March 24, 2006
GE CEO Discusses Future Trends, Future Graduates in the
Global Market
By Amy Lavergne
Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of General Electric, expects three trends to
be of major importance in the next 10 to 15 years: globalization,
volatility, and the intersection of government and business.
The world is beginning to be more and more interconnected, he
explained in his talk for the VIP Distinguished Speaker Series,
March 21. “If you build homes in Austin, you may think that’s a
localized business,” he said. “But you have to worry about what wood
will cost you in China. Every part of the economy you grow up in is
part of the global environment.”
Volatile technology and geopolitical risks will be major forces
affecting future jobs, he added. “You have to be willing to reinvent
yourself tomorrow,” Immelt said.
Focusing on the intersection of government and business, he said
that intensified government regulations will make it more difficult
for businesses to develop and grow to the fullest extent.
“Your colleagues over at the law school have more job security than
you do,” Immelt joked to the audience of mostly undergraduate students.
“You need to know how to stay compliant with emerging regulations and
rules.”
Bigger Can Be Better
Immelt said he thinks about these trends when he considers how his
company can prosper in the future. GE, which is 125 years old and was
founded by Thomas Edison, has grown into a $165 billion global company
with 300,000 employees worldwide. Half of the company’s business is in
the United States and the other half exists in 100 foreign countries.
“My job is really somewhere in between being a CEO and being mayor of a
big city,” Immelt said. “In every generation, the person leading GE
figures out how to make size an advantage and not a disadvantage.” The
challenge is figuring out how to make a company big for the sake of
being great, not just for the sake of being big, he continued.
To do that, Immelt said he works on choosing three things: the right
businesses to be in, the correct initiatives to take, and the best
people to fuel those initiatives. He chooses the right initiatives by
investing in technology, improving interface with customers, making sure
the company is more globally focused and encouraging innovation.
“We make bets with research and development, putting $14 billion a year
towards new products and services,” Immelt said. “I want to find a cure
for Alzheimer’s Disease within the next 10 to 15 years, when I’m 70
years old.”
People Are Key
Immelt emphasized that people are key to the growth of GE, and that his
job is to teach people how to be competitive in business. “We want to
make sure that you’re resilient, that you can deal with failure, that
you can work hard,” he said. “People want to know that you know how to
learn.”
Immelt also believes success requires having a positive disposition.
“You have to be fun because nobody wants a cynic,” he said. “We hire you
because you bring energy and passion and focus.”
In his first job in plastic sales at GE, Immelt recalled having to spend
an entire weekend standing on a stool, pouring baby powder into a
casting machine for a customer until GE could send a replacement part
for some faulty plastic.
“Now, I run the company!” he said, laughing. Today, GE employs about 800
University of Texas at Austin graduates and six of those hold some of
the top 500 positions in the company.
“The most important part of having a good college degree is that it buys
you the right to not be afraid,” he said. “It buys you confidence that
you can look forward to the future.”
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