Summary of Scott Davis, Carter Copeland & Rob Wertheimer's Lessons from the Titans

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The case study of General Electric is the biggest story of them all, the amazing and disheartening narrative of a signature American company that rejuvenated its business several times and then faltered.

#2 Welch, the CEO of GE, saw the company’s potential and wanted to return it to its nimble roots. He cut layers of management and pushed decision-making down through the organization. He also invested heavily in factory automation and pushed productivity onto the factory floor.

#3 Welch’s approach to management was to fix it, close it, or sell it. He beefed up rewards with stock options, and encouraged risk taking. Those who missed their numbers went on probation and were fired if they fell short again.

#4 Welch’s focus on cash flow led him to make five large bets on future growth during his tenure at GE. These areas of focus would lead GE to another 15 years of unprecedented growth and success.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Apr 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669396710

IRB Media

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Insights on Scott Davis and Carter Copeland & Rob Wertheimer's Lessons from the Titans

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The case study of General Electric is the biggest story of them all, the amazing and disheartening narrative of a signature American company that rejuvenated its business several times and then faltered.

#2

Welch, the CEO of GE, saw the company’s potential and wanted to return it to its nimble roots. He cut layers of management and pushed decision-making down through the organization. He also invested heavily in factory automation and pushed productivity onto the factory floor.

#3

Welch’s approach to management was to fix it, close it, or sell it. He beefed up rewards with stock options, and encouraged risk taking. Those who missed their numbers went on probation and were fired if they fell short again.

#4

Welch’s focus on cash flow led him to make five large bets on future growth during his tenure at GE. These areas of focus would lead GE to another 15 years of unprecedented growth and success.

#5

Welch was convinced that future growth in air travel would be driven by two trends. The first was direct point-to-point travel, which was the most common type of travel today. The second was globalization, and he saw this in his own businesses, where employees needed to travel around the world to see customers.

#6

Welch was also successful with the F series gas turbine, which was developed in the 1980s. He bet that natural gas would be plentiful and that electric utilities would shift away from dirtier coal power, and he was right.

#7

Welch was a contrarian by nature, and he was also a fan of razor/razor blade businesses. He figured that if he could dump his flashy consumer electronics business and invest the proceeds at a lower price in healthcare, that would be an ideal portfolio swap.

#8

Welch had no interest in selling TVs, but he loved the potential in the NBC asset he got in the RCA deal. He invested heavily in program development to bring NBC back. In the mid- to late 1980s, TVs were getting bigger and clearer, and consumer product companies were increasingly allocating more ad budgets to TV.

#9

Welch’s vision was to finance GE’s consumer products, and he saw that investors wanted to lend to companies like GE, whose AAA rating mirrored that of US government bonds, yet with a higher yield.

#10

Welch’s tenure at GE was extremely successful, as he had a bold playbook that boosted margins and cash even while investing heavily. However, his reputation began to become arrogant by the late 1990s.

#11