The Jack Welch Lexicon of Leadership: Over 250 Terms, Concepts, Strategies & Initiatives of the Legendary Leader [Hardcover]

Jeffrey Krames (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0071381406 | ISBN-13: 978-0071381406 | Publication Date: August 17, 2001 | Edition: 1

A comprehensive guide to the strategies and initiatives of legendary CEO Jack Welch

In his two decades as CEO, Jack Welch's principles, strategies, and tenets transformed GE into one of history's most dynamic and valuable corporations. As a result, executives in all industries are now eager to hear Welch's every pronouncement­­and implement his strategies in their own organizations.

The Jack Welch Lexicon of Leadership is the first alphabetically structured collection to place Welch's career in perspective, and trace the evolution of his key ideas and innovations. Intended to stand on its own as well as complement Welch's eagerly awaited upcoming memoir, this timely book provides readers with analysis and perspective on Six Sigma­­the revolutionary program that "changed the DNA of GE"­­as well as dozens of other Welch concepts and initiatives (including Globalization, Work-Out, the E-Initiative, and others).

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Having studied Jack Welch for nearly two decades and authored four books on him, business journalist Krames argues that Welch should win the prize (if such a prize were offered) for the corporate leader of the century. As the title indicates, this is a compendium of the key elements of Welch's thinking on business, presented in an A-to-Z format. Given General Electric's ability to enter new markets and sustain growth, there is a lot to be learned from Welch. The book, however, does contain a number of flaws. With respect to Welch's philosophy of Six Sigma, key concepts such as root cause analysis, control charts, and Pareto analysis are mistakenly presented as if they are new and developed though Six Sigma. Overall, though, the book provides the most concise and complete rendering of Jack Welch's business initiatives. Recommended for general audiences and business collections. Steven Silkunas, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, Philadelphia
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

As CEO, Jack Welch elevated General Electric to one of the world's most successful corporations. Krames, editor of four previous books on Welch, has compiled an alphabetically arranged compendium of Welch's business philosophy, leadership beliefs, and management tactics. Entries range in length from a good-size paragraph to a full page. From customer satisfaction, to globalization, to the significance of the Internet, to the "Learning Organization," to service initiative, Welch offers wise, pithy, experience-based comments on almost everything concerning today's business world. And this handy book, which can be read from cover to cover or simply dipped into here and there, imparts the essence of what this experienced CEO knows. Brad Hooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (August 17, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071381406
• ISBN-13: 978-0071381406
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #673,508 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dr. Joe Goldblatt, November 28, 2001

By 

Dr. Joe Goldblatt, Dean and Professor (Providence, Rhode Island) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Jack Welch Lexicon of Leadership: Over 250 Terms, Concepts, Strategies & Initiatives of the Legendary Leader (Hardcover)

As Dean and Professor at the Alan Shawn Feinstein Graduate School at Johnson & Wales University I have adopted Mr. krames book as the major theme for our 700 MBA students. The succint, valid, and sophisticated manner in which Mr. Krames transmits Mr. Welch's ideas and philosphies is remarkable. The next best thing to Jack Welch is Jeffrey Krames and this book is the inner psyche of one of the world's greatest business legends. I strongly recommend this book to instructors, business leaders, and managers in every field. It is a one stop shopping trip of the wisdom and intellectual stimulation provided by Jack Welch through his alter ego, Jeffrey Krames. This book should be on the list of every "Great Business Books" series for the world's top business schools and on the shelf of every manager anywhere in the world.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Introduction to Jack Welch Strategies!, September 26, 2001

By 

Scott Schlemmel (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Jack Welch Lexicon of Leadership: Over 250 Terms, Concepts, Strategies & Initiatives of the Legendary Leader (Hardcover)

I have known who Jack Welch is but had never read any books on him. With all of the recent attention regarding Mr. Welch I decided it was time to read about him. But I wanted a book that would focus on his philosophies and strategies.

I found Jeffrey Krames' book to be an exceptional book introducing me to the business philosophies and strategies that Welch has brought into the world. Krames takes the time to clearly explain the concepts from impetus to actual practice and what the results were for GE.

Many of these strategies/philosophies can easily be applied to my position as a software salesperson. I know I will read other material on Mr. Welch, but the Lexicon of Leadership book will be kept in my office as a reference manual!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Convenient Access to "The Welch Way", October 8, 2001

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Jack Welch Lexicon of Leadership: Over 250 Terms, Concepts, Strategies & Initiatives of the Legendary Leader (Hardcover)

Krames makes skillful use of the lexicon format to present the essential concepts, principles, and values by which Welch led GE for more than 20 years. He achieves three goals:

1. "To give readers a guided tour of the language and strategies of all things Welch"

2. "To impart additional insights into Welch's key company initiatives"

3. "To chronicle the evolution of Welch's leadership thinking"

Krames presumably had a difficult choice when selecting a format. He had several options, including alphabetical sequence (items listed A to Z) and chronological narrative (permitting career milestones and cause-and-effect decisions to illustrate business values and principles). Given the wealth of material at Krames's disposal, either format could have been effective but each poses certain challenges. For example, deciding where an especially complicated subject such as "Six Sigma" fits ("C" for Concept? "P" for Process? "Q" for Quality? or "Six" for obvious reasons). Ultimately, the format is merely a convenience for the reader to locate specific subjects.

For me, the book's greatest value is derived from Krames's masterful cross-correlation of specific subjects within their respective historical contexts. He carefully examines several of Welch's key initiatives: turning the GE hierarchy on its head (1989), launching the "employee-driven quality" campaign throughout GE (1995), introducing the product services movement (also 1995), and GE's "e-Initiative" (1999). Each of these and other initiatives had a background and each has since had profound impact, nor only on GE but on its multi-dimemsional global marketplace. Moreover, each of these and other decisions illustrates most (if not all) of what Krames refers to as "recurring Welch themes": command-and-control is not the best way to run a company; involving everyone is the key to enhancing productivity; ideas and intellect rule over hierarchy and tradition; market-leading businesses can ensure long-term growth; finding leaders who live the values is more important than finding those who make the numbers; and finally, developing a learning culture is the key to creating a competitive enterprise.

Those who share my high regard for this book are encouraged to check out Jack: Straight from the Gut (Welch), Get Better or Get Beaten! (Slater and Krames), Jack Welch and the GE Way (Slater), and Business the Jack Welch Way (Crainer).