He says he’s not changing the plan set by JF...just going to be more aggressive in implementation. I suppose that means we will just fail faster. His 1st message as CEO is less than inspiring.
22 replies (most recent on top)
Poland is in Europe, google it. Why do you need steam R&D for if it's for sale. Blame leaders, not workers. Although I agree that PS in Baden is a mistake.
Culp best get his a$$ over to Switzerland and figure out why GE Power services are there? The low tax rate of sub 16% is not the reason to be there. The European culture of entitlement and ridiculous low total working hours as compared to Asian an North America are reason to get the hell out of there. Alstom is a disaster! Bring back steam R&D to US in Schenectady and hire back the great resources that left and went to competitors. The outsourcing to Poland and Europe is mess.
To all the people who did drink the Kool-Aid (and were a--holes about it, lets be honest, theres a lot of your dbags), I'll buy you some powdered Kool-Aid to sniff when you sit on your couch after layoffs.
SDY will be a service shop. GVL will stay open in some capacity. Alstom needs to get sold off... but buyers are lining up for pennies on the dollar for facilities and the govt wont approve the sales... thats why Flannery was dragging his feet. GE will not look the same, and it shouldnt. The people at the bottom work their a-- off while a bunch of upper levels are unattached and middle management is clueless and only there because they were part of the good ole boys club and didnt have enough initiative to leave or in some cases, had strong people in their corner (drinking buddies) to keep them from getting fired. I hope Culp clears the lot. GE is now controlled by Trian. And at least Culp is a proven competent business man, enough so that he teaches at Harvard despite his other ventures. Looking forward to reading how he turned GE>Trian around in an article that Harvard will publish in a few years.No mentions of individual employee interests, Alstom, the EU, long standing traditions or unions will be in there, guarantee you that. Hopefully the smart ones of you will realize that you cant daydream thru the nightmare that has become working at GE forever.
It's bad for all. All will be be given a new, smaller purpose. There will be no growing.
Flannery was fired because he failed to see the forest for the trees. He represents the disconnected leadership that rakes in $Millions from the sweat and sacrifices of the floor level employees. He was not fired because of the slow pace of layoffs and cost reduction. Flannery was fired because he failed to see the $Billions and $Billions in write down from the Power Division. Stokes is next. Stokes only remains today to allow Culp to select the new leadership for Power. The new Power leader will restructure like Power has never seen before. Layoffs will be massive. France will close because the new leaders have to show strength against the French government. Old leaders caused the mess with France. Culp is about to start mopping the mess. The algorithm will be the same as always with GE, lay-off as many employees as possible. GE has the mentality that everybody is replaceable and if needed in the future, they will simply hire new people. GE leaders have no loyalty and appreciation for the sweat and sacrifice we have made for many years. Too disconnected to understand or care.
@1buw That's exactly what he did at Danaher. It's now too late to save GE.
SCHY could be moth-balled, IMO. No one wants to be there, and GE can’t attract talent to that god-awful town. Greenville is a VERY nice place to raise a family.
If Culp wants to actually save GE, he’ll move all mfg to SC and consolidate engineering for all “Energy” businesses there too (steam, gas, renewables), cut all legacy Alstom businesses and employees loose, trim about 3/4 of the e-bands, eliminate the dividend, eliminate bonuses top to bottom, issue more shares to fix the balance sheet, and COME CLEAN on the Immelt years with some external audits and transparency.
Honestly, I'm not sure if this is good for Schenectady and bad for Greenville, or bad for Schenectady and good for Greenville. The reality is probably going to be somewhere in the middle. Who knows??
Eerily quiet in Greenville today. Have not seen or heard from an E-band all day. Either they are (1) petrified and working on their resumes or (2) planning the imminent cuts.
Any of you excited about the change should realize if you are a GE Employee with a Pension you are about to be screwed. If you are an employee in Power or a biz getting sold off like Healthcare or Oil and Gas you are about to be screwed.
The excitement over an outsider is ridiculous as the lower you are on the food chain the worse it will be. It is about as smart as chearing for your own execution. At least John was trying to consider Employees and Reiteees not just Shareholders which is what got him fired for going slower. Culp will now not just pillage the Execs but they Employees and Retirees and only do what benefits the Wall Street Fat Cats.
The Kool-Aid aholics are shaking in their shoes with fear now that an outsider has taken control of GE. This is awesome!!! The first action Culp needs to do is destroy the Crotonville culture and buddy system firmly established throughout GE. Pseudo-intellectuals need to get their resume ready. Just know your resume is about as useful as used toilet paper. Don’t be too afraid, a real job will be good for you.
Legacy Alstom will likely be decimated. It’s already in pieces with potential buyers lined up. Segments that can’t be sold will be shut down, and employees let go. Expats in Alstom locations will be returning to the US. All that won’t be a drop in the bucket though. Expect major facility consolidations in the US (SCHY), and yet another major layoff in engineering. This is a death spiral, and Culp is simply here to get the investors as much of their cash as is possible before the lights go out.
He's basically an outsider so unlike the others, he has no loyalties to any aspects of GE. He'll do what needs to be done without any emotional connection to the decision. Hopefully the pain will be quick but it will probably be severe! Brace for impact!!!
JF resisted pension freeze / cuts ... perhaps because of his long association with the company and knowledge of individual stories of pension reliance .
Culp will have a much freer hand .... start thinking about retirement with a partial pension than what your benefits projection shows today.
I was thrilled to hear that GE brought in an outsider. It was long overdue. The groupthink has been strangling us. Culp may be new to GE, but he will turn stock around. Im interested to see how the Alstom deal really affects "the plan". We are at the mercy of the EU and the only way out of it in the foreseeable future is a (fire) sale. If youve been holding on waiting for a turnaround, white knucking it wont get everyone through. The GE you knew wont be around much longer. Lets hope they lose the dead weight padding themselves in middle management.
Just take a look at what he did to Danaher's manufacturing operations. Ever hear of Matco Tools? He sold them off to Bain Capital for a quick buck, along with the rest of Danaher's part of Apex Tool Group. Now Danaher is but a shadow of what it once was, but at least the shareholders were satisfied.
Expect the same approach at GE. Power is going to face a bloodbath, unfortunately. If you work in that business, you should have already gotten out by now, on your terms. These cuts are unlikely to come at a good time for you now.
You should all be worried. He does not have interests of employees in mind. Finance guy coming to make deals. They don't like making things - too costly.
Good news/bad news, as an outsider he will not be emotionally tied to some of the businesses or traditions. However, I worry that the pension fix is now at risk and for some of us that is critical.
Has Culp not even been to Crotonville? He cannot be a leader unless he goes through that horse manure!!!! Yes, this is a sarcastic post about our dumb GE Crotonville inspired culture.
Everyone knows JF had the right plan, to break up GE. Being a GE manager, he had a hard time making decisions without someone telling him what to do. Culp won't have that problem. He wasn't trained by the coven to be a leader. He is a leader.
He is Wall Street’s man not Main Street or even a GE Manager. He is here to slash and burn and get the Big Wall Street Investors their money back. Look forward to him doing things in their interests and not in the long term interests of average shareholders, employees or pensioners.