Category: General Motors

In the book If Aristotle Ran General Motors, Thomas Morris explains how business organizations can thrive in the modern society. Morris reviews how these entities can succeed if they followed the wisdom of great philosophers like Aristotle. The term General Motors is used in general to represent modern day businesses. It is not used in reference to the company that goes by that name.

In the book, Morris (1997) discusses four dimensions of human experiences. The first is the intellectual element. It aims at addressing the various aspects of truth. The second is the aesthetic dimension. It highlights the issue of beauty. Then, there are moral and spiritual dimensions. The two focus on goodness and unity, respectively. Being an intellect means embracing truth. In doing so, one acquires a lot of power and influence. Goodness is very important in the establishment of healthy relationships in a thriving community, especially at the workplace. In this light, philosophy offers a lot to modern business organizations. It is regarded as the key to happiness and corporate excellence (Morris, 1997).

In this paper, the author will analyze part 3 of Morris book. The section is made up of chapters 7, 8, and 9. Morris (1997) addresses the issue of moral dimension in this section. In the current paper, the author will extrapolate on what Morris is saying and analyze the impacts of the arguments on the workplace.

If Aristotle Ran General Motors: A Discussion of Part 3

Moral Dimension

Most people around the world have two lives. They have their own individual life and another form of existence that entails relationships with other people around them. Every business enterprise is comprised of such people. How they relate with one another is very crucial to the success or failure of the company. It is at this juncture that ethics comes into play with regards to relationships at the workplace. Ethical conducts improve the interaction between an individual and their colleagues (Shafer-Landau, 2003).

Morality is a common synonym for ethics. It is one of the four dimensions of human experiences. Morality is mostly concerned with goodness. It addresses the question of what it takes for an individual to be a good person (Dancy, 2004). Every activity undertaken by human actors has an end result. The consequences can either be good or bad. In light of this, it is apparent that morality leads to positive outcomes (Brooks, 2011). In addition, integrity governs human behavior. Without it, the society cannot survive for long. The reason is that not everyone embraces the intellect dimension of human existence. Furthermore, morality influences the decisions people make on a daily basis. The decisions are based on what is wrong and right (Dancy, 2004).

According to Morris (1997), the idea of morality is believed to originate from ones conscience. Ethics and integrity improve fairness and harmony with regards to relationships between people. In addition, they make people fit for the society and improve their relationship with the powers that created them. As such, it is correct to say that doing well brings about goodness. If everyone in the workplace adhered to the intellect and moral dimension of human life, the end result will be unity. The harmonious existence is closely related to the spiritual dimension of existence. Ultimately, the company will achieve corporate success (Shafer-Landau, 2003).

Challenges of Ethical Action

Another key point addressed by Morris (1997) has to do with the challenges associated with ethical codes of conduct. For example, a manager in todays workplace is faced by a number of moral issues. They are expected to take control of such situations in the company (Dodig-Crnkovic, 2007). The decisions they make should reflect justice and fairness. For instance, when confronting ethical dilemmas, they may opt for motivational talks to enlighten their employees on rights and wrongs and the need to observe fairness.

A review of Morris book and the process of completing this assignment have provided this author with new ideas and insights on ethics. For example, it is now clear to this author why the society requires businesses to be more socially responsible (Morris, 1997). It is assumed that any business organization is out to make profits. Social responsibility requires firms to obey laws and act ethically in their pursuit for revenue. According to Morris (1997), challenges arise when people want to make money fast. They fail to realize that profits alone can guarantee corporate success. On the contrary, there is need for unity and morality. The probability of retaining the high profits in the long term in the absence of the two elements is low. Many modern businesses are ignorant of this fact. However, the input of great philosophers, such as Aristotle, makes it is possible to become a market leader and retain that position (Ikerd, 2008).

Wisdom, Virtue, and Corporate Strength

Morris (1997) states that goodness is associated with the fertile soil, which is responsible for growth and flourish (150). The absence of this concept leads to societal death. Modern businesses are faced with corruption and other ethical problems. The major cause of these problems is the misuse of power. For example, some people may bribe to get a lucrative job. Others may pay to get government contracts, which should be distributed for free. Corruption has many dimensions. They include political, social, economic, and environmental aspects. The economic effects of this evil can be major or minor (Ikerd, 2008). One of them entails the depletion of national wealth. If managers become selfish and concerned only with the optimization of profits, the company may self-destruct.

To survive, a modern corporate entity should adhere to a number of basic virtues. They include wisdom, fairness, self-control, and endurance (Brooks, 2011). Wisdom is defined as the ability to think and act using experience, knowledge, and common sense. It is not possible to be good without practical wisdom (Dodig-Crnkovic, 2007).

Conclusion

In If Aristotle Ran General Motors, Morris (1997) addresses a number of moral issues. For example, it is apparent that the loyalty of business managers in contemporary society has reduced. A virtuous existence is needed to achieve corporate success. Such way of life is characterized by wisdom, justice, restraint, and perseverance. For one to possess these virtues, they have to be intellect, moral, spiritual, and aesthetic. To this end, morality brings about goodness, which improves the relationships between people at the workplace. Achieving these objectives is associated with a number of challenges. They include, among others, corruption and ineptness. As Ikerd (2008) puts it, goodness is a necessity if a healthy relationship in a thriving community is to be met (20). What this means is that people should try to lead a pious life. They should treat others fairly to enhance a cohesive coexistence in the society.

References

Brooks, T. (2011). Ethics and moral philosophy. Leiden: Brill.

Dancy, J. (2004). Ethics without principles. New York: Clarendon Press.

Dodig-Crnkovic, G. (2007). Ethics and morality. Metaphilosophy, 16(4), 266-275.

Ikerd, J. (2008). Sustainable capitalism: A matter of ethics and morality. Problems of Sustainable Development, 3(1), 13-22.

Morris, T. (1997). If Aristotle ran General Motors: The new soul of business. New York: Henry Holt and Co.

Shafer-Landau, R. (2003). Moral realism: A defense. New York: Clarendon Press.

This paper discusses General Motors (GM) Company in the context of how the costs of its production systems affect its various operations. This is a critical provision since the company operates in a competitive industry where operational and production costs are soaring, overwhelming, and critical.

There are numerous costs of production that the company faces in its business endeavors. These incorporate the costs regarding raw materials, labors costs, equipments, outsourced services, and other relevant production provisions that the company incurs their costs. In this context, there are short-run costs that the company incurs in its operations.

This incorporates costs that vary with the demand for the companys products (McConnell, Brue & Flynn, 2009). For example, when the company experiences increased demand for tracks, cars, and other motor vehicle models, it will need more materials and labor hence increasing its production costs.

