Comparison and Contrast Between Two Book Chapters

Comparison and Contrast between Two Book Chapters

This paper will compare and contrast the major contributions of Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, and Bill Gates, co-founder and former CEO of Microsoft. I will introduce the two; explain the major contributions each made to the success of his company, any resistance encountered, and any similarities and differences between the two; and conclude by explaining the factors I think impacted their success. The information for this paper is taken from the book, What the Best CEOS Know: 7 Exceptional Leaders and Their Lessons for Transforming Any Business (Krames, 2003).

Introduction of Professionals and Their Contributions

Jack Welch is the former CEO of General Electric (GE). He is credited with creating “more shareholder wealth than virtually any other CEO in history” (Krames, 2003, p. 99). During his tenure he increased the market capitalization of GE from $13 billion to $596 billion. He created a learning organization in which “employees and managers soak up good ideas from everywhere” (Krames, 2003, p. 84). Therefore, a large organization can become entrepreneurial like a small company and everybody becomes curious, challenges existing ways of doing things, has access to information, and can make suggestions without fear.

Bill Gates is the co-founder and former CEO of Microsoft and is now one of the richest people in the world. He created an organization that shares information through a “digital nervous system” (Krames, 2003, p. 160). This type of organization seeks ideas from everybody, allows employees and customers to email the top executive with suggestions, requires all-digital transactions within the corporation and with customers and vendors, and seeks to retrieve any document within 60 seconds (Krames, 2003, p. 169).

Resistance Encountered

Jack Welch encountered substantial resistance to his ideas. He had inherited a bloated, slow growing company with multi-layers of...