Jeffrey R. Immelt
Jeffrey R. Immelt
Jeffrey Robert "Jeff" Immeltis an American business executive. He is currently the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the U.S.-based conglomerate General Electric. He was selected as GE's CEO by their Board of Directors in 2000 to replace Jack Welch upon Welch's retirement from GE. Previously, Immelt had headed up GE's Medical Systems divisionas its President and CEO...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBusinessman
Date of Birth19 February 1956
CountryUnited States of America
I've been seeing the change. It's been steady. It's been more controlled than people think. And my own belief is that China knows it also needs to be part of the world, and that it needs to be able to have trade with Europe and the United States in order to house and feed a billion people. That's really kind of single-mindedly what they see their role as being.
GE sells more than 96 percent of its products to the private sector, where America's future must be built. But government can help business invest in our shared future.
Really, the one thing that actually works - you know, state-run communism may not be your cup of tea, but [China's] government works.
If the only common thread you have as an industrial company is the fact that you think you're well managed, you can still be a pretty good company, but you're not going to be a dominant company, a competitive company over time.
People ought to invest in us because they like our company and the way they run it. We still do quarterly earnings guidance, but we tell people openly that they ought to look at the company for the long term and that's how they ought to invest.
I think there's a need for somewhat of a mindset change. We need to have a consistent external focus. We've always had the research labs. We've always had the resources to be innovative, and we've been innovative in a number of businesses. But, in any big company, you have to constantly push people to look at markets and customers, rather than look internally at themselves.