Nonetheless, this condition is temporal since it will change when the demand for such commodities diminish. It is crucial to consider such provisions in the contexts of their viability and applicability in the business realms. Precisely, short-run costs in this context incorporate the changing labor and raw material provisions depending on the demand of the concerned products.

Concurrently, General Motors is being affected by the economic cost structures in the contexts of decision making. This occurs in numerous ways depending on the situation at hand. The company has to operate with viable visions, missions, and expenditures in order to enhance its returns in the business contexts.

Additionally, economic cost structures assumed by the company has necessitated it to formulate viable business decisions in order to remain cost effective, competitive, and relevant in the automobile industry (McConnell, Brue & Flynn, 2009). Despite the production, economic, and market challenges, the company does not experience diminishing returns in its operations. Evidently, GM has been registering substantial returns in the past years despite the competition and economic challenges.

In this respects, there are numerous factors that have led the company to decrease the prices of its commodities in order to capture and retain a considerable number of clients globally. This incorporates the aspects of competition due to the emergence of numerous motor vehicle manufacturing companies worldwide.

Despite the high costs of production and the economic crisis experienced by numerous organizations, the company sets the prices of its commodities competitively in order to remain relevant and competitive in the market. In this aspect, the company makes its optimal business decisions in situations where Marginal Benefits equal the Marginal Cost experienced by the company (McConnell, Brue & Flynn, 2009).

It is agreeable that consumers usually make rational decisions when purchasing automobile products. They consider the aspects of benefits versus costs. If the benefits of similar products tend to be the same, consumers tend to consider prices. Conversely, they consider the benefits in case prices are the same. GM considers these factors in its pricing decisions.

The type of the long-run costs that GM would face incorporate the aspects of business expansion, running the entire company for years despite the challenges, continuous innovation, and market strategies among others. This factor entails the aspects of varying inputs that allow firms to enter and exit an industry at will (Mankiw, 2012).

The issues relating to the Long-run costs are numerous. They form the core provisions for any business. It is crucial to consider these factors in the business realms. Long-run costs affect GM in the aspects of strategies, future prospects, and in enhancing its competitive advantages.

References

Mankiw, N. (2012). Principles of microeconomics. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.

McConnell, C., Brue, S. & Flynn, S. (2009). Economics: Principles, problems, and policies (18th Ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Introduction

Based in Detroit, General Motors is an international organization that dwells in the production of automobile commodities. GM operates in the automobile industry thus produces several automotive products and services such as vehicle repair and vehicle servicing. GM is also known as the topmost producer of automobiles, with incredible brands such as GMC, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and Buick (General Motors Company, 2010).

Current position of GMC

In 2009, the company experienced extremely serious financial problem following the financial crunch that hit the US and the world in general. As a result, the company engaged in massive borrowing of funds, which ultimately left it in a liquidated state. Currently, the company is fighting to overturn its unfavorable financial state, to a more stabilized one.

For instance, the multinational company sold quite a number of its financial assets as part of the efforts to stabilize its current situation. Moreover, its liquidated state led to closure of certain branches such as Pontiac, which were extremely significant to the company. Due to this reason, the company, currently, lacks adequate assets for production thus reduced productivity, growth and expansion.

The effects of the crisis also affected the companys sales and profitability level. In fact, until now the company has not regained its previous profitability and sales level; instead, it is still struggling to control its incredible sales reduction. This was noted in the last two consecutive years, whereby the company registered tremendous sales reduction i.e. up to 30%.

Despite the unpleasant experience, GM has employed several strategies to intervene their current situation. The company plans to acquire several assets, which will in turn increase its production capacity. GM is also spending quite a fortune in repaying the massive loans that the company previously borrowed. For instance, in the mid month of this year, GM repaid the government an incredible amount of cash as part of its efforts to reduce the companys liquidity level.

It is noted that their efforts are paying off; the company recently registered considerable profits i.e. 865 million within the first quarter of this year (Business Day, 2010). GM also faces stiff competition from other automobile companies such as ford motors. The competitors are taking advantage and capitalizing on GMs unfavorable financial condition thus posing extraordinary pressure on company.

Strategy for GM

GM faces profound challenges with regard to their finances, production, sales, and competition; therefore, my strategy will be based on strengthening the company within those specific aspects. My strategy will be to minimize production cost, increase acquisition, and raise funds with the aim of improving and advancing the current state of GM. My strategy can, extensively, be explained using various models designed by business scholars such as Michael porter.

Porters Generic Strategies

Porter developed three fundamental approaches that significantly contributed to the advancement of strategic management. After designing his strategy, he proceeded to name them as differentiation, cost leadership, and focus (Porter, 1998, p. 35). He also proceeded to give a profound explanation of his concept and further elaborated on their applications.

His superb ideologies on cost leadership can, extensively, be used to back up my approach on reviving General Motors. He explicated cost leadership basing his arguments and ideologies on competitive advantage (Faulkner, 2002, 314). Porter explained that, a company gains competitive advantage, if it minimizes its production costs. He further explicated that, minimization of cost increases the margin between revenues and production costs, which translates to profit increase.

I could employ this incredible model to uplift the current position of General motors, in different capacities. Porters strategy of cost leadership primarily adopts the idea of minimizing production costs; therefore, I would employ several approaches to achieve this policy (Klug, 2006, 11).

In point of fact, to achieve a minimized production cost, there must be a profound reduction in the cost of production resources such labor and raw materials. Following this argument, I would consider obtaining raw materials from other cheap sources, but still ensure that excellent quality is maintained.

For instance, I may consider obtaining raw materials by collecting scrap materials, and then recycling them for production use. However, I would still ensure that the idea of topmost quality continue to linger in my mind, so as to achieve fabulous and competitive products.

Additionally, I may consider seeking and looking for several raw material suppliers in the market, who sell their product at cheaper prices. Ultimately, carrying out researches on the best policies to adopt can also be beneficial to the company. This is because; effective, viable and tested strategies will be developed and adopted by the company, which translates to effective performances.

As noted in porters competitive advantage policy, the feasibility of these policies can create a remarkable gap between production cost and product price. As a result, the company will earn relatively high profits thus improving its competitiveness in the market. Moreover, the extra profit gained can be ploughed back, to improve certain crucial aspects of the company. For instance, the extra profit can be invested in expanding the companys production capacity i.e. by making several acquisitions.

Apart from improving the financial strength of GM, the extra profits can also be used to repay the remaining financial obligations of the company. Investments can also be done on marketing the companys products and services thus improving the companys sales and the overall profits.

