GE'S WORK-OUT
General Electric established its Work-Out process in the early 1990s. It continues to be a mainstay in GE's efforts to initiate change. In the interim years, the Work-Out process has also been adopted by such diverse organizations as General Motors, Home Depot, Frito-Lay, L.L. Bean, Sears, IBM, and the World Bank.
The impetus for the Work-Out was the belief by GE's CEO that the company's culture was too bureaucratic and slow to respond to change. He wanted to create a vehicle that would effectively engage and empower GE workers.
Essentially, Work-Out brings together employees and managers from many different functions and levels within an organization for an informal 3-day meeting to discuss and solve problems that have been identified by employees or senior management. Set into small teams, people are encouraged to challenge prevailing assumptions about "the way we have always done things" and develop recommendations for significant improvements in organizational processes. The Work-Out teams then present their recommendations to a senior manager in a public gathering called a Town Meeting.
At the Town Meeting, the manager in charge oversees a discussion about the recommendation and then is required to make a yes-or-no decision on the spot. Only in unusual circumstances can a recommendation be tabled for further study. Recommendations that are accepted are assigned to managers who have volunteered to carry them out. Typically, a recommendation will move from inception to implementation in 90 days or less. The logic behind the Work-Out is to identify problems, stimulate
More recently, GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt has extended the Work-Out concept to build capabilities in anticipating future technologies and engage in long-range planning. GE wants all its managers to be adept at the kind of strategic thinking that most companies entrust only to senior management. For example, GE is offering managers new classes focused on learning how to create new lines of business.
1. What type of change process would you call this? Explain.
This is a planned change process. The company moves away from the norm to make decisions on how the company should run. By calling the town meeting, GE is ending the stand-still of the company's norm and moving towards the new end state. The final decisions are put into effect 90 days from the day they are agreed upon. The upper leadership of the town meetings works as the change agents, overseeing the implementation of the changes.
2. Why should it work?
Lewin's three-step model works for GE on the grounds that it acts as an issue to change the business norm. The town gatherings are helpful for enhancing the workings of the organization. An alternate advantage is that those gatherings require instantaneous choices.
3. What negative consequences do you think might result from this process?
A negative result of GE's work-out methodology is that the choices may not be thoroughly considered as they ought to be, especially when the recommendations and choices are made on the spot in the gathering. Some potential choices may not be thoroughly considered. The administration or whomever is making the decisions may be in rushed into settling on speedy choice, prompting poorly thought out choices.
4. Why do you think new GE CEO Jeff Immelt has revised the Work-Our concept?
The modified work-out idea has been drawn out to evaluate long haul planning of future innovations and issues. When you consider that there is a various data from those taking part in the town gatherings, they are a perfect time to talk about the organization's long term standing.