JACK WELCH, former chief executive officer of General Electric (GE) and the man Fortune magazine called Manager Of The Century, is coming to Barbados to speak at the Caribbean International Leadership Summit being held at Hilton Barbados November 12 and 13.

The Caribbean International Leadership Summit, entitled Journeying Towards Global Competitiveness,
will be brought to the Caribbean region by the University of the West Indies' three business schools: Cave Hill School of Business, Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business and the Mona School of Business.

John Francis "Jack" Welch Jr, 71, got his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1957 and his MS and PhD at the University of Illinois in 1960.

In 1981 he became GE's eighth chairman and CEO, transforming the company into a conglomerate with a market value of US$400 billion.

Welch was notorious for his attitude to business and leadership. Each year he fired the bottom ten per cent of his managers, earning the title "Neutron Jack".

In 2000 he was named Manager of the Century by Fortune magazine. In 2005, he was voted Most Admired CEO of the past
20 years by Chief Executive magazine.

Other presenters at the Caribbean International Leadership Summit will include Professor Dennis Hightower, former Walt Disney Corporation president of Television and Communications and former Mattel Inc. vice-president of Corporate Planning; Dennis O'Brien, chairman and owner of Digicel; and Arthur Lok Jack, chairman of Neal & Massy.
(PR)