Scott Bayman
CEO, GE India
He is the longest serving expat CEO in the country. It has been 12 years since Bayman took up his position as president and CEO of GE India and he continues to be attracted by the country and its people. “Working with the immense talent of India has been both rewarding and a special learning experience. It’s been a real eye-opener. India is rich with bright, young talent,” he once said. After having graduated with a BS in Business Management from the University of Florida, Bayman got his masters in Management from the Alfred Sloan School of Management, MIT, Massachusetts.
Before joining GE in 1987, Bayman worked in a host of top companies like General Motors, AT&T, Booz, Allen & Hamilton and United Technologies Corporation. In Booz, Allen & Hamilton, he was a management consultant and in United Technologies, the director of corporate strategic planning. Having started off as manager of business development for GE Appliances in Louisville, he was promoted to product general manager for range products within a year.
Three years later, he became a GE vice-president, in charge of appliances consumer service. In 1992, he was made vice-president of worldwide marketing and product management of this huge global entity. In 1993, he was appointed president and CEO of GE India and relocated to this side of the world. Bayman believes that leadership is the driving force behind GE. According to him, “It is the job of the business leader & the organization to recognize high performers, invest in their development, and reward them commensurately.”
It is his approach in management that has made him the leader that he is. Like other high achievers, hi is involved in a number of bodies other than his work in GE too. He is a member of the international advisory boards of the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, India, and the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Advanced Study in India. He also serves as a member of the board of the US India Business Council and was chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce India.
Bayman believes in constant change-changing for the better. In his own words, “In many ways, we are a different company than what we used to be and tomorrow we will be different to what we are today. The focus is on getting better and better everyday.”