Word: borch
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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When Fred J. Borch was named executive vice president of General Electric 15 months ago, the implication was as blaring as the horn on a G.E. diesel locomotive (TIME, Aug. 10, 1962). The post has existed only off and on in G.E.'s history, and is usually reactivated to accommodate an heir apparent. By picking Vice President Borch for it, the board cleared the way for the retirement of Ralph Cordiner, chairman and longtime chief executive. Cordiner has wanted to retire to his 1,800-acre West Florida cattle and citrus ranch, but postponed his departure long enough...
...Room for Stumbles. Brooklyn-born Fred Borch takes over a giant (200,000 products, 211 plants) in remarkably good shape. The major credit goes to Ralph Cordiner, who succeeded Charles E. ("Electric Charlie") Wilson as chief executive in 1950 and promptly ordered the most drastic reorganization in G.E.'s 71-year history. Cordiner did not radically change the product mix, which is spread almost equally among heavy electrical equipment, electronics, consumer goods and defense orders (G.E. is the fifth biggest defense contractor). But he decentralized operations and management, making each of 112 department managers a minor president with responsibility...
Scientific Sales. Despite this fine position, Fred Borch will still have some problems. Two large and significant departments-atomic power and the new line of lower-priced digital computers -are both still in the red. And with world competition rising fast, the world's largest electrical equipment maker has some overcapacity. Taking up that slack will be the job of the marketing experts, who under the Cordiner revision won commanding power at G.E. The company's $300 million annual expenditure on research is the largest of any U.S. corporation, but it is G.E.'s marketing men rather...
...only three years away from mandatory retirement at 65, General Electric Co. last week made an important top-management appointment. Up to the powerful executive vice presidency for operations−a post once held by Cordiner and by former G.E. President Robert Paxton−moved Brooklyn-born Fred J. Borch, 52, who has been vice president of the G.E. consumer products group. Borch, who started with G.E. as a traveling auditor, will take from Cordiner full responsibility for directing manufacturing and marketing by all five G.E. operating groups. More important, the promotion marks him as a prime candidate to move...