General Motors Essays (Examples)

General Motors Company, commonly called as GM is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world. It is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. It has business operations in more than 157 countries around the Globe. It was founded in 1908 as General Motors Corporation; and renamed as General Motors in 2009. The top brands of the company include Chevrolet, Isuzu, GMC, Jie Fang, Cadillac, Vauxhall, Baojun, Buick, Holden, Opel, and Wuling. General Motors operates through fully-owned subsidiaries and joint ventures outside the United States. It has currently employed more than 212,000 individuals from different nationalities and regions that work in 396 different facilities and sections (General Motors, 2013).

General Motors is the largest automaker in the world on the basis of sales volume. It has around 21,000 dealers and business associated in all the six operating regions of the world. General Motors enjoys strong brand equity…

The second decision was implemented and the same treatment would be applied to both Opel and Vauxhall. The first alternative would not have been extremely viable for the simple reason that both German and British manufacturers are subjected to the same environmental features and this means that there is no logic reason as to why they should be treated separately; they both fall under regulations of the European Community, they both pose risks of financial losses and they both could revive and support the company's overcoming of the crisis.

Having made the decision of how to treat the two companies in relationship to each other, a question is now being posed relative to what the Detroit headquarters should decide in terms of the future of Opel and Vauxhall as integrant parties of General Motors. On the one hand, the parent organization considered selling the two subsidiaries and as such renouncing…

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Conclusion

Overall 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. Billions of dollars have been given to the company in an effort to save it from further demise. However, capital alone will not save the company, there must be a strategic effort of the management to properly restructure the company to ensure that GM can recover. Such a recover is going to require a very specific Strategic Plan. Such a plan will be detailed thoroughly in the remainder of this report.

Chapter III Strategic Plan

Strategic Plan

Although there is a great deal of negativity surrounding GM and the ability of the company to recover from its current situation, with the proper strategic plan the company can improve its situation. However, to develop an effective…

The crisis affects all aspects of life, but among the most prominent victims of the difficulties was the automobile industry. Once the largest employer of the country, the automobile makers are now closing their plants and sending the workers into unemployment. The aim of this paper was to look at General Motors' microenvironment in light of the crisis and establish if the media coverage of the crisis within the automobile industry is accurate. Sadly, the findings indicate that General Motors is indeed facing some of its most drastic challenges since its foundation.

The American automobile and engine manufacturer is facing reduced sales and a declining stock price, which generates a need to reduce costs. This has been attempted through the commencement of downsizing processes, but it is less likely that the current approach will suffice. What has to be noted however about General Motors is that their difficulties emerged before…

Although some external players, such as potential new executives, may prefer this plan, there is little evidence that the major stakeholders have interest in major culture change.

The third alternative is to place emphasis on operational issues first and foremost. Under terms of its new deal with the UA, GM will be closing plants and shedding workers, and it is trying to sell off some of its underperforming units (Hummer, Opel, Saab, Saturn and Vauxhall). This alternative thus places less emphasis on market and corporate transformation and more on making the company truly leaner but reducing supply chain inefficiencies. This will also allow them to focus marketing efforts on their core brands, which will help them recapture some of the market share they have lost in recent years. This option assumes that dealing with legacy issues was just the first step to improving the company's finances, that culture change is…

hen the sales of all American SUVs began to plummet as the price of fuel escalated, GM was the hardest-hit of all the Detroit-based auto manufactures. In 2006, GM recorded the second-largest loss of any corporation in U.S. history ("General Motors, 2008, Histomobile). On December 21, 1955 it was the first American company to make over one billion dollars in a year ("General Motors," 2008, Histomobile).

Today, GM "is feeling good about the automaker's progress, especially in the troubled heart of its business: making and selling cars in North America," as it reached a historic agreement with the United Auto orkers "to push responsibility for retiree health care off GM's books, a burden" that had been adding an estimated "$1,400 to the cost of every car and truck" GM manufactured in North America (Taylor 2008:1). But only time will tell if the latest GM cars designed to create new consumers…

General Motors and Honda Financial Analysis

This text seeks to compare the finances of General Motors (GM) to those of Honda Motors (HMC) in an attempt to determine why the latter has been more successful than the former. In so doing, the paper will amongst other things utilize a number of financial management concepts and measures of performance including but not limited to financial ratios and managerial capabilities.

Although the biggest headache for GM right now could be its stock price which is essentially on a retreat, the company's second quarter earnings were also not impressive. According to Mespell (2012), GM's "second quarter earnings plunged by nearly half." The company's market share has also been on a downward trend so far.

GM's lagging performance can be attributed to a number of things. To begin with, the number of new models the company has churned out in recent times are quite…

General Motors Company and Alternatives to ealize Growth

Value discipline

According to management theorists Treacy and Wiersema, companies must always ask how they can provide value to their customers (Value Disciplines Model, 2011, Value-Based Management). Such value may be provided by operational excellence -- for example, a company that provides a high-quality product at a relatively low price, because of its ability to capitalize upon efficiency and brand marketing due to economies of scale. A company can also provide value to the customer through offering customer intimacy, or through product leadership by offering a unique type of item. However, due to the size of companies such as General Motors, its value discipline model must be based in its operational excellence. In the highly competitive market of car sales, offering low prices and/or high quality (and preferably both) by operating on an economy of scale is the only way to succeed.…

"Workers like the flexibility, but not if they have to trade off guaranteed hours, health insurance or a secure retirement.

