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...industrial might, General Electric was treated like a pip-squeak when it first entered the macho business of building commercial-jet engines. Two decades ago, when a GE representative tried to sell a new engine to Donald Nyrop, then president of Northwest Airlines, the executive pointed to a ceiling fixture and wisecracked, "Whenever I want a light bulb, I'll pick GE's. For jet engines, I'll stick with Pratt & Whitney!" Nearly all jet airliners built at that time, notably the long-range Boeing 707 and shorter- haul McDonnell Douglas DC-9, were powered by engines carrying Pratt & Whitney...
...GE persevered, and is now the world's dominant engine builder by a commanding margin. Last year GE captured an estimated 63% of the market, compared with 27% for Pratt & Whitney and 10% for Rolls-Royce. The company's success is a classic lesson in the value of patience and persistence, as the design of a new jet engine is a devilishly long-term process that can consume at least five years and more than $1 billion. GE took a more astute aim at the aircraft market of the future, while Pratt & Whitney failed to develop a full range...
Basically, what GE did was to painstakingly refine its military designs into a line of passenger-jet engines. Its CF6, currently a popular engine for jumbo jets, was derived from a design initially developed in the late 1960s for the Air Force's giant C-5A cargo plane. The engine was the first to use a high- bypass technique in which a fan, working like a turbocharger in an automobile, pushes large quantities of air past the combustion core to produce much greater thrust. The CF6 turbofan (current cost: $6 million each) has broken the hold Pratt & Whitney had with...
Some executives dispute such interpretations of the Government data. GE argues that it would still rank as the patent leader if the Government had included patents granted to R.C.A., which GE acquired in 1986. Arno Penzias, vice president of research at AT&T Bell Laboratories and a Nobel laureate, says patents are not a reliable measure of basic research. Says he: "We have stuff in our labs that may not see the light of day for years. Because we haven't patented it, does that mean it's not worthy science?" Also, companies often decide against registering an important invention...
...devour little fish of all sorts ("barracudas swim very deep, where it's very dark; they can't even tell whether they are swallowing white fish or black fish") -- are not so much evil in their own waters, but mainly when they swim back at us from Taiwan. GE is attacked for selling goods made overseas with jobs the company took from America in the first place. Jackson's solution is to keep GE at home with a combination of tax penalties and tax incentives...