensuring suitable working environment, and bringing about balance between work and life. In view of favourable working environment, this company provides competitive payments, outstanding benefits and the professional benefits of an environment which supports workers’ development and recognition of their achievements. In deem of integrating operations, GE tries to lead in marketplace and workplace truthfulness through respecting people’s rights by enforcing financial and legal compliance. Also, during the balance of life and work, this company encourages individuals to meet their work commitments whereas balancing their personal life duties. In connection to this, it ensures flexibility in working arrangements and offering diverse resources and programs that supports workers including family counselling and financial management (Henderson & Evans, 2000).

As the GE’s organizational structure and corporate culture is concerned, Welch is also endowed with immense traits that works suitably with the company’s best practices. Foremost, Welch is allowing workers to offer their ideas concerning best ways of operating the business hence depleting chances of emergence of bureaucratic form of leadership. Based on this, workers are capable of passing laws that will reinforce their flexibility while conducting daily activities. Moreover, Welch is also considered to arrange informal meetings which involve all staffs and organizational members. Accordingly, the discussed issues are then webbed to the rest of the workers, and this is made possible by the fact GE is contained with effectual organizational structure which allows efficient conveyance of information between senior executive, staffs and the other organizational members. Indeed, this practice is aimed to reinforce GE’s productivity since all individuals are motivated to work their best in tour of attaining company’s shared vision (Bartlett & Wozny, 2009).

Effectiveness of Welch’s Performance

Genuinely, Jack Welch has indicated immense ethical demeanours and effective traits during his communication hence emerging as the best leader who have ever worked with GE Company. For instance, Welch has showed ethical practices that matched with the company’s best practices. Foremost, he is viewed to chance his staffs and workers to express their opinions concerning essential operational ways that can heightens organizational productivity and profitability, hence depleting chances of emergence of intrusive form of leadership. Moreover, the act of arranging informal meetings involving all staffs and organizational members is considered to increase social interaction between all members hence reducing conflicts and promoting performance of the company. Indeed, this practice is aimed to reinforce GE’s production since all individuals are motivated to work their best in tour of attaining company’s shared vision. Furthermore, Welch leadership was aimed at ensuring that the clients are fully satisfied by company’s goods and services hence attracting lots of buyers who consumed the GE products and services continuously. In confirmatory, Jack was capable of increasing sales of the GE starting from 1981 hence leading to great hike of organizational values that was witnessed through GE becoming the competitive business within the market place (Amernic, Craig & Tourish, 2007).

Best Practices that Other Organizational Leaders can use so as to Motivate Employees and Transform Their Company

There are various practices which can be employed by organizational leaders in ponder of inspiring their workers and also to bring about transformation within the company. Firstly, the leaders should undertake the role of leading rather than management. Based on this, the leaders must operate as the role models of the company through motivating workers to follow suitable practices that are aimed at increasing the organization’s effectual and profitable operations. Moreover, this is an essential operation for guiding immense operations since it allows all the individuals participating in a given activity to install their maximum effort to achieve the targeted goals as well as organizational vision (Amernic, Craig & Tourish, 2007). Furthermore, leaders are also required to motivate workers though practicing inspiring actions including remunerations, promotions, rewards, offering extra training and considering them as crucial part of the company instead of viewing them as employees. In connection to this, all the labourers will not only be working so as to get paid but they shall be focused on ensuring that the company has attained target goals through working in ponder of the firm’s objectives. While summing up, all the organizational leaders are supposed to emulate the best practices used by Welch while managing GE and their companies shall be able to deplete other firms in the market place (Henderson & Evans, 2000).

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