Lessons from the tenure of Larry Culp
拉里·卡尔普任期内的经验
ONLY RARELY are chief executives appointed with a mandate for dismemberment. Yet when Larry Culp assumed the top job at General Electric (GE) in October 2018, he was expected to sell parts of the 130-year-old conglomerate at a pace even faster than his empire-building predecessors had assembled them. In November 2021 he announced a radical finale: splitting the firm in three. GE’s health-care business became a separate company last year. On April 2nd its power division went the same way, leaving behind GE Aerospace, the firm’s engine-making operation.极少有首席执行官在接受任命时会被委以拆解公司的责任。不过，当拉里·卡尔普（Larry Culp）于2018年10月担任通用电气（GE）的最高职位时，人们指望他迅速出售这家有130年历史的企业集团的部分业务，甚至要比他那些建立帝国的前任们组建集团的速度更快。2021年11月，他公布了激进的最终方案：将公司一分为三。GE的医疗业务在去年成为一家独立的公司。今年4月2日，GE的电力部门也走上了同样的道路，留下的是GE航空航天（GE Aerospace），这是GE的发动机制造部门。Investors are reaping the rewards. After dithering during the first four years of Mr Culp’s tenure, GE’s shares have been on a jet-fuelled tear. The cumulative stockmarket value of GE’s three successor firms is $237bn. Although that is well below the firm’s peak of $594bn in 2000, it is more than double what Mr Culp inherited. Business-school students have spent decades dissecting the hubristic acquisitions that defined GE’s life. Now they must heed the lessons from its final act.投资者正在收获回报。GE的股价在卡尔普任职的头四年原地打转，之后便坐上了喷气式飞机。GE拆分出的三家公司的股票市值总计为2370亿美元。尽管这一数字远低于该公司2000年时5940亿美元的峰值，却是卡尔普接手时的两倍多。几十年来，商学院的学生们一直在剖析那些贯穿GE历史的狂妄收购。现在他们还得从它的终章里吸取经验。
ONLY RARELY are chief executives appointed with a mandate for dismemberment. Yet when Larry Culp assumed the top job at General Electric (GE) in October 2018, he was expected to sell parts of the 130-year-old conglomerate at a pace even faster than his empire-building predecessors had assembled them. In November 2021 he announced a radical finale: splitting the firm in three. GE’s health-care business became a separate company last year. On April 2nd its power division went the same way, leaving behind GE Aerospace, the firm’s engine-making operation.极少有首席执行官在接受任命时会被委以拆解公司的责任。不过，当拉里·卡尔普（Larry Culp）于2018年10月担任通用电气（GE）的最高职位时，人们指望他迅速出售这家有130年历史的企业集团的部分业务，甚至要比他那些建立帝国的前任们组建集团的速度更快。2021年11月，他公布了激进的最终方案：将公司一分为三。GE的医疗业务在去年成为一家独立的公司。今年4月2日，GE的电力部门也走上了同样的道路，留下的是GE航空航天（GE Aerospace），这是GE的发动机制造部门。Investors are reaping the rewards. After dithering during the first four years of Mr Culp’s tenure, GE’s shares have been on a jet-fuelled tear. The cumulative stockmarket value of GE’s three successor firms is $237bn. Although that is well below the firm’s peak of $594bn in 2000, it is more than double what Mr Culp inherited. Business-school students have spent decades dissecting the hubristic acquisitions that defined GE’s life. Now they must heed the lessons from its final act.投资者正在收获回报。GE的股价在卡尔普任职的头四年原地打转，之后便坐上了喷气式飞机。GE拆分出的三家公司的股票市值总计为2370亿美元。尽管这一数字远低于该公司2000年时5940亿美元的峰值，却是卡尔普接手时的两倍多。几十年来，商学院的学生们一直在剖析那些贯穿GE历史的狂妄收购。现在他们还得从它的终章里吸取经验。Mind Map
Summary
Larry Culp's appointment as CEO of GE marked a departure from the company's traditional approach, focusing on dismemberment and operational excellence. Under his leadership, GE split into three separate entities, leading to significant stock value growth. Culp's outsider perspective and management philosophy contributed to cultural change and improved performance. His success offers lessons for strategic leadership applicable beyond GE, including the potential for future roles such as leading Boeing.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. What was Larry Culp's mandate when he assumed the CEO position at General Electric?
- A) Expansion and acquisition
- B) Financial engineering
- C) Dismemberment and divestiture
- D) Corporate restructuring
Answer: C) Dismemberment and divestiture
2. Which division of GE was the first to become a separate company under Larry Culp's leadership?
- A) Aviation
- B) Healthcare
- C) Power
- D) Aerospace
Answer: B) Healthcare
3. What management philosophy did Larry Culp bring to GE?
- A) Six Sigma
- B) Total Quality Management
- C) Japanese-style
- D) Agile
Answer: C) Japanese-style
4. What is the reaction of the market to GE's spin-offs compared to typical spin-offs?
- A) Indifference
- B) Disappointment
- C) Enthusiasm
- D) Skepticism
Answer: C) Enthusiasm
5. What is one potential future role speculated for Larry Culp?
- A) CEO of Unilever
- B) CEO of Disney
- C) CEO of Boeing
- D) CEO of IBM
Answer: C) CEO of Boeing
