GE Careers Blog.

For the United States to be competitive in business, it needs to dedicate more time to innovation and technology, control health care and energy costs, and take risks, General Electric Co. chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt said at Tuesday’s annual meeting of Greater Louisville Inc., the metro chamber of commerce.

GE established the quintessential executive training ground at its world-famous Crotonville, N.Y. facility—on which GE reportedly spends about $1 billion a year. General Electric’s John F. Welch Leadership Center marks its 55th anniversary this year. According to chief learning officer Susan Peters: “We have 13 offerings involving leadership skills that everybody should have, such as presentation skills, project management skills and understanding finance in a generic way.” These courses are managed through the Crotonville staff but are delivered at GE businesses around the world, including Shanghai, Munich and Bangalore, among other places. This is done through a Train the Trainer (TTT) concept. “The integrity of the course is maintained because the Crotonville staff ensures that the person teaching it has been trained and certified,” Peters explains. GE trains 50,000-60,000 people a year digitally and an additional 9,000 attend courses at Crotonville. It’s little wonder why so many other organizations covet the company’s graduates.

The digital version of the 2011 GE Annual Report, like the print edition, focuses on GE works, featuring stories of how the Company’s employees and products are at work solving tough problems. It also features video commentary from Jeff Immelt sharing his view of what GE works means for investors, employees, customers and society. A letter from the GE Board of Director’s Presiding Director, Ralph Larsen, on GE works and how the theme fits with the Board’s governing philosophy and why the Board believes it provides an important business-building advantage is also available online and in the print edition.

Vice Chairman John Rice recently kicked off GE’s investor meeting in Rio de Janiero, Brazil by confirming the company’s optimistic 2012 growth outlook, which is driven by continuing, rapid growth in global markets. That increased demand is helping GE expand manufacturing and create new jobs here in the United States.

This is the first in a series of occasional interviews with top executives about global competition and the lessons they’re learning as their companies expand in new international markets. This month, John Rice, vice chairman and head of global operations for General Electric, talks about his recent move to Hong Kong and how GE’s international strategy benefits its U.S. operations. His answers were edited for clarity and space.