At GE the sum is greater than its parts as both business and people diversity is utilized in a most effective way. A major American enterprise with a diverse group of huge businesses, GE is steeped in a learning culture and it is this fact that makes GE a unique company.

"Integrated diversity" is a term used by Jack Welch, the legendary former CEO of GE, to define a synergistic learning culture.

Integrated diversity only works when the elements of that diversity, independent businesses, are strong in their own right. That was why Welch had always emphasized the importance of creating strong, stand-alone businesses. He described "integrated diversity" as the elimination of boundaries between businesses and the transferring of ideas from one place in the company to another. "Integrated diversity means the drawing together of our different businesses by sharing ideas, by finding multiple applications for technological advancements, and by moving people across businesses to provide fresh perspectives and to develop broad-based experience. Integrated diversity gives us a company that is considerably greater than the sum of its parts," wrote Jack Welch in a letter to the share owners of GE.

The GE Leadership Effectiveness Survey (LES) provides a framework for evaluation of the corporate leaders that includes, inter alia, the following parameters: "Fully utilizes diversity of team members (cultural, race, gender) to achieve business success" and "Demonstrates global awareness / sensitivity and is comfortable building diverse / global teams."