In addition to cost leadership strategy, porter also developed and explained focus in his model. He explained focus as the strategy of investing more on less competitive markets (Porter, 2008, p. 54).

This approach can be applied in various capacities incase one intends to improve the current state of GM. For instance, the company can focus more on services rendering rather than concentrating on automobile product production. This is because; the company faces less competition on services as compared to products i.e. with respect to its counterparts.

Moreover, the market of servicing vehicles is extensive and less competitive, since most of its competitors dwell in vehicle production. In employing this strategy, GM will experience a tremendous increase in sales and profits, due to limited market competition. Consequently, the company will attain a stabilized financial position, which eventually boosts its capacity to expand and also repay its financial obligations.

Ansoffs Matrix

Ansoffs Matrix is an extremely significant model for advancing the growth of a product and service. The model contains several strategies that can be used to advance the market of GM, especially at this moment when they are facing a tremendous decrease in production and sales. The four strategies can be summarized as follows: diversification, market penetration, market development, and product development (Graham & Allan, 2008, p. 100).

Market penetration from Ansoffs model can, extensively, be adopted to lure customers, to purchase GM products. This strategy can be applied in various capacities incase one intends to advance and diversify the market of GM.

Market Strategies such as international media adverts, sales promotion, personal selling and also favorable pricing; can be employed to boost the GMs current market condition. In fact, this can be a brilliant step, especially at this time when customers have lost faith in GM Company; they fear purchasing products from a liquidating company.

Market development strategy in Ansoffs model can also be adopted, to improve current market of GM (McDonald, Ward, & Smith 2007, p. 174). This approach is extremely significant due to its extensive effects i.e. it not only awake dormant customers, but also assists in attracting new customers. Developing new markets, especially in countries where only few competitors have ventured, can significantly increase the GMs market.

In fact, this is what suits GM best, since new market provide an alternative market; instead of only struggling in a competitive market. Moreover, new market also provides the company with new customers; instead, spending more resource in wooing the ones who have lost faith on GM.

In addition to increased marketing of GMs product and services, market penetrations can also boost the companys competitiveness in the market (Bowie, & Buttle, 2004, p. 329). GM can introduce new supply channels to serve the newly identified markets. Increased distribution channels increases the accessibility of GMs product thus attracting new customers.

Incredible and eye-catching packaging can also be a magnificent strategy to attract new customers, within the newly developed markets. Such strategies attract new customers thus increasing the companys sales, which translates to increased profitability levels.

More profits empower GM economically thus enabling them to perform several development tasks. For instance, GM will now have the financial muscle to expand its production operating capacity i.e. by making several acquisitions. Moreover, the profits can also be used to reduce the liquidity level of GM i.e. by refunding their lenders.

Performance monitoring

All these selected strategies can prove infeasible, incase performance monitoring is left out. Performance monitoring analyses numerous aspects of a company such as productivity of strategies, thus one can gauge how strategies are progressing (Stimson, Stough, & Roberts, 2006, p. 73). Therefore, all these strategies employed in GM should be monitored from their adoption up to the end of their application. This vastly assists in ensuring strategies meet the set goals and standards.

Some of these employed strategies such as cost minimization and market expansion may sometimes fail to proceed and hang within the reviving process. Therefore, it is extraordinarily necessary to adopt a team that may be responsible for ensuring that the strategies meet the set goals.

Moreover, strategies that shift from the plan easily and swiftly noticed. Consequently, a rescue or mitigating plan can be employed before the situation worsens. Moreover, employing all these strategies is extraordinarily expensive and interrelated; therefore, if any one of them goes astray, the company may suffer immense consequences i.e. massive losses.

Conclusion

GM is one of the high-flying automobile companies with numerous superb brands of vehicles and tracks. However, in the recent past, the company has experienced unfavorable trading environment following the financial crunch that hit US and the whole world in general.

The challenges are crucial to the extent of affecting the companys productivity, sales and also profits. This situation can be overturned, if GM adopts certain vital strategies such as porter generic strategies, Ansoffs strategies and finally performance monitoring.

List of References

Business Day, 2010, General Motors, New York Times. Web.

Bowie, D. & Buttle F. 2004, Hospitality marketing: an introduction, Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford, pp. 329-342.

Faulkner, D 2002, Strategy: critical perspectives on business and management, Taylor & Francis, New York, pp. 314-350.

Graham, T. & Allan, W. 2008, CIMA Official Exam Practice Kit Management Accounting Business Strategy, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, pp. 100-115.

General Motors Company, company profile, General Motors Company. Web.

Klug, M. 2006, Market Entry Strategies in Eastern Europe in the Context of the European Union: An Empirical Research into German Firms Entering the Polish Market, Springer, New York, pp. 11-13.

McDonald, M., Ward, K. & Smith. B 2007, marketing due diligence: reconnecting strategy to share price, Elsevier, Oxford, pp.174-180.

Porter, E. 1998, Competitive strategy: techniques for analyzing industries and competitors: with a new introduction, Simon and Schuster, New York, pp. 35-50.

Porter, M. 2008, on competition, Harvard Business Press, Boston, pp. 54-60.

Stimson, R. Stough, R. & Roberts, B. 2006, Regional economic development: analysis and planning strategy, Springer, New York, pp. 73-75.

General Motors is one of the worlds automotive giants. The company has a long history of successes and failures as any other company of such scale. The beginning of the new millennium became one of the dark moments in the history of GM. A difficult economic situation in the United States at the end of the 2000s led to the severe decline in vehicle sales, and GM started to lose its market share to its direct rivals such as Toyota, for example. Three decades of domination on the U.S. market ended in 2009 with the process of entering protection from bankruptcy. By this moment, the companys market share slipped from 44% to about 20%. Going through the bankruptcy, GM sold several brands and developed the new strategy for the companys renewal. China became the strategic choice of GM.

The changes were needed, and GM decided to find promising markets abroad. In 1997, the company established a joint venture with SAIC, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. owned by the state. The market of China was very small back then (only about 400,000 car sales in the previous year), but the potential was enormous. The decision to establish a joint venture was dictated by the need of the company for connections in China that SAIC had and the Chinese regulations in this sphere, according to which a foreign company could not operate in the country as a standalone enterprise.

GMs initial investment in the joint venture was $1.6 billion. From the worlds key automobile market players who entered the Chinese market also, only Volkswagen invested a similar capital. By 2007, the joint venture included such brands as Cadillac, Wuling, and Chevrolet to be sold to the Chinese customers. The Pan-Asian Technical Automotive center was created as well to provide two companies with the opportunity to design vehicles and the appropriate components for other markets in Asia as well, along with the Chinese market. About 8 million vehicles (light trucks and various brands of cars) were sold on the Chinese market in 2007. The market of China appeared to be the second in the world as referring to the volume of sales after the United Sates market.

