Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Alumni
  • Login
  • Volunteer
  • Clubs
  • Reunions
  • Magazine
  • Class Notes
  • Help
  • Give Now
  • Stories
  • Alumni Directory
  • Lifelong Learning
  • Careers
  • Programs & Events
  • Giving
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Alumni→
  • Stories→

Stories

Stories

17 Mar 2016

The 124-Year-Old Startup

A long bet on the internet of really big things seems to be paying off at GE
Re: Jeff Immelt (MBA 1982)
Topics: Change-TransitionTechnology-SoftwareMarketing-Marketing CommunicationsTechnology-Internet
ShareBar

Fifteen years after taking over the top spot from “Neutron Jack” Welch, Jeff Immelt (MBA 1982) talks to Bloomberg Businessweek for a wide-ranging consideration of his tenure at the $122 billion giant, including the company’s latest retooling as a software startup focused on improving efficiencies in the internet of “really big things”—think locomotives and jet engines. Attracting software engineers to a company known for making microwaves was a challenge, but the company’s “What’s the Matter with Owen?” commercials helped raise awareness of GE’s changing profile and boosted job applications eightfold. The company’s upcoming move from suburban Connecticut to Boston should also help with recruitment. “Sitting in a rural setting, you can never be scared enough of what’s next,” Immelt said. “You just can’t be. You can’t be paranoid enough. And I felt like it would be a good thing for the business just to be in the flow of ideas.”

READ MORE

ShareBar

Featured Alumni

Jeff Immelt
MBA 1982
Login to send a message

Post a Comment

Featured Alumni

Jeff Immelt
MBA 1982
Login to send a message

Related Stories

    • 08 Jun 2022
    • NPR

    The End of an Era

    • 05 Feb 2021
    • HBS Programs

    Strategies to Put You Over the Top in 2021

    Re: Jordan Taylor (MBA 2018); Helen Kupp (MBA 2015); Victoria Brown (MBA 2003); Mary Burton (MBA 1976); Max H. Bazerman (Jesse Isidor Straus Professor of Business Administration); Rohit Deshpande (Baker Foundation Professor Sebastian S. Kresge Professor of Marketing, Emeritus); Joseph L. Badaracco (John Shad Professor of Business Ethics)
    • 01 Dec 2020
    • HBS Alumni Bulletin

    Karmic Kickstart

    Re: Doug Schofield (MBA 1969)
    • 25 Feb 2020
    • HBS Alumni Bulletin

    The Past Informs the Future of Work

    Re: Vittorio Colao (MBA 1990); William R. Kerr (Dimitri V. D'Arbeloff - MBA Class of 1955 Professor of Business Administration Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Research); By: Jennifer Gillespie

More Related Stories

Stories Featuring Jeff Immelt

    • 07 Sep 2021
    • HBS Alumni Bulletin

    Immelt in the Hot Seat: Episode 2

    Re: Jeff Immelt (MBA 1982)
    • 07 Sep 2021
    • HBS Alumni Bulletin

    Immelt in the Hot Seat: Episode 1

    Re: Jeff Immelt (MBA 1982)
    • 07 Sep 2021
    • HBS Alumni Bulletin

    In the Hot Seat

    Re: Jeff Immelt (MBA 1982)

More Stories Featuring Jeff Immelt

 
 
 
ǁ
Campus Map
External Relations
Harvard Business School
Teele Hall
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
Phone: 1.617.495.6890
Email: alumni+hbs.edu
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
  • Terms of Use
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.