Case Study for Gec
Case Study for GEC
CONTENTS
1 Introduction
2 Pre-Weinstock Era
3 Weinstock Era
4 Simpson Era
5 Conclusion
References
1 Introduction
GEC (General Electric Company Ltd.), a private limited UK company established in 1889, was a major company involved in consumer electronics. After the continuous growth and a series of merger, GEC started defence electronics and telecommunication business. GEC was renamed to Marconi plc in 1999 after Lord Simpson took over this company from Lord Weinstock in 1996. In 2005, Marconi was took over by Ericsson, a world-class company celebrated in research and development especially telecommunication. This takeover also indicated GEC, a well-known mighty British company, brought down its curtain on more than 100 years history. (Harrison 2005)
Kam (2005) argues that organizational failure is usually attributed to either environmental change or managerial behavior. However, she also claims that "Drawing lessons from organizational failure with such lop-sided understanding is unlikely to be productive and may even lead to wrongly prescribed solutions." (ibid: 400) Therefore, in this report, I will focus on analysing GEC 's evolving progress and the final organisational failure through both perspectives: the environmental and behavioural factors. When these two elements are taking into account at the same time, the GEC dynasty could be generally divided into three eras: pre-Weinstock (Hugo Hirst) from 1889 to 1963, Weinstock from 1963 to 1996 and post-Weinstock (George Simpson) from 1996 to 2006. These three eras stand for the different environmental and behavioural perspectives in the GEC history. 2 Pre-Weinstock Era
When GEC formed in 1889, this company expanded rapidly and opened new braches and factories because the founder, Hugo Hirst (later Lord Hirst), was a visionary entrepreneur who foresaw the potential of electricity and had the competence in direct standardisation of this industry in its infancy.
CONTENTS
1 Introduction
2 Pre-Weinstock Era
3 Weinstock Era
4 Simpson Era
5 Conclusion
References
1 Introduction
GEC (General Electric Company Ltd.), a private limited UK company established in 1889, was a major company involved in consumer electronics. After the continuous growth and a series of merger, GEC started defence electronics and telecommunication business. GEC was renamed to Marconi plc in 1999 after Lord Simpson took over this company from Lord Weinstock in 1996. In 2005, Marconi was took over by Ericsson, a world-class company celebrated in research and development especially telecommunication. This takeover also indicated GEC, a well-known mighty British company, brought down its curtain on more than 100 years history. (Harrison 2005)
Kam (2005) argues that organizational failure is usually attributed to either environmental change or managerial behavior. However, she also claims that "Drawing lessons from organizational failure with such lop-sided understanding is unlikely to be productive and may even lead to wrongly prescribed solutions." (ibid: 400) Therefore, in this report, I will focus on analysing GEC 's evolving progress and the final organisational failure through both perspectives: the environmental and behavioural factors. When these two elements are taking into account at the same time, the GEC dynasty could be generally divided into three eras: pre-Weinstock (Hugo Hirst) from 1889 to 1963, Weinstock from 1963 to 1996 and post-Weinstock (George Simpson) from 1996 to 2006. These three eras stand for the different environmental and behavioural perspectives in the GEC history. 2 Pre-Weinstock Era
When GEC formed in 1889, this company expanded rapidly and opened new braches and factories because the founder, Hugo Hirst (later Lord Hirst), was a visionary entrepreneur who foresaw the potential of electricity and had the competence in direct standardisation of this industry in its infancy.
References: Anderson, P., and Tushman, M. (2001) ‘Organizational environments and industry exit: The effects of uncertainty, munificence and complexity ' Industrial and Corporate Change, 10, 675-711. Blackwell Publishing Ltd. (2004) The destruction of Marconi Business Strategy Review Volume 15 Issue 1 pp.74-75, Spring 2004 Buchanan, D GEC plc. (1997) The General Electric Company, p.l.c. 1997 Results – Highlights GEC (1997) Glover, T Harrison, M. (2005) BUSINESS ANALYSIS: Marconi sells to Ericsson and consigns a century London, Independent, Oct 26, 2005 Heller, R Heller, R. (2006) Managing People: In modern business, people-based management is as important as ever http://www.thinkingmanagers.com/management/managing-people.php (2006) Kam, J Lancaster, G. and Brierley, G. (2000) ‘An Empirical Investigation into the Transition of Change within three formerly Nationalised Companies ' Journal of Research in Marketing & Entrepreneurship: Volume 2, Issue 3, pp. 258-281, 2000 Manners, D Randall, J. (2001) Analysis: Where did Marconi go wrong? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1423642.stm (5th July 2001) Schein, E Scott Yang Ltd. (2006) The Fascinating history of the Great British executives pay boom http://www.havingtheircake.com/content/07_Top%20Executive%20Pay/05_The%20Great%20British%20Executive%20Pay%20Boom.php Scott Yang Ltd. (2006) Stockwave Software Ltd Tell, F. (2003) ‘Governing science-based firms: Corporate coherence and the dynamics of learning ' E-GOST TSER Contract of the European Union, 3rd-4th, April, 2003 (Strasbourg)