The key to success was the stake made by the joint venture on the design and production of the vehicles for the needs of the Chinese customers only. Thus, a light minivan under the Wuling brand was created. Sunshine had only a 0.8-liter motor, allowing it to have the speed about 60 mph only and price near $3,700. It was a huge success for both companies. In 2010, the Chinese market became the largest in the world with about 18 million vehicles sold. GM and SAIC became the substantial part of this success.

The strategic choice was correct if to evaluate the success of the company on the Chinese automotive market. GMs joint venture with SAIC and its decision to produce vehicles exclusively for the Chinese market are the two most advantageous contributors to the companys success after the bankruptcy. The company had invested extensively in the joint venture, and this decision was justified, considering the size of the market in China and car per 1,000 people ratio. Thus, in America, there were more than 760 cars per 1,000 people, while China had about 40 cars per 1,000 people. The volume of the market is still tremendously large, so GMs focus on it is a very wise strategic decision. It should be noted that in 2010, the company sold more cars in China than in the United States (2.35 million vehicles versus 2.22 million vehicles respectively), which only supports the correctness of the companys course of development.

GM Strategy, Structure, and Decision-Making Processes

During its infancy years, General Motors operated under the umbrella of three strategic plans, which included the utility of resourceful marketing policy, accompanied by innovativeness, and well-planned international diversification (Garvin and Levesque 1). Over the years, the management of GM, under Sloam, developed a pricing pyramid, which has been able to fit the budgets of its customers.

In this regard, GM had to make cars that ranged from the economy class to luxury models, and it was able to top in the industry by differentiating itself from other vehicle companies in the United States. Through technological advances, GM has transited a series of innovations such as the annual change in vehicle models, inclusive of overhead valve V-8 engines, increased compensation, a fully automated transmission, and use of premium fuels.

Inclusion of financial products with money lending services via GM Acceptance Corporation subsidiary has been introduced. This has resulted in positive progress in making GM superior over time. Lastly, diversification has been achieved gradually with increasing level of export and purchase of motor firms abroad. For instance, Vauxhall, Opel, and Holden were purchased from the UK, Germany, and Australia, respectively by GM in five years.

About the structure of the company, the top management, headed by Sloam, developed a multidivisional structure that overshadowed the loose GM management system under the founding head, Durant. GM decentralized its operations in a controlled manner to achieve maximal efficiency and economy (Garvin and Levesque 2). Essentially, the decentralized management of GM entailed groups and divisions headed by group executives, the board of directors, and a policy group that completed GM as a leading motor organization.

The decision-making process has been under the management committee and the policy groups. The policy groups within the firm were formed to increase efficiency and performance outcomes. They involved members from all the departments to ensure a high level of diversity.

For instance, the groups ensured that management policies were reviewed in time and that labor contracts were signed according to the provisions of the law. The senior management in the decentralized organizational structure of GM has, over time, been detached from the interests of the lower groups. Thus, it has been focusing on broader issues about global markets.

Alignment of Organizational Processes

Considering the alignment of these organizational processes, the strategic plan of GM, since its creation, has been to provide quality products to all its customers with a gradual diversification internationally.

Attainment of market leadership was through a strong decentralized structure that was highly synchronized with strong linkages between the top management and lower group management (Garvin and Levesque 4). Decision-making was achieved independently without the interference from the senior management, including provisions where endorsement of innovations, the inclusion of new technology, financial obligations was left to specific group managers.

Challenges of Matrix Organization GMs Basketweave

The major challenge in managing the matrix organization such as GMs basketweave was managing change, especially in sustaining and upholding the correct balance between local and regional interests, and managerial interests relating to centralized management to guarantee optimal economies of scale in the organization (Garvin and Levesque 8).

Specifically, the senior management, under Wagoner, disparaged places where GM required streamlining its policies along horizontal lines of the matrix and acquisition of optimal economies of scale in the implementation of new vehicle models.

Solutions to the Challenges

The GM management, following several ASB meetings, the designed solution to the challenge to be a change in responsibility concerning product development and budgets regarding the engineering component of the company (Garvin and Levesque 8). The strategy of decentralization helped the company to improve its performance considerably. For example, all responsibilities, product, product manufacturing, and activities about strategic planning were centralized.

The ASBs Decision-Making and Rick Wagoners Role in the Process

The ASB decision-making process was principally mechanical and was characterized by differing worldviews concerning the assessment of its effectiveness. Better communication with senior management through flawless interactions resulted in improved processes in the organization. Due to these interactions, issues surrounding the ASB operations were made clear (Garvin and Levesque 13). This is pertinent to the definition of good decision-making processes about superior management.

On the premises of Wagoners intuitions, his consideration of ASB as an enemy of speed shows some demeanor of diversification, which is converse with the interests of the organization and goals of the founding managers of the GM Corporation. On the other hand, his considerations regarding diversification of the mechanism and efficiency in decision-making elicit superiority in deliberating over twenty issues within a single meeting.

Diversity of Decision-Making Processes

Diversity of decision-making processes within firms implies that many people are involved in making decisions that could have implications of organizations. Thus, many companies always adopt diverse approaches to making decisions so that they could improve performance outcomes.

Diversity of the decision-making processes in large organizations may be hampered by different worldviews on issues impacting the companies. With a management system such as the one applied by GM, the simulation company would elicit strong decisions based on the stability of GM under the same valuable mechanisms employed in decision-making. Integrating policies as those implemented in ASB for governance and decision-making can lead to thriving of a simulation company.

Works Cited

Garvin, David A., and Lynne Levesque. Executive decision making at General Motors. Harvard Business School Case 1.1 (2006): 1-20. Print.

Introduction

During 2008-2009, General Motors and Toyota have experienced sales decline and increase caused by economic crisis and unstable market conditions. Thus, in spite of these problems both companies were able to develop effective marketing strategies and increase sales volume around the world. In GM, and Toyota, multi-domestic production is carried out by import-substitution companies. Even if the auto market is limited to the home country, GM and Toyota adapt products to local needs of international markets. The success of GM is caused by effective marketing strategy aimed to expend its business in Asian and African countries. GM is looking to Chinas booming auto market to drive global sales growth as demand in North America and other developed markets slump (McDonald 2008). Global production involves the production of trucks for the global market by production-centre subsidiaries, and production of passenger cars for the world market. In both cases the car manufacturing technology is transferred from the home country, but as production-centre subsidiaries tend to be large some research activity is carried out there.

