Striving for Diversity at General Motors
Dino Petruseski
University of Detroit Mercy
Since its founding in 1908, General Motors has solidified its reputation as a top tier automaker CITE. GM was the global leader in vehicle sales from 1931-2007; 77 consecutive years CITE. As of 2014, GM is the third largest automaker in the world CITE. Their vehicle lineup is very comprehensive. From the compact hatchback Chevy Sonic, to the heavy duty GMC Sierra 3500, GM has just about every vehicle class covered in both the consumer and professional segments. GM’s American brands include Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac. Recently, GM named Mary Barra CEO following Dan Akerson’s resignation. Mary is the first female CEO of a major automaker CITE. Mary’s picture graced the cover of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2014 for her handling of GM’s controversial ignition recall.
Diversity
General Motors takes a very elaborate approach when it comes to diversity. Like most multi-national companies, GM seeks diversity in their workforce. But they don’t stop there. GM also acknowledges diversity in their consumer-base. In order to meet the varying needs of their customers, GM emphasizes diversification of all aspects of the company. A rather modern approach for diversity in an organization, but very appropriate considering the reputation and impact General Motors has around the globe. The Diversity focus areas for GM are as follows: customers, employees, communities, dealers, and suppliers.
Customers
General Motors sells vehicles in more than 120 countries CITE. GM customers live in varied climates and terrains and use their vehicles for a variety of applications. This means that GM’s fleet must contain vehicles that span a...
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...aler network in the U.S. Underrepresented dealers are eligible to take part in this program. Another program is the GM Women’s Retail Network which was developed to attract and developed women dealers and managers. The last program is the National Candidate Program which assists in the preparation of minority and women candidates to become GM dealer operators.
Suppliers
There is an emphasis on supplier diversity at GM. GM hopes having a diverse supply base will promote competition and good business practices that will allow many suppliers a chance to work together with GM to design and build parts for vehicles. The formal Supplier Diversity Program was established in 1968. Since then, the program has received numerous rewards. The program has created a Supplier Diversity Council which allows GM information and supplier concerns to be shared.
Program Evaluation
Diversity in the retail marketplace is something that is significant to the company’s success. Retailers are comprised of people selling things to people. Thus, the people that do the selling must be a good representation of the people that are doing the buying. Companies that are well diversified in their hiring practices, as well as organizational goals, are well recognized by the public. Likewise, companies that are unjust in the functioning of their company will be viewed in a negative light, which could lead to decreased sales and company accountability. Taking this into consideration, observing the diversity profiles for two major retail companies can lead to a firm understanding behind their success and company values.
...presents diversity. When browsing through the website GM provides several other diverse websites that either they support or web sites that talk about diversity within the community. GM is about being successfully able to provide for a diverse culture. On the other hand, I believe Ford is the least effective in addressing diversity. Unlike that of GM there is very little information about their ability to provide for a diverse culture. The CEO makes a statement, Ford makes sure that we the people understand that the employees within Ford are diverse and that have a diverse workforce represents a diverse community.
As the automobile industry made its first appearance in the early 1900s, General Motors had already slowly begun its formation. GM was founded in 1908 by William C. Durant, a carriage manufacturer of Flint, Michigan, and today operates manufacturing and assembly plants and distribution centers in many countries, including Canada . Its major products include automobiles and trucks, a wide range of automotive components, engines, and defense and aerospace materiel. General Motors has a long history of business and technological innovation designed to deliver ever-increasing value to their customers and society. GM today has manufacturing operations in more than 30 countries and its vehicles are sold in about 200 countries.
GM is also a pioneer when it comes to in-car navigation and entertainment systems. Starting this year, the company will install fast 4G mobile broadband in each of its cars sold in the United States and Canada[2]. Companies are keen on supporting research for smart cars; for instance last year, GM fitted 2800 cars in Detroit with devices that send and receive traffic and weather signals[3].
Jefferson P. Marquis, Nelson Lim, Lynn M. Scott, Margaret C. Harrell, Jennifer Kavanagh "Managing Diversity in Corporate America, An Exploratory Analysis" Rand Corporation. Web. 29 June 2015.
