Ge- Evo Project
9-907-048
REV: JUNE 30, 2008
CHRISTOPHER A. BARTLETT
BRIAN J. HALL
NICOLE S. BENNETT
GE’s Imagination Breakthroughs: The Evo Project
As he prepared for the December 2006 meeting with GE’s CEO Jeff Immelt, Pierre Comte faced some difficult decisions. Only eight months into his job as chief marketing officer (CMO) of GE’s
Transportation business, Comte would be presenting Transportation’s recommendations on some of the most visible growth initiatives in its locomotive business—projects that had been designated
“Imagination Breakthroughs.” IBs, as they were called within GE, were new projects with the potential to generate $100 million in new business within two to three years, and were a key part of
Immelt’s organic growth strategy. At the IB Review, Immelt expected to hear how Transportation was progressing with each of its locomotive IBs and what plans they had for their future.
Within GE Transportation, however, the future of several IBs had been a source of considerable debate, with none more sensitive than the Hybrid locomotive. Launched two years earlier in the belief that it could become a disruptive technology that could redefine the industry, the Hybrid had struggled to develop cost-effective performance, and some of its key sponsors were beginning to wonder if resources should continue to be committed to it. The ongoing debate had resurfaced in
November at a growth review meeting in Erie, Pennsylvania, where Transportation’s CEO John
Dineen asked Comte and Brett BeGole, head of Transportation’s Locomotive P&L unit, to describe how they planned to update Immelt on the Hybrid IB. BeGole, an experienced and effective business leader, explained that problems with the cost and performance of batteries had made the project’s future highly uncertain. Feeling it was sapping resources from more profitable growth opportunities, he wondered whether it should be sidelined until the technology was further developed.
Comte was uncomfortable
REV: JUNE 30, 2008
CHRISTOPHER A. BARTLETT
BRIAN J. HALL
NICOLE S. BENNETT
GE’s Imagination Breakthroughs: The Evo Project
As he prepared for the December 2006 meeting with GE’s CEO Jeff Immelt, Pierre Comte faced some difficult decisions. Only eight months into his job as chief marketing officer (CMO) of GE’s
Transportation business, Comte would be presenting Transportation’s recommendations on some of the most visible growth initiatives in its locomotive business—projects that had been designated
“Imagination Breakthroughs.” IBs, as they were called within GE, were new projects with the potential to generate $100 million in new business within two to three years, and were a key part of
Immelt’s organic growth strategy. At the IB Review, Immelt expected to hear how Transportation was progressing with each of its locomotive IBs and what plans they had for their future.
Within GE Transportation, however, the future of several IBs had been a source of considerable debate, with none more sensitive than the Hybrid locomotive. Launched two years earlier in the belief that it could become a disruptive technology that could redefine the industry, the Hybrid had struggled to develop cost-effective performance, and some of its key sponsors were beginning to wonder if resources should continue to be committed to it. The ongoing debate had resurfaced in
November at a growth review meeting in Erie, Pennsylvania, where Transportation’s CEO John
Dineen asked Comte and Brett BeGole, head of Transportation’s Locomotive P&L unit, to describe how they planned to update Immelt on the Hybrid IB. BeGole, an experienced and effective business leader, explained that problems with the cost and performance of batteries had made the project’s future highly uncertain. Feeling it was sapping resources from more profitable growth opportunities, he wondered whether it should be sidelined until the technology was further developed.
Comte was uncomfortable