Company Research Assignment:

GE/ GE Healthcare By Joseph C. Sherbondy

Corporate Overview

GE is a large publicly owned corporation which combines the business operations of General Electric Company in industrial manufacturing, services, and media business with General Electric Capital Services. Six business divisions constitute the overall structure. Those being GE Commercial Finance, GE Consumer Finance, GE Healthcare, GE Industrial, GE Infrastructure, and NBC universal.

20052004

Revenues ($mil)149,702.00134,481.00

All six divisions saw an increase in revenues with Infrastructure seeing the largest gain with increases in Aviation, Energy, and Transportation. Growth has been slower due to the slow growth of the U.S. economy and the impact particularly on aviation and energy producers. Additionally, GE is in the process of divesting itself of it’s insurance division, resulting in lower profits.

Revenues ($mil)20052004

Infrastructure41,80337,373

Industrial32,36130,722

Healthcare15,15313,456

NBC Universal14,68912,866

Commercial Finance20,64619,524

Consumer Finance19,41615,734

Mixes have been changing with the acquisitions of individual companies within the divisions. Revenue increases in GE Infrastructure division have come from aviation, energy, and transportation. Increases in GE Industrial, which is made up of equipment services, IT services, and raw materials, have come from price increases and slightly higher volumes. Volume increases were a result of the acquisitions of Edward Systems Technology and InVision Technologies, by the securities business. Increases in GE Healthcare, which manufactures medical imaging equipment, came from higher volumes and the acquisition of Amersham, Inc. Increases at NBC Universal were primarily due to the combination of NBC with VUE resulting in higher film revenues, growth in the cable business, growth in television production, and growth in theme parks. Commercial and Consumer finance saw their increased revenues come from organic growth which came from acquisitions in 2004.

GE is made up of 6 Business Units –

  1. GE Commercial Finance
  2. What does the company sell in this division? GE Commercial Finance offers an array of services and products aimed at enabling business worldwide to grow. GE Commercial Finance provides loans, operating leases, financing programs, commercial insurance and reinsurance, and other services.
  3. GE Consumer Finance
  4. What does the company sell in this division? GE Consumer Finance is a leading provider, under the GE Money brand, of credit services to consumers, retailers and auto dealers in countries around the world, offering financial products such as private label credit cards, personal loans, bank cards, auto loans and leases, mortgages, corporate travel and purchasing cards, debt consolidation and home equity loans and credit insurance.
  5. GE Healthcare
  6. What does the company sell in this division? GE Healthcare is a $15 billion unit of GE that provides transformational medical technologies that are shaping a new age of patient care. GE Healthcare's expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, disease research, drug discovery and biopharmaceuticals is dedicated to detecting disease earlier and tailoring treatment for individual patients. GE Healthcare offers a broad range of services to improve productivity in healthcare and enable healthcare providers to better diagnose, treat and manage patients with conditions such as cancer, Alzheimer's and cardiovascular diseases.
  7. GE Industrial
  8. What does the company sell in this division? GE Industrial provides a broad range of products and services throughout the world, including appliances, lighting and industrial products; factory automation systems; plastics, silicones and quartz products; security and sensors technology, and equipment financing, management and operating services.
  9. GE Infrastructure
  10. What does the company sell in this division?
  11. NBC Universal
  12. What does the company sell in this division? NBC Universal is one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global

The division with whom I am interested in interviewing is GE Healthcare. Their US Headquarters is located in Waukegan, WI. Global Headquarters is located in Chalfont St.Giles, UK.

Corporate Strategy

There have been two topics for which GE Healthcare has been in the news recently. The first has been for the Acquisition of Biacore, which manufactures protein analysis systems, which will increase their presence in biomedical and drug research. The second has been an announcement regarding accelerated growth in 2006 in the MEACAT market. GE shows revenue growth in many of its divisions through acquisitions. The position I am interviewing for is in Marketing Research. I will be responsible for assisting in analyzing information about companies who may be of interest for further acquisitions.

“GE Healthcare has agreed to acquire health care information technology firm IDX Systems. A great portion of GE Healthcare's research and development activity is aimed at the early detection and prevention of disease.

In its first partnership with a major pharmaceutical company, GE Healthcare is working with Lilly to develop an early-detection diagnostic test for Alzheimer's disease that would seek out indicators of the disease at a molecular level.

In 2006 GE Healthcare entered into an agreement to acquireBiacore, a Swedish firm complementing GE Healthcare's extant products by manufacturing proprietary technology that enables scientists to see how well proteins bind to each other. In order to allow for the $390 million purchase, 41% shareholderPfizermust agree to divest its stake, a transaction that will take several months to complete.”

