Nothing has been more central to the purpose of General Motors or General Electric than to encompass and eliminate the perils to which the onetime entrepreneur was presumed to be subject. Nothing would be more damaging to an executive reputation in General Motors or General Electric than to launch a product without testing the market, to be caught napping by a technological development, to be unprotected on one’s raw material supply or to be caught in a foolish price war. These were once the commonplace risks of entrepreneurship.
