The imperatives of sustainable development - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss aboutThe imperatives of sustainable development. Answer: Introduction About the company General Electric or popularly known as GE is a multinational conglomerate corporation that was established in the year 1892. Over the years of operation the company has gained goodwill and reputation from the stakeholders. The products and services that are offered by the company are varied including some of the sectors like: energy supply, aircraft engines, power generation, and oil and gas production equipment to medical imaging, financing and industrial products. The customers of the organization are as widespread as 180 countries. The company has been awarded as the fourth largest international company by Forbes in the year 2012 (Bolman and Deal 2017). The industries that the company operates in are: healthcare, electronics, transportation, aviation, power and also capital. The company has shed the mantel of the traditional business model and has recently adopted the model of triple bottom line, which has enabled the company develop a sustainable business model (Ge.com 2017). Mission and vision The company encourages innovation as the tagline reads imagination at work. The vision of the company is to offer the consumers with product and services that ensures integrity and compliance. The company works on the motto of the best elements of speed, scale and flexibility as stated by former chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt. Core competencies of the organisation The organisation incorporates the strategies that are most pertinent to the immediate future and growth of the organisation The organisation has been successful in adapting to the dynamics of the industry and the market that it operates in The leaders and the human resource of the organisation are one of the major competencies of the organisation Traditions and legacies in the organisation are still carried forward Competition Owing to the various business portfolio of the organisation, the competition of the company is also distributed. Siemens is regarded as one of the biggest competitors of the organisation. Changes redirected by Jeff Immelt Under the leadership of Jeff Immelt the organisation has flourished to achieve new heights. Since 2001 Jeffrey R. Immelt has served as the chairman and CEO of general electronics. Integrity and creativity has always been the undertone of the business and leadership styles that is encouraged by General Electric. These operations of the company are handled by the leaders and managers present in the business who are regarded to be one of worlds best leaders. Chief Executive Officer, General Manager, General Council, and Vice President form the management structure of the company. According to Jeff Immelt, general electric is a connected industrial company. Jeff Immelt redirected the ways of the company by following the dynamic of the business environment. Before being the chairman and CEO of the company Jeff was heading the GE Appliances, GE Plastics, and GE Medical Systems. He gained goodwill and earned good reputation for the company by focusing on customer services and development of innovative and new technologies. The strategy that has been implemented by Immelt is a combination of innovation, increased productivity and customer service (Hill et al. 2014). One of the main features that are observed in the leadership style of Jeff is motivation of the employees. He closely worked with the employee and worked hard to understand the challenges and grievances faced by him. He had a friendlier approach towards leadership. His style of leadership can be defined as a transactional and transformational leadership. He believes that the employees are the backbone of the organization and the management has to work with the staff and not ahead of the staff. With the help of motivational tactics he used a lot of effort to understand and help the employees to develop commitment towards the company. As the approach of leadership of Immelt is very different form the CEO and chairman before him, he quickly gained popularity among the employees of GE. He has been described as the man-of-the-people as he has the ability to understand and think from the perspective of the person (Mihalache et al. 2014). This has made him approachable for a person who is i n the highest management to a person working on the ground level. In order to maintain the stability in the new millennium the varied portfolio of businesses of GE was regarded as a way to stabilize the business cycle. Immelt has highlighted the merits of a portfolio of businesses which curved the instability of individual businesses. In other words the diverse portfolio helped in filling for the gaps of the businesses that was in trouble (Bolman and Deal 2017). He promoted diversity and emphasized the importance, in the annual report of 2014. Healthcare, under his guidance received a major product development and geographical expansion. Energy is the oldest portfolio in the business and one of the major changes that have taken place in this segment under the leadership of Immelt was alternative energy. There were also significant changes in the broadcasting and communication department along with development in the technological infrastructure (Eden and Ackermann 2013). Alignment of the strategies with the requirements of the 21st century business environment Here is a list of requirements that are required in the 21st century business environment: Political: As a multinational conglomerate the leaders of the organisation has to keep up with the different political background of the countries. The company has to follow up with the rules and regulations of the country to ensure smooth operation of business. Economic: there are several developing economies that have opportunities for the company. The company has distribution but the operations can also be expanded in several region depending on the. Society: Acceptance of the business portfolio of the company in the society is important. The company should understand the requirement and the behavior of the consumer in order to grow and expand in the future. The importance of the consumer feedback and need has increased in the 21st century as Technology: Technological development has taken place in leaps and bounces in the 21st century and as discussed one of the core competencies of the organisation is adaptation to the changes the organisation has adapted to changes in various departments especially in customer care services. The leadership style that has been analyzed is transformational and transactional which is a change from the former style of being authoritative. The strategies that are taken by the company are more sustainable in nature and are more consumers centric. Integrated solutions to customer issues are being developed by the company is another strategy that is applied by the company. Immelt has always emphasized the focus of the product or services towards consumers. Customer service development, the importance of spending time with customers, developing a healthy relationship