Thesis on "General Motors (GM)"

Thesis 25 pages (6236 words) Sources: 17 Style: Harvard

[EXCERPT] . . . .

General Motors (GM) is one of the largest automobile companies in the world. Over the years GM has been able to carve out a corporate identity, to become one of the most recognizable brands in America. Over time the company was able to develop several popular brands that have come to be symbolic with the image of the American landscape including Chevrolet and Cadillac (Sloan et al., 1990). GM is currently confronting some of the most difficult obstacles that it has ever had to overcome. Government intervention is no guarantee that the company will be able to overcome these obstacles. From an internal standpoint, the company must be willing to abandon some of its old ideals. If this means that some of the top executive have to go than so be it. The restructuring the company will take a great deal of patience an the company must be prepared to handle the changes that will happen within the company as a result. If the company is welling to make the recommended changes it may have a chance to recovery and become a viable company again. The company has survived hard times before but it was able to overcome. General Motors is an American Icon that has changed the way America and the world moves.

Contents

Chapter I Introduction

Chapter II Literature Review

Company History

Current Woes

Chapter III Strategic Plan

Company Background

Analysis and methodology

Mission and Vision Statements

Quality and management initiatives

Organizational behavior

Leadership and Management

Organizational Structure

Grouping and Teamwork

Organizational culture

Information Systems

HRM issues

Resourcing and legal issues

Skills,

Training and development

Coaching and mentoring

Performance and Motivation

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Threats

Future directions

Change management plan;

Organizational Development

Success Factors

Recommendations

Chapter I Introduction

General Motors (GM) is one of the largest automobile companies in the world. The company has been a powerful force in the global automobile industry. The company has been an industry leader in several spheres of automobile manufacture including safety and automated assembly of automobiles. The company has experienced a great deal of success and profitability in the 100 years since its inception. However, in recent years the company has experienced a decline in profits and the intense scrutiny of the company's management decisions. The purpose of this report is t develop a strategic plan for GM that will assist the company in improving its condition over the next five years.

Aim

The aim of this report is to provide a clear and succinct plan of action for general motors as it attempts to recover from the current crisis it is confronting. The report will provide a detailed plan for change management which will enable to company to move forward in a manner that is informed by the vision and mission of the company.

Method

As a means of carrying out the aforementioned aim the research method will involve the utilization of academic and business databases as it pertains to articles about General Motors. The research will also contain excerpts from books about the American automotive industry.

Outcome

The outcome of the research will be the development of a strategic plan that is consistent with the mission and vision statements of General Motors. Overall the strategic plan will prove instrumental in reshaping the manner in which the company moves forward.

Chapter II Literature Review

Introduction

General motors is a company with a long history. It began in the same way that many American business began with a small group of employees and a significant vision. The following literature review will explain the history of the company, some of the troubles that the company experienced early on and the current situation of the company. The literature review will provide considerable insight into GM's origins and its lasting status as an American Icon.

Company History

General Motors was founded during the first decade of the 20th century. By the 1920's the company had grown substantially in size and was on the brink of becoming immensely successful. However the company was also facing a financial crisis and this crisis cause the du Pont family to intervene in an effort to protect their interest in the company. The intervention also meant the restructuring of GM's management. The restructuring of the management was needed primarily because very few people know who GM was. According to an article entitled "The Corporation Nobody Knew"

"If General Motors lacked a public presence in 1922, it suffered an even greater defect in the eyes of its leaders. It lacked adequate internal coordination and integration. Since its origins in 1908, GM had existed primarily as a holding company composed of highly decentralized individual manufacturers (Marchand,

1991)."

Although many people were unaware of the GM the parent company, people were aware of the brands sold by the company such as Cadillac, Chevrolet and Buick. However the company had not yet established itself via the General Motors brand.

Over the years GM has been able to carve out a corporate identity, to become one of the most recognizable brands in America. The investment made in the company by the DuPont's helped to propel GM into its status as one of the largest companies in the world.. Over time the company was able to develop several popular brands that have come to be symbolic with the image of the American landscape including Chevrolet and Cadillac (Sloan et al., 1990).