" the reality of the independent contractor relationship for the new hiree excludes paid vacations or sick days, health insurance or tuition assistance. Additionally, because of increased competition for jobs, most new contractors are working for about twenty percent lower wages than just a few years ago.

A large concern for new hires is that companies often misclassify contract workers as independent contractors in an effort to avoid paying benefits. The more control a company has over the hiree, the more likely the hiree is an employee of the company and not an independent contractor. Therefore employees who were fired and are being brought back to perform the same job in the same conditions for less pay on a contract basis is still an employee regardless of classification. However, according…

After years of unquestioned industry dominance, GM was not prepared to shift its approach to making cars to cope with the competitive edge possessed by Japanese automotive manufactures such as Toyota since the 1980s. "To be sure, GM has seen sales jump from time to time, but always because of costly incentives, like zero-interest financing after the Sept. 11 attacks, or the 'employee pricing' last summer. Ford and Chrysler have been forced to follow GM's lead on incentives, though the Asian automakers have largely avoided them by offering more attractive vehicles." (Isidore, "Many problems dog the No. 1 automaker," 2005) More attractive vehicles do not necessarily mean more luxurious vehicles -- far from it. Rather by offering inexpensive, reliable and mid-sized cars tailored to the average consumer desiring fuel efficiency, Toyota has gained an industry edge. It anticipated the desires of the public, and also deploys a largely non-union workforce,…

GM's market share is a source of strength because it provides the company with considerable muscle and brand recognition. That is leads the Chinese market and is a major player in the U.S. market provides it with opportunities for economies of scale, and to introduce new products. The company's size gives is considerable bargaining power with suppliers. This in turn allows it some degree of cost control, especially now that legacy costs have been reduced. In addition, GM has a high degree of brand recognition. hile its reputation is not always good, the names are well-known to consumers around the world.

GM's reputation does need to be considered a weakness. The company's reputation for quality is lower than that of competitors, which makes it difficult to shift towards any strategy other than cost leadership. GM is at present unsure of its vision. hile the case was made above why this…

Direction of the Business
During the economic downturn of the global economic crisis (2008-2010), General Motors (GM) was adversely impacted by a failure to downsize its operations and focus on core products. As Yip and Hult (2012) note, GM marketed too many models around the world at time when a consolidation strategy was needed. Toyota, for example, succeeded in focusing on core models and even though it sold fewer units it was not hit as hard by the economic downturn. GM on the other hand “fragmented its development funds” and as a result the company “in its effort to increase global efficiencies in cost and design, continues to struggle in its proliferation efforts” (Yip, Hult, 2012, p. 18).
Core strategy. The core strategy of GM at this point is to reduce costs and maximize profitability—the aim being to achieve “9- to 10-percent margins on an EBIT-adjusted basis by early next decade”…

What is Strategy?
Strategy represents the development of an advantageous, unique position, entailing diverse activities. An ideally-positioned organization requires no strategy. At strategic positioning’s core is doing activities competitors aren’t. If identical activities proved effective in manufacturing every variety, accessing every client, and satisfying every need, one could conveniently shift between them; further, efficacy of operations would prove to be a performance determinant. Strategy success relies on doing a large number of tasks well and ensuring integration among them. The lack of a fit between activities implies weak sustainability and the absence of a unique strategy. Consequently, management goes back to the easier activity of supervising independent functions, (Porter, 1996).
What does strategy mean to you?
Strategy implies trade-offs within competition. Its crux is deciding what to refrain from doing. In the absence of trade-offs, one requires no alternatives or strategy. All sound notions can be swiftly reproduced. As mentioned…

The company's $291 billion in debt has recently been downgraded to below investment grade and it has about $16.5 billion of debt coming due this year (Snide). GM and General Motors Acceptance Corp (GMAC)., the carmaker's finance unit, each have about $23 billion of cash available. In addition, the company had about $50 billion in unused credit facilities at the end of last year. The company must carefully watch its cash and liquidity position and, if need be, raise additional cash. A painful, but obvious opportunity is the sell of GMAC.

ibliography

Porretto, J. (2005, May 7). GM's Wagoner needs quick turnaround. Associated Press. Retrieved May 9, 2005 from Web site: http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050507/gm_s_future.html?.v=2

Robison, P. (2005, May 6). GM, Ford stumbled to junk on designs, unions, Japan's challenge. loomberg. Retrieved May 9, 2005 from Web site: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=ar0Cm.CPxVWM&refer=top_world_news

Snide, M. (2005, March 22). Godzilla V.Mothra: General Motors's debt vosts durge as GE…

Still, the future stated goal of GM is to develop an electric or hybrid version in all of its existing brands lines -- Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC.

Outcome of changes

GM's most notable success has been overseas, where it is currently ahead of all of its competitors in the rapidly expanding Chinese market. "While GM is outpacing Ford in overseas competition, GM cannot solely depend on China for growth. While the emerging market contributed to GM's global recovery last year with 2.3 million in sales, it may not experience the same momentum this year [2011] because the Chinese government has ended incentives on small cars and rural purchases" (Benedicto 2011). Still, evidence of GM's health is seen in the fact that it recently announced that it will issue profit-sharing checks this month for hourly workers, the largest in a decade (Vlasic & Bunkley 2011:1). Talks with the UAW will…

General Motors vs. Toyota

General Motors, a European car company, and Toyota, a Japanese car company, are competing for worldwide supremacy in the manufacture of automobiles. However, as with any competition, are factors that make one superior from the other. And in the case of General Motors and Toyota, if I were an investor, I will choose to invest with Toyota. Following is a discussion on why it is more ideal to invest in Toyota than in General Motors during these days.

