Achieving world class business performance is a major challenge in today’s society. Manufacturing companies continue to face increased competition and globalization from its competitors. (1, p. 148). The automotive industry is one of the most volatile manufacturing industries that we have, which was evident in the 2008 – 2010 automotive industry crisis. (2) This global financial downturn served notice to the American automotive manufactures to raise the bar, in order to achieve word class business performance. General Motors, one of the country’s largest automotive manufactures, had to receive a government bailout to survive. During this time many with the corporation asked themselves, if we were a world class business, would we be facing this pending crisis. The answer was a resounding “NO”. General Motors has come out of bankruptcy and is focused on being a world-class business organization. General Motors is knocking on the door to world class business performance. Ohmae’s five stages of global operation support General Motors aspirations. From stage one to stage five there are significant differences to becoming a global organization. For instance, stage one, states that a company supports arm’s length customer export activity by a domestic company that links up with local and distributors to function. This stage represents the entry level global corporation. General Motors is at stage 4 of Ohmae’s five stages of becoming a global corporation, because it has exemplified the following traits: Systems and tools used globally not just at headquarters, R&D, Engineering and other business operations have a global focus, and all support functions are applied globally. (MFGO 601, WK. #2 Lecture Notes) An example of Ohmae’s, stage ... ... middle of paper ... ... The only way for this to be achieved is to get the support of the leadership on a full time basis. In conclusion, “the focus of business process excellence is to first be sure that one does the right thing, and then that one does it right”.(3, p. 67) BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. The Global Manufacturing Revolution: Product-Process-Business Integration and Reconfigurable Systems, Yoram Koren, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. c 11/04/2010, ISBN: 0470583770, ISBN-13: 978047058377 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto_Industry_Bailout 3. 21st Century Manufacturing. Thomas Gunn, Harper Business, c 1992, ISBN 0-88730-546-6 4. Bjerke, Juel M. "Week 2 Lecture Notes - Achieving Business Process Excellence and Process Re-engineering." MFGO 601 - The Globally Integrated Manufacturing Company. 2 Nov. 2011. 5. http://www.cheshirehenbury.com/agility/agilitypapers/paper0794.html
In the observation of Sergio Marchionne and the Chrysler group there were many things that needed to change within the organization to make it survive not only the recession but the future in a competitive leading edge automobile industry. There were a couple of observable artifacts, and a Hieracicial framework that may have led Chrysler into bankruptcy. It is still not clear if Chrysler has changed the Vision statement for the organization, but after a review it is clear that it is customer focused. I found it interesting that Mr. Marchionne did not purchase Chrysler, it was a Government agreed merger with Fiat (“Fiat, Chrysler and Sergio Marchionne,” n.d.) Sergio Marchionne was able to change the culture and combine two companies in two countries and managed to boost sales and profit. (Clothier, n.d.)
The financial health of GM has been rocky over the last decade, one remarkable moment being the filing of bankruptcy and the subsequent government bailout. There have been many ups and downs for the corporation but for the last few years (Figure 4) profits again have risen to be the standard. Since the company’s recovery from bankruptcy their status has stabilized financially and in performance. Something is to be said that they have been in business for over 100 years and are still going strong earning them once again the title of top automobile manufacturer of the world.
The central issue that (Albright, 2008, pp. 1) intends to bring out in the case study is how a company like Mercedes-Benz can overcome problems of a diminishing market share and high production costs to ultimately increase their vehicle sales by developing new vehicle models, that are targeted at emerging market segments and niches while ensuring that the product development costs are minimized. As a result of the great recession of the early 1990s, Mercedes made losses for the first time in its history. There was thus a need to develop a new strategy to overturn the results and get back to its profitability making history.
GM had experienced a level of success that developed a reputation as the world’s preeminent producer of automotive products. Because of its success, which produced substantial fiscal resources, the company was awash in cash flow, cash reserve, and lines of credit. GM’s management was the victim of 50 years of industry success. Management was characterized by a bloated, bureaucratic structure that impeded any attempt to improve the corporation. Top management established a fixed objective in the closed decision-making process towards GM’s strategic objectives. There was little to create a realistic Gap analysis, which made is easy to overlook the need to reinvent its management before undertaking the reinvention of the entire corporation.