with the customers, and working on their grievances are one of the prime concentrate of the company. Creation of value was changed from providing the support as the objective of consumer services. The technological environment in the 21st century of the company has advanced which has enabled the consumers to give direct feedbacks to the services and products almost immediately. Technology has also helped the customers to be connected to the management and marketing team of the company to be able to communicate the problems and grievances as soon as it occurs. Customer service is the prime focus of all top companies of the world, due to globalization companies are open to operate all around the globe and expand their market. Hence the target markets of the companies are also changing depending on the external environment of the country that it is operating (Goetsch and Davis 2014). The changes in the target market are utilized by the company as an opportunity to enhance and expand the potential market in a specific country and in order to do that the company has to be consumer oriented and should think from the perspective of the consumers of the business. And the company is willing to use this change as its advantage in understanding the requirement of the customers, dealing with the issues they are facing in order to create value for the company in terms of goodwill and reputation. Another strategy that has been observed in the case study to be at par with the requirements of the 21st century is innovation and product development. Innovation does not only require investment but it also includes substantial risk, Immelt is known for taking risk in business decision making. As he is a transformational leader he understands the requirements of the changing business environment. The problem that is observed in the organization that the innovation decisions were taken on a medium term or short term basis, which lacks farsightedness and less impact on the future. The innovations is the key to gaining new potential customers and with the changes in time the requirements of the customers also change, hence making the process of new product development essential for any organization. Requirements of the customers should be catered to in order to solve the issue and grievance of the customers as well (Hornstein 2015). Changing the structure of the organization is another strategy that is adopted by Immelt he had made alteration of some of the significant structural changes. Immelt progressively reorganized. Immelt introduced the segmentation of divisions into a smaller number of broad-based sectors. This has helped in understanding the hierarchy and reducing the stress and workload which has improved the communication process. The implementation of the concept of triple bottom line on the management requires a change in the structure as well as this recognizes the people associated with the organization as one of the most important factors. Performance management and leadership development is another strategy that is implemented to deal with the dynamics of the business environment. Previously in the company the attributes that are related to the innovation, enterprise selling, and environmental sustainability were given less importance than factors like cost competence, efficiency, and profitability. The strategies that were implemented by Immelt posed a challenge to GEs metrics-based performance management system that was observed by the company for a long time. He emphasized on skill and aptitude development of the managers so that they can keep up with the changes that are occurring within as well as outside the business. Some of factors of growth aspects that were being focused on are as follows: External focus, imagination and creativity, decisiveness and clear thinking ability, inclusiveness, and deep domain expertise (knowledge of the particular business). The company included performance management and production efficiency theories like lean and six-sigma in practice so as to ensure that a person can offer maximum productivity (Sepahi et al. 2017). As discussed one of the core competencies of the organisation are the leaders and the visionary style of leadership that is incorporated. The changes that are discussed are implemented by the organisation with the help of the core competencies. Changes to implement the strategy Immelt respected the decisions and policies made by his mentor and predecessor and he understood the fact that some of these policies were like a tradition in the company and it was difficult to change such deep rooted values. Some of the organizational change that was imitated in order to implement the new strategies were: Performance management was one of the most important changes that were implemented by Immelt. The CEOs and the higher management of the company were all people promoted internally and this has been the tradition of the company for ages. The management promotion and development method together with its financial and strategic planning systems formed the foundation of GEs performance management. When Jack Welch was the CEO all the performance management was been implemented with the help of quantitative analysis that ensured reliability, Immelt also believed that it was a good way of measurement but what it lacked is the abstract attributes of the people that is also of equal importance. He was a believer of the quantitative measures starting from revenues and internal growth achievements to productivity development decrease in overhead costs and six-sigma quality. Along with these he also included in the performance metrics like innovation, enterprise selling, and environmental sustai nability. This will help the company choose the best people to lead the team in the future. Implementation of strategies such as six sigma and lean production also insures quality in the performance of the productivity. Channelize the resources of the company in strategic communication in order to serve the policies and strategies are important (Shanafelt et al.2015). One of the biggest challenges in this segment is that the company has to ensure that the measurement is transparent and clear or else there are chances of internal conflicts among the staff members. The new strategy of the company included and customer oriented approach, in order to develop a value oriented relationship with the customers so that the company can understand the issues and grievances of the products or services and improve o that field. This included hiring of talented marketing executives and innovate the process of product development and services in order to meet the needs of the customers. Providing customized consumer services is also another strategy that was developed by the company. The grievances and issues faced by the customers cannot be similar and hence the company recognized this as an aspect that needed to be worked upon. The challenge that the company might face form this strategy is that the needs and requirements of the diverse consumer base of GE might be contradictory. It is also difficult to listen to all the issues and make changes. Skill development of the