The first thing that investors usually consider when trying to invest in a particular business is the marketability of a company's products and how those products do in the international market. This is important because it is the products' ability to fit in the diverse consumer markets where the success of a company lies. As with General Motors and Toyota, the latter currently fulfills this strategy. This is…

While they still mention the financial artifice used by the company to repay the loan with other TAP money, they look at the issue from an accounting standpoint and explain the logics of the move.

Each of the three authors inserts himself in the story line and concludes his work with his own interpretation. Ed Morrissey for instance argues that the massive usage of governmental funds forces GM to increase the transparency of its dealings, which is in fact a positive aspect. Gillespie on the other hand is more sarcastic and, for consumer safety, states his hope that the engineers and technicians are better trained in mathematics than the CEO. The editors at Consumerism Commentary state that the severity of the solution found by General Motors is not that dramatic as argued by others. "It does look bad if a company appears to use TAP funds to pay off a…

hen GM gave up control to Cerberus, they got in a pickle...It [Cerberus through GMAC] has taken away flexibility from dealers" (elch 2008). "GMAC also said it will suspend bonuses to dealers who earned the lender's Platinum designation for bringing the firm strong buyer volume" (elch 2008). This essentially discourages dealers who engage in hard-sell tactics, and encourages consumers to take on 'more car' than they can afford. But the belt-tightening comes at a time when GM desperately needs to raise its sales: "GM is burning through at least $1 billion a month. It had access to about $21 billion cash and $5 billion in available credit at the end of June but an analyst Friday said the automaker will probably need $10.3 billion in fresh cash through next year to maintain a minimum liquidity of $14 billion (Snell & Tierney 2008)

Cerberus is likely to play an increasingly critical…

Lack of electronics vertical integration to the extend that GD has. GD has divisions that four on combat systems, aerospace, information systems and technology, and marine. GD is known for its expertise in systems and software development in weaponry systems management.

General Dynamics Land System (GDLS) is a formidable competitor and is based on the acquisition in 1982 of Chrysler Corporations defense operations. In addition, GDLS has been consistently acquiring electronics companies with expertise in weaponry systems integration and management to further the strength of GDLS' integration to core GD business units.

Opportunities

Acquire electronics companies with expertise in weapons systems integration and management to further make GMD as vertically integrated as GD.

Create a more aggressive lobbying team in Washington D.C. And open up a regional headquarters there to concentrate on government business, thereby increasing the influence GMD has on DoD contracts.

Develop a series of prototype vehicles that…

S.-based manufacturers. What specifically occurred with GM however was the willingness to pay for healthcare for all UAW members now either retired or let go due to lack of product sales driving production (Vlasic, 1). GM is also very similar to other manufacturers in that their reliance on unions for key skilled workers, compounded by intense political pressure not to pursue skilled talent in other nations, forced GM into a no-win situation with the unions. They could not pursue outsourcing due to intense political pressure and the corporate tax implications of a massive layoff, and re-tooling for high levels of automation in plants would be even more expensive than agreeing to the unions' demand. As a result of these and less strategic, yet just as critical factors, GM faces a question of financial viability for the first time in its history.

Another, broader and more strategic trend which has been…

She is perceived as vulnerable by her lovers, both her Englishman and her American, and exploited in different ways. Over the course of the novel, because it is told from Fowler's perspective, the reader never gains a sense of who Phuong is as a human being, only what he sees in her, and what he projects onto her image. Phuong becomes more of a metaphor for South Vietnam itself, less of a character and how Europeans saw it as exotic, vulnerable, and feminine, and how Americans saw it as ripe for the taking, in danger of being overtaken by communism, and thus in need of American democratic moral guidance and salvation. Phuong is also treated poorly by her own sister, dominated by almost every other character in the novel, which further reinforces her status as a metaphor for Vietnamese peasants who cannot articulate themselves either in the face of European…

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External Analysis Module 2 SLP [Pick the date]

General Motors is one of the most prestigious names in the history of automobiles. Founded in 1908, it was basically known for catering the taste of American manufacturers. Once GM was considered to be a vital cell of U.S. economy. Infact, it was said; "where GM goes, so goes the nation." The notion doesn't stand true anymore as GM was bankrupted in 2009 which was later on bailed out because of Government aide. GM is gigantic organization which has a potential of being a market leader if it exploits the opportunities available to it and mitigates the threats caused to it because of changing global scenario.

General Motors has various opportunities in hand which if exploited properly may turn out to be beneficial for this company. As of now, India, China, ussia and Brazil are the fertile regions for GM.…

Business

Durant and General Motors

Alex Madsen's book "The Deal Make: How William C. Durant Made General Motors" is a biographic account of Durant's life, documenting his failures as well as his achievements and giving an insight into the dynamic life of this entrepreneur. Durant is best known as the founder of General Motors, but his story is far from normal. The book starts at the end, telling the story of his funeral in Manhattan in 1947 (Madsen, 2001). At his funeral there were many long standing friends and colleagues who are life's he had touched (Madsen, 2001). Durant was remembered as a vibrant and risk taker, impatient and determined.