Sethi Vikram & King R. William (2008) Organizational Transformation through Business Process Reengineering,Rahul Print O Pack,India.
Recker, J., & Mendling, J. (February 01, 2016). The State of the Art of Business Process Management Research as Published in
This paper examines the expansion of General Motors overseas in its various phases, as well as triggers for internationalization and the problems faced during the process. The paper also considers what benefits have been achieved through international growth, and how the company can be classified with regards to Bartlett and Ghosal’s 4 typologies. Finally, the paper discusses the concept of a “world car,” meeting the demands of customers across the globe.
When a company has endured tough competition, it is important to have established steps for accomplishing greater opportunities within an industry. If problems within a company are not handled accordingly, it will result in the termination of a company. According to the article, “Thus, the ability to manage change, while continuing to meet the needs of stakeholders, is a very important skill required by today 's leaders and managers” (McNamara). General Motors is one of the largest Automobile manufactures in the world and they are not excused from competition in the industry. In this paper an overview will be conducted of General Motors, the evaluation of two major competitors in the industry and the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and
Ford Motor Company offers vehicles and services to consumers at the best rate available. Today technology has become more sophisticated, allowing Ford Motor Company to make parts outside of America and produce them at a low rate. This has changed the way most manufacturing companies are able to stay in business. Some feel technology is taking over and pushing the human race out of the work force. This is very true on many aspects but humans cannot keep up with the flow of goods and the demands today. During the 2008 Financial Crisis all four big competitors were in need of a buy out from the government. Ford Motor Company was the only one to not take the buyout due to its beliefs they didn’t need help. In 2008 Ford sold its other business adventures Jaguar and Range Rover to another competitor to help restart their new business goals.
In today's business environment, there is sustained pressure for companies to maximize productivity in order to be competitive in the marketplace. Many businesses are moving a variety of activities, such as manufacturing and product development, to countries with low labour costs. They are also opening up sales channels in many new markets. The resulting global organizations need to structure themselves, so that they can effectively manage operations across numerous locations. This paper looks at how the organizational structure of a global company influences decision-making at the regional level, and how this can affect the business performance. This paper will:
Most global corporations in today’s business world are focusing on their business process and ways to manage those processes in order to become successful and leverage themselves against competitors. The understanding is that efficient business processes are beneficial to the business in the long run when considering factors like cost reduction, meeting customer’s expectations and streamlining business operations to eliminate any loopholes that are detrimental to the business. Change (2016) defines business process management as an approach that focuses on workflow of the firm and in the process divulging any errors that may hinder good performance, hence, it is used to structure a firm’s workflow. Advances in technologies and modern business
In past few years, companies and industries of various sizes have become aware that they need to improve business processes such as product development, order fulfilment, planning, distribution, and customer service. So everybody is now focusing on doing process improvement or redesigning.
Yet, there are various definitions for Business Process Reengineering. Hammer and Champy (1990) defined BPR as “the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance such as cost, quality, service and speed”. At the same time, Davenport & Short (1990) defined it as “the analysis and design of workflows and processes within and between organizations. Business activities should be viewed as more than a collection of individual or even functional tasks; they should be broken down into processes that can be designed for maximum effectiveness, in both manufacturing and service environment”. While Teng et al. (1994) defined BPR as "the critical analysis and radical redesign of existing business processes to achieve breakthrough improvements in performance measures."
Stonehouse, G., Campbell, D., Hamill, J. & Purdie, T. (2004). Global and Transnational Business (2nd ed.). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Woywode, M. (2002). y global management concepts and local adaptations: Working groups in the frenchand german car manufacturing industry.Organization Studies, 23(4), Retrieved from http://oss.sagepub.com.ezproxy.csusm.edu/content/23/4/497.full.pdf html