Economic Recovery Inspires Innovation and Frustration

As innovation revives, companies struggle to make it boost profitable growth. GE, Tata Motors, Marvel, and Virgin Galactic offer diverse models

BusinessWeek, November 16, 2009 — While they continue to slog through the longest economic downturn in decades, companies are no longer making cost-cutting their primary focus. Innovation is now front and center on the corporate agenda, according to a global survey we recently conducted with 65 senior executives from diverse industries. Executives are adding more breakthrough innovations and business model changes to their portfolio to fuel the growth engine for the recovery.

Yet our survey reveals that companies by and large are having trouble making innovation efforts work

In New Campaigns, Spots Take On a Rosier Hue

New York Times, October 13, 2009 — The American economy is back — or so some of the country’s biggest advertisers are saying in new campaigns.

It may be a sign that the recession is ending, or it may be a sign that consumers are sick of hearing about it.

While economists and investors study housing starts and gross domestic product predictions to measure economic vibrancy, General Electric, Bank of America and other companies are using commercials to proclaim that America’s future is bright. And that may be something of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

How GE Is Disrupting Itself†

For decades, GE has sold modified Western products to emerging markets. Now, to preempt the emerging giants, it’s trying the reverse.

Harvard Business Review, October 1, 2009 — In May 2009, General Electric announced that over the next six years it would spend $3 billion to create at least 100 health-care innovations that would substantially lower costs, increase access, and improve quality. Two products it highlighted at the time—a $1,000 handheld electrocardiogram device and a portable, PC-based ultrasound machine that sells for as little as $15,000—are revolutionary, and not just because of their small size and low price. They’re also extraordinary because they originally were developed for markets in emerging economies (the ECG device for rural India and the ultrasound machine for rural China) and are now being sold in the United States, where they’re pioneering new uses for such machines.

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A Marketer Is a Terrible Thing To Waste

Beth Comstock, chief marketing officer and senior VP at GE, explains how marketers can help rebuild the economy

BusinessWeek, September 21, 2009 — At many companies, marketing has long been the fair-weather friend— highly visible when times are good, starved of attention and resources when things are tough.

As a result of the economic downturn, marketing budgets are being slashed and the stewards of many of the world's largest and most prestigious brands have been forced into hibernation mode—waiting for the economy to turn around and the dollars to return to their function area.

But at GE (GE), where I work, we're trying to increase the volume on marketing, even in the face of these tough times.

The Shift: Becoming Visionary Marketers Who Control Quest for Growth

By Scott Davis

Prophet, May 1, 2009 — This article, focused on key themes from Scott Davis' upcoming book, "The Shift," outlines a series of profound shifts that have ushered in a new era in marketing. This era is marked by Visionary Marketers who know that no one is better suited to help drive the growth agenda than the head of marketing.

Next Big Thing

Hub, January 12, 2009 — Will the Great Recession bring out the best and brightest? A roundtable discussion featuring Michael Mendenhall of Hewlett-Packard, Patia McGrath of General Electric, John Fish of AstraZeneca and Patrick Meyer of Now Inc.

Woman to Woman, Online

New York Times, August 14, 2008 — Heather Armstrong’s wickedly funny blog about motherhood, Dooce, is more than just an outlet for the creativity and frustrations of a modern mother. The site, chock full of advertising, is a moneymaking machine — so much so that Ms. Armstrong and her husband have both quit their regular jobs.

Learning from the Olympics

From GE to Nestlé to watchmaker Omega, companies use the Games to test-drive new ideas—and strut their stuff

BusinessWeek, August 7, 2008 — When U.S. Women's soccer defender Heather Mitts hits the field for the Olympics, she'll rely on more than her gear, teammates, and fans for support. Mitts suffered a torn ligament last year and had to sit out the World Cup in September. But she's back for the Beijing Games. And her confidence will no doubt be boosted by the knowledge that doctors are nearby, ready to scan her knee at the first signs of stress. They'll be using a compact ultrasound machine, the LOGIQ i from General Electric Healthcare (GE). The 12-pound device can produce detailed images of even the tiniest tears in her ligament—every bit as sharp as those from the 800-pound machines found in hospitals.

It's part of GE's strategy of using the Olympics to show off its latest innovations.

Why GE Is Getting Out of the Kitchen

Stoves, refrigerators, and other appliances used to be the core of General Electric's business. But now the hot growth is elsewhere

BusinessWeek, May 16, 2008 — By jettisoning one of its most iconic units, General Electric (GE) would join a small but high-profile club of companies that famously parted ways with businesses once synonymous with their brand names. Companies such as IBM (IBM) and Eastman Kodak (EK) have also—either because of financial straits or tactical maneuvering—transformed themselves by letting go of ventures that once defined them.

All Systems Go

How General Electric's jet-engine division in Ohio is boosting the company's business in China. A case study in advanced global strategy

Fast Company, April 11, 2008 — More than a billion people were watching late last year when the first commercial airliner ever built by a Chinese firm rolled off the assembly line in Shanghai. China's state network, CCTV, broadcast it live, a proud symbol of the country's rising technical prowess. Yet if you looked closely, there was another peacock preening. Of the 19 suppliers that collaborated on the 90-passenger regional jet, only one had its logo on the plane: General Electric, which built the engine. No surprise, perhaps, that GE subsidiary CNBC was the only foreign network permitted to cover the event.

There is no company on the globe that's better at leveraging the multiple parts of its business to feed growth than GE.