Thomas Gryta

A WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER"If you’re in any kind of leadership role—whether at a company, a non-profit, or somewhere else—there’s a lot you can learn here."—Bill Gates, Gates NotesHow could General Electric—perhaps America’s most iconic corporation—suffer such a swift and sudden fall from grace?This is the definitive history of General Electric’s epic decline, as told by the two Wall Street Journal reporters who covered its fall.Since its founding in 1892, GE has been more than just a corporation. For generations, it was job security, a solidly safe investment, and an elite business education for top managers.GE electrified America, powering everything from lightbulbs to turbines, and became fully integrated into the American societal mindset as few companies ever had. And after two decades of leadership under legendary CEO Jack Welch, GE entered the twenty-first century as America’s most valuable corporation. Yet, fewer than two decades later, the GE of old was gone.​ Lights Out examines how Welch’s handpicked successor, Jeff Immelt, tried to fix flaws in Welch’s profit machine, while stumbling headlong into mistakes of his own. In the end, GE’s traditional win-at-all-costs driven culture seemed to lose its direction, which ultimately caused the company’s decline on both a personal and organizational scale. Lights Out details how one of America’s all-time great companies has been reduced to a cautionary tale for our times.

《华尔街日报》两位记者讲述了通用电气史诗般衰落的故事。 自1892年成立以来,通用电气不仅仅是一家公司。对几代美国人来说,它是工作保障、安全可靠的投资,以及对高层管理人员的商业精英教育。 通用电气使美国电气化,为从灯泡到涡轮机的一切东西提供动力,并完全融入了美国社会的思维,这是很少有公司能做到的。在传奇CEO杰克·韦尔奇的20年领导后,通用电气作为美国最有价值的公司进入了21世纪。然而,不到20年后,"老通用"就消失了。 本书审视了韦尔奇亲手挑选的继任者杰夫·伊梅尔特如何试图修正韦尔奇盈利机器的错误,同时却莽撞地犯下自己的错误。最后,通用电气传统的不惜一切代价争取胜利的企业文化似乎迷失了方向,这最终导致了公司在个人和组织层面的衰落。本书详细讲述了美国历史上最伟大的公司之一如何成为我们这个时代的警世故事。 通过对通用电气过去20年的一些失败决策的回顾,本书给人们带来了深刻警醒：复杂性需要代价,并购是把双刃剑,容易钱是有风险的,以及CEO并不是救世主。同时,它还描绘了复杂的人性。