Tag: GE

Lessons Learned – Finding a Business to Buy

I learned a lot about prospecting and persistence in my process of finding a business to buy. ÿ Following the now popular HBS ÿ”zip” code theory of career location, I drew a 50-mile radius around my home in the Boston area for a geographic search.ÿ After purchasing a directory of companies in that area, I… Continue reading Lessons Learned – Finding a Business to Buy

Lessons Learned

As the years have progressed, my views about equity and partners have changed. I had to work to pay my way through college and was hired by a start-up owned by an HBS grad that maintained mailing lists and printed computerized direct-mail campaigns for clients ranging from local hospitals to national automobile companies and from… Continue reading Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned

Valentine’s Day is special for Debby and me; it was the evening of our first date! Working together for 20 years was challenging but contributed significantly to providing balance between family and work-life, strengthening our relationship and accomplishing shared objectives while having fun! ÿWe were partners in raising our 3 children, supporting each other’s individual… Continue reading Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned

When regulators from Government agencies showed up I learned to listen rather than resist my basic instincts. Early on, I was resistant to “State Inspectors” who would show up at our door, asking for IDs and being generally uncooperative.ÿDebby (CFO & Spouse HBS ’81) quickly intervened and announced that Environmental and Compliance visitors should be… Continue reading Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned

Layoffs were never easy for me; they always had a significant impact not only on those laid off, but their families and on the organization and since I felt personally responsible as the owner or President/General Manager, the decision was never made lightly.ÿ Over the years, it never got easier, but I did develop a… Continue reading Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned

When I worked for large companies, the concept of sharing profits was limited to the upper echelons and was generally in the form of annual bonuses that were mysteriously calculated, paid 3-5 months after the end of the year and generally reserved for the “fat cats” in the organization! Payments never happened below the Department… Continue reading Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned: The Most Effective Face to Our Customers

Learning the Lesson that I was the most effective “face” to our customers took me a long time and was critical to our ultimate growth and profitability. In my Product Manager positions at GE and later as President of small Machinery Divisions I was often “trotted” out by the sales force to meet customers. Sales… Continue reading Lessons Learned: The Most Effective Face to Our Customers

Lessons Learned

In the businesses I operated, I was always deeply involved in setting prices because I found it to be the most immediate way to impact margins and cash flow. “Cost based pricing” establishes prices based on costs of purchases, manufacturing labor and overhead with a markup to attain profit targets.ÿ Many businesses, such as software,… Continue reading Lessons Learned

AN INTERVIEW WITH Case Protagonist & HBS Entrepreneur-In-Residence, Jim Sharpe (MBA ’76)

This article is the first in a series of interviews with this year’s Harvard Business School Entrepreneurs-in-Residence. Sponsored by the HBS Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, the Entrepreneur-in-Residence program invites accomplished entrepreneurs to commit to either a semester or full academic year working with faculty and students on campus. Second-year (EC) students will likely best… Continue reading AN INTERVIEW WITH Case Protagonist & HBS Entrepreneur-In-Residence, Jim Sharpe (MBA ’76)

Summer Stories – Parth Raval Walmart's Quest to Save the Planet, MBA '09, OC

This past summer, I was part of PepsiCo’s Leadership Development Program on the Walmart Customer Team. Shuttling between Plano, TX, and Bentonville, AR, I experienced first-hand how Walmart is accelerating its “green” agenda and what this means for key suppliers and, ultimately, for consumers. I am hardly what you’d call a typical environmentalist. In fact,… Continue reading Summer Stories – Parth Raval Walmart's Quest to Save the Planet, MBA '09, OC

Careers in the Energy Industry

Energy is hot. Oil, natural gas and electricity prices are all near record highs. Debate over global warming continues to divide the US and other nations, as ongoing conflict in the Middle East underscores the strategic importance of natural resources. Meanwhile, ExxonMobil made a profit of $9.9 billion last quarter, the largest ever for any… Continue reading Careers in the Energy Industry