General Motors is one of the world's most dominant automakers from 1931. After 1980s economic recession the main goal for automobile companies was cost reduction. Customers became more price-sensitive. Also Japanese competitors came into market with the new effective system of production. So market was highly competitive and directed toward price reduction. The case states that in 1991 GM suffered $ 4.5 billion losses and most part of the costs of manufacturing was due to purchased components. GM NA hired Lopez in order to find the way from "extraordinary" situation and reduce costs.
1. How was Lincoln able to grow and prosper for so long in such a difficult commodity industry that forced out other giants such as General Electric, Westinghouse and BOC? What is the source of Lincoln’s outstanding and enduring success?
General Motors Company (GM) is an American multinational corporation that manufactures, designs, markets and distributes vehicles and vehicle parts, and sells financial services. GM produces vehicles in 37 countries, selling and servicing them through thirteen brands such as Alpheon, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Holden and Wuling (Our Company, 2014). GM is among the world 's largest automakers by vehicle unit sales. It employs about 212,000 people working in 396 facilities touching six continents and has 21,000 dealers around the world (Our Company, 2014).
Within an organization, diversity is considered a having a population of people that are of different races or cultures working collectively. From this collection of people, a variance of perspective is formed and talent is fostered in order to maximize performance. These great minds work
The foundation for developing an effective diversity management program relies on leadership commitment and the CEO should communicate the organization’s position on diversity management and his or her sincere belief in the importance of diversity (Cañas & Sondak, 2010). Indra Nooyi, the current Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, is a leader who demonstrates a strong passion for managing diversity. In this paper I will be discussing Indra Nooyi’s personal and professional background, the status of diversity within PepsiCo before her role as CEO, the leadership philosophy on managing diversity Indra Nooyi has taken, the strategies she has used to implement diversity management, and her diversity related goals. I will conclude with a discussion on the current status of PepsiCo in terms of diversity, their future diversity goals and how Nooyi’s diversity management efforts have affected the overall success of the company as a whole.
Within this essay, I will discuss Toyota’s generic strategies, which include cost leadership and differentiation. I will then discuss their diversification strategies, in which they have ventured outside of the automotive
When you look at the history of General Motors, you will find a long, rich heritage. General Motors came into existence in 1908 when it was founded by William "Billy" Durant. At that time Buick Motor Company was a member of GM. over the years GM would acquire more than 20 companies, to include Opel, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Pontiac, and Oldsmobile. By the 1960's through 1979 was known as a revolution period for General Motors. Everyone was focusing on environmental concerns, increased prices of gasoline lead to the unprecedented downsizing of vehicles. The smaller cars lead to one the largest re-engineering program ever taken in the industry. By 1973, General Motors was the first to offer an air bag in a production car.
Diversity within a company will benefit the company’s bottom line and help the company to keep the competitive edge (McCuiston, et. al., 2004). Improving the bottom line can be also be improved by retaining employees and improving customer service (McCuiston, et. al., 2004). So utilizing a diverse work group is very rewarding for the companies who implemented it correctly. The profitability that the company will see may not be seen on the front end, but the long term results will yield a better profit for the company by helping to reduce turnover rates, improving employee morale, and the recruitment of new
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (n.d.) defines diversity as “the condition of having or being composed of differing elements; especially, the inclusion of different types of people (as people of different races or cultures) in a group or organization”. In general, diversity is often only related with differences in race and gender. In actuality, numerous elements can determine diversification in the workplace. Elements such as skills, abilities, experience, values, age, and education could be part of a diverse footprint in an organization. Other important attributes related to diversity include disabilities, religion, sexual orientation, and marital status (Guillame et al., 2013). The adoption of diversity in the workplace has the potential to increase organizational effectiveness in many ways. Organizations that practice diversity tend to increase their capacity to innovate and make better decisions.
The automobile industry is a pillar of global economy. Globally automotive contributes roughly 3 % of all GDP output. It historically has contributed 3.0 – 3.5 % to the overall GDP in the US. The share is even higher in the emerging markets, with the rates in china and India at 7 % and rising. China produces the highest number of automobiles followed by US and Japan (oica.net, 2015). The industry supports direct employment of 9 million people to build 60 million vehicles and parts that go into them (oica.net, 2015). Many other industries such as steel, iron, glass, aluminium, textiles etc. are associated with the automotive industry and resulting in more than 50 million jobs owed to the auto