One former GE executive who left to become chief financial officer at another company quickly learned about the holes in his GE education. This executive had never had to think about cash. GE’s corporate treasury vacuumed up the quarterly cash made by the divisions and then distributed it as well. His rude awakening came in his first weeks in the new job. Sounding frantic, his treasurer called to let him know that the company might not have enough cash to make payroll. Not making payroll was a totally foreign concept to this executive. He’d had no idea that his job included keeping an eye on
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