Many companies that stray too far from their core business fail. So how is it that General Electric, a major electrical manufacturing company, ended up as one of the top U.S. chemical producers—with 1998 sales of $6.6 billion? In Unlikely Victory, Jerome T. Coe, a retired 40-year career employee with General Electric, who spent more than 20 years as a manager of the company’s chemical businesses, suggests that it was a combination of necessity, forward-thinking of the engineers, and managers wise enough to give them breathing room. “Much of what they did (then) was counter to the prevailing GE culture,” he writes. “Today, it has become the corporate culture.” The book tells the whole story of this successful business model, from the early years of GE chemistry through the company’s successes with silicones, synthetic diamond, Lexan polycarbonate plastic, and other high-performance thermoplastics. It also profiles four scientists and five managers—including former CEO John F. Welch, Jr., a chemical engineer and a product of the GE plastic business—who made a significant difference in the company’s chemical success. The book is amply illustrated with photographs of the people, products, and plants that contributed to one of America’s most unusual corporate success stories.
By:
Jerome T. Coe
Imprint: Wiley-AIChE
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 236mm,
Width: 160mm,
Spine: 18mm
Weight: 445g
ISBN: 9780816908196
ISBN 10: 0816908192
Pages: 219
Publication Date: 01 September 2000
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Preface v Acknowledgments ix 1. What's General Electric Doing in the Chemical Business? 1 2. Early Years of GE Chemistry 1900 - 1948 9 Electrical Insulation; Silicones; GE Forms a Chemical Division 3. GE Silicones: 1940 - 1964 27 Forms Shaky Start to Successful Business 4. Loctite 45 An Invention that Got Away 5. Synthetic Diamond 49 GE Break-Through Caps Two Centuries of Research 6. Lexan Polycarbonate: 1953 - 1968 69 The ""Unbreakable"" Thermoplastic 7. Noryl Thermoplastic: 1956 - 1968 83 Victory Snatched from Jaws of Defeat 8. GE Engineering Plastics: 1968 - 1987 91 Headlong Growth to World Leadership 9. Growth by Means of a Major Acquisition: 1988 - 1991 113 ABS Plastics Up for Bid; A New Polycarbonate Process 10. Laminates and Insulating Materials 123 GE Core-businesses Decline in Importance 11. GE Silicones: 1965 - 1998 139 Sealants Leadership; Word Participation 12. GE Engineering Plastics: 1992 - 1998 139 After Recession, Growth Resumes 13. People Make the Difference 159 Four Scientist: Eugene G. Rochow, H. Tracy Hill and the GE Diamond Research Team, Daniel W. Fox, Allan S. Hay. Five Managers: Abraham L. Marshall, Charles E. Reed, John F. Wells, Jr., Glen H. Hiner, Gary L. Rogers 14. Summation 178 How Big an Achievement? How Attained? Nine Strategies Glossary 195 A. Thermoplastic Polymers, Compounds, and Blends 195 B. Trade-names, Companies, and Chemical Terms 196 C. GE Organization Notes 199 Chapter References 201 Names Index 211 Subject Index 215
Jerome T. Coe is the author of Unlikely Victory: How General Electric Succeeded in the Chemical Industry, published by Wiley.
