"Aftermath" Tests GE's Integrity
Jack Welch, former Chairman of GE who was repeatedly named the World's Best CEO, said: Integrity is a "priceless asset" that GE employees have created over more than a century. Nothing, whether it is meeting business targets, following orders from superiors, or serving customers, is more important than acting properly and adhering to integrity. As of September 2016, GE Lighting is facing a severe test of whether to uphold or betray this philosophy.
As a company whose output ranks among the top in the world, it is entirely normal to enter or exit a particular field or market. However, as an important part of corporate strategic decision-making and strategy implementation, when entering there should be steps, and likewise when exiting there should also be a plan. This plan should obtain recognition from relevant stakeholder areas and gain broad support, so as not to leave a large number of hidden dangers, maintain market stability, and uphold the long-accumulated social and market reputation. From this perspective, GE Lighting's market withdrawal this time is, to a large extent, a lose-lose situation for everyone involved.
First, GE's decision to withdraw from the Asia-Pacific market must have been prepared long in advance. However, for the vast number of distributors and customers, in the first half of the year they were still hearing the relevant responsible persons talk about development plans at length, and yet the moment those words were spoken, in September it was suddenly announced that they would withdraw from the Asia-Pacific market. The huge contrast between before and after has truly astonished the outside world, and this kind of planning is perhaps too deep.
Secondly, merely handing dealers a two- to three-hundred-word contract termination notice with no follow-up plan is truly abrupt. Even a brief marriage that ends in divorce requires some discussion and explanation. To dismiss years-long deep channel partners with a blank sheet is truly arrogant and heartless.
Thirdly, a company's exit from a market primarily affects three layers: customers, dealers, and employees. The documents crafted by GE's powerful legal team leave dealers with no legal loopholes to exploit and no room to fight back. However, for the vast user base, enjoying after-sales service is a legal right—what arrangements has GE made in this regard? How will future service be provided without the broad dealer network? If dealers maliciously dump their inventory, what impact will these GE-branded products have on GE itself? On such matters, we have not seen the rational and transparent actions befitting GE. The unwise concealment of truth will only make the consequences more apparent. On this, we shall wait and watch.
As we understand it, with GE's exit from the Chinese market, numerous Chinese regional dealers and users have suddenly found themselves facing the predicament of being 'abandoned.' However, we believe setbacks may also be opportunities, and the vacuum left by GE's withdrawal is becoming a hot target for other domestic and international brands to enter. While these companies ride the momentum upward, they will undoubtedly seize these
The abandoned of GE—let us support them with strength, face challenges together, overcome hardships together, and grow together.
At GE's 2001 Global Senior Managers Conference, Jack Welch left the GE managers present with ten farewell pieces of advice, the first of which concerned 'integrity.' He said: 'People often ask me, "What worries you most at GE? What keeps you up at night?" Actually, it is not GE's business that worries me—it is that someone, somewhere, does something legally very foolish, and those foolish acts stain the company's reputation and destroy themselves and their families in an instant. There can be absolutely no slack on integrity. One cannot say too much about "integrity." Integrity is not merely a legal term but a broader principle—it is a set of values that guides our behavior. It guides us to do what is right, not merely what is legal.' We hope that GE's current managers will truly grasp the earnest teachings of their predecessor Welch, and at the moment of this hasty market withdrawal, will step up onto the legal stage with a candid and open mindset and pass the test of 'integrity.'