Jack Welch
I bought GE after reading Built to Last and Welch’s books — later discovered I couldn’t find the corporate culture he described on GE’s website anymore
👤 Brief Introduction
Jack Welch (1935-2020) was former CEO of General Electric (GE), hailed as one of “the greatest entrepreneurs of the 20th century.” During his tenure (1981-2001), he grew GE’s market capitalization from 400 billion. Author of Jack: Straight from the Gut and Winning. Duan Yongping was deeply influenced by Welch — an important reference for establishing BBK/OPPO’s corporate culture, and also the direct reason he bought GE stock.
💡 Duan Yongping’s Evaluation of Jack Welch
Positive Influence:
- Enlightenment on corporate culture: “During that period, the book that left the deepest impression was the autobiography by GE’s previous CEO, Jack Welch. In that book I saw the powerful role corporate culture plays in building good companies, and I formed an extremely deep impression of GE’s strong corporate culture. Later I also read Welch’s subsequent book Winning, which gave me further understanding of how they built their corporate culture.” (Source: Business Logic Volume, 2010-03-29)
- Model of a clock-builder: Duan Yongping considers Welch a model “clock-builder” in the 造钟人vs报时人 paradigm — he established a mechanism capable of continuously producing excellent CEOs. The fact that over 170 CEOs among the Fortune 500 came from GE is proof.
- Reference material for transmitting corporate culture: “For questions about how to transmit corporate culture, I recommend reading Welch’s Winning.” (Source: Business Logic Volume, 2011-03-26)
Reservations:
- Late-stage strategy backsliding: “I always used to say I’d never seen successful examples of corporate diversification; GE was an exception. Now it looks like even that doesn’t work over time, haha.” (Source: Business Logic Volume, 2018-10)
- GE culture destroyed after Welch left: “One day I visited GE’s corporate homepage and found I couldn’t find at all the description of GE culture that I had read in Jack Welch’s book. Later I discovered the CEO at that time actually had a tendency toward ‘de-Welchification.‘” — This was Duan Yongping’s direct reason for selling GE. (Source: Business Logic Volume, 2018-01-20)
📖 Welch’s Core Impact on Duan Yongping
1. Corporate Culture Is a Company’s Most Important Asset
Welch’s books gave Duan Yongping deep understanding of the power of 企业文化. That GE could continuously produce excellent CEOs over a century wasn’t due to some genius individual but rather a powerful cultural mechanism. This directly influenced how Duan Yongping established corporate culture at BBK/OPPO.
2. Integrity Is the Core of Corporate Culture
“Jack Welch said the most important item in their corporate culture is integrity.” (Source: Business Logic Volume, 2018-09-21) — This aligns perfectly with Duan Yongping’s 本分 philosophy: integrity is not a strategy, it’s a bottom line.
3. Corporate Culture Determines Investment Decisions
Duan Yongping’s final decision to heavily invest in GE wasn’t based on financial data but trust in GE’s corporate culture. “The decisive factor that made me commit heavily was ultimately my understanding of GE’s corporate culture.” (Source: Business Logic Volume, 2010-03-29) — This is the best illustration of the “right people” dimension in 好公司的标准.
4. Selling GE Was Also About Culture
When Duan Yongping couldn’t find Welch’s described corporate culture on GE’s website, he chose to sell. This shows what he had bought was never GE as a company per se, but the type of corporate culture that Welch represented. Once the culture changed, the investment logic no longer held.
❓ Selected Q&A
Q: GE’s Welch is far superior to Apple’s Jobs in terms of clock-building. What do you think?
A: (Duan Yongping agreed and added) Both Collins and I were fooled, otherwise I should have bought Apple a few years ago. (Jobs) is simultaneously an extremely rare time-teller as well.
Source: Business Logic Volume, 2012-09-30
Q: How should corporate culture be transmitted?
A: For questions about how to transmit corporate culture, I recommend reading Welch’s Winning.
Source: Business Logic Volume, 2011-03-26
Q: Why did you sell GE?
A: One day I visited GE’s corporate homepage and found I couldn’t find at all the description of GE culture that I had read in Jack Welch’s book. Later I discovered the CEO at that time actually had a tendency toward ‘de-Welchification,’ plus this company’s business is really too complex, so I sold everything.