Discussion

Similar to GM, Toyota has opened research laboratories in the US, where there is a large supply of university graduates in engineering and auto industry. A two-way transfer of human resources and professional engineers takes place between the host and home countries. In the case of multi-domestic enterprises, Toyotas managers tend to be from the host country because products and services have to be adapted to local needs. For global products like trucks and passenger cars, a high degree of integration is necessary as knowledge is transferred from the home country, so the key posts are filled by home-country employees. When the scale of these companies is large, some managers may be sent to work at the head office in the home country. This structure of business helps Toyota to meet local needs, sustain sales and generate income (GM Reports2009).

The difference between GM and Toyota in the ratio of foreign direct investment is very large, even among manufacturing companies. The export ratio of the high FDI is much larger than that of the other groups, indicating that high technology products from international companies like Toyota and GM are highly competitive in the world market. GMs foreign production increases the export of components and the saturation and diffusion of the company brand: the fact of this high export ratio demonstrates that the FDI does not reduce employment in the home country. The ratio of research and development expenditure over sales for GM is much larger than for the other automakers as technology-intensive products are most appropriate for foreign production. In contrast to GM, Toyota, has been able to weather the downturn better because of its strong car line-up, but plans to cut its global sales target for 2008 (Gupta 2008).

The ratio of sales promotion expenditure over sales for the high international companies is much lower than for the other groups  the ratio of head office personnel over workers is lower for the international companies, demonstrating scale effects. For GM, the sales growth rate (unconsolidated) is higher than that of the other groups. Foreign production contributed most to the growth of sales. In GM, successful multinational management involves the shift of the core competencies and practices of the parent company to its Japanese firms do not seek profits at once after an investment. This willingness to wait sometimes causes success with foreign partners in Asian countries. Also, Sales in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East rose 17.7 percent, while sales in its Asia-Pacific region grew 14.6 percent, GM said. Sales rose 2.5 percent in Europe (McDonald 2008).

In Toyotas, the success and sales growth is a result of successful HR management and market analysis. In Toyota, the top management team at subsidiaries is a mixture of Japanese expatriates and local managers, irrespective of whether the subsidiary is a joint venture or a wholly owned company. The board of directors is composed of Japanese full-time employees, part-time directors from Tokyo and local part-time managers. The management committee (or a group of departmental heads), responsible to the board, is the actual decision-making team. In Toyota, group decision-making is a very common practice at international subsidiaries and is a direct move of standard Japanese corporate decision-making. In the case of GM, controlling power may sometimes depend on the percentage of shares held, but even when ownership is less than 50 % the US side has controlling power if it provides the main resources or technology. Thus controlling power in GM depends on the number of resources one of the partners provides, not on majority ownership. If there is a serious conflict of interests this power to control is significant.

Toyotas and GMs involves the application of company- and location-specific benefits to increase sales and profit by diversifying the location of trucks and passenger car production. Considers that if a subsidiary company is not making a profit but contributes to an increase in consolidated profit, this local manufacturing facility can still be counted a success. This usually happens when the transfer price from the home country to the host country is high. Usually, marketing success is measured by the profit level of the subsidiary. Total sales for the month were 156,380, and GM sold 15,000 more cars, 11,000 more trucks and 3,000 more crossovers than it did during February (Williams 2009). Overseas manufactures of GM and Toyota is best suited to mass produced products. The products and production facilities of Toyota are designed in the home country and the latter are exported to the host countries. This allows not only economies of scale but also simple control of the production process on the global scale (Gupta 2008).

At Toyota, international marketing orientation helps employees to understand the meaning of working for the company, as Toyota would have them see it, and increases their identification with the job and the brand. In order to produce high-quality cars, Toyotas production equipment and modern automated machines are installed in overseas plants (Williams 2008). In all Toyotas subsidiaries, office workers and their heads of department share an open-plan office, therefore improving communication between colleagues. It is crucial for successful working relations that no differentiation exists between white-collar and blue-collar workers  all wear the same uniform, including the director of the plant and the president of the local plant. It is important to note that Toyotas subsidiaries try to protect jobs and do not readily lay off employees. For this reason there are many job seekers for vacant positions, sometimes more than a hundred for one job. Similar to Toyota, GM recognizes that it is hard to establish sophisticated research laboratories or design departments in developing countries, and where the level of schooling is not high it is not as easy to introduce employee participation methods such as quality circles or suggestion systems. Even within the same country there can be differences in the degree of transplantation (although in developing countries these differences tend to be small because successful methods of management have to be applied at all subsidiaries) (FAW-Toyota sales surge 2008).

For both Toyota and GM, international activities increase in scale and the degree of local procurement rises, expansion work is carried out to adapt products to local specifications. Another common feature of success is that GMs managers try to work only with other American companies and never with local partners. In the USA, managers meet colleagues and subordinates after work for a meal or a drink, but in overseas countries they tend not to do this. In the third world countries they often live in large houses in secure districts that are remote from the homes of their host-nation friends. Last years figure was 51 percent. Asian automakers had 44.6 percent of the market, while European brands had 7.8 percent (Ramsey and Ohnsman 2009). Both Gm and Toyota make their corporate creed clear to all people employed of their foreign affiliates and main phrases are posted on the walls. Market analysis and customers analyses are the main tools which help to remain competitive and increase sales during the economic crisis (Isidore 2008).

Conclusion

In sum, the examples of GM and Toyota depict that effective and efficient marketing strategies can help companies to level difficult market processes and increase sales during the economic crisis. The core of effective management is a balance between local and national production facilities and marketing needs. Technological change is rapid and GM and Toyotas technical managers, rotated every two years, are important agents in the transfer of new production methods to the affiliates. Though, it must be recognized that research activities need high-caliber professionals and considerable resources. Irrespective of the economy, it can be argued that marketing strategies have been successful because of a complex web of related methods of production and the existence of many u skilled workers. Also, such organizational processes as organizational control and market analysis, which reflect the degree of managerial domination, tend to control most affiliates. Both companies become successful by refining their technology and improving the quality of mass products, with the result that many competitors are driven from the market.

Works Cited

GM Reports 156,380 Deliveries in March. 2009. Web.

Gupta, P. GM trails Toyota in 2008 global sales race. Reuters. Web.

FAW-Toyota sales surge 129% in 2008. Web.

Isidore, Ch. Toyota catches GM in global sales.CNN Money. Web.

McDonald, J. GM Sales in China Rose 6% in 2008. Web.

Ramsey, M., Ohnsman, A. U.S. December Auto Sales Dive 36%, Drag Industry to 16-Year Low. Web.

Williams, CH. GM sales fell 45% in March from 2008, but rose 23% from February. Web.

