由湯瑪斯·愛迪生創立的奇異公司，是一家超過百年的跨國工業公司。該公司在發電設備、航空引擎以及醫療放射性儀器等領域，都是領頭羊的角色。奇異公司的渦輪發電機被廣泛運用在世界各國的火力、水力與核能電廠中，可以說全球能源能夠穩定供應，有大半是仰賴奇異公司在幕後提供保固維修服務。這樣一家動見觀瞻、大到不能倒的巨型企業，卻在 2010 年後開始經歷一連串的營運波折，營運和股價逐步走下坡。《奇異衰敗學》便是整理出橫跨近十年的奇異公司經營高層關鍵策略與背景故事，內容特別著重在前後三任奇異執行長的描寫，以及他們推動的策略與後續成效。
全書讀來有如身歷其境般，讓讀者看到奇異決策者面對營運挑戰時所做的決定。從事後諸葛的角度來看，這些不夠睿智的決策累積下來，便足以讓奇異公司的營運逐步陷入泥沼，直到無力回天，奇異集團被迫拆分、出售旗下事業體以求生存。商場競爭變化莫測，但奇異集團的殞落卻了無新意，踩中了台灣許多公司一樣的地雷—「想賺快錢」。因為大型工業、工程計畫背後需要長期、穩定的資金供給，因此奇異公司早早就成立奇異金融服務公司，因應企業營運的需要。後期更因企業經營得當、手中持有大量現金流，所以進一步融資給外部企業，以獲得利息收益。
自此，金融服務成為奇異集團中的營收與成長動能的新秀與潛力股，一味重視營運成效的執行長與股東們，反而樂見開拓出新的商機。奇異金融的好日子隨著 2008 年次貸風暴發生而結束了。在美國政府開始嚴管捅出大婁子的華爾街時，發現奇異公司在執行金融服務時，根本不符合銀行法規。它以工業集團的角色取得低利資金，轉頭再以向市場發行高利率的短期商業本票，藉此賺進利差。這些近乎無本生意的獲利，全數用來變成奇異每年配發高股利給股東的本錢。這些快錢更是日漸腐蝕奇異公司專注於工業產品創新與競爭的迫切感，讓公司安於表面上年年順遂成長的營收。
在奇異金融公司成為眾矢之的，讓營業收益收斂的當下，全球綠色能源產業的浪潮，更打擊了長期穩定獲利的發電機部門。加上中國工業、發電產業的日益成長，逐漸進入中低階市場成為競爭對手，奇異集團的營運便進入迷航階段。在當時執行長想力保企業名聲，堅持發出高股利的命令下，奇異做出一連串進退失據的決策，終究讓這個幾乎等於美國夢的工業巨人，走向黯淡無光的局面。在 AI 時代，穩定的電力供應等於國力的延伸，因此奇異公司若能回歸企業核心競爭力的發電設備市場，成為主導全球的電力設備供應商，那肯定能再次發出耀眼的光芒。
Founded by Thomas Edison, General Electric (GE) is a multinational industrial company with more than 100 years of history. The company has long been a leading player in fields such as power generation equipment, aircraft engines, and medical imaging equipment. GE's turbine generators are widely used in thermal, hydroelectric, and nuclear power plants around the world. It would not be an exaggeration to say that a large part of the world's stable energy supply depends on the maintenance and warranty services provided by GE behind the scenes. Such a huge company, with a strong reputation and a size that made it almost impossible to fail, began to experience a series of business problems after 2010. Its business performance and stock price gradually went downhill. *The Rise and Fall of General Electric* looks back at the key strategies and stories behind GE's top management over nearly ten years. The book focuses especially on the three CEOs who led GE during this period, the strategies they introduced, and the results that followed.
Reading the book feels almost like being there, watching GE's decision-makers make difficult choices when facing business challenges. Looking back with the benefit of hindsight, these less-than-wise decisions gradually pushed GE's business into deeper trouble. In the end, the company had no way to turn things around and was forced to break up and sell off its businesses in order to survive. Business competition is always unpredictable, but GE's decline was actually nothing new. It fell into the same trap that many Taiwanese companies have faced—the desire to "make quick money." Large industrial and engineering projects require long-term and stable funding. That was why GE established GE Capital early on to support its business operations.
Later, because the company was doing well and had a large amount of cash flow, GE Capital began providing financing to outside companies in order to earn interest income. From that point on, financial services became a new source of revenue and growth for GE. The CEOs and shareholders, who were increasingly focused on business performance, were happy to see this new business opportunity grow.The good days of GE Capital came to an end with the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis. As the U.S. government began to tighten regulations on Wall Street after the financial industry caused such a huge mess, it discovered that GE's financial business did not fully comply with banking regulations. GE used its position as an industrial company to obtain low-cost funding. It then issued high-interest short-term commercial paper to the market and made money from the difference in interest rates. These almost risk-free profits became the money GE used to pay high dividends to its shareholders every year. This easy money gradually weakened GE's sense of urgency when it came to innovation and competition in its core industrial businesses. The company became too comfortable with its seemingly steady year-after-year revenue growth.
As GE Capital became the target of criticism and its profits began to shrink, the global growth of the green energy industry dealt another blow to GE's power generation business, which had long been a stable source of profits. At the same time, China's growing industrial and power generation industries gradually entered the mid- and lower-end markets and became new competitors. GE's business operations then entered a period of confusion and uncertainty. At the time, the CEO wanted to protect GE's reputation and insisted on maintaining high dividend payments. As a result, GE made a series of poor strategic decisions. In the end, this industrial giant, which was almost a symbol of the "American Dream," gradually lost its former glory and entered a dark period. In the age of AI, stable electricity supply has become an extension of national power. Therefore, if GE can return to its core strength in the power equipment market and become a leading global supplier of power equipment, I believe it can shine brightly once again.
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