The book then goes on to look at his life. It is noted that while working at a range of early jobs, including stacking lumber at a mill and as a travelling cigar sales person he demonstrated many of the…

Three of the most important ones are succinctly revealed below:

(a) The declining demand for the company's vehicles -- this issue led to the necessity for more financial resources, which eventually materialized in the acceptance of aid under TAP

(b) The growing competition placed by international manufacturers -- this situation raised an impending necessity to reorganize the company in a means that it better addresses the needs and wants of customers

(c) The fact that the consumers were turning to foreign cars translated in the inability of GM to understand and serve the needs of its customer base

5. Strategic Options

As the gravity of the situation was intensifying, the managerial team at General Motors found itself in a position in which they had to identify several strategic courses of action, and select the most adequate one. Some of their alternatives would have included slashing down the car prices, implementing…

M." 2005)

Aligning current practices

Instead, to distinguish GM from both foreign and domestic competitors, "we are certainly in the process of creating a family of diesels which could be used in a light-duty application - i.e., 1500 Tahoes, Yukons and Escalades. And we very much believe in the diesel as one of the solutions to fuel economy issues. And we know that with a diesel we could get these vehicles to maybe 25, yes 25, miles per gallon, and with plenty of horsepower and torque." ("The Solstice's Proud Daddy: Interview ith Bob Lutz of G.M." 2005) But diesel should be only one prong of a solution to create newly innovative cars to meet environmental challenges and changing consumer desires, and these vehicles and sports cars like the Solstice do not address the desires of the core, middle-class consumer of fuel, which further research must explore, via GM's marketing and…

Team Implementation - General Motors

Team implementation -- General Motors

The American automobile industry has historically been one of the largest employers of the country. During the recent years however, the industry has suffered massive demises and was forced to downsize its staffs. Some of the challenges which faced the automobile industry included the forces of globalization which intensified competition, the changing consumer demands, the fluctuating prices of oil or the very threat of global warming.

But the more recent and most severe challenge was raised by the internationalized economic crisis. Commenced within the American real estate sector, the crisis soon expanded to the automobile industry, the furniture, electronics and virtually all commercial sectors of the economy.

General Motors was one of the companies worst affected by the economic recession. The organization was forced to downsize, restructure its debt and request financial aid from the United States Government. These solutions…

Ford's value in 2007, was 0.01, compared to GM's value of 0.64. Comparatively, GM is using its assets in a much more efficient manner than Ford is.

V. Conclusions

oth General Motors and Ford have shown specific problems in their operational activity, as this is reflected in the financial ratios that have been analyzed. The most important problem that Ford seems to have was reflected by both the asset management and profitability ratios. Indeed, from our investigation, we were able to determine that not only Ford is not using the assets it has efficiently in order to generate higher revenues and sales for the company, but the values in 2007 were almost error-like small (0.01 in most cases).

At the same time, General Motor's asset management and profitability ratio values were somewhat higher and, generally, showed an ascending trend, but I don't think we can go as far as saying…

Strategic Plan for General Motors Upper Mid Sedan Vehicle Segment

Mission Statement

To maintain and consolidate the status of the company as the number one auto manufacturer in the U.S. y employing the core values of continuous improvement, innovation and integrity and teamwork. To foster consumer enthusiasm and also enhance the team by giving them individual respect and responsibility.

External Environment

Remote Environment

Economic: Currently the U.S. economy is experiencing a slowdown. The buying power of the American consumers is shrinking and that is causing the sellers of goods to suffer. The automotive industry, being seller of high priced and high involvement product, is suffering as a result of this slowdown. The consumers are spending less and less on upgrading their cars or buying second hand cars. This will cause the sales of light vehicles in 2002 to go down from the 17 million units' barrier that has been achieved…

Ethics and Social esponsibility

General Motors

General Motors (commonly known as GM) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer. It is the world's largest corporation in the automotive industry with respect to unit sales. GM is headquartered in Michigan, United States and operates with fully-owned subsidiaries as well as joint ventures in 157 countries of the world. The manufacturing units are being operated in 31 countries. It employs more than 202,000 people who work in its 158 different operational areas in all six operating regions of the world. General Motors was established in 1908 by William C. Durant. It has a very well-established brand image across the Globe with a high level of brand acceptability and loyalty by its customers and stakeholders (General Motors, 2012).

Having business operations at the Global scale, General Motors operates in a highly complex and uncertain business environment. There are a number of environmental factors that…

Furthermore, the customer is most likely not to be biased hence the credibility of the feedback. The sources of information will be integrated by analyzing the data and comparing the feedbacks to determine if they show consistency; before drafting the final report.

Development

The performance appraisal method of evaluating the behavior for rating has a critical technique of analyzing information incorporated. Therefore, in developing the tool, the first approach is to establish the information that is required (Flynn, 2010). Once determined, the questioned are phrased and documented into questionnaires and interviews, which will then be administered to the supervisors, the co-workers and customers for feedback purposes. Additionally, the previous reports on the company's trends will be incorporated to show how the behavioral changes in the department affect the returns of the company. The information gathered is then consolidated into a report for the final scaling which is the report of…

Resolution: General Motors (GM) versus United Auto orkers (UA) in health care negotiations between unions and management

Given the recent overall negative financial environment in the American automobile industry, the disputes between labor and management at General Motors, regarding worker's health care and benefits have proven to be some of the most significant, contentious, and 'watched' disagreements arising between labor and management in recent times in American labor negotiations. As GM goes, it is often said, so goes the nation.

