TWO NEW EDITIONS OF THE SECRET TO GE's SUCCESS. McGraw Hill USA will provide an ON-DEMAND, paperback copy of the book. It can be obtained on their site or AMAZON.
TATA- McGraw Hill is publishing an ENGLISH language version of the book for the INDIAN market.
In addition the book is now in SPANISH, JAPANESE, SIMPLIFIED CHINESE, KOREAN and INDONESIAN. A KINDLE edition is also available on the AMAZON site.

Overall, the book has been well received and has had many strong reviews. Bill intends to continually update the book by describing what Immelt and GE has done in the past nine years and how it relates to the company's past successes and failures.

This is the latest review by Robert Morris:
LATIN: The Critically Important Acronym,

No doubt for reasons of convenience, most (if not all) of the most important information about GE is summarized within a series of acronyms. For example, with regard to GE's "4 E's (+P) of Leadership," Jack Welch explained that the four Es represent positive Energy, the ability to Energize others, having an Edge (i.e. the courage to make tough yes-or-no decisions) and Execution (the ability to get the job done). What about P? "Passion!"

The subtitle to William E. Rothschild's brilliant book refers to another acronym, LATIN, that reveals "the secret to GE's success": Leadership as well as Adaptability, Talent, Influence, and Networks.

As Rothschild explains, his material covers GE's successes and failures since 1892 when it was established in New York, the result of a merger of of the Thomson-Houston Company and the Edison General Electric Company. Charles Coffin was GE's first president and Edison, who left the company two years later, initially served as a director. Rothschild describes the five success factors in each stage and provides "an objective assessment of what was done in each realm - both positive and negative."

The material is carefully organized within four sections, each of which covers a specific period throughout GE's history: Part I "Living Better Electrically": 1879-1939 (Chapters 1-4) Part II "Diversification and Decentralization": 1940-1970 (Chapters 5-9) Part III "Portfolio Leadership": 1971-2001 (Chapters 10-13) Part IV: "Back to the Future": 2001-Present (Chapters 14-16) When reading Rothschild's book, it soon becomes obvious that those who led GE determined its priorities and objectives in each of the stages of its development.

For example, Edison's focus was on identifying real problems, finding solutions and commercial applications for them, insisting that everything be patented and copyrighted;
Coffin and Edwin Rice (1892-1921) ensured the success of the merger with a commitment to participative and consultative leadership, and willingly shared authority with associates;
Gerard Swope and then Owen Young (1922-1939) took that commitment "to a higher level by creating ways for managers and employees to contribute to the company's strategies and policies;
Charles Wilson and Philip Reed (1940-1950) were transitional leaders and Wilson "understood the old GE perfectly" but lacked the experience and the temperament to lead "the significantly charged company" after World War Two and voluntarily stepped won;
Ralph Cordiner and Reed (1950-1963) spearheaded GE's decentralized growth with "a new and relatively unproven way," management by objectives (MBO); Fred Borch (1963-1972) continued decentralized management and, when realizing that he had attempted to do too much ("GE can do anything it wants to."), "instituted a radical change in GE, enabling it for the first time to exit or prune products or even entire businesses"; lacking a co-leader following the premature death of his mentor,
"Flip" Philippe, Reginald Jones(1972-1981) created a new "chairman's office," assumed the titles of chairman and CEO, and surrounded himself with those who had diverse personalities and leadership styles;
Jack Welch (1981-2001) accepted Jones's suggestion that he "blow up GE" (i.e. eliminate everyone and everything that did not add substantial value to the company) and did so - in Rothschild's words -- as a "contentious, demanding, celebrity CEO, a surgeon leader," [who was his]own intelligence network"; and finally,
Jeff Immelt (2001-Present) who is more diplomatic "but still tough" and considers people selection and their development especially high priorities as he leads GE through what continues to be a troubled global economy.

By the way, those who have a special interest in GE's current CEO are urged to check out David Magee's recently published book, Jeff Immelt the New GE Way.

Rothschild devotes equal attention to each of the other four success factors (i.e. Adaptability, Talent, Influence, and Networks) during each of the four eras. Readers will also appreciate his skillful use of various devices that cluster key points.

Briefly annotated checklists, for example, such as these: Common characteristics of all GE training programs (Pages 32 and 112), special benefits offered to electric utilities companies to ensure their growth and profitability (Page 92), GE's four-step process to recognize business opportunities (Pages 176-177), the steps Welch took to implement Six Sigma at GE (Page 214), how various CEOs successfully completed major change initiatives (Page 265), and finally, "some GE surprises and what the company did in response" (Pages 269-270).

Other reader-friendly devices include boxed "Exhibits" that also cluster key points such as those that summarize the five ingredients for success for each of the four eras: "Living Better Electrically" (Edison through Swope and Young), Diversification and Decentralization (Wilson...Borch), Portfolio Leadership (Borch...Welch), and "Back to the Future" Strategy (Immelt). Rothschild also provides a "Highlights" section to introduce each of the four Parts and a "Takeaways" section at the conclusion of most chapters.

When concluding his book, William Rothschild acknowledges, "The GE Way doesn't always work consistently at GE; it can't possibly work for any other co many that attempts to embrace it indiscriminately." Rather, he urges those in other companies to "adapt, rather than adopt, the GE approach" that he so brilliantly examines in this book.