通用电气掌门人“最受赞赏公司”私人榜单

    《财富》杂志近日邀请到三位赫赫有名的商界首席执行官——通用电气（General Electric）的杰弗里•伊梅尔特，施乐（Xerox）的乌苏拉尔•伯恩斯和eBay的约翰•多纳霍来谈谈他们最推崇的公司及原因。本刊记者丹尼尔•罗伯茨专访了（在我们最受尊敬的公司中位列第15的）通用电气首席执行官伊梅尔特，列出了一份名副其实的、不断进取超越的公司名单。下面是经过编辑的采访摘选：

问：您最尊敬哪些公司，为什么？

    答：我可以给出三家我真正尊敬的公司，它们在各自的领域里都是佼佼者。

    第一家是联邦快递（FedEx）。我发现弗雷德（•史密斯）和联邦快递（第6名）能在公司不断扩张的同时继续保留紧密的组织结构，我认为，他们做得非常出色。

    第二家是IBM（第5名）：这家百年企业不断地与时俱进，修正和调整商业模式。

    第三家是谷歌（Google）（第2名）。这家只有短短十年历史的公司在这十年内取得的巨大成就超过了我所见过的任何人。

    因此，这三家公司一家非常年轻，一家持续保持了创业精神，而IBM这家经典的美国百年企业则是在不断地调整转变。

这些公司有哪些特质让它们受到普遍的尊敬？谷歌这样的科技公司非常年轻，它们受到推崇完全是因为有好的点子，还是关键在于强有力的领导？

    点子和领导力两者缺一不可。我想永远都不能过度强调其中一个，偏废另一个。谷歌推动搜索和周边产品的做法是个不错的点子。我们还可以看看美国运通（American Express）（第16位）的整个商业模式。即便这些公司有很出色的领导人，但还是得靠商业模式说话。因此，我认为最出色的公司必须将两者很好地结合起来。当人们过度依赖其一，可能就会被挤出“《财富》最受赞赏的公司榜单”（Fortune Admired list）了。（大笑）

您现在注重的公司特质和工作之初的想法一样吗？如果发生了改变，原因是什么？

    人们注重的东西和时代密切相关。不妨想想如今你思考一家公司的方式，在经历过了金融危机和其他所有事情之后，我想现在人们更看重韧性了。每家公司都意识到不会直线前进。就算是逆水行舟，依然奋力划桨前行的人们才能表现出色。

    我说的是家得宝（The Home Depot）。没错，它确实是一家伟大的公司。它经历过很多年的楼市萧条，他们不断地挑战自我。因此，我认为，如今人们比1997年或2007年时都更加看重韧性，这是当前的经济环境使然。

    我们都经历了这个时期，都意识到了这一点，也都希望在自己身上看到这样的表现。流年不利时谁会做得较好，谁会放弃？我们自己恪守这一标准，但我们也看到其他人有能力调整目标，做出改变。

    We asked three prominent business leaders -- Jeffrey Immelt, Ursula Burns, and John Donahoe -- which companies they hold in high esteem, and why. Immelt, CEO of General Electric, (No. 15 on our list of Most Admired Companies) talked with reporter Daniel Roberts and listed a veritable Who's Who of companies that continually raise the bar. Edited excerpts:

Q.Which companies do you most admire, and why?

    A. I'll give you three companies I really admire, because they're different in terms of what they stand for.

    First, FedEx. I find that Fred [Smith] and FedEx (No. 6) have been able to maintain a small company feel even as they've grown, and I think it's just remarkable to see what they've done.

    Second, I'll give you IBM (No. 5): a 100-year-old company that has continued to evolve a business model over time.

    For the third one, I'd pick Google (No. 2). For a 10-year-old company, they've done more things well in 10 years than just about anybody that I've ever seen.

    So, one that's new, one that's been able to scale entrepreneurship, and then IBM, a classic American century-old company that has continued to evolve and change.

What are the attributes of these companies that have made them universally admired? A tech company like Google is so young -- is it all about the good ideas, or is strong leadership the key?

    It takes a combination of good ideas and good leadership. I think you can never overstate one to the exclusion of the other. The way that Google has driven search and the ancillary products around it has been a great idea. Take the whole business model behind American Express (No. 16). Even if these companies had great leaders, you know it's the business model that does the talking. So I think the best companies have a good combo of the two. When people lean too hard one way or the other, that's when you find your way off the Fortune Admired list. (Laughs)

Are the corporate attributes you admire today the same ones you admired at the outset of your career? If they've changed, what caused it?

    What people admire is very much about the times. If you look at the way you think about a company today, having been through the financial crisis and all the other things, I think people have more of an appreciation for resiliency. Every company recognizes that you're not always going in a straight line. It's the people that keep paddling, even when the tide's against them, that have done well.

    I look at The Home Depot (HD), right, it's a great company, but it had lots of years where the housing market stunk, and they kept challenging themselves. So I think everybody has much more appreciation today for resiliency than they did in 1997 or 2007, just given the economic times.

    It's something that we've all gone through, and that we recognize, and that we want to see in ourselves. Who gets better when times are tough, and who gives up when times are tough? That's a standard we hold ourselves to, but we've also seen others be able to repurpose and change.