"Imagine that you are running a domestic automaker ... And burdensome union contracts limit your ability to cut costs." The burdensome nature of the currently existing union contracts means that GM is forced to pay even its retired workers coffer-draining health care benefits, even while the company is losing money. Also, it seems, according to many industry analysts, GM may have lost its vision for the future. (Akst, 2005)

Declining…

Total Ops.

8,485,608

7,061,704

3,638,889

3,445,640

* = Data not available

(Forbes, Toyota income statement, 2013).

Examining the income statements, Toyota's income fell from the previous three quarters, and the fall was somewhat substantial. Given that GM's net income did not demonstrate the same pattern, it does not appear to be the result of cyclical changes in the automotive sales cycle. In addition, Toyota's total revenue and net income appear to be more directly and positively correlated that GM's revenue and net income.

Balance Sheets

A company's balance sheet is another way of summarizing the company's financial health. A balance sheet is a "financial statement that summarizes a company's assets, liabilities and shareholders' equity at a specific point in time. These three balance sheet segments give investors an idea as to what the company owns and owes, as well as the amount invested by the shareholders" (Investopedia, Balance sheet, 2013).…

Aristotle Ran GM

Query and Book Review

Morrison, Thomas V. (1998) If Aristotle Ran General Motors. Owl Books.

The Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote his most formative text upon "Ethics." Thus to apply his four fold philosophy about the dimensions of human experience to self-help in the context of business development may seem strange. Yet Aristotle also emphasized human excellence, stressing that the intellectual dimension and orientation of human life is to aim at truth; the aesthetic human striving aims for beauty; the moral human impulse is for goodness; and the spiritual is for unity, or unified growth and development. All of these principles, suggests the author in the step-by-step fashion to the genre, are exemplified in companies that succeed in the current business environment.

Thus, as suggested by Thomas V. Morrison, a company that has recently endured adversity, such as Martha Stewart Omni media, continues to succeed because it has…

Motor Processes in Sport

Tom is an 18-year-old goalkeeper who recently moved up in class from youth to adult football. He was an early maturer and has a history of being more advanced in soccer than his peers but now a weakness is exposed. He never learned to kick with his left foot and this has been a problem at this level. The current paper discusses the proposed reasons for his difficulty and outlines a plan of intervention.

Understanding the Effects of Early Maturation as They Apply to Tom

The traditional view holds that early maturation in boys has more positive consequences for psychosocial adaptation than late maturation. The early literature by researchers like Mussen and Jones (1957) described early-maturing boys during late adolescence (17 -- 18 years) as having higher self-esteem and self-confidence, a more positive self-image, and as being more socially mature, which may have led to more…

Additionally, aside financial resources, they also used their assets. The most relevant example in this sense is the selling of part of its interests in Mazda. It as such transformed its assets into liquidities -- the 20% shares in Mazda were converted into $540 million (Murphy) -- that better allowed them to pursue their innovation objectives.

The matter of technological innovation is not only a core focus of Ford's, but of all players within the American automobile industry. The reasons for the rivalry in terms of &D are numerous, the most outstanding however being constituted by the desire to attract and satisfy as many customers as possible, managing as such to increase organizational revenues. "&D efforts in the U.S. Auto industry are channeled into a variety of processes such as stamping, casting, machining, and assembling. Within the time-frame of our investigation, &D efforts had to embrace sudden changes in taste…

GM / UAW

The general maxim is, "What's good for General Motors is good for America." The accuracy of that maxim has been severely hampered over the years by General Motors' dealings with United Auto Workers.

The labor/management synergy in America is one of most important facets -- and variables -- in our nation's economy. As was illustrated in an extreme example in last summer's baseball labor relations tensions, management and labor work towards a common end, yes, but their means to that end may be entirely different.

Management often holds the upper hand in any dealings with labor, as it controls its workers' livelihood and ability to live comfortably. Labor has only one trump card: the strike. And United Auto Workers used that weapon on December 28, 1936 when it struck the Cleveland Fisher Body Plant, a key plant which supplied the tops for nearly all General Motors cars.…

With such result, estimates for the 2,400 F-111 (including their exports) were significantly reduced, but nevertheless, General Dynamics still managed to obtain a $300 million profit with this project.

Grumman started also to build the F-14 Tomcat, using many of the F-111 innovations, but build solely for its purpose of serving as a carrier-borne fighter.

General Dynamics eorganization - it was in May 1965 that the company reorganized its activities into 12 operational divisions, having as a base their production lines. The board took the decision to have all future planes built in Fort Worth and thus ended the plane production in San Diego, which had been Convair's original plant. At the San Diego location the production of space and missile development continued.

The second CEO in this period, David S. Lewis required the headquarters of the company to be moved to St. Louis, event that took place finally in…

Multi-National Report on Ford Motor Company:

Ford Motor Company is a worldwide company that operates in both the Automotive and Financial Services sectors with its major operations being to build up, devise, produce and service cars and trucks. hile Ford's automotive sector basically sells vehicles under various brand names such as Ford, Volvo, Mercury and Lincoln, the financial services sector provide several automotive financing products both through and to automotive dealers. Ford's automotive sector is responsible for marketing trucks, cars and vehicle parts through the retail dealers, distributors and dealers in North America. Additionally, this sector offers a series of after-sale vehicle products and services in several segments like car accessories, maintenance, repairs and extended service. On the contrary, the financial services sector provides retail financing, wholesale financing and financing to profit-making customers.

