Content area
Full text
Lights Out: Pride, Delusion and the Fall of General Electric
by Thomas Gryta and Ted Mann
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
New York, USA
368pp
$28.00
ISBN: 978-0358250418
Review DOI
The longevity and performance of an organization have been subject to many research projects. Conventional wisdom suggests that strategy is the determinant of long-term performance; at the same time, leadership style also influences corporate longevity (Burgelman and Grove, 2007). A number of studies have been conducted on successful, long-lasting organizations, some of which were published in popular literature in the form of bestselling books namely, In Search of Excellence, Built to Last and Good to Great. Governance of the organization has been reported to be an explanatory variable, linked to both longevity and performance – the role of CEO, in particular, has been highlighted who at times may commit to losing ventures, and the flawed judgment can result in steps ranging from earnings decline to the collapse of the company (Toney and Brown, 1997). There have been just a handful of organizations that continued to innovate, develop new business lines and survive over a century, General Electric (GE) being one. With a lineage that goes back to Thomas A. Edison, GE was established in 1892 and then went on to become one of the world's most successful business enterprises. It had the rare distinction of being part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average for over a century since the inception of the index in 1896, the place it continued to occupy till 2018. The legendary organization set benchmarks in operational excellence as well as in developing a leadership pipeline. However, the turn of the 21st century saw its fortune take a turn.
Lights Out is an unbiased and incisive view of the fall from the greatness of one of the most successful business corporations in America. While governance and leadership failure has been evident at GE, it highlights the bigger business perspective of super powerful CEOs overshadowing the board. The tome finds its name on the top of the list “recommended to be read by all leaders” coming from none other than Bill Gates. It addresses the various dimensions of management study related to governance, highlights the role that the board of...