On the topic of General Electric and to keep this railroad related. Here is one of my fond stories. GE was known to treat it's customers really well under Jack Welch. So much so my Mother called them "Generous Electric". So in one of his last jobs my Father was in the Injection Molding Plastic Business in SE Wisconsin, his company bought a lot of plastic from GE of all the various types including Lexan for his plants injection molding machines. I often asked why he did not ship the plastic by rail hopper cars as his plant was right next to the Milwaukee Road Twin Cities Mainline. His stated reason was they did not use any plastic grade in sufficient enough quantity to do it by Hopper Car. So they trucked it in and man they used at least 50-75 tons a week but he was right it was all different grades and types. Some of it was dyed and I remember Milwaukee Electric Tool was a white plastic in which you had to add a red powder dye and then the mixture had to be dried to produce the Milwaukee Electric red handles on their tools. Anyways, because he was such a large consumer of GE Plastics they would send him and my Mother on these annual trips to exotic places each year along with his salesperson. Mexico, Bermuda, etc. Usually about 1 week and all expenses paid by GE.
Well I found out that the GE Salesperson was a next door neighbor to none other than Larry Cena, CEO or former CEO of the Santa Fe Railroad in Naperville, IL. I was just a young kid back then but I asked the GE Sales guy a favor. And he said sure whats up. "Can you ask Larry Cena why he stopped running the Super Chief Passenger Train". So the GE guy looked kind of confused and said sure I'll ask him next time I see him when I get back.
So the next time I saw the GE sales guy I asked about the question and he was hesitant and responded. "OK, no more Super Chief questions, Larry did not like that question at all and got upset." Now before anyone takes pot shots I was just a teenager back then so I really didn't know any better. Apparently and according to the GE sales guy, Larry Cena started into a rant about how he had nothing to do personally with pulling the train............then went into a point by point explanation which the GE sales guy forgot most of the conversation after that. GE sales guy wasn't happy he asked a question that got his neighbor upset though. So my Dad patched that part up with a few drinks at the bar.
And one of his protoges brought Boeing to new heights and lows.
Gotta give credit where credit is due, I'll give him that.
How good GE locomotives are compared to EMD's I'll leave to the professionals who use 'em to discuss.
Among the things Welch was responsible for was taking a joke of a locomotive factory and turning it into a major American producer of reasonable high-horsepower locomotives.
People do respect honesty. They may not like it, but they dislike being BS'd even more.
A new CEO came into the company I used to work for, a real "rah-rah" company type, or so he seemed. Long story short all the cuts and efficiencies he made were nothing more than a ploy to make the company an attractive purchase for anyone else. We pretty much guessed what was going on, people aren't stupid.
The day came, the company was purchased, he took his "Golden Parachute" and moved on. "Rah-rah" company indeed.
Regarding 100 years, upon purchasing BNSF, Warren Buffet told Matt Rose that he wanted Matt to manage the company like he was going to run it for 100 years. I don't know the exact words but I do recall Matt Rose saying some version of that in an interview in a magazine such as Railway Age. The main point Matt Rose was making is that Warren Buffett was telling him he wanted him to manage the company for the long term and not the next quarter.
Welch's way of operating was brutally honest. What the railroad industry is doing in the name of PSR is disingenous.
(*) Boss Hen worked for a company taken over by GE Capital. Welch stepped-in, up front said they had no intention of keeping the company, fixed the defective management culture, de-horned the arrogant/ crooked union and set the company right. Then sold the company as promised. BH did not like Welch, but could respect a Welch or a Buffet. As for some of the other Wall Street trash like Kluge....
Just the most recent one chutton01. What my old boss said was so profound that from the day I heard it over 20 years ago I never forgot it.
Evertime I hear of some corporate "genius" applying the Welch method for various reasons it pops into my head.
Flintlock76"He's no genius, anyone can do that! The question is, what is he doing to grow the business? I'll tell you, nothing! How's that sustainable in the long term?"
Interestingly, Jack Welch just passed away at the beginning of this month - did that prompt your recollection of that 'no genius' quote?
Anyone who has followed GE for any length of time understands the unravelling of GE is largely attribuitable to Welch. The long term care insurance schemes he created in the 90's were the ticking time bombs thar played a deciding role in undoing GE. Added to the ham-fisted antics of Jeff Immelt, it was something no company could survive. Epitaph: unbridled ambition and self-deceit destroy. Sound familiar?
Paul_D_North_Jr From one of the comments: "Warren Buffet's decision to own and manage BNSF for the next 100 years."- PDN.
From one of the comments:
"Warren Buffet's decision to own and manage BNSF for the next 100 years."- PDN.
100 years? Uh, isn't that a bit optimistic on Warren's part? Does he really expect to live that long?
99 years I can see. That's sounds more reasonable.
Seriously though, on the subject of Jack Welch. An old boss of mine, a sharp businessman himself, was no fan of Welch. As he put it...
"So Jack Welch lays off two thirds of his workforce and works the remainder three times as hard, drives up the stock price, and everyone thinks he's a genius!"
"He's no genius, anyone can do that! The question is, what is he doing to grow the business? I'll tell you, nothing! How's that sustainable in the long term?"
Aviation writer writes against practice of efforts boosting stock prices over all other considerations. Mentions Berkshire as an example. This a shot across the bow against PSR.
https://aviationweek.com/aerospace/manufacturing-supply-chain/opinion-rethinking-shareholders-first?utm_rid=CPEN1000000511129&utm_campaign=23435&utm_medium=email&elq2=48743b6bd2f74e8d878515efab758b5f
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