Editorial | Chinese business elite owe much to American legend
- Former GE chief Jack Welch, who died this week at 84, was a giant in the tough world of companies, as the tributes to him testify
Political and economic differences counted for little to mainland entrepreneurs to whom legendary General Electric chief Jack Welch became a role model during the shift to a market-based economy.
This was reflected in the global tide of tributes following Welch’s death at 84 this week. Some of the most complimentary and uncritical came from China, where he engaged with a who’s who of the first generation of the country’s business leaders.
In 20 years under Welch’s leadership as chairman and chief executive from 1981, GE’s stock market value soared from US$14 billion to US$410 billion as revenue rose fivefold to US$150 billion. Leading business publications named him “manager of the century” and GE “the world’s most respected company”.
His passing, 20 years after he retired, prompted recollections of a business chief who faced global competition with ruthless restructuring and reshaping of GE’s workforce and culture to make it leaner and more agile; who rewarded top performers with bonuses and stock options while showing the bottom 10 per cent the door – a system aimed at producing outstanding managers.
This earned him the nickname he disliked – Neutron Jack. However, in terms of a vision of sustained corporate renewal and improvement that taps young talent, his philosophy is probably best evoked in his memoir, the bible of business management, in which he said: “Grade A people hire other grade A people; grade B people hire grade C people.”