The Best Of H-BS

Club VPs Form VP Club(Spangler 201) Following on the footsteps of the Trek Club, which was recently formed by Club Trek organizers, 43 Club VPs formed the VP Club last week. “The purpose of the club is to share VP information and best practices across organizations,” said VP Club co-founder Bettina Houston. “Imagine the great… Continue reading The Best Of H-BS

News In Brief:

EC Student Accidentally Talks to Cross-Registrant(Aldrich 107) EC student Martin Macaffrey accidentally talked to cross-registrant David Thompson before their Venture Capital and Private Equity class last Thursday. “I thought he was one of the few HBS students I’ve never meet,” said Macaffrey, “But then he pulled out some makeshift cardboard name card with ‘David’ handwritten… Continue reading News In Brief:

Treehuggers Unite

Crunchy, granola, it’s just not “us”; by us, that is, the collective HBS student body. You know…HBS prizes itself on its buttoned-down look. For example, in a recent class, I counted no less than 25 well-pressed shirts of varying shades of blue. And that was just the guys. Women here wear expensive shoes and matching… Continue reading Treehuggers Unite

Intuit CEO Steve Bennett Talks Business

Think Intuit is just Quicken? Think again. In a presentation at HBS on December 3rd, Steve Bennett, Intuit’s President and CEO, talked about Intuit’s future not only as the provider of Quicken and TurboTax, but more significantly as a platform for small businesses, a space they see as nearly limitless in its opportunities. The event,… Continue reading Intuit CEO Steve Bennett Talks Business

A Closer Look at China:

When Mr. Jeff Immelt (Chairman & CEO, GE) spoke at Harvard last week in front of a capacity crowd in Burden Auditorium, he outlined his views on the near term economy and GE’s future prospects. I remember that he mentioned China as being part of the big picture of GE’s focus on growth overseas. China… Continue reading A Closer Look at China:

Immelt Outlines GE's Growth Prospects

September 25 – A little over a year ago, Jeff Immelt (MBA ’82A) inherited one of the toughest jobs in corporate America. Succeeding the much-lauded Jack Welch, Immelt took over the helm of General Electric (GE) just a few days before the September 11 terrorist attacks. In front of a capacity crowd in Burden Auditorium,… Continue reading Immelt Outlines GE's Growth Prospects

Top 10 Reasons Why Section E Doesn't Have Internships

1) Enron wasn’t hiring. 2) The sugar industry in India has gained efficiencies in the past 7 months since senior management left. 3) Coca-Cola cut back its marketing spend thanks to Scott’s grass roots marketing last semester. 4) Highland Capital unexpectedly closed its operations after a lecture from Elena about the evils of capitalism. 5)… Continue reading Top 10 Reasons Why Section E Doesn't Have Internships

Welch's Big Day at HBS

Jack Welch had a big day on campus last Friday. After a brief reception at the Dean’s House, he spoke for over an hour to a packed Burden Auditorium (as well as the overflow crowd in Spangler). Welch’s inquisitor, Jason Lockwood (OF), found the experience exciting, but challenging. “It was a fantastic experience,” he said.… Continue reading Welch's Big Day at HBS

Welch: People Matter

Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric and one of America’s most admired business leaders, Friday told HBS students who hope to lead companies that they can learn important lessons from the way public officials like New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani reacted to the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. “We… Continue reading Welch: People Matter

Welch to Grads: You've Got the World By the Tail

Outgoing General Electric Chairman Jack Welch today called on almost 1,000 aspiring corporate leaders to remember that “the role of a manager is to build self-confidence in the people around them.” Speaking at Harvard Business School’s 2001 Class Day ceremony here, Welch told the graduates that as they begin to manage, they should “make those… Continue reading Welch to Grads: You've Got the World By the Tail

Welch to Grads: You've Got the World By the Tail

ALLSTON, Mass., June 6, 2001 — Outgoing General Electric Chairman Jack Welch today called on almost 1,000 aspiring corporate leaders to remember that “the role of a manager is to build self-confidence in the people around them.” Speaking at Harvard Business School’s 2001 Class Day ceremony here, Welch told the graduates that as they begin… Continue reading Welch to Grads: You've Got the World By the Tail