General Electric -- Not so general

通用电气——不那么通用

An iconic conglomerate breaks up

一家标志性的企业集团解体

Perhaps the most remarkable characteristic of General Electric (GE) over its 129-year history has been how thoroughly it reflected the dominant characteristics of big American business.

在其129年的历史中，通用电气（GE）最显著的特点或许是，它充分反映了美国大企业的主导特征。

Most of its history was a chronicle of boisterous expansion,

它的大部分历史都是有关狂热扩张的大事纪，

then globalisation -- followed by painful restructuring away from the now-unloved conglomerate model.

然后是全球化——之后就是艰难的重组，摆脱如今不受欢迎的企业集团模式。

On November 9th Lawrence Culp, its chief executive, announced that ge would split its remaining operations into three public companies.

11月9日，通用电气首席执行官劳伦斯.卡尔普宣布，通用电气将把剩余的业务拆分成三家上市公司。

One will make jet engines, which GE reckons already power two-thirds of all commercial flights.

其中一家公司将生产喷气发动机，通用电气已曾为约三分之二的商业航班提供动力。

Its power business will provide the systems and turbines generating one-third of the world's electricity.

其电力业务公司将提供系统和涡轮机，它们所产生的电力占全球的三分之一。

The health-care division will continue to be the backbone of modern hospitals.

医疗健康部分将继续作为现代医院的支柱。

Yet it speaks to GE's remarkable role that this is a modest reach given its past sprawl.

然而，考虑到通用电气过去的扩张，这只是一次保守的延伸，这说明了通用电气的非凡作用。

From the late-19th to the late-20th century its products lit dark streets; provided the toasters, fans, refrigerators,and televisions (along with the stations beamed to them), which transformed homes; delivered the locomotives that hauled trains;

从19世纪末到20世纪末，它的产品照亮了黑暗的街道；提供了烤面包机、风扇、冰箱和电视（以及向它们发送信号的电视台），改变了居住环境；交付了牵引火车的火车头；

and then built a huge business financing all that and more.

然后建立了一个庞大的企业，为所有这些以及更多的产品提供资金。

The ambition to be everything was enabled by the perception that it could manage anything.

想要涉及一切领域的野心来自于它认为自己能够搞定任何事情的想法。

The 21st century punctured that perception.

21世纪打破了这种认知。

Jack Welch, an acquisitive chief executive reputed to be a managerial genius, retired in 2001 after receiving a mind-boggling $417m severance package.

杰克.韦尔奇是一位占有欲极强的首席执行官，被誉为管理天才。2001年，他在收到令人难以置信的4.17亿美元遣散费后退休。

But problems soon arose.

但问题很快就出现了。

The structure Welch left behind was in effect bailed out during the financial crisis.

韦尔奇留下的结构实际上在面对金融危机时毫无作用。

Losses at GE Capital, the sprawling financial unit he fostered, were blamed,though the company's industrial core turned out to have plenty of problems, too.

他一手培育的庞大的金融部门通用金融的亏损被归咎于此，尽管最后还发现，公司的工业核心也出现了很多问题。