Change just won’t go away

Discusses the surge of interest in hi‐tech shares fuelled by dot.com mania. Flags up that most mergers and acquisitions fail to achieve their originally intended benefits — even though this is ignored at times. Looks at Jack Welch, CEO of General Electric (GE) and the way that, in the last 20 years, he has changed one of the world’s largest companies — the value increasing from $14bn to more than $400bn. Concludes GE is now a business built to last.