Why GM Matters is a book written about the history of General Motors Company and the struggle they endured during the 2008 economic recession. The book is broken into three parts; the first part explains what went wrong with General Motors Company including the workers that would be affected if General Motors Company had to move their production to another country or if they had to close the doors on General Motors Company and let Toyota buy them out. The book also discusses in the first part, the person most people consider responsible for their struggle throughout the recession, Rick Wagoner. The author in the first part conducted many interviews with General Motors Company employees such as, works that worked in the production plant, workers that handled the finances, but most notably, Rick Wagoner. The majority of the first part is about the history of General Motors Company and the consequences that would occur if General Motors was bought out by Toyota.…
Although the United States has one of the largest automotive markets in the world and is home to 13 auto manufacturers. I am very passionate towards General Motors (GM). General “Motors was founded by William “Billy” Durant on September 16, 1908. Durant had become a leading manufacturer of horse-drawn vehicles in Flint, MI before making his foray into the automobile industry. At its inception GM held only the Buick Motor Company, but in a matter of years would acquire more than 20 companies including Oldsmobile, Cadillac, and Oakland, today known as Pontiac”, (GM, 2014) “General Motors has played a pivotal role in the global auto industry for more than 100 years. From the first Buick horseless carriages to technological marvels like the Chevrolet Volt, our products and innovations have always excelled at putting the world on wheels” (GM, 2014). I think one of the reasons I am partial to GM is that my family has always owned them. I can remember my father telling me, “Son there’s nothing like American steel and there certainly isn’t anything better than an American made automotive.” On certain occasions my father would take me to the dealership and seeing how the Service staff provided high level of prestige service just because he owned a 1972 GMC Sierra 1500. Like days of old, GMC is the flagship series line of GM vehicles, a symbol that a person had money and is…
GM’s vision and main focus is to achieve a healthier margin and profit. Although this vision may not be very easy to attain, is a very realistic one. In spite of the fact that it seemed to be a “once-unthinkable” goal, GM reported its highest-ever net income of about $8 billion in 2011. This was a massive increase from the previous year’s net income of $4.7 billion, and was in accordance with its vision of achieving higher profit. A short while after that, GM also released figures of its global sales, which showed its reclaim of the ‘world's largest auto maker’ title from its rival, Toyota. Based on these facts, I…
The sign of GM’s impending financial distress is first seen in 2005. GM reported a net loss of more than $10 billion and has continued to post annual losses since that time with losses reaching almost $31 billion in 2008. GM's cash flow from operations in 2005 was a negative $16.8 billion.…
In April 1981, when Jack Welch became the CEO of GE, US was in recession. There were high interest rates. Strong dollar resulted in country’s highest unemployment rates. In this rapid changing and uncertain environment it was extremely difficult task for him to handle a conglomerate as big as GE and ensure that general confidence among the investors is not lost. His predecessor, Reg Jones, had set the bar extremely high at the company leaving a legacy for Welch to compete with as the new CEO. Also, acquiring new businesses and ensuring that each business unit under the GE umbrella was one of the best in its field was another challenge.…
It seems in the beginning it was the Analyzers, GM has been following the trend of most other car companies, making more and more cars and offering such a large selection but with sales not following that trend it hurt them financially to the point that had it not been for a bailout that they would of had to of filed for bankruptcy. It wasn't until the bailout that they realized they need to try to do better and took on a more Prospector outlook, with setting numbers and sales goals. Getting rid of so many manufacturing sites, getting rid of the most luxurious and high cost products and names they had been selling such as Land Rover and trying to focus more on a slightly less number of vehicle makes and more on the quality of the vehicle they make.…