people involved in the customer care service was initiated by the company several departments were set up to deal with the diversified requirement of the customers for example technical services, financial services. Coordination among the sectors of operation is recognized a as one of the best ways of implementation of the new strategies. Training and skill development on focused groups of people so that they can specialize in certain kind of subject and any issues arising in that subject can be tactfully handled by that person. The performance of the employee can be enhanced effectively with the help of such a training program. The organizational changes that were the central idea of Immelt are improving the capability of the company to provide better services to the customers with the help of integrated (Jacobs et al. 2015). Time management is the biggest barrier in this case the company should ensure that the people who are engaged in skill development sho uld be able to manage their time and performance as well as the production will be low while the training is in process. Innovation has always been the aim of the organization and several steps have been taken in order to promote and develop the process of innovation in the company. Several changes in the organization have also been implanted in order to deal with the innovations. Imagination Breakthroughs is an idea that was introduce by Immelt in this concept promising innovative projects were ideated. This concept has the potential to create $100 million in sales over a time period of three-year. Around 100 ideas were identified and the projects were individually approved by Immelt. The funding and investment decisions on these projects were the responsibilities of the higher management as well as Immelt himself this ensured rapid sanction of investment and implementation of operations upon the ideas (Hornstein 2015). There are some major hindrances in an organisation towards innovation, people resist change and hence this is the major issue with any company. Here another issue is that the process o f innovation is restricted to the research and development which restricts the possibilities of other departments. Alternative strategies should GE consider In case the strategies that has been implemented by the organisation or are not in sync with the interest of the shareholders then some of the alternative strategies are discussed below. The shareholders of General Electric have a collective objective of growth and expansion of the company and recently the goal is to keep up with the concept of sustainability. General electric is a company that has a heritage and goodwill associated with the name of the company. The company has a clear brand image in the minds of the people, the diversified portfolio of the company have been a major advantage of the company. The industries that the company operates in are all heavy industries and the advent of a new CEO in the new millennium gave the company internally and externally a fresh make over. The main strategy of GE was to focus on the customer satisfaction and in order to do that several organizational changes were implemented. Alternatively, the company can also channelize the focus of the resources on the sustainability and global ethics as well. General Electric has the potential and strength to set benchmarks and set examples for other companies in the industry to take up the mantle of sustainable development. Sustainable business can be defined as the method that supports a business entity to conserve and preserve the natural resources that are being used by the company to run the operations of the business (Griggs et al. 2013). Development and enhancement of societal equity promotion of the well-being of the people associated with the organization is also one of the key attribute of sustainable development. It also refers to the initiation and support the policy of fair trade. It is the strategic planning and coordination of social and environmental requirements keeping in mind and the concerns to ensure responsible, ethical and ongoing success (Holden et al. 2017). It is not that the company has not been focusing on the sustainable growth but concentrating on consumer increment of values has set this agenda aside. The goodwill of the company can be taken to heights with the help of sustainable strategies and with the help of innovations and creativity the company can come up with ideas that not only focus on generating consumer satisfaction but also do it in a sustainable manner. GE has the potential to change the way an industry look in to a business as a profit making entity to an organization that is responsible for the development of the society where it is operating and for the improvement of the quality of the environment (Griggs et al. 2013). The company can set up individual agendas and guidelines with the help of third party organizations to ensure that every project have a significant sustainable side. The company can further build and renovate the existing projects in such a way that it ensures eco-friendly mechanism. Following the concept and the policy of triple bottom line will ensure growth for the company as well as development in the society and environment. Power generation and energy is the sector which is mostly criticized for being least eco-friendly and sustainable and this is a large opportunity for the company to develop methods and innovation in the industry. Which will not only help the company gain goodwill but will also help other companies in this sector to learn and adopt to the changes. Triple bottom line is a concept that has been widely accepted in the 21st century and the companies worldwide are not only focusing on the traditional business model concept which just focused on development of the company. According to the triple bottom concept the company has to channelize the resources and efforts on the 3Ps: Price, Planet and people. This concept doses not prioritize among the three factors but guides the company to focus on all of these factors (Wheelen and Hunger 2017). Another significant aspect of the sustainable development is adherence to global ethics. As a company as wide spread and as old as GE have certain principles, values and ethics that are followed by the company for ages, but with changing time and the change in the external business environment the company should also change some of the age old values and principles to be at par with the millennial who join the company as resources. The change in the organization in terms of some principles and values will help the employees in terms of motivation and commitment towards the company (Sosik et al. 2014). Conclusion As a multinational company GE has always been a forerunner in various sectors of business operations. GE has been popular for providing world class leader to the global business industry. Jeff Immelt after becoming the CEO successfully led the company through the global financial crisis during 2008. With his visionary leadership and management skills that he has acquired by his mentor and predecessor Jack Welch. 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