Global value chain in GM presupposed initially the proper and updated use of software, hardware and networking standards (Laudon & Laudon, 2009). The need to standardize a global computing platform was necessary for GM in making relationships from country to country possible and reliable. The enormous size of the company and inability to connect all constituent parts of the automobile production was one of the main reasons for failure in competition with main rivals. That is why GM had great losses in 2007 (Laudon & Laudon). Moreover, the company did not catch the tendency of the time to innovate the information systems. It is concerned with the subsidiaries of GM worldwide and the relationships with the parent company headquartered in the US.

The relationship between GMs business model and information systems is straightforward due to the wide use of IT within the contemporary companies. Here the invention of Internet also contributed into the development and growth of worlds major company. GM needs to control and elaborate its subsidiaries by means of networking and information systems, in particular. The irrational expenditures for the information systems pointed out waste costs for IT. Since Ralph Szygenda was appointed as CEO of the company he kept a strict eye on the financial resources spent for information systems and reduced the number of different information systems from 7000 to 2500 (Laudon & Laudon, 2009).

Information systems were helpful for the GMs global business model due to the effective provision of knowledge and collaboration management. Cooperation with such giants in software industry as IBM, HP, Oracle intended the company to implement information technologies throughout the world body of GM, in order to have feedbacks from every within 35 different countries. GM now has the infrastructure to keep its 160 global plants running smoothly, so that to maintain correctly designed software and processes at every plant, in particular (Laudon & Laudon, 2009, p. 581). Also the company promoted four command centers on three continents, the US, Latin America, Europe, in order to stay in touch with any factory and to have the production process faster than previously (Laudon & Laudon, 2009). This became possible after the years of IT implementation and high and concerned rates of financial support for the IT budget. Now the company has greatly evaluated and developed connection with all parts of its production process worldwide. Also it is necessary to point out that the policy having provided by Szygenda saved for the company $1 billion per annum (Laudon & Laudon, 2009).

The perpetual upgrades of information systems will be successful for the companys representation in the world arena due to the ability of the company to keep up with the times. Moreover, the trends of the company concerning its good work in upgrading IT technologies and concerns about the significance of information systems within the employees in comparison with closest rivals such as Toyota will then make possible for the company not to lag behind in the information milieu. It is so because of the time of post-industrial society with its relation to the information importance as the main and valuable product of today. On the other hand, GM should not forget about such spheres of the managerial approach as Customer Related Management, security services, and collaboration and knowledge management. In this respect, there are high oppo0rtunities for GM to keep a high brand within rivals in future.

References

Laudon, K. C., and Laudon J. P. (2009) Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm. Ed. 11 New Jersey: Pearson Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River.

The General Motors Corporation (GM) prides itself on its reputation in being an international company with many branches spread all over the world. However, the admission of this fact has put the company in a challenging situation with regard to ethical and compliance codes of conduct. The diversity of its workforce subject to the countrys rights and ethics puts the company under a higher task on ethical codes. With this regard, this paper makes an extensive literal review of the companys privacy ethical criteria to sexuality, while deeply considering utilitarian and deontological theories.

Sexuality is a key element in any organization. Today sexuality accounts for failure and success in both international and local companies. General Motors Corporation has made its effort to business ethics and compliance to sexuality. Although according to the utilitarian approach, less emphasis is given to it since it may mean little to any good or bad. On the other hand, the satisfaction in working together, with a different gender is immense and of immense worth to building a dynamic team.

Notwithstanding, the company has adopted a policy that gives equal opportunities to both males and females and allowed one to data (although not included) a colleague. However, it is less likely that the employees dating may be allowed to work in the same company, not to mention of the same department. This is all for the benefit of the company.

According to deontological theory, it is ethical to date anybody regardless of the company one is working. On a closer look at the ethical perspective, with regard to privacy ethics at work, it falls that this is, natural moral, law that one may be reluctant to resist. However, the same theory advances that it is intuition from common sense and one ought to show responsibility towards sexuality. Again, the privacy or rather a freedom is given to each one of him or she should be enough to let satisfied working in the area. As such, General Motors has made an extensive effort in ensuring compliance with the company codes of conduct that may justify punishing or avoiding some employees as far as such motives are meant to produce a maximization of consequences or results in the production.

Furthermore, the company has made decentralized compliance on ethical codes of conduct that have a multicultural aspect. Sexuality and sexual harassment at workplaces have been significant at General Motors Corporation, as it does not just touch on the privacy of the sexuality but the integrity. The numerous numbers of cultures that constitute the company employees have an ethical aspect on the cultural norm, which puts the company at task to observe sexuality with considerable concern on ethics.

Sexual harassment is considered as a violation of the law, in the same line, General Motors gives zero tolerance on the same regardless of the country. In this view, the company has set up retaliatory workplaces where one can work comfortably without disruptions. Many times, the majority of individuals are fearful to speak up for fear of the security of their jobs or loss of reputation. The company has set an effective reporting mechanism where one can access the communication mechanisms and justify their moral stands.

Organizational structure comparison

The organizational structure of an entity is a critical aspect of management. The structure contributes significantly to the efficiency, service delivery, and success of a firm. There are varieties of organizational structures, which an organization may assume. Such structures have many implications on factors such as cost, human resources, and chain of command in an organization. The structure adopted should ensure that communication among its departments or employees is effective, proper allocation of resources, reduced cost, and bureaucracy.

Companies adopt varying structures depending on their philosophy, industry, size commodity, and profitability. General Motors (GM) is a leading entity in the automobile sector. Consequently, the entity has massive revenues. The entity has various assembly plants in different parts of the globe. These plants are located to serve certain regions. The location of production plants ought to be strategic as the entity targets potential customers in certain regions.

GM has a hybrid structure, which blends in central and regional forms of organizational structures. In Michigan, the entity has its headquarters, which houses its financial department. Among other core departments in GMs structure include GM North America, GM South America, GM International, and GM Europe.

A divisional structure differs significantly from the current structure adopted by GM. A divisional structure entails separating the organization as per the products. However, the hybrid structure embraced by GM is different since it blends in centralized and regional structures. A centralized structure entails having most branches of an entity in a single location. GM has most of its departments at its headquarters in Michigan. The European and South American subsidiary has offices in the headquarters that liaise with the top management personnel of the entire corporation. In a divisional structure, there is interdepartmental competition.

It may also occur in the hybrid structure since GM has various brands, which may compete amongst themselves. In the two structures, the unprofitable division in the divisional structure or brand in GMs structure would be dropped in case of restructuring. The divisional structure would favor an entity that only manufactures products without undertaking any other responsibilities besides manufacturing. However, the hybrid structure is a compromised structure, which integrates other functionalities such as marketing and brand creation.

