Influencing Public Issues...a GE tradition.

In my most recent book: The Secret to GE's Success, I summarized the reasons for GE's Success by using one word LATIN (Leadership, Adaptability, Talent, Influence, Networks).

In most of my blogs, I have focused on the first three letters: L standing for LEADERSHIP, A for ADAPTABILITY, T for TALENT...but little has been written about the fourth letter I...which focuses on how GE has INFLUENCED public and other KEY STAKEHOLDER perception and actions.

GE has had a very proactive strategy to assure that it's company interests were protected and not restricted by taking public stands on issues that impacted their ability to control their own destiny and make money for its investors.

• PUBLIC SAFETY- Starting with EDISON... his company, then called Edison General Electric, used the first electric execution as a means of showing that his technology, Direct Current or DC, was safer than Alternating Current or AC...that was being purposed by Westinghouse his key adversary, since the first electric chair used AC.


• PROTECTING WORKERS and HELPING TO RECOVER FROM THE GREAT DEPRESSION. But it was the Swope/ Young era that really got GE into politics and had the company take very public, often unpopular stands. Swope was the architect of National Recovery Act (NRA) and Social Security. Both foundation programs of the Roosevelt NEW DEAL.


• STOPPING GOVERNMENT AND UNIONS FROM CONTROLLING THE COMPANY. During the 1950's it was Cordiner who took the opposite stand and fought BIG Government and Big Labor and used the services of a future President, not revered, Ronald Reagan to fight the increasing power of the socialists and the potential nationalization of American industry.

CREATING THE BUSINESS ROUND TABLE. After Cordiner, the GE CEO's took another approach to influencing policies. They instituted and led the Business Round table to serve as their surrogate and to allow them to protect their company interests and enable the company to be master of its own destiny.

MSNBC - THE LIBERAL NETWORK. Today, it appears that Jeff Immelt is using another approach to influence public policy. He is using the spokesman of NBC and MSNBC to take public stands. MSNBC has become the LIBERAL network to counter the Fox Conservative network. The most recent hostility between O'Reilly (Fox) and Olbermann (MSNBC) has become so bitter that it is now degenerated into name calling. Matthews is clearly an Obama supporter and very negative about the Republicans.

WHAT DOES GE GAIN? It is not clear what GE gains by taking political stands. It is not just a media company like Fox, who is using this to differentiate itself. GE has many diverse businesses and their political stand can hurt them, both in this country and globally. If the stands were focused on issues that can help GE, like greening or energy conservation, it would make sense but they are not.

Influencing public opinion and government policies is one of the GE Success factors, but it needs to be focused. In my book I discuss the reasons that GE leaders were willing to take "politically incorrect" stands on major issues. In each case, they had a recognition that they had to control their own destiny and it required being unpopular, if needed.

I am not sure that Immelt's reason is and so I will continue to evaluate GE's actions and determine if it is helpful to GE and is consistent with one of the reasons that GE has been so successful in the past.

Bill Rothschild- author of The Secret to GE's Success- that balances GE's successes and failures.