The Board’s Role in Monitoring Strategy: Lessons Learned from General Electric By Michael J. Berthelot, Natasha Lasensky, and Paul Somers January 14, 2019 THE BOARD’S ROLE IN MONITORING STRATEGY The Board’s Role in Monitoring Strategy: Lessons Learned from General Electric Michael J. Berthelot, Natasha Lasensky, and Paul Somers Rady School of Management University of California, San Diego Author Note Natasha Lasensky and Paul Somers are M.B.A. candidates in the Rady School of Management, University of California, San Diego. Natasha Lasensky is a Project Manager in Software and Web Development at PINT Inc. Paul Somers is the Head of Programs for GKN Aerospace EPW, and responsible for program performance, profits and losses, customer satisfaction, and commercial function. Michael J. Berthelot is a lecturer in the M.B.A. program at the Rady School of Management, where he teaches the course, “The Board, the CEO, and Corporate Governance.” Berthelot has served as chief executive officer for two publicly-traded companies and on more than thirty boards over the course of his career. He currently serves on the board of a New York Stock Exchange-listed consumer products company. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Michael J. Berthelot, Cito Capital Corporation, P O Box 5005 PMB #5, Rancho Santa Fe CA 92067. E-mail:
[email protected]. THE BOARD’S ROLE IN MONITORING STRATEGY 1 History Thomas Edison founded General Electric (GE) in 1878. During its early years, GE primarily focused on the generation and application of electricity, expanding into plastics and radio broadcasting in the early 1900s.