GE has real problems based on the actions of Immelt and the board (I have voted against all of them for the past several years). Digital Industrial is a worthy goal but the business should have shown it could make money at it before announcing to the world that you are counting on it for growth. Additive 3D printing technology is a big factor for the future but it makes no money now and won't for a few years. Why add more oil companies to the portfolio? Clearly a loser as long as fracking is available to drive oil costs lower every time there is a surge in price. Keep focused on renewables. Getting rid of all the Capital businesses greatly reduced the cash flow that keeps the veins filled and heart pumping. Now the industrials have to make up for it and don't know how (hopefully they will learn fast). And what happened to all the $ from the sale of the Capital businesses? Did everything go at a loss? I did not disagree with the reduction but that was an absolutely a huge mistake if so.
I would not begrudge the huge salaries and incentive packages that our corporate officers make if they could drive the company in the right direction. Obviously they did not. I don't know how Immelt can sleep at night knowing what he did to the business at a huge profit for himself. I know many in the executive ranks. There is a feeling of entitlement there that is unhealthy for the business. They don't walk the talk. That has to change.
Hopefully under the leadership of Flannery, the business will make the right moves. He has to be humble and one of the first orders of business has to be addressing the huge corporate overhead. I think Boston was a good step. Not because of being centered in a technology region but more because the move reduced the executive ranks at the top. Need to rid the business of a lot of very expensive dead wood and focus on the areas that are making money. GRC has already been whacked big time and I think Crotonville also needs to be greatly trimmed. Classes there are regarded as a boondoggle. I've been there several times and primarily recall the white house where the alcohol flows freely, not the things we learned in class. The investment allocations are extremely lop sided right now. An excess of the $ available are going to unproven digital and additive technologies and our businesses are getting behind the competition in other areas because they can't invest. This will lead to loss of revenue in the future. Where I work now, revenue is $200M+ per year with consistent year over year growth and op profit of 30%+. This year our investment budget is < $1M. How can you stay ahead of the competition with that kind of investment?
Bottom line is that Flannery has to a lot of hard things to lead the business to solid revenue in order to regain investor confidence. Best of luck to him and I'll be helping in anyway possible. My pension, a good chunk of investments, and my pride in the business count on it.
Really good commentary by @PgOKoD8-2bwy, thought it deserved a thread.