Conglomerate: The “C” word that Welch hated.Welch far preferred calling GE a “multibusiness.”After all, he insisted, GE is far more than simply a collection of companies. Many of Welch’s most significant decisions, particularly the ones he made in the early 1980s, were designed to change the perception that GE was a conglomerate.
联合大企业（Conglomerate）
这是韦尔奇所厌恨的“C打头的脏字”。韦尔奇远更喜欢把通用电气公司称作“多经企业”。他坚持说，通用电气公司远非是多家企业的简单集合体。韦尔奇最重要的决策、尤其是20世纪80年代初做出的决策都是为了改变通用电气公司是一家联合大企业的这种看法。
For example, his Three Circles strategy, the plan that ensured that all GE businesses would be focused in three areas (see Three Circles Strategy), gave the company a strategic focus and helped dispel the notion that GE was an amalgam of unrelated companies.
例如，他的“三环模式”策略确保通用电气公司所有的企业都集中精力从事三个领域的业务（见词条“三环模式策略”），使公司找到了战略重点，并让通用电气公司只是互不相干的企业的混合物这种观点烟消云散。
After making the structural changes in the hardware phase, Welch moved on to the software phase. In the late 1980s he waged a cultural revolution that set the stage for the high involvement learning culture of the mid- to late 1990s. By releasing the ideas that existed in the minds of all employees, Welch showed that GE was far more than the sum of its parts, helping to put more distance than ever between GE and the “C”word.
在进行了硬件阶段的结构性变革后，韦尔奇继续前进，开始推出软件变革阶段。20世纪80年代晚期，他发动了一场文化革命，为20世纪90年代中期到晚期建设员工高度参与的学习型文化创造了条件。韦尔奇的这些革命解放了所有员工头脑中的创想，他也因此而证实，通用电气公司远不止它的各个部分的总和，使得通用电气公司比任何时候都更远离了这个“C打头的脏字”。
WHY GE IS NOT A CONGLOMERATE
Welch’s vision for the company was to create a single cohesive organization that happened to compete in many markets. He succeeded, shaping a high involvement culture that fostered learning throughout GE’s vast organization. He did it by infusing common themes and ideas into the fabric of GE’s businesses.With GE’s social architecture and operating system, the company created one vision for the company and drove it across all of its units around the world. At the heart of it was a determination to always do things better.
为什么说通用电气公司不是一家联合大企业
韦尔奇的构想是将通用电气公司建设成一家正好同时在许多市场上竞争的单独一家统一的组织。他取得了成功，塑造起了一种员工高度参与的文化，在通用电气公司整个庞大的组织中促进了学习。他完成这一目标的办法，是将共同的主题和创意灌输到通用电气公司各家下属企业中。通用电气公司凭借它的社会结构和运作系统，为自己构想了一幅远景蓝图，并将这幅图景贯彻到它遍及全球各地的单位中。这幅远景蓝图的核心，是它始终把事情做得更好的决心。
THE ROLE OF COMPANYWIDE INITIATIVES IN DISCARDING “CONGLOMERATE” THINKING
The Welch initiatives were a powerful weapon in his war against conglomerate thinking. For example, by instituting his globalization imperative in 1987, Welch provided a clear direction for all of GE. In 1995, when he launched Six Sigma, he made the pursuit of continuous improvement the job of every worker, regardless of business, level, or geography. Welch made it crystal clear that anyone who did not have a “quality mind-set” would not be welcome at GE in the future.
全公司倡导行动在摈弃“联合大企业”观念方面发挥的作用
韦尔奇的倡导行动在他反对联合企业思维的斗争中是一件强大的武器。例如，1987年他推行了全球化运动，为通用电气公司全体员工清晰地指明了方向。1995年他推出了“六西格玛”计划，使每一名员工都把持续改进当做自己的工作任务，无论他们属于什么样的业务、层级或地理范围。韦尔奇十分明确地告诉大家，将来没有“质量观念”的任何人在通用电气公司都不受欢迎。
By the late 1990s there were few doubters left, as GE was widely regarded as one of the best-managed companies in the world.Winning global businesses, and years of double-digit growth, had helped the company turn in one record performance after another.When Welch became CEO, GE’s revenues were $27 billion. In 2000, the company did $129 billion in sales. As a result of Welch’s efforts, few were calling GE a conglomerate any longer.
到20世纪90年代晚期，随着通用电气公司被广泛视作全球管理最好的企业之一，就几乎没有人再对韦尔奇的这些行动表示怀疑了。通用电气公司的全球性企业都获取了胜利，而且多年来连续实现两位数增长，帮助公司的绩效不断刷新纪录。韦尔奇当上首席执行官时，通用电气公司的收益是270亿美元，到2000年，公司仅销售收入就达到1290亿美元。经过韦尔奇的努力，很少人再把通用电气公司称作是联合大企业。
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