Lights Out

February 17, 2020
A venerable American company struggles for survival and eventually crashes, in this exciting offering from Wall Street Journal reporters Gryta and Mann. Formed in the late 19th century, General Electric enjoyed a long, genteel reign as America’s dominant producer of electrical goods. The book centers on the company’s dramatic decline, starting with longtime CEO Jack Welch’s exit in September 2001, and his replacement by his handpicked successor, Jeff Immelt. Inheriting a company typified by rigid procedures and a boys’ club culture, Gryta and Mann note, Immelt was determined to drag GE into the modern day. The authors track these attempts at reinvention, such as by adopting a “lean manufacturing” model antithetical to GE’s traditionally meticulous product-development approach. They also cover the hard-fought battles with the Environmental Protection Agency, ill-conceived business dealings, and falling stock prices that marred Immelt’s reign. After Immelt retired in 2017, GE veteran John Flannery took over, only to discover a chaotic, money-losing mess, with “reported profits were aspirational, if not fraudulent.” Possessing all the suspense of a true-crime account, Gryta and Mann’s riveting look at GE’s previous two decades underlines the harsh facts of survival in 21st-century business. Agent: Eric Lupfer, Fletcher & Co.

March 1, 2020
Two Wall Street Journal reporters expand years of their newspaper coverage into a detailed book about the decline of General Electric due in large part to management incompetence, greed, and dishonesty. Founded in Schenectady, New York, in 1892, General Electric eventually grew into one of the world's largest corporations, selling products and services with sterling reputations, developing a loyal workforce, training managers who earned renown (especially Jack Welch), and providing reliable investments for stockholders. Examining what went wrong during the past two decades, Gryta and Mann focus mostly on CEO Jeff Immelt and his successor, John Flannery. During their stewardships, GE stock prices and number of employees dropped significantly. At times, financial disaster seemed imminent, as the corporation sold many of its electricity-related assets to raise cash. When Flannery arrived in 2017, the company was fighting "dysfunction tending toward chaos and a confrontation with the past that was mere weeks from spilling into public view. Beneath the placid surface, GE was in total disarray." The authors attempt to place the demise in a larger context by noting that for many decades, GE served as a model of excellent management for countless other corporations. This leads the authors to wonder about the viability of many other seemingly healthy corporations. Often, the authors' exploration of the bigger picture falls victim to the excruciatingly detailed saga of GE. Readers without a direct connection to the corporation--e.g., current or former employees, outside corporate analysts, and investors--will be tempted to skim the parts of the narrative about the dizzying maneuvering inside the corporate suites. The authors' knowledgeable reporting is mostly top-down, as they rarely focus on lower-level employees. They analyze Immelt from a variety of angles, and while he certainly emerges as a complex figure, the authors struggle to make him compelling as a protagonist. The book would have been more engaging if shortened by nearly 100 pages. An overlong survey that may interest business students as a case study.

COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 20, 2020

What went wrong with General Electric? That's the question Wall Street Journal reporters Gryta and Mann attempt to answer. They start with a brief history of the company from its founding through its expansion under Jack Welch (1981-2001) into financial services (GE Capital) and broadcasting (NBC). Welch's successor, Jeff Immelt (2001-17), explain the authors, faced a difficult economic climate and tougher accounting rules, making it hard to grow and manage earnings. After the 2008 financial crisis, with GE Capital in trouble, Immelt was forced to cut the dividend, sell off pieces such as NBC, and watch investor confidence wane. The authors detail his unfailing optimism, the company's awkward structure as a conglomerate, and its use of "creative accounting" to meet fiscal goals. They also chronicle Immelt's feverish attempts to shrink the company's dependence on GE Capital, his failed bet on energy markets, and the discovery of a $15 billion long-term care insurance liability VERDICT This revealing and accessible postmortem of GE's downward spiral will be important reading for a wide audience, including customers, employees, former employees, and investors, as well as anyone interested in 21st-century corporate management.--Lawrence Maxted, Gannon Univ. Lib., Erie, PA

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.