Subvert Welch: Local Thinking of GE's Revolutionary Transformation

Author: Zheng Chunjian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-06-01
Features: Why do some of Welch's actions baffle many entrepreneurs? A critical management book with a realistic touch. Why don't some of Welch's actions fully resonate with Liu Chuanzhi? In fact, it's not just Liu Chuanzhi—it's also many entrepreneurs and management scholars (including those from the U.S.). Amidst a chorus of agreement, voices of doubt are gradually emerging. Welch's management philosophy is not a universal truth in the U.S., nor is it a relative truth in China. This point has been emphasized repeatedly, yet it has been repeatedly overlooked. This book is a book of subversion, a book of reflection, and a book of transcendence. Subversion means breaking the halo surrounding Welch and returning his success legend to history and reality. Reflection means summarizing Welch's management methods from different perspectives and conducting a fresh analysis in a realistic, local context. Transcendence means exploring the choices for enterprise growth in China's unique national conditions and historical era. The structure of this book is as follows: The introduction summarizes and reflects on Welch's 20-year leadership career at GE, inevitably including some of his mistakes (after all, this is reality, and Welch acknowledges it) and alternative evaluations of Welch from various perspectives (after all, society is diverse, and only diversity is objective). Chapters 1 to 4 summarize Welch's management experience from four different angles—strategy and development, leadership and communication, organization and people, and culture and change—and simultaneously challenge and reflect on some of Welch's views and practices from a local perspective.