Jack Welch’s legacy will be debated for decades to come but the iconic American businessman was good for us

General Electric (GE), the firm that never forgot to remind us that it was founded by American inventor Thomas Alva Edison, came to be known as The House that Jack Built in the last decades of the 20th century. Jack Welch was the man who took the company to new heights during his stint as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GE for two decades. The market value of its stock rose from $14 billion to more than $400 billion, an eye-popping increase of 2,700 per cent. His management mantras became staple reading at business schools across the world. Yet, after he retired, his high-handedness, which included some obnoxious views on executive compensation and unemployment as well as revelations about some of his decisions while he was at the helm of GE, would have tainted his reputation. His ruthless leadership style and penchant for slashing jobs had earned him the nickname of Neutron Jack.  While there were 24,000 GE employees back in 1980, by 1995, that number had fallen to 6,720. His successor, Jeff Immelt, whom he hand-picked, eventually spun off some of Welch’s more extravagant operations, including much of GE Capital, the company’s financial services arm.

However, no matter how his legacy is remembered in the business world, India will remember him as the man who took a punt on the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector with GE Capital. While this business was grown by very capable Indian lieutenants such as Raman Roy and Pramod Bhasin, it was Welch’s decision to establish the call centre business in the country and take advantage of our huge untapped source of human capital that must be fondly remembered. Welch set into motion a series of events that allowed the country to dominate the burgeoning Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) sector. Much of the BPO operation is today run by the spin-off company, Genpact, but one could argue that the tremendous growth of this industry in Gurugram and Noida, seen at the turn of the century, is in no small part due to Welch. While it is true that Indian companies such as Wipro and Infosys would have emerged nonetheless, GE’s confidence in India gave countless American corporations the confidence to use Indian firms to deliver back-end services. For this one fact alone, Welch should be remembered in New Delhi and Bengaluru as the American who had an outsized impact, much more than any other.

(Courtesy: The Pioneer)

Jack Welch’s legacy will be debated for decades to come but the iconic American businessman was good for us

General Electric (GE), the firm that never forgot to remind us that it was founded by American inventor Thomas Alva Edison, came to be known as The House that Jack Built in the last decades of the 20th century. Jack Welch was the man who took the company to new heights during his stint as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GE for two decades. The market value of its stock rose from $14 billion to more than $400 billion, an eye-popping increase of 2,700 per cent. His management mantras became staple reading at business schools across the world. Yet, after he retired, his high-handedness, which included some obnoxious views on executive compensation and unemployment as well as revelations about some of his decisions while he was at the helm of GE, would have tainted his reputation. His ruthless leadership style and penchant for slashing jobs had earned him the nickname of Neutron Jack.  While there were 24,000 GE employees back in 1980, by 1995, that number had fallen to 6,720. His successor, Jeff Immelt, whom he hand-picked, eventually spun off some of Welch’s more extravagant operations, including much of GE Capital, the company’s financial services arm.

However, no matter how his legacy is remembered in the business world, India will remember him as the man who took a punt on the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector with GE Capital. While this business was grown by very capable Indian lieutenants such as Raman Roy and Pramod Bhasin, it was Welch’s decision to establish the call centre business in the country and take advantage of our huge untapped source of human capital that must be fondly remembered. Welch set into motion a series of events that allowed the country to dominate the burgeoning Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) sector. Much of the BPO operation is today run by the spin-off company, Genpact, but one could argue that the tremendous growth of this industry in Gurugram and Noida, seen at the turn of the century, is in no small part due to Welch. While it is true that Indian companies such as Wipro and Infosys would have emerged nonetheless, GE’s confidence in India gave countless American corporations the confidence to use Indian firms to deliver back-end services. For this one fact alone, Welch should be remembered in New Delhi and Bengaluru as the American who had an outsized impact, much more than any other.

(Courtesy: The Pioneer)