In the first 7 chapters of Car Guys vs Bean Counters, it is easy to see why the production line and accounting/financing have disagreements regarding the primary purpose of the company. A considerably large reason for General Motors downfall seems to be the focus they had on the numbers they had to arrive at to generate a large profit. All GM was aiming to do was to do anything to maximize profits without a focus on the quality of the product. The issue of not keeping themselves grounded arose from this very own mindset. Repeatedly, Mr. Lutz pointed out that the “number crunchers” failed constantly and that the focus should be on what matters in the end, the product the customer is receiving and their perception on the quality of the product…
Officially taking the name in 1928, General Mills has become one of the largest food companies in the world. They own brands like Cheerios, Pillsbury, Yoplait, Green Giant, Betty Crocker, Old El Paso, Totino’s and Progresso. Since the creation of their corporation, General Mills have established themselves as a company that flourishes by being socially and economically responsible. Their mission is to lead by example, and by doing so hope to promote positive change. Unlike other large corporations, General Mills uses their profits to give back. They have a strong commitment to their community, environment, and their employees.…
General Motors observed changes warily in the 1990s as the internet was determined to change the automotive industry. GM was the largest vehicle manufacturer in the world, with revenue of $18.5 billion dollars, production facilities located in 32 countries and a workforce involving 325,000 employees. Despite the companies size and power, GM had witnessed their global market share grind down from 17.7 percent in the early 1990s to 15 percent in 2002 due to the declining levels of customer satisfaction and competition from foreign imports. GM had to accept that the industry had changed (Cohen & Shoshanah, 2005).…
Certified that this report is prepared based on the term paper project undertaken by me in GENERAL MOTORS BANRUPTCY under the able guidance of Dr.Richa Raghuvanshi in partial fulfillment of the requirement for award of degree of B.Com(H) from Amity University, Uttar Pradesh.…
Have you ever heard about the term of genetically-modified foods (GM foods)? Or have you ever seen this kind of foods, like GM tomatoes, in the market? GM foods are the foods that contain the genes transferred from other plant or non-plant organisms. It might be the most controversial topic in the world now. In the article “The False Promise of GMOs”, Joe Pedretti wrote about the argument about the GM foods.…
Why GM Matters is a book written about the history of General Motors Company and the struggle they endured during the 2008 economic recession. The book is broken in three parts; the first part explains what went wrong in General Motors Company including the workers that would be affected if General Motors Company had to move their production to another country or if they had to close the doors on General Motors Company and let Toyota buy them out. The book also discusses in the first part, the person most people consider responsible for their struggle throughout the recession, Rick Wagoner. The author in the first part conducted many interviews with General Motors Company employees such as, works that worked in the production plant, workers…
In “Genetically Modified Food is Healthy” Chien describes how the concerns over GMO’s/GE’s are irrelevant and how they are just as safe as other crops. To begin with, they stated that Dr. Oz and others mislead the public away from GMO’s/GE’s by branding them unhealthy. Due to these claims, individuals have pressured major companies to remove all GMO’s/GE’s products, even if safe. Secondly, they express that a GMO/GE claim is difficult to prove. With the numerous varieties of GMO/GE crops and since the tests only looks at the finished product, someone cannot legally prove they used non-GMO/GE ingredients. They mention that the use of genetically modifying food has happened since the beginning of agriculture and now there many types of common…
General Motors is and has been one of the world's largest automakers for over 100 years. GM goes back as far as 1908. GM’s headquarters is in Detroit; however, GM has over 209,000 employees in every core region of the world, and conducts business in over 120 countries. GM and all its associates produce both cars and trucks in 31 countries. “GM also sell and service many of these vehicles through the following brands: Baojun, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, FAW, GMC, Daewoo, Holden, Isuzu, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall, and Wuling (NA, 2011).” GM's leading market nationally is China. After China is the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and Russia. “GM's On Star subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services (NA, 2011).” It is because of good ethics compliance, financial filings, and GM’s care and concern to the public that keeps the company striving for perfection.…
GM can indeed make a successful comeback as depicted in the text which stated that GM made a record profit in 2011. As long as the innovation and constant product improvement keeps occurring, GM can sustainably gain profit in the long run.…