A functional structure has been employed by many entities globally. The entity departments are divided based on functionality. Subsequently, the entity will have departments such as finance, marketing, and production. This organizational structure encourages specialization. However, it results in duplication of responsibilities. Duplication of responsibilities results in inefficiency since an entity expends its resources on a single object in various departments.

Coordination of these departments is difficult. It affects the efficiency of the organization in its entirety. This structure would be unfit for GM owing to its scale of operations. The functional design is integrated into GMs regional structure subsidiary. In Europe, the GM subsidiary now adopts this structure to complement the overall structure of the organization. The integration of such structures creates a hybrid organizational structure, which suits GM. There is not a specific organizational structure, which would suit an organization adequately. Nonetheless, managers make adjustments to guarantee the structure suits their organizations.

Evaluation of organizational functions about the structure

The financial aspects of GM have impacted massively on the structure of this organization. Between 2002 and 2009, the entity performed extremely poorly. The entitys brands were no longer attractive and practical to most consumers amid the economic crises. Consequently, its sales dwindled resulting in massive losses. The government had to support the corporation with a massive bailout. Accordingly, the entity had to show financial prudence to prevent similar events.

The entity consequently closed many unprofitable plants that contributed massively to the level of its expenses. Furthermore, the entity had to lay off some of its workforces. The financial aspects of this organization have engineered massive changes in the organization. The organization is now more efficient. GM had to drop some of the brands that were no longer sustainable. Hence, GM now concentrates on a few brands, which can market adequately, resulting in relatively higher returns. GM has a structure, which combines both central and regional managerial structures. Under this structure, each regional subsidiary has its marketing strategy.

GM North America has its marketing strategy suited for its clientele. It is replicated in its European and South American subsidiaries. This kind of marketing allows each regional subsidiary or branch some autonomy. This kind of autonomy is essential since regional branches encounter varying challenges owing to differences in consumers preferences. The human resource is the most important in any entity.

However, in this entity, it has minimal influence on the organizational structure. The structure of this entity is driven largely by its brands and other factors such as trends in the industry. Some notable trends in the automobile industry include environmental initiatives that seek to create a hybrid, electric, and fuel-efficient automobiles. Operations is a key cost driver in this entity. The entity has closed operations in some of its plants that are less profitable to curtail costs. Similarly, it has also dropped some of its brands that were infeasible (Baligh, 2006).

Organizational designs

GM has established subsidiaries in various nations to tap into lucrative markets. Brazil is the largest buyer of GM products on that continent. Accordingly, the entity has a good network on the continent, which captures Brazil and other countries such as Peru and Argentina. This kind of structure has assisted the entity to meet some of its organizational needs. These needs include the promotion of products and tapping into new markets.

Europe is another vital market segment for this entity. In Europe, it operates under various brands, which are under distinct subsidiaries. In England, it operates as Vauxhall, while in the rest of the European nations it operates as Opel. The regional structure has enabled the entity to access the global market. In some nations, where the entity has no subsidiaries, it has entered into joint ventures. Joint ventures have enabled the entity to curtail possible losses that may emanate from entry into another market. A joint venture also provides an entity with time to assess the potential of a market. Consequently, it can decide whether to establish a subsidiary.

Departmentalization is crucial since it enables the entity to meet some of its needs. The most pronounced department in the entire corporation is the financial department. All managerial work in GM is undertaken in this department. The decisions made in this department impact other sections of the corporation in various ways. Marketing is crucial in GM. The entity faces massive competition from Japanese carmakers that have dominated the American market. Marketing channels helps the organization meet its needs by promoting its brand, which increases revenues (Daft, 2006).

References

Baligh, H. (2006). Organization structures: Theory and design, analysis and prescription. New York: Springer.

Daft, R. (2006). Organization theory and deasign. Princeton, N.J: Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic.

Introduction

The selection of a leadership style by a companys management plays a crucial role in pursuing organizational goals and encouraging performance excellence in the workforce. Indeed, since it is the employees who undertake the tasks within the business processes, it is essential to ensure that their leader possesses the proper skills, competencies, and strategies necessary to motivate, organize, monitor, and discipline their performance. In particular, in the contemporary context of competition based on innovation, leadership plays a crucial role in guiding the employees in a manner that maximizes their potential and helps them grow their professionalism alongside organizational development. In particular, according to Qi et al. (2019), managers and scholars have increasingly emphasized the important influence of innovation on competitive advantage, sustainable development, and long-term organizational success (para. 1). Thus, it is necessary to review some of the most popular leadership styles as applied to the organizational context of General Motors to identify their advantages and disadvantages. This paper will be focused on the evaluation of the Transformational and Inclusive Leadership styles from the perspective of their capability to ensure the firms meeting of its goals and organizational objectives.

Transformational Leadership

Firstly, the Transformational Leadership style is one of the most frequently used theories of leadership in multiple business spheres. This approach entails the active participation of a leader in the performance of the employees through their inspiration and encouraged change toward the needs of the workforce and the company. In particular, as stated by Saleh et al. (2018), transformational leadership happens when leaders become wider and uphold the interests of the employees, once they generate awareness and acceptance for the purpose and assignment of the group, so when they blend employees to appear beyond their own self-interest for the good of the group (p. 3). In other words, the transformational approach prioritizes collective efforts over individual ones in order to pursue organizational goals and achievement. In this regard, a leader using this style is considered a role model, an intellectual facilitator, and an inspirator whose behavior is idealized due to the necessity of setting positive examples among employees (Saleh et al., 2018). Overall, transformational leadership allows for yielding successful organizational change by means of the leaders active involvement in the processes that lie beyond their responsibilities to ignite inspiration in the followers.

As stated before, the choice of a leadership style when managing a large organization predetermines the opportunities for influencing people in a correct way so that their performance aligns with the overall organizational goals. Research suggests that the implementation of Transformational Leadership approaches in an organizational setting allows for achieving successful outcomes and competitive advantages for the business entities (Saleh et al., 2018). Thus, when discussing the advantages of this leadership style within the context of General Motors, one might state that the Transformational Leadership style is effective in motivating employees to perform to the fullest of their professional potential. In the context of General Motors, this approach might have positive outcomes due to the prioritization of motivation and engagement of the workforce to ensure competitive advantages of the corporation (Form 10-K, 2020). Thus, the ability of the leader to motivate and inspire the employees is a positive feature due to its potential to ignite proactive change in an organization.

