GE And Redefining Equity

Umair Haque Edge Economy RSS Feed

7:53 AM Wednesday December 17, 2008

One of the themes we've been discussing recently is redefining equity. I brought it up as one of the four pillars of building a better economy, and before that as the linchpin of a great rebalancing.

So here's the redefinition of equity in living colour: GE's not going to issue quarterly guidance going forward.

Make no mistake: this is a big deal (and a good move). After all, it was Jack Welch who pioneered the idea of earnings management, fuelling a vicious cycle of myopia. Now, that cycle is being undone.

Re-equitization means more than just more equity relative to debt; it also means a better kind of equity, and better ways to manage it, for the 21st century.

People who read this also read:

* * *
Sign up for the Weekly Hotlist, a weekly email roundup featuring the top posts from HarvardBusiness.org and HBR.org.

Never miss a new post from your favorite blogger again with the HarvardBusiness.org Daily Alert email. The Alert delivers the latest blog posts from HarvardBusiness.org and HBR.org directly to your inbox every morning at 8:00 AM ET.

Join the Discussion
|
Email/Share

Trackbacks

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/3341

No trackbacks have been made to this entry.

Posting Guidelines

We hope the conversations that take place on HarvardBusiness.org will be energetic, constructive, free-wheeling, and provocative. To make sure we all stay on-topic, all posts will be reviewed by our editors and may be edited for clarity, length, and relevance.

We ask that you adhere to the following guidelines.

No selling of products or services. Let's keep this an ad-free zone.
No ad hominem attacks. These are conversations in which we debate ideas. Criticize ideas, not the people behind them.
No multimedia. If you want us to know about outside sources, please point to them, Don't paste them in.

We look forward to including your voices on the site - and learning from you in the process.

The editors

Umair Haque

Umair Haque is Director of the Havas Media Lab, a new kind of strategic advisor that helps investors, entrepreneurs, and firms experiment with, craft, and drive radical management, business model, and strategic innovation.

Prior to Havas, Umair founded Bubblegeneration, an agenda-setting advisory boutique that helped shape the strategies of investors, entrepreneurs, and blue chip companies across media and consumer industries. Bubblegeneration’s work has been recognized by publications like Wired, The Red Herring, Business 2.0, and BusinessWeek, and in Chris Anderson’s Long Tail, to which Umair was a contributor.

Your Trusted Advisor

Learn how business innovators like Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Pixar's Ed Catmull achieve breakthrough results.

Subscribe to HBR today >

1

Michael Jackson and the Zombieconomy Umair Haque
2

How Michael Jackson Became a Brand Icon John Quelch
3

Debunking Social Media Myths David Armano
4

A Good Way to Change a Corporate Culture Peter Bregman
5

Great Communicators Are Great Explainers John Baldoni

1

Debunking Social Media Myths David Armano
2

Michael Jackson and the Zombieconomy Umair Haque
3

How Michael Jackson Became a Brand Icon John Quelch
4

How to Identify Your Employees' Hidden Talents Steven DeMaio
5

Why Microsoft Had to Destroy Word Peter Merholz

Browse Our Store

Productive Business Dialogue (Simulation)

This simulation will help you learn how to craft conversations that are fact based, minimize defensiveness, and draw out the best thinking from everyone involved.

Measuring Marketing Performance

In many organizations, marketing exists far from the executive suite and the boardroom. Learn how to improve the link between high level corporate strategy and the marketing function.

Voices Topics

Get Flash

Harvard Business Publishing