Tag Archive for 'GE'

GE Makes $520M Move Into Green Data Centres

Published on January 14, 2011 in Greentech and International Business. 0 Comments Tags: , .

GE wants a slice of the burgeoning green-data-centers pie — and it’s willing to spend half a billion dollars to get it [Source].

The company, which manufactures everything from wind turbines to electric car charging stations, announced today it has acquired power conversion technology company Lineage Power for $520 million from Gores Group, an offering that GE says will help it leverage huge opportunities in telecom and making data centers more efficient.

Lineage Power makes energy efficient power conversion technology that converts the AC electricity delivered from the grid to DC electricity to power the servers and equipment in data centers. It also makes DC-DC power modules for telecom purposes and helps companies set up energy systems. Some companies have been demonstrating data centers running on all-DC power as of late, as a way to save energy [Source].

GE’s $500 Million Electric Vehicle Push

Published on November 11, 2010 in Greentech and International Business. 0 Comments Tags: , .

General Electric has said it will make a record order of 25,000 electric cars, to try to kick-start the EV market. GE is furthering its ambitions to promote cleaner energy and its Ecomagination initiative, although this is actually a company-wide issue [Source].

Its first order is for 12,000 Chevrolet Volts, which will start to roll off GM’s production lines this month. GE will use them as company cars and lease them to corporate customers [Source].

It’s an expensive investment, but GE thinks it will pay out in the end. That’s because, the company sells a number of smart grid and EV charging products. One of the most high-profile GE-branded EV products is the WattStation, an Yves Behar-designed EV charging station set to be released in 2011. So it makes sense that GE wants to jumpstart the EV industry–the company will profit handsomely if it takes off [Source].

You can find a video on the electric car revolution here, as part of the GE Show episode 2.

GE’s “Ecomagination Challenge”

Published on July 14, 2010 in Greentech and International Business. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Got a bright idea? How about an energy-saving one? GE announced today a $200 million “open innovation challenge” that invites inventors, entrepreneurs, and startups of all stripes to compete to develop the next-generation of power grid technologies.

Called the Ecomagination Challenge, this huge investment comes only weeks after GE announced a $10 billion injection into its own eco-R&D projects.Along with four VC firms that have pledged half of the $200 million to the challenge, GE is asking the public for innovative ideas in clean technology. From now until September 30, you can head to the Ecomagination homepage to submit a proposal or vote for other user-generated ideas.

GE explained earlier today that the $200 million investment could lead to acquisition or co-development opportunities, and even trademark and licensing deals. “This is wide-open,” said another investor in the challenge, who commented that the challenge should serve as a catalyst for novel ideas, regardless of who comes up with them, whether an individual or well-funded start-up [Source].

Ecomagination $10 Billion Eco-R&D Push

Published on June 26, 2010 in Global Strategy and Greentech. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

GE has a whole lot faith in its ecomagination initiative. So much faith, in fact, that the company is pumping $10 billion into the project’s R&D over the next 5 years–effectively doubling its investment from the past 5 years.

The reason is simple: ecomagination is a cash cow, generating $70 billion in revenue since its inception in 2005. GE believes it will generate $25 billion in 2010, up from $18 billion in 2009. Over the next 5 years, GE hopes that ecomagination revenue will grow at twice the rate of the company’s total revenue.

Ecomagination encompasses a broad set of projects. So far, ecomagination has spawned everything from low-energy digital mammography machines and aircraft engines to gas turbines and nuclear plants. There’s plenty more on the way, including a massive battery plant in New York, a $2 billion wind project in Oregon, and a series of high-end energy-efficient front-load washers and dryers set to be manufactured in Kentucky. And we can’t forget GE’s ambitious plan into integrate appliances (i.e. hot water heaters, microwaves, and oven ranges) with smart grid technology.

GE: Reorganisation @ Work

Published on July 26, 2008 in Global Strategy and International Business. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Organisational Design and Financial PerformanceFollowing my previous post on GE and its slugging share performance. Last Friday, GE announced a major restructuring of its global business operations.

In an attempt to revamp its organisational and corresponding stock performance, General Electric will reorganise its operations by folding its six business segments into four.

A background article on organisational and financial performance can be found here: The link between profits and organizational performance. Additionally, a backgrounder on strategy in relation to organisational design can be found here: Better strategy through organizational design.

The new GE units now comprise technology infrastructure, energy infrastructure, capital and NBC Universal. The move continues a trend over the years of consolidating the sprawling company’s multiple divisions.

“We have been upgrading our portfolio of businesses and simplifying our organizations for market focus, efficiency and execution,” Immelt said. “We have higher-growth, higher-margin businesses and organizationally have simplified the company from 11 business segments in 2001 to four segments today.”

Will GE Weather the Storm?

Published on July 18, 2008 in Global Strategy and International Business. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , .

General Electric LogoThe pressure to lift the share price is building. But CEO Jeff Immelt’s options are limited. After a historic first-quarter fumble (earnings miss of 7Cents below expectations) GE met targets for Q2 FY2009. But the market didn’t reward GE. The battered stock price rose just 2Cents on the day’s news, to US$27,66. Since the beginning of the year it’s down 25%, compared with a 15% drop in the S&P 500-stock index.

Now, GE’s CEO Immelt is fighting to revive faith in the sprawling US$173 billion conglomerate, even as forces are working against him. The credit crisis and GE’s April 11 earnings miss have put him under tougher scrutiny than at any time in his seven-year tenure as CEO. Investors are questioning the size and complexity of the company, and want him to move faster to shed assets.

Immelt is acutely aware of the pressure, even as he continues to build GE for the long term. He has overhauled the business portfolio, buying US$88 billion of assets in high-tech growth areas like alternative energy and bioscience while dumping more than US$55 billion of less attractive plays such as GE Plastics. With respect to the need for a better diversified income ratio. Immelt says “asset disposals and the boom in infrastructure should bring the ratio back to about 60% industrial and 40% financial by 2010″ (now half the net).

Immelt says he doesn’t plan to change his strategy—other than raising his cost—cutting targets by $1 billion to $3 billion for this year. While he may not like the economic climate, he’s confident that the shares will ultimately reward solid execution. In the meantime, he’s doing what he can to help GE thrive. “Everybody would like to see the stock price higher,” he says, “me at the front of the list.

* Slideshow: GE’s Generals (Overview of General Electric’s five legendary CEO’s over the past 50 years.)
* Slideshow: GE’s Sprawling Empire (Overview of General Electric’s (GE) business segments)

How GE Embraces the Forces of Globalisation

Published on February 19, 2008 in Emerging Markets, Global Strategy and International Business. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of GEIf you are interested in globalisation, you can hardly ignore the experiences of General Electric. Claudia Deutsch has written a fascinating article about the giant company’s journey from scepticism, to facing up to globalisation’s challenges, and now to become a truly global business in all facets.

“They are managing their worldwide organization as a network, not a centralized hub with foreign appendages,” said Christopher Bartlett, a professor at the Harvard Business School who has written several case studies on GE.

“Everyone talks about outsourcing manufacturing, but it is the high-level R&D jobs that are the great marketing tools, and I’m a salesman, remember. I know that you don’t get to sell things for long unless you are part of the culture into which you are selling.” Immelt said.

For example, GE Healthcare unit has already moved its headquarters to the London area, and another may follow soon. London, it turns out, is a better hub for global operations than Connecticut. If the whole company eventually follows, it won’t be the first time a Fortune 500 company has left the United States – and it certainly won’t be the last.