Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • November 2003 (Revised March 2004)
  • Supplement
  • HBS Case Collection

GE's Talent Machine: The Making of a CEO

By: Christopher A. Bartlett
  • Format:Video
ShareBar

Abstract

CEO Jeff Immelt, ex-CEO Jack Welch, and HR Chief Bill Conaty discuss how GE has made talent development a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Immelt describes GE's deeply embedded philosophy around its people and how it has allowed the company to add value managing as a conglomerate. He elaborates on how the HR process works and describes how he manages it. Welch and Immelt discuss the performance-based Vitality Curve, one of the most controversial elements of the GE system. In addition, Welch, Immelt, and Conaty reflect on the philosophy, management, and effectiveness of GE's total HR system and its future. A revised version of an earlier video.

Keywords

Business Conglomerates; Talent and Talent Management; Human Resources; Business or Company Management; Performance Capacity; Performance Effectiveness; Competitive Advantage; System; Value

Citation

Bartlett, Christopher A. "GE's Talent Machine: The Making of a CEO." Harvard Business School Video Supplement 304-804, November 2003. (Revised March 2004.)
  • Purchase

About The Author

Christopher A. Bartlett

→More Publications

More from the Author

    • March 2020
    • Faculty Research

    Forbidden City: Launching a Craft Beer in China (Brief Case)

    By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Carole Carlson
    • March 2020
    • Faculty Research

    Forbidden City: Launching a Craft Beer in China

    By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Carole Carlson
    • February 2020
    • Faculty Research

    Amanda Tremblay at Citrine Software Solutions Teaching Note (Brief Case)

    By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Paul S. Myers
More from the Author
  • Forbidden City: Launching a Craft Beer in China (Brief Case) By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Carole Carlson
  • Forbidden City: Launching a Craft Beer in China By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Carole Carlson
  • Amanda Tremblay at Citrine Software Solutions Teaching Note (Brief Case) By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Paul S. Myers
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College