Ford's financial services sector also provides other financing services incorporating loans to dealers for operational capital, developments…

Therefore, they use strict evaluation criteria to make choice among different alternatives. Keeping in view the strength of customers' bargaining power, Toyota and other automakers are expending huge amounts on advertisements and promotional campaigns to create awareness about their brands and convince these customers to prefer them over all other brands (Jenny & Scammon, 2010).

5. Internal Environmental Analysis for Toyota Motor Corporation

5.1. The esources Types:

Like other types of business corporations, Toyota also relies on four different organizational resources. These are: financial resources, human resources, informational resources, and physical resources. Financial resources are the money invested by the company's shareholders and the profits left after paying off liabilities. These resources enable the company to run its day-to-day operations, run marketing campaigns, and make strategic investments to keep it innovative and competitive in all aspects. Secondly, the human resources are the intellectual capital that plays a major role in…

The company is now considered the second largest automaker in the world. Within one year after its inception, the company brought well-known brands under its name such as Cadillac, Cartercar and Pontiac. The company was originally owned by William Durant but excessive debt cost him the ownership in 1910 when the bank took it over. Durant then started the Chevrolet Motor company. In 1920s, the company sales surpassed those of Ford Motor Company due to brilliant leadership of Alfred Sloan. In the next decade, the company expanded and started Greyhound bus service. During the Second World War, the company faced threat of nationalization from Nazi government. But due to personal and business contacts, the company abandoned its German operations in return for a complete tax write-off. Its post war growth was impressive as General Motors became the first ever U.S. company to pay $1 billion in taxes. It was also…

Ford Motor Company (herein referred to as Ford) has grown from a somewhat obscure automaker to one of the world's most recognized motor vehicle brands. Founded in the year 1919 by Henry Ford, the company's main business remains the production of trucks and cars. However, through some of its subsidiaries, the company also concerns itself with motor vehicle financing.

The Ford Motor Company: A Brief Overview of its Vision, Mission and Primary Stakeholders

Ford's mission according to Lewis et al. (2006) is outlined as:

We are a global family with a proud heritage passionately committed to providing personal mobility for people around the world. We anticipate consumer need and deliver outstanding products and services that improve people's lives.

I am convinced that the statement above successfully captures the company's purpose. In so doing, it also succeeds in outlining the firm's overall goals going forward. On the other hand, the company's…

The big three will likely weather the tsunami, as completely different entities than they have been in the past, possibly even more strikingly different than they were before and after the Japanese management style implementation in the 1980s. ith these and other changes likely in the industry in the near future The industry will once again prove flexible and innovative in changing with the times.

orks Cited

Brown, Shona L., and Katleen M. Eisenhardt. 1997. The Art of Continuous Change: Linking Complexity Theory and Time-Paced Evolution in Relentlessly Shifting Organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly 42, no. 1: 1.

Chrysler Sale Could Herald Auto Industry Restructuring. 2007. Manila Bulletin, May 16, NA.

Klier, Thomas. 2005. Determinants of Supplier Plant Location: Evidence from the Auto Industry. Economic Perspectives: 2.

Klier, Thomas H. 1995. The Geography of Lean Manufacturing: Recent Evidence from the U.S. Auto Industry. Economic Perspectives 19, no. 6: 2.

Lung, Yannick.…

Now "battered by soaring gas prices and plummeting sales" Ford has been "forced to slash production of the trucks that have been its lifeblood -- from half of its vehicles today (and 70% in 2005) to a projected "one-third by 2012" (arner 2008). Congress is calling for Ford along with the other American car companies demanding a bailout to show a real commitment to raising fuel economy standards and creating a leaner, meaner production machine.

Ford must point to its previous good-faith attempts to raise fuel standards to support its calls for government assistance. Many point to previous CEO Bill Ford's inability to sell his vision to other members of the company: "no matter his personal convictions, Bill Ford had neither the operational skills nor the management talent to make his green aspirations a reality. Instead, the chairman tried to tack environmental changes onto a business model focused obsessively on…

Marketing Plan for Ford Motors Company

The logic is really very simple -- when a model is supposed to be for women, it has to be designed by women.

It is clear that cars are now being purchased in USA for both men and women, and many times, women have their own cars. This fact had been realized as early as 1956 when there was a model called Dodge La Femme for women to drive and probably that was the reason why it failed. (Women and SUVs) There was a difference in the thinking of men who designed the car and women who were supposed to drive it.

The market for cars among women is large and it had been 20% of the new vehicles during 1984 and this has gone up to 28% in 1990. The decisions are taken by them in 80% of the cases of purchase. (Women…

Business -- Intercultural Communication -- ata Motors

ata Motors sought to win a 2004 bidding war for acquisition of Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Co Ltd. in South Korea. hough not initially favored to win the bidding war, ata Motors won over the decision-makers through shrewd adjustments to South Korea, education the decision-makers about ata Motors, display of ata Motors' strengths and listening to Daewoo employees. ata Motors succeeded where the other nine bidders failed, enabling ata Motors to effectively expand its business into the Southeast Asia automotive market.

ata Motors is an East Indian automobile titan founded as ata Engineering and Locomotive Co Ltd. (elco) in 1945. ata Motors is a highly successful intercultural communications business because of its ability to learn from significant events, such as the 1999 recession, and to use strategic planning to internationalize and flourish. Despite the challenges of the economy, technology, competition and the local customs/laws…