Current Woes

In recent months General Motors has experienced a great deal of turmoil as a result of slumping sales and inadequate management. The problems facing GM have caused the federal government to intervene and has appointed a taskforce to oversee the restructuring of the company. According to Welch (2009) "The latest GM plan unveiled on Apr. 21 will slash more jobs and dealerships, shut down the Pontiac brand, and swap up to $27 billion in unsecured debt from bondholders for equity has heavy government input (Welch)." In addition the treasury has employed the Boston Consulting group to examine GM's operations. Additionally, the leaders of the task force Steven Rattner and Ron Bloom speak with the CEO of GM on a consistent basis to determine what the best financial decisions can be made for the company.

The involvement of the government in GM's affairs occurred because the company has borrowed over $15 billion from the federal government. The article reports hat without pressure from the federal government GM would not have restructured and the company could be in even more trouble than it already is. The article explains that

"GM is about to embark on a crash diet that will leave it a much diminished though more focused company, whose dominant shareholders could ultimately be the government (50%) and the United Auto Workers (39%) (Welch)."

Stoll & Turlep (2009) that under General Motors restructuring plan GM is requesting an additional $11.6 billion in loans from the Treasury Department. This is addition to the $15.4 billion the company has already borrowed from the federal government. In order to pay of this loan, GM will "use stock instead of cash to pay off half the $20.4 billion it owes a United Auto Workers fund to cover retiree health care. That stock would leave the union owning about 39% of GM. The upshot would be the transformation of a troubled American icon, leaving it in the hands of the government and its main union. The situation, fraught with complications and potential conflicts, comes on top of the U.S. government taking stakes in banks and insurer American International Group Inc. (Stoll & Turlep)."

An article entitled "GM's Future" seems to echo this sentiment. The article explains that the future of General Motors is obvious. Whether or not the company files for bankruptcy is irrelevant. The article asserts that GM will continue to struggle. In addition, the company will not quickly return to its former status as one of the great automobile companies.

The author explains that the federal government will continue to support the company over the next three years. The author also asserts that the decisions related to GM will be political because "Five Midwestern states will be decisive in the next presidential election, and they might be hard to carry if the party in power doesn't save some Rust Belt jobs. But after the next election GM will be largely on its own (Flint, 38)."

Although many of the cars produced by GM are improving, it doesn't matter because changes to the product line have come too late. The author insist

"The problems are just too great for this management -- and, to be fair, maybe any management -- to overcome. There are many: buyers' fears about the company's future; the lack of dealer credit; the weakness of finance arm GMAC, which was severely damaged by subprime mortgages; the bondholder debt; the rush of new vehicles by richer foreign companies from Japan, Germany and Korea; and the collapse of the overseas empire in Europe. Management stumbles from crisis to crisis, bowing to whatever thought… READ MORE

How to Reference "General Motors (GM)" Thesis in a Bibliography

Related Thesis Papers:

General Motors GM's Number One Priority Term Paper

General Motors

GM's number one priority must be to cut costs. The company spends $2,500 more than its Japanese rivals to build each car and truck in the U.S. (Robison).… read more

Term Paper 1 pages (378 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Transportation / Mass Transit

---

General Motors Europe Essay

General Motors Europe

As of 2008, the economic agents are under tremendous pressure. A financial crisis commenced within the United States' real estate sector to quickly expand to other industries… read more

Essay 10 pages (2956 words) Sources: 10 Topic: Transportation / Mass Transit

---

General Motors Discuss Term Paper

General Motors

Discuss how General Motors has evolved over the years. Particularly how they have transformed from a national company into a global company.

General Motors was founded in 1908… read more

Term Paper 2 pages (750 words) Sources: 5 Style: APA Topic: Transportation / Mass Transit

---

General Motors: A Perfect Storm of Delaying Term Paper

General Motors: a perfect storm of delaying much-Needed factory shutdowns, ignoring a changing auto industry structure, and high x-inefficiency

Once upon a time, it was said that, as GM goes,… read more

Term Paper 2 pages (693 words) Sources: 3 Style: MLA Topic: Transportation / Mass Transit

---

General Motors Thesis

General Motors

In order to determine the best set of alternatives for General Motors, the issues facing the company must be prioritized. Now that the company has swapped out its… read more

Thesis 2 pages (850 words) Sources: 3 Style: APA Topic: Business / Corporations / E-commerce

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>