It’s a long way from Fairfield, Connecticut, the home of General Electric, to Henderson, Nevada, the home of Zappos. The gap is even wider between their respective products and services.
GE is a multinational American technology and services conglomerate. Zappos sells shoes, handbags, and other items online – to the tune of more than $1 billion this year.
Both made the news last week. And it all has to do with their “Bottom 10.”
General Electric is a household name; chances are, you have something in your home with it’s name emboldened on it. The only original company still listed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, more recently, GE is the company that Jack rebuilt, and one of the most admired in the business world today. Jack Welch determined in the 1980s that GE would be number 1 or 2 in particular industry or leave it completely. He also started the practice of firing the bottom-performing 10% of his managers every year.
Last week the Wall Street Journal reported that GE was sending its century-old appliances business to the auction block. Say it ain’t so! The American company that “brings good things to life” may be bringin’ ‘em from Korea or Sweden or somewhere else. From a sentimental perspective, it hurts. But from a management perspective, it was an overdue decision.
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
