Marketing management Exercises finding ways to involve the Web in their jobs. The company developed an online network to monitor its manufacturing practices, put its human resources reviews online, and established 24/7 service center for its plants. Welch sees GE as well-positioned to take advantage of the Internet, because he thinks content is the easy part of e-commerce while "infrastructure is the hard part, and we have the infrastructure to capitalize on. (fn McGinn, Daniel, " Jack Welch Goe Surfing, "Newsweek, Dec 25, 2000.) In the 20 years Jack Welch was at GEs helm, the company prospered tremendously. GE stock rose 3,098 percent between April 1981 and February 2001, compared with 896 percent growth for the S&P 500 during that same period. Once Welch named his successor -Jeffrey Immelt head of GEs medical imaging business -in November 2000, analysts wondered what effect the change would have on the company Immelt, like Welch, has professed a dedication to the Internet. He describes it as"a transformational technology that is right in our sweet spot. (fn Useem, Jerry, Meet 'Da Man, Fortune, Jan 8, 2001. )What remains to be seen, though, is whether Immelt will conduct ge through a period of prosperity the way Welch has 1. Marketing would appear to be an important part of what Welch did with GE. Where and how did Welch apply some of the marketing concepts discussed in the text? 2. If Welch returned to the company following the events of late 2001 and 2002 (September 11, 2001 and the Enron debacle), what changes do you think he might make in the GE marketing strategyMarketing Management Exercises 5 finding ways to involve the Web in their jobs. The company developed an online network to monitor its manufacturing practices, put its human resources reviews online, and established a 24/7 service center for its plants. Welch sees GE as well-positioned to take advantage of the Internet, because he thinks content is the easy part of e-commerce while “infrastructure is the hard part, and we have the infrastructure to capitalize on.” (fn McGinn, Daniel, “Jack Welch Goes Surfing,” Newsweek, Dec 25, 2000.) In the 20 years Jack Welch was at GE’s helm, the company prospered tremendously. GE stock rose 3,098 percent between April 1981 and February 2001, compared with 896 percent growth for the S&P 500 during that same period. Once Welch named his successor – Jeffrey Immelt, head of GE’s medical imaging business – in November 2000, analysts wondered what effect the change would have on the company. Immelt, like Welch, has professed a dedication to the Internet. He describes it as “a transformational technology that is right in our sweet spot.” (fn Useem, Jerry, “Meet ‘Da Man,” Fortune, Jan 8, 2001. )What remains to be seen, though, is whether Immelt will conduct GE through a period of prosperity the way Welch has. 1. Marketing would appear to be an important part of what Welch did with GE. Where and how did Welch apply some of the marketing concepts discussed in the text? 2. If Welch returned to the company following the events of late 2001 and 2002 (September 11, 2001 and the Enron debacle), what changes do you think he might make in the GE marketing strategy?