Applying End Game Strategy: Speed Up the Pace
Compyright Jack Mixner. 714 449 1040. www.mixnerstrategy.com
On 1 April 1981 Jack Welch became Chairman and CEO of General Electric. On 2 April 1981, Welch announced that GE would "manufacture and sell an industrial robot as the first product of its new factory automation business (Slater, page 70)."
Strategic Implication
Welch's goal was to make things happen at GE in order to increase the share price and margin. He did it by speeding up the pace.
He began a restructuring process to dominate a business line, or leave it. Using the 1-2 mantra (have a market share of either one or two in your business, fix it quickly, or leave it), GE left many businesses, many of them that had been part of GE for years.
Where to focus at your company? Porter's value chain approach shows where to look - infrastructure, HR management, technology development, procurement, inbound and outbound logistics, operations, marketing/sales and service round out his list (Porter, page 37).
The first step is analysis, OK. But don't let it take to time. Implementation is the key, not planning. Make it happen.
Building upon a mainline company that needed to be stronger, Welch started immediately to increase profits and share price. The rest is history.
Speed up the pace.
References
Porter, Michael E. Competitive Advantage Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. Free Press. 1985.
Slater, Robert. The New GE How Jack Welch Revived an American Institution. Irwin. 1993.