杰克•韦尔奇商学院探秘

    这所学校的课程里有很多案例研究、角色扮演、播客、商业游戏等等，而且还有来自一些商界高管的视频咨询和建议。其中有好几位高管还曾经是韦尔奇在通用电气时的下属，比如波音公司（Boeing）的CEO詹姆斯•迈克纳尼，他曾一度被认为是韦尔奇在通用电气的接班人。还有尼尔森公司（Nielsen）的CEO大卫•卡尔霍恩，他曾在通用电气公司担任副总裁。

    白克曼指出，学校还为每个新学生指派了一名“成功教练”，帮助学生尽快适应课程。“另外我们也给学生提供了写作辅导，尤其是如果这些学生来自信息科技领域，或者英语不是他们的母语。”

    这所学校称，授课的教授都是来自康奈尔大学、东北大学（Northeastern）、弗吉尼亚大学、波士顿大学（Boston University）等知名商学院。他们都有沃顿（Wharton）、哈佛、伦敦经济学院（the London School of Economics）或是明尼苏达大学卡洛森管理学院（the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management）等名校的学位。

    而学生的构成也很广泛，既有中小私人企业的管理者，也有波音、联邦快递（FedEx）、家得宝（Home Depot）、万豪（Marriott）、尼尔森和威瑞森（Verizon）等知名企业的高管。

    汤普森最初报名的时候还有点担心自己能不能与其他学生和教学人员熟络起来，毕竟他们不是坐在同一个教室里。不过她现在表示：“虽然是虚拟的课堂，但感觉仍然很亲密。我是一个非常爱交际的人，这一点对我很重要。”

    现在汤普森已经开始上她的第三门课程了——财务管理（一）。汤普森每天早上九点通过网络会议软件登录课堂，与老师和同学们会面。她的同学们则分别从埃及、佛罗里达、德克萨斯、纽约和伊利诺斯等地登录。

    最近在与学生进行反馈后，白克曼又想到了几个进一步提高教学质量的点子。她表示，学校打算推出一些为期五周的短期课目，在课堂中引入更多的商业模拟环节，而且有可能的话还会举办一个毕业典礼，由韦尔奇本人亲手颁发毕业证书。

    有个学生在最近的一次视频会议上问韦尔奇，如果受到老板的批评该怎么办。韦尔奇用他典型的“严是爱松是害”的思路，告诫那个学生要振作起来，勇于承受批评。“你必须坐稳了，让那个勇于坦率批评你的人知道，你不会拍案反唇相讥。在这种讨论中唯一说了算的就是你的老板。你要让他知道，你是个愿意接受意见的人，而且你的确有学习的欲望。所以把气往肚子里咽，想办法面对这些批评，哪怕你认为他说得不对。”

    说到这儿，韦尔奇停了一下，思考了一会儿说：“我在职业生涯中也收到过很多坦率的反馈。大多数都是说：‘你太伤人感情了，你太激进了，慢一点，耐心点。’虽然我一直没达到那种境界，但也好多了。”（财富中文网）

    译者：朴成奎

    The Welch curriculum is filled with case studies, role-plays, podcasts, business games and video snippets of counsel and advice from a number of executives, many of whom reinforce the Welch message and several of whom worked directly under him at GE. They include Boeing (BA) CEO James McNerney, who Welch once considered as his successor at GE, and Nielsen CEO David Calhoun, a former vice chairman of GE.

    Backman says incoming students are assigned a "success coach" who helps students fit the program into their schedules. "We also have writing coaches for students, especially if they come from an information technology background or speak English as a second language." About 30% of the grades at the Welch Institute are based on discussion questions and student responses to them.

    And the faculty? The institute says that its professors have taught at such places as Cornell, Northeastern, the University of Virginia, and Boston University. They have graduate degrees from Wharton, Harvard, the London School of Economics, and the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management.

    Students include a wide range of managers and executives from small-to-mid-sized private companies to such major corporate players as Boeing, FedEx (FDX), Home Depot (HD), Marriott (MAR), Nielsen (NLSN), and Verizon (VZ).

    When Thompson signed up for the program, she was initially concerned about whether she could bond with fellow students and faculty who were not in the same room. "It is a virtual experience but it is still intimate," she says now. "I'm a very social person and that was important to me."

    Now into her third course—Financial Management I—Thompson still meets with her original study group at 9 a.m., using web conferencing software. Her fellow students are piped in from Egypt, Florida, Texas, New York, and Illinois.

    Backman came away with several ideas to improve the program after a recent feedback session with students. She says the institute expects to launch shorter five-week courses, introduce more business simulations in classes, and explore the possibility of a graduation ceremony where Welch hands out diplomas in person.

    During the recent videoconference, Welch was asked by one student for advice on how to accept criticism from a boss. In typical Welch tough-love fashion, he told the manager to buck up and take the heat. "You have to sit back and show the person giving you the candor that you are receptive and that you are not trying to get ready on the edge of your chair to combat the arguments," Welch instructed. "The only person that counts in this discussion is your boss. You have to show your boss that you are wide open to suggestions and you really want to learn. Suck it up and try to deal with the criticisms, even if you don't think they are valid."

    Welch paused and reflected. "I got a lot of candid feedback in my career: Most of it was, 'You are too damn abrasive, you are too aggressive, slow down, be patient.' I never got all the way there, but I got a lot better at it."