General Motors ( Gm )

GM is described as an organization with a dysfunctional company culture that somehow still manages to have amazing results in its work, on a global scale. The key attributes of GM, were primarily in the changes initiated by Mary Barra after the GM ignition switch recall crisis. Some of those attributes include her willingness to openly acknowledge the undesirable aspects of the GM culture and her efforts to take action towards a resolution. There are also several noticeable strengths and weaknesses within the organization. One of the biggest weaknesses is the company’s repeated inability to acknowledge that, lack of functional culture and leadership are truly the root cause of the company’s issues. Based on my reading I would describe the current behavioral organizational model as a Custodial Model. I chose this model because the managerial orientation is money, employee orientation is security and benefits and performance results are passive cooperation. All of these attributes were described in the reading.

General Motors (GM) was one of the premier automakers of the world. Firmly planted as the leader of the big three automakers, GM, Ford, and Chrysler, years of success grounded GM as an economic and cultural icon of American business. As the Japanese auto market grew and became more efficient, turning out improved vehicles that the public wanted, GM was becoming a lumbering behemoth of inefficiency and corporate gluttony. Many circumstances contribute to GM’s road to bankruptcy including high legacy costs in union owned contracts, largely poor design, inferior quality, and low productivity.

General Motors (?GM? or ?the company?) has a rich history longer than a century starting with its corporate organization in 1908. Following its organization, GM acquired its first brand, Old Motor Works, which was followed in 1909 by the purchase of Cadillac for $5.5 million. Two years later, GM organized both General Motors Truck to handle sales of GM?s Rapid and Reliance products and General Motors Export Company to handle export sales out of the US. In 1918, GM purchased Chevrolet Motors. In 1926, GM entered Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Egypt, Uruguay and Argentina through the General Motors Export Company. General Motors Truck became the modern GMC in 1943 when GM acquired the assets of Yellow Truck & Coach. In 1945, GM finally established all of its historical core brands (Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac) when the Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac Assembly Division, which would be renamed the General Motors Assembly Division in 1965, was formed.

The new Chrysler culture stems from Sergio Marchionne and his philosophy of developmental relationship strength, as well as strategic planning and onboarding. The unconventional methods used by Mr. Marchionne has proven successful throughout the organization. As Mr. Marchionne explained, “mediocrity will kill you. We can’t accept it” (Welch & et al., 2009). Mediocracy, as Mr. Marchionne revealed, is not a standard in which Chrysler can afford to accommodate. Instead, it has set the bar high to increase the teamwork, motivation, socialization and internal knowledge to meet the improvement in productivity as well as the product itself. Quite the change, from the hierarchical values, basic assumptions and culture, set previously by the organization of employee’s roles and knowledge being taken for granted and unappreciated.

Quite frankly, GM has had an onslaught of problems over the past decade. From the plummeting stock shares that ultimately led to the filing of bankruptcy to the faulty ignition switch recall debacle, it is no secret that the GM name has taken some big hits in recent memory. Plateaued sales, declining

General Motors (GM) is a motor vehicle company that is involved in designing, manufacturing, marketing, and distributing vehicles and vehicle parts. The company began in Flint, Michigan with founder William “Billy” Durant in 1908. Durant’s philosophy and strategy was to “[build] a car for every purse and purpose” that would change the world of automobiles and transportation for consumers. General Motors entered the global market in 1982 beginning with Zaragoza, Spain and slowly branched out to 35 other countries all across North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. Thirteen brands that General Motors produces vehicles for are Alpheon, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Holden, HSV, Opel, Vauxhall, Wuling, Baojun, Jie Fang, and UzDaewoo. General Motors proceeded to follow along with technological advances and economy friendly automobiles through series of hydrogen powered fuel-cell vehicles and gas efficient cars.

Bettering the world of business has never been so important. In today’s highly global and connected society, enhancements in business often lead to global improvements. Therefore, as future business leaders, we must be cognizant of our duty to further industries and our world. I have realized this call and made strides in my current role to improve vehicle safety, technology, and competitiveness. Following business school, it is my goal to continue this advancement in the automotive space.

Facts: General Motors (GM) recalled about 3 million worldwide of their small cars due to faulty ignition switches, which shuts off the engine while driving, thus preventing the airbags from inflating in case of an accident. General Motors paid compensation for 124 deaths, this fault had been know to GM for at least a decade prior to the recall being declared.

In 2014 GM considered the major automaker in the United States with $2.8 billion revenue, working with 21,000 dealerships and recruiting more than 200,000 over six continents. Today, GM which its headquarter in Detroit, USA employs 225,000 people across six continents. The company encourages diversity in its organization culture with 70 nationalities. Proudly, GM provides 10 typical brands: Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac which are the most popular

Schaefer summarizes how departments interacted: “General Motors was a kind of throw it over the wall organization,” suggesting that as each department completed its task, it would throw the result over to the next department, absolving itself of any problems or difficulties that may arise (NUMMI 14). When one plant attempted to mimic NUMMI’s success, the lack of congruence became painfully evident. Langfitt described the manager’s struggle—“If he called Detroit and asked them to redesign a part that wasn’t working, they’d ask him why he was so special—they didn’t have to change it for any other plant, why should they change it for him?” (NUMMI

When Alfred Sloan took over as the manager of GM, his ultimate task was to find a chink in the armour of Ford. Cheaper cars, newer variety, better quality became the motto. The 1923 Chevrolet was given the latest style providing it a luxurious cosmetic appeal. There emerged a new expression among the engineers, “Whatever you do, don’t let GM do it first.”2 Sloan also focused on the aesthetics of the five formerly independent brands of Chevrolet, Cadillac, Pontiac, Buick and Oldsmobile into a price hierarchy shrouding the entire market.

The aim of this report is to discuss about how GENERAL MOTORS (GM) failed to perform in the previous year’s even though being one of the oldest automobile manufacturer in the history, and the issues will be clarified with pertinent theories and to conclude my analysis

MGT 504 Management & Organizational Behavior Case Study Alan Mulally’s Restructuring of Ford Motor Company

General Electric (GE) has manufactured and sold products that span from a small household appliance to health care equipment, and also jet engines for years. Almost everyone has heard of GE and has used one of their appliances at some time. Growing demands for new technology remains just as strong as ever. GE has combined technology and globalization by taking their state of the art products around the globe and into 130 countries (Directory, 2016). In January 2015, GE Ventures, (Geventures, 2015), a division of GE, has partnered with Rethink Robotics which designs and makes robots for dozens of industries that use robot applications to help build and assemble products (Collaborative, 2008-2016). “Focused on the areas of software, advanced manufacturing, energy and healthcare, GE Ventures helps entrepreneurs and start-ups succeed by providing access to GE’s technical expertise, capital and opportunities for commercialization through GE’s global network of business, customers and partners” (Investors, 2008-2016). This investment of $26.6 million (Rethink, 2015) takes GE into modern technology to help people around the world. President and CEO at Rethink Robotics says, “Our new and existing investors recognize the enormous market potential for smart, collaborative robots in manufacturing, and they share our vision for driving ongoing product innovation, volume deployments and continued expansion into global markets” (Rethink, 2015). GE’s global research and development has

This paper details each change undertaken by the organization by highlighting the different pressures identifying the problems the organization met and ultimately detailing the solutions that General Motors implemented.