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Harvard Business Review Board Member's Handbook
book

Harvard Business Review Board Member's Handbook

by Dennis Carey, Michael Useem, Maggie Wilderotter
October 2026
288 pages
6h 32m
English
Harvard Business Review Press
Content preview from Harvard Business Review Board Member's Handbook

8. How to Set the Right Strategy

When General Electric’s long-serving chief executive Jeff Immelt stepped down in 2017, the iconic manufacturer was struggling with financial and operational challenges, including underperforming businesses, rising debt, and a declining stock price. To reverse the downward spiral, the governing board chose a long-serving insider, John Flannery, who ran its health care unit, to lead the company out of its problems.1

Flannery had a sensible plan. He decided that the company’s future lay in three core businesses—aviation, health care, and power—and he sought to reduce their debt and improve their operations. He also planned to sell off noncore businesses such as lighting and transportation.

Over the next year, ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781647827588