Another significant advantage of this leadership approach in the context of General Motors is the ability of a leader to generate new ideas and yield effective problem-solving by means of group work. Indeed, the teams engagement triggered by this leadership style allows for focusing on the areas that need change and applying resources to find effective solutions (Saleh et al., 2018). Moreover, the Transformational Leadership style is particularly important in a time of change, which is an immediate characteristic of the contemporary, rapidly developing business world. The consolidation of followers around the leader who sets the example to follow and unfolds the potential of employees is applicable to General Motors, which functions in the global market and has to address continuous changes (Form 10-K, 2020). Thus, these advantages allow for characterizing the Transformational Leadership style as effective in times of change, given that the leader is actively involved in all the processes and is closely connected with their followers.

Apart from the advantages and positive outcomes the Transformational Leadership style might have in the context of General Motors company, it is characterized by significant disadvantages. In particular, since General Motors is a global corporation, it seems difficult to implement the Transformational Leadership approaches on the full scale to reach all employees. Moreover, it predetermines the existence of a defined hierarchy within the company, which might limit the opportunities for free innovative processes, which are highly valued in the corporate culture of General Motors (Form 10-K, 2020). In addition, as stated by Saleh et al. (2018), this leadership style is too focused on big ideas, thus, the leader ignores the problems that lead to them (p. 3). Therefore, this style does not provide necessary benefits for General Motors in its everyday operations when small tasks and particular business processes need to be accomplished. Conclusively, despite its advantages, the Transformational Leadership style might not be properly applied to the context of General Motors since it shows limited benefits for an innovation-driven global corporation.

Inclusive Leadership

Secondly, another leadership style that is relevant to consider in the context of General Motors is the Inclusive Leadership approach. When the Inclusive Leadership style was first introduced to the field of management in 2006, it was defined as a combination of words and deeds by a leader or leaders that indicate an invitation and appreciation for others contributions (Qi et al., 2019, para. 5). As the title implies, this way of leading a company entails the inclusion of different populations of employees to meet the needs and requirements of an organization maximizing the contribution of each follower. In particular, Inclusive Leadership refers to leaders who exhibit openness, accessibility, and availability in their interactions with their followers (Osland, 2019, p. 147). Moreover, this style of leadership allows a leader to be proactive and avert crises by engaging employees to find creative solutions in advance (Chang, Ma, and Lin, 2022). Overall, this leadership style is a highly effective, contemporary, and proactive way of leading multinational corporations toward competitive advantage based on innovation and creativity.

The contemporary appeal and popularity of the Inclusive Leadership style in the modern business allow for focusing on its multiple benefits. In particular, one of the main benefits of this approach to organizational leadership is that it encourages employee innovative behavior (Qi et al., 2019). The issue of innovation and technological advancement is particularly important for General Motors since it competes in the industry of automotive vehicle manufacturing with other rivals prioritizing innovative solutions (Form 10-K, 2020). Thus, Inclusive Leadership allows General Motors to maximize its talents potential to generate innovative solutions by encouraging bold decisions.

In addition, the Inclusive Leadership styles advantage for General Motors is related to its facilitation of recognition and sensitivity toward a diverse workforce. Indeed, since General Motors operates across six continents, its leaderships ability to address the particularities of the cultures, genders, and identities contributing to the firms success is vital. Overall, as the globalization trend continues, multinational companies recognize that leaders must learn to be effective in cross-cultural environments (Sukri and Shasrini, 2020, p. 1). Therefore, the inclusion of each individual in a diverse workforce with the priority set on talent-based contribution is a significant leadership facilitator of the companys performance excellence. Moreover, the communication with employees is open, effective, and professional, which helps a leader motivate the contribution of each individual and apply their potential in the right direction (Fang et al., 2019; Korkmaz et al., 2022). In addition, a leader of General Motors is highly reliant on the effectiveness of the leadership style to ignite feelings of belongingness and purpose in each individual serving the goals of such a large corporation.

However, there are several disadvantages characterizing the Inclusive Leadership style. In particular, it neglects the strictness of organizational hierarchy, which might jeopardize the premises of subordination (Sukri and Shasrini, 2020). Nonetheless, in the context of General Motors, the corporate culture benefits from free communication and openness of the leadership, which maximizes trust, engagement, and retention (Form 10-K, 2020). Another possible disadvantage is the threat of blurring the distinctions between the responsibilities of a leader and their subordinates, which might hinder performance. However, it is unlikely to disrupt the overall innovative processes inside the corporation due to the high level of workforce commitment. Thus, despite minor disadvantages, Inclusive Leadership might be highly effective when applied to General Motors.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the review and evaluation of leadership styles from the perspective of their advantages and disadvantages for General Motors has demonstrated that the Inclusive Leadership style is better applicable to the organizational particularities of the firm than the Transformational Leadership style. Overall, the multinational company operating in a highly competitive business environment is driven by competition, innovation, and a continuously developing workforce. For that matter, it is essential that the leadership motivates, encourages, and engages the employees in creative and innovative solutions. In this regard, the Inclusive Leadership style provides a CEO with the opportunities to involve each employees potential and empower talent for unconventional and efficient solutions. On the contrary, the Transformational Leadership style limits the opportunities for yielding innovation and creativity due to its limited attention to rules and routine procedures, use of power, and necessity of continuous performance monitoring. Thus, with the use of the Inclusive Leadership style, General Motors will be able to manage its global corporation in an efficient manner, allowing for employees innovative contribution to the competitive advantage of the corporation in the global automotive industry.

Reference List

Chang, P.C., Ma, G. and Lin, Y.Y. (2022) Inclusive leadership and proactive employee behavior: a cross-level moderated mediation model, Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 15, pp. 1797-1808.

Fang, Y.C. et al. (2019) The impact of inclusive leadership on employees innovative behaviors: the mediation of psychological capital, Frontiers in Psychology, 10, pp. 1-11.

Form 10-K (2020) Web.

Korkmaz, A.V. et al. (2022) About and beyond leading uniqueness and belongingness: a systematic review of inclusive leadership research, Human Resource Management Review, 32(4). pp. 1-20.

Osland, M. (2019) 21st century: change, leadership, and women in Albrecht, D. et al. (eds.) Leadership as we know it. Leadership Education Books, pp. 141-151.

Qi, L. et al. (2019) Impact of inclusive leadership on employee innovative behavior: perceived organizational support as a mediator, PloS One, 14(2), p. e0212091. Web.

Saleh, R.M.M. et al. (2018) Leadership in the organization: a conceptual review, International Journal of Management and Human Science, 2(4), pp. 52-59.

Sukri, A. and Shasrini, T. (2020) Leadership style of multinational corporations: a brief review, International Journal of Media and Communication Research, 1(1), pp. 1-11.