Ford Motor

Introduction of the company - Ford

Ford Motor Business began in 1903 by Henry Ford and it has constantly remained within family group possession ever since that period. The business created and applied assembly line manufacturing from the launch of the Model T. In the year 1909, and created planes and automobiles for U.S. Allies in The Second World War. Ford has worked globally since 1904, in the event it opened a division in Canada to acquire entry to Commonwealth marketplaces. With regard to the initial half in the Twenty-first century, Ford continued to be the prominent automobile manufacturer in the marketplace it had successfully developed. In 1956, Toyota released its initial automobile in the United States of America, and started acquiring marketplace share. In hindsight this became the turning point within the U.S. marketplace, and since the Twenty-first century came to an end Ford experienced declining marketplace…

4 the Competition

Ford Motors Company activates in a mature and highly competitive market and threats come not only from within the United States, but also from abroad. Due to globalization and market liberalization, the automobile manufacturers from Asia are easily capable to sell their products to the American consumer. Brands play a pivotal role in competition as customers tend to make purchases based on it. The competition is also intensified by the vast offering of substitute products, often materialized in public transports or personal automobiles running on alternative combustibles. Another source of rivalry is that the products often seem to look alike, and there are few features that offer one vehicle a point of difference.

The effects of the intense competition are various and often depend on the unique characteristics of the company, its served customers and the market where it operates. There are two most common outcomes. The…

External Environment

Ford Motor Company is - according to its financial statements for the last year - in relatively good financial shape, especially if one considers the current weak state of the economy, the past recessionary months and the still extremely shaky state of the recovery. This paper analyzes the current strengths and weaknesses of the company as it moves toward increasing globalization.

A useful tool in analyzing the external environment in which Ford is presently situated can incorporate Michael Porter's Five Forces model, which is graphically summarized below: (http://www.marketingteacher.com/Lessons/lesson_fivefoces.htm)

Ford is vulnerable to the threat of both new entrants (in terms generally of new car models as well as specifically of new environmentally friendly cars) as well as the threat of substitute products from other car companies eager to attract the same consumers that Ford wishes to attract. Honda, for example, is likely to become one of Ford's primary…

Ford Motor Company's efforts to redefine strategies to address key strategic issues during the upcoming fiscal year. The essay also reviews Ford's business-level strategy, the company's value chain activities and identifies Ford positioning with respect to the five forces of competition.

Ford's current business- level strategy was developed as a result of challenges the company has faced in the last decade. Ford saw their market share in the U.S. decline from 23.7% in 2000 to 15.5% in 2006. Over the same period Ford's North American division reported billions in losses from the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury product lines. To return the North American division to profitability, Ford launched an ambitious restructuring plan, the Way Forward. (Kirtane, Shukla, Wang and Zhan, 2006).

Over the last decade, Ford's business-level strategies were ambiguous, with the result that they were neither a successful differentiator nor cost leader. Ford failed to innovate on many of…

Jaguar Land over Automotive PLC

Company Profile:

Jaguar Land over Automotive PLC is a British multinational corporation that designs, develops, manufactures, promotes, and sells automobiles under the brand names of Jaguar and Land over, including ange over brand. Jaguar Land over is the United Kingdom's largest automobile corporation that took its roots from a couple of strongest automobile brands: Jaguar and Land over. Currently, Jaguar Land over Automotive PLC is a renowned subsidiary of India's most successful automobile group -- Tata Motors. It is headquartered in Whitley, Coventry, United Kingdom. Tata Motors acquired Jaguar Land over in 2008 from Ford Motor Company. The major subsidiaries of Jaguar Land over Automotive PLC include: Jaguar Land over Holdings Limited, Jaguar Land over Limited, Jaguar Land over India, and Chery Jaguar Land over. Jaguar Land over was the result of a union between Jaguar Cars and Land over which Ford Motor Company did…

new branch of science called Sports Science that respectively makes use of motor learning and motor control in the sports industry.

Sports Science

Motor learning and motor control is a field of science that is being studied from a sports point-of-view. Motor learning is connected to all the processes and conditions that affect one's ability to acquire skills, while motor control ascertains neuromuscular performance of individuals. Many people are taking great interest in the learning of motor skills and expertise, and the development of coordination. This new field of sports is based on the use of the knowledge base in the movement and sport sciences, cognitive sciences, and also physical therapy.

Sports science is a new area of study that is forcing people to explore the scientific explanation for David Beckham's superb soccer skills, and even wondering what would Wimbledon be like if say Pete Sampras had to use an…

General Motors in China:

Chinese Motor Vehicle Industry Structure:

The motor vehicle industry in China had over 200 carmakers in 2004 with most of them being small Chinese firms. In addition to being small and domestic companies, the carmakers were solely owned by the Chinese government and had a market share of approximately 40%. As new joint venture firms emerged during this period, the Chinese government was reluctant to see its manufacturers of motor vehicles eliminated. Generally, this motor vehicle industry structure was mainly dominated by small domestic firms that were owned by the government. These firms experienced serious threats from new joint ventures on supporting their existence while attracting managerial skills and foreign technology.

