Drucker on Marketing: Lessons from the World's Most Influential Business Thinker

Chapter 13Success by Abandonment of Profitable Products

In 1981, Jack Welch began his 20-year tenure as CEO of General Electric and his legend as one of the leading CEOs of the twentieth century. He was also the youngest CEO in GE’s history and the greatest sales and profit increases came under his leadership. When he became CEO, the company’s market value was about $12 billion. When he left, it was worth more than 25 times that figure. According to Welch, two simple questions from Drucker helped propel GE to these amazing accomplishments. The first question was, “If GE wasn’t already in a particular business, would you enter it today?” Then Drucker asked a follow-up question, “If the answer is no, what are you going to do about it?” According ...