Joseph Hogan is the Senior Vice President for GE and the CEO for GE Healthcare. He has been in this position since November, 2000. There have not been any mergers or downsizings in the past two years. Corporate strategy has focused on acquisitions for market positioning.

The current business units in the GE Healthcare division, aside from the new acquisitions listed above, are (as copied from the GE Healthcare web page),

GE Healthcare Primary Business Units

GE Healthcare’s Diagnostic Imaging business helps provide a fast, non-invasive way for doctors to see broken bones, diagnose trauma cases in the ER, view the heart and its function, or identifying the early stages of cancers or brain disorders. With X-ray, digital mammography, Computed Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance (MR) and Molecular Imaging technologies, GE creates industry-leading products that allow clinicians to see inside the human body more clearly than ever before.
GE Healthcare’s Global Services business works with healthcare providers around the world to provide proper maintenance of a wide range of medical systems and devices. From capital planning to asset management to workflow productivity, advanced certified training for medical professionals and even television programming for patients, the Global Services business helps healthcare providers grow and be efficient in the evolving healthcare market worldwide.
GE Healthcare Clinical Systems business provides a wide range of technologies and services for clinicians and healthcare administrators that can help caregivers improve the consistency, quality and efficiency of patient care everywhere. With efforts in ultrasound, ECG, bone densitometry, patient monitoring, incubators and infant warmers, respiratory care, anesthesia management and a wide range of technologies and services for clinicians and healthcare administrators, Clinical Systems enables clinicians to provide better care for millions of patients every day - from wellness screening to advanced diagnostics to life-saving treatment.
GE Healthcare’s Life Sciences delivers breakthroughs in drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing and the latest in cellular technologies, so scientists and specialists around the world discover new ways to predict, diagnose and treat disease earlier. The Life Sciences business also makes systems and equipment for the purification of biopharmaceuticals.
GE Healthcare’s Medical Diagnostics business develops diagnostic imaging pharmaceuticals designed for use with X-ray, Magnetic Resonance Systems and Nuclear cardiology systems, to help physicians in the earlier detection, diagnosis and management of a disease.
GE Healthcare’s Integrated IT Solutions business provides comprehensive clinical & financial information technology solutions including enterprise and departmental Information Technology products, RIS/PACS and CVIS systems, revenue cycle management and practice applications, to help customers streamline healthcare costs and improve the quality of care.
GE Healthcare’s Interventional, Cardiology and Surgery (ICS) business provides tools and technologies for fully integrated cardiac, surgical and interventional care. From cardiac catheterization labs, diagnostic monitoring systems, data management systems to mobile fluoroscopic imaging systems, navigation and 3D visualization instrumentation, GE Healthcare's ICS business is helping to make minimally invasive cardiac and surgical care a reality.

The annual report provides three strategies for corporate growth.

  1. Sustain a strong portfolio of business leadership business that fit together to grow consistently through cycles;
  2. Drive common initiative across the company that accelerate growth, satisfy customers and expand margins; and
  3. Develop people to grow a common culture that is adaptive, ethical, and drives execution.

Career

The position I am seeking with GE Healthcare is in Marketing Research. As a “Direct Hire” position, the first assignment will be to work in operational marketing. This will involve project-oriented assignments with management and mentor support.

[Typical career path]

To the best of my knowledge, from performing a search for Alumni, none could be found who work for GE Healthcare.

Hiring Process

GE Healthcare uses its own internal recruiting process. They focus primarily on NorthwesternUniversity, University of Chicago, University of Wisconsin, and WashingtonUniversity (St. Louis), but are willing to work with potential candidates nation wide. They do recruit via their website. They have not traditionally recruited from MSU. I have not been able to locate any MSU Alumni who currently work for GE Healthcare. The current focus for Marketing interns is in two areas of concentration: Regional Diagnostic Imaging Modality Product Marketing, and Central Marketing (to include Brand Management, Operational Management, and Market Research).

They are seeking an intern with two years of medical or technology experience. Among the requested features of the candidate’s profile, they must have strong analytical, oral, and written communication skills, a good understanding of financial principals, an ability to understand business strategy and organization, and the ability to think strategically and execute tactical plans. I feel that I some of the basic qualifications now to fit this profile now, and the rest with the completion of the first year of classes. I would expect to hear back from the recruiter within two-to-three weeks following the first interview.