Therefore, the Chinese motor vehicle industry was seemingly modest in the global context as it grew in heady rates (Teslik, 2007). Since this industry had a modest structure, it produced great uncertainty regarding future prices…

General Motors was founded in 1908 and has been the largest manufacturer, designer, building and marketer of cars and trucks throughout the world since 1921. It sells vehicles in more than 200 countries worldwide and maintains assembly, manufacturing, distribution or warehousing operations in 53 of these countries. In 2000, it sold 8.6 million cars and trucks - constituting 15.1% of the entire world vehicle market (the world's biggest share) at $4.5 billion net sales and $184.6 billion in revenues. (General Motors). It envisions itself as the enduring world leader in transportation products and related services, whose goal is "to maintain this position through enlightened customer enthusiasm and continuous improvement, driven by the integrity, team work and innovation" of its employees. (General Motors)

The organization operates in four regions. The first, which has the largest market at 27%, is the GM North America. This region designs, manufactures and markets vehicles for…

Ford Motor Company

Objective of this report is to use Ford Motor Company 2012 Second Quarter to carry out research on the company's production inventory levels, price and sales data and operational cost information.

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is one of the largest global automotive companies. The company manufactures and distributes automobile across six continents, and the company operates financing business through Ford Motor Credit Company. At the end of the 2011 fiscal year (FY2011), the company recorded total revenue of $136 billion, an increase of 5.7% over FY2010. Ford Motor also recorded the total net profit of $20 billion at the end of the 2011 fiscal years recording the increase of 4.3% over FY2010. The strength of Ford Motor lies with its strong brand that the company sells at premium price. Among its brands are Lincoln, and Ford which are among the strongest brand in the world. (Datamonitor, 2011).…

Ford Motor Company and its human resources management practice. The company's human resources strategy is very closely tied to its strategy. As with other automakers, Ford's labor costs can be quite high, but there are also related costs of labor, such as benefits and pensions that can result in the total labor cost today being very high, even when much of the company's production is automated. Ford also must work closely with its main unions in order to negotiate the terms of each contract, something that also influences the company. Ford seeks to compete largely as a cost leader in its industry, but needs to have relatively low labor costs in order to pursue this policy profitably.

The HR position at Ford constitutes a number of different tasks. Labor relations is listed as the foremost specialty within the HR department, and with good reason given how critical it is to…

Fine Motor Skill Development in Children

Fine motor skills are important for a variety of activities such as writing and feeding, so its important they develop properly in young kids. This paper talks about the importance of fine motor skills and how it can be improved with proper intervention and the right activities.

Fine motor skills and their importance

Fine motor skills are the skills that involve the use of small muscles in the hands such as fingers. The biggest challenge in fine motor skills is the coordination of the hand with the eyes and brain and it is more complicated than what many people imagine. It develops at a young age, typically before five or six and it plays an important role in the way our hands function during adolescence and adulthood.

The development of fine motor skills is vital in young children because it is these skills that…

Caffeine Improves Visual-Motor Performance

Biological Investigation

Acute Caffeine Ingestion Improves Visual-Motor esponses

Caffeine represents the most widely consumed psychoactive substance in the world, so understanding how this chemical affects an individual's physiology is essential to providing the best healthcare advice for the general public. Towards this goal, the response times of college students were studied before and after ingestion of water, ed Bull, or coffee. The task involved clicking a mouse button as fast as possible in response to a computer monitor screen changing color. Compared to water, response times improved by almost 6 and 13 seconds for ed Bull and coffee, respectively. Based on published information, which suggests the ed Bull and coffee ingestion would provide approximately 80 and 122 mg of caffeine, respectively, these results indicate a dose-dependent improvement in task performance as the caffeine dosage increased. Although between subjects variability was high, these results are remarkably consistent…

General Motors and the United Auto Workers Labor Agreement

Judgment in Managerial Decision making

General Motors and the United Auto Workers have been among the America's largest manufacturers of motor vehicles and related parts. Following pressure of the two leading manufacturers going bankrupt they had to negotiate a change in the labor agreement as an urgent move. The workers and the communities are to be adversely affected by this part of restructuring.

Some of the decisions reached during the negotiation affected the workers negatively in as much as they were mainly to prevent the collapse of the two manufacturers. General Motors reached a decision to close or idle 17 of its facilities, where Chrysler was to close eight plants. The GM seeks to reduce its 60,000 strong UAW workforce by up to 20,000. On the top of that Chrysler is to reduce positions because of the plant closures, however the…

Holy Motors Movie Analysis

Holy Motors: An Analysis

Director Leos Carax has done it again. He has shocked the film industry with an abstract film focusing on the damaging power of our obsession with gazing into another's life. Voyeurism is a destructive force in the 2012 film Holy Motors, one which destroys the life of Oscar, the never-ending actor.

This intense French film was a major shocker in 2012. It is a very unique story told with incredible cinematic genius. Oscar, an actor, constantly drives around to different appointments, where he plays a number of odd roles. Sometimes he plays his roles in front o a large audience, while at other times they seem to be in front of only a few individuals or even no one at all. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to his roles, as he is random characters without much explanation of what…

Stakeholder Analysis Ford Motor Company

Key Stakeholders Ranked by Level of importance

Internal Stakeholders

External Stakeholders

Corporate officers -- Responsible for establishing the goals and mission of the company and ensuring that managers and employees at all levels are properly carrying out the strategy of the company. (Luca, 2007)

Customers/Car owners -- customers make an investment when purchasing a vehicle and they expect the vehicle to be safe and reliable. Customers depend on their vehicles for work, school and general transportation. As such they have an interest in Ford's ability to develop good dependable vehicles.

Managers -- Managers carry the information received from corporate officers to employees and make certain that the goals established are realized.

The General Public -- Everyday people are killed or injured in car accidents. Because Ford cars are popular and a mainstay on roads throughout the world, the general public is interested in knowing the…