Globalization Impact to Ge

Kitech, Inc.

(General Electric)

Nick Maenhout

Anna Mak

Lee Riley

XueYi Zheng

Jaina Zavala

Globalization is a concept GE has begun to grasp. GE, with 50,000 engineers and its largest R&D center outside the U.S., is “tapping into best brains on global basis,” as CEO Jeff Immelt would say. Perhaps replacement of top management and executives by more foreigners and moving one or more of its headquarters out of the United States would help the cause of globalization.

One reason for worrying about globalization Immelt mentions is the “hollowed out” U.S. manufacturing base. Daniel Altman from the International Herald Tribune stated that “United States may no longer even be the first economy among equals,” thus, GE needs to be more involved in other economics with “foreign operations proliferating”.

Also, as mentioned before in our lecture readings for class, the country has a $1 trillion trade deficit and our country is not producing enough engineers to compete globally. “We are not working hard enough to be exporters,” Immelt said. According to Immelt, globalization should be a process where all parties win. “If we make money in a country and for a country, we have the right to succeed,” Immelt said. “In the end we need to earn the right to globalize.”

One way GE is globalizing is by paying more attention to India since Immelt feels it is very well positioned to become a stronger global economic force. “When I joined GE in 1982, Japan was the absolute global threat.” Immelt said. “My predecessor sent us to study Japan. The great companies turned out to be