Source: Business Logic Volume, 2018-01-20
💬 Excerpts from Original Text
“During that period, the book that left the deepest impression was the autobiography written by GE’s previous CEO, Jack Welch. In that book I saw the powerful role corporate culture plays in building good companies, while forming an extremely deep impression of GE’s strong corporate culture.” (Source: Business Logic Volume, 2010-03-29)
“Jack Welch said the most important item in their corporate culture is integrity. He said many other things about corporate culture too, but later I discovered I couldn’t find any of it on GE’s website.” (Source: Business Logic Volume, 2018-09-21)
“I always used to say I’d never seen successful examples of corporate diversification; GE was an exception. Now it looks like even that doesn’t work over time, haha.” (Source: Business Logic Volume, 2018-10)
“For questions about how to transmit corporate culture, I recommend reading Welch’s Winning.” (Source: Business Logic Volume, 2011-03-26)
📚 Recommended Reading
Welch’s works recommended by Duan Yongping:
- Jack: Straight from the Gut
- Winning
🔗 Related Notes
韦尔奇
我是看着基业长青的书和韦尔奇的书买的GE——后来发现GE网站上找不到他说的企业文化了
👤 人物简介
杰克·韦尔奇（Jack Welch，1935-2020），通用电气（GE）前CEO，被誉为”20世纪最伟大的企业家”之一。他在任期间（1981-2001）将GE市值从140亿美元增长至4000亿美元。著有自传《杰克·韦尔奇自传》和《赢》（Winning）。段永平深受韦尔奇影响，是他建立步步高/OPPO企业文化的重要参考，也是他买入GE股票的直接原因。
💡 段永平对韦尔奇的评价
正面影响：
- 企业文化的启蒙：“在那段时间里给我印象最深的书就是GE的上一个CEO韦尔奇写的自传。在那本书里我看到了企业文化对建立好公司的强大作用，同时对GE强大的企业文化留下了极为深刻的印象。后来又读了韦尔奇后来写的书《赢》，更进一步了解到他们是怎么建立企业文化的。“（来源：商业逻辑篇，2010-03-29）
- 造钟人的典范：段永平认为韦尔奇是造钟人vs报时人中”造钟人”的典范——他建立了一套能持续产生优秀CEO的机制，GE世界500强里有170多个CEO来自GE就是证明。
- 企业文化传递的教材：“企业文化如何传递的问题建议看韦尔奇的《赢》。“（来源：商业逻辑篇，2011-03-26）
保留意见：
- 晚期战略走回头路：“我当时一直都说，从来没见过企业多元化成功的例子，GE是个例外。现在看来，时间长了都不行哈。“（来源：商业逻辑篇，2018-10）
- 韦尔奇离开后GE文化被破坏：“有一天我去GE的公司主页看了一眼，发现根本找不到我在杰克韦尔奇书上看到的他对GE的文化的描述，后来发现当时的CEO居然有’去韦尔奇化’的倾向。“——这是段永平卖出GE的直接原因。（来源：商业逻辑篇，2018-01-20）
📖 韦尔奇对段永平的核心影响
1. 企业文化是公司最重要的资产
韦尔奇的书让段永平深刻理解了企业文化的力量。GE能在百年间持续产生优秀CEO，靠的不是某个天才，而是一套强大的文化机制。这直接影响了段永平在步步高/OPPO建立企业文化的方式。
2. Integrity（诚信）是企业文化的核心
“杰克韦尔奇说他们的企业文化里最重要的一条就是integrity。“（来源：商业逻辑篇，2018-09-21）——这和段永平的本分理念高度一致：诚信不是策略，是底线。
3. 企业文化决定投资决策
段永平买GE，最终拍板的原因不是财务数据，而是对GE企业文化的信任。“最后让我下决心出重手的决定因素还是我对GE企业文化的理解。“（来源：商业逻辑篇，2010-03-29）——这是好公司的标准中”right people”维度的最佳注脚。
4. 卖出GE也是因为文化
当段永平发现GE网站上找不到韦尔奇描述的企业文化时，他选择卖出。这说明他买的从来不是GE这家公司，而是韦尔奇所代表的那种企业文化。文化变了，投资逻辑就不成立了。
❓ 精选问答
问：GE的韦尔奇在造钟方面要远强于苹果的乔布斯，您怎么看？
答：（段永平对此表示认同，并补充）我和科林斯都上当了，不然几年前我就该买苹果了。（乔布斯）同时还是一个极为罕见的报时人。
来源：商业逻辑篇，2012-09-30
问：企业文化如何传递？
答：企业文化如何传递的问题建议看韦尔奇的《赢》。
来源：商业逻辑篇，2011-03-26
问：您为什么卖出GE？
答：有一天我去GE的公司主页看了一眼，发现根本找不到我在杰克韦尔奇书上看到的他对GE的文化的描述，后来发现当时的CEO居然有”去韦尔奇化”的倾向，加上这家公司的生意实在是太复杂，所以我就统统卖了。
来源：商业逻辑篇，2018-01-20
💬 原文摘录
“在那段时间里给我印象最深的书就是GE的上一个CEO韦尔奇写的自传。在那本书里我看到了企业文化对建立好公司的强大作用，同时对GE强大的企业文化留下了极为深刻的印象。“（来源：商业逻辑篇，2010-03-29）
“杰克韦尔奇说他们的企业文化里最重要的一条就是integrity，他还说过不少企业文化的东西，结果后来我发现在GE网站上居然都找不到。“（来源：商业逻辑篇，2018-09-21）
“我当时一直都说，从来没见过企业多元化成功的例子，GE是个例外。现在看来，时间长了都不行哈。“（来源：商业逻辑篇，2018-10）
“企业文化如何传递的问题建议看韦尔奇的《赢》。“（来源：商业逻辑篇，2011-03-26）
📚 推荐书目
段永平推荐的韦尔奇著作：
- 《杰克·韦尔奇自传》（Jack: Straight from the Gut）
- 《赢》（Winning）