GM Case Study Assignment
Case Study Assignment
Group Members Name
Umair Ali
Mohammad Ahsan Khan
Murtaza Mohsin
Wasif Waheed
Azhar Ali
Hira Abbas
Submitted To: Sir Muntazir Mehdi
Class: Saturday (06:00 pm to 09:00 pm)
Q. No. 1. How have GM’s strategy, structure, and decision-making processes evolved over time? How well aligned were they in each of the three major eras?
Alfred Sloan’s GM: Revving up (1920–1956)
Sloan, Jr., a manager whose ball bearing company GM had acquired in 1918, to reorganize GM's structure and management processes to be in line with its strategies.
Strategy:
First, Sloan developed a "pricing pyramid" to structure the pricing of the various different car brands, from the most economical Chevrolet up to the deluxe Cadillac. The second strategy was a focus on research and innovation. These innovations included annual vehicle changes, high compression, overhead valve V-8 engines, premium gasoline, chrome tail fins, and the fully automatic transmission. Thirdly, GM pursued a strategy of diversification; GM began exporting cars in 1925 and then purchased the British vehicle firm Vauxhall in 1925, the German operation Opel in 1929, and Australia's Holden in 1931. In 1956, just before Sloan retired at the age of 80, GM became the first company to net more than $1 billion, on revenues of $10.8 billion.
Structure:
Sloan wrote, from decentralization we get initiative, responsibility, development of personnel, decisions close to the facts all the qualities necessary for an organization to adapt to new conditions". According to Sloan, handling the contradiction between the two was at the very crux of the manager's job. Members of this committee included the top officers of the company the president, chairman of the board, chief executive officer, the chief financial officer, any vice-chairs and executive vice presidents, many of whom also served on GM's board of directors. The heads of each staff area, such as finance, purchasing, personnel, and engineering, chaired a
Group Members Name
Umair Ali
Mohammad Ahsan Khan
Murtaza Mohsin
Wasif Waheed
Azhar Ali
Hira Abbas
Submitted To: Sir Muntazir Mehdi
Class: Saturday (06:00 pm to 09:00 pm)
Q. No. 1. How have GM’s strategy, structure, and decision-making processes evolved over time? How well aligned were they in each of the three major eras?
Alfred Sloan’s GM: Revving up (1920–1956)
Sloan, Jr., a manager whose ball bearing company GM had acquired in 1918, to reorganize GM's structure and management processes to be in line with its strategies.
Strategy:
First, Sloan developed a "pricing pyramid" to structure the pricing of the various different car brands, from the most economical Chevrolet up to the deluxe Cadillac. The second strategy was a focus on research and innovation. These innovations included annual vehicle changes, high compression, overhead valve V-8 engines, premium gasoline, chrome tail fins, and the fully automatic transmission. Thirdly, GM pursued a strategy of diversification; GM began exporting cars in 1925 and then purchased the British vehicle firm Vauxhall in 1925, the German operation Opel in 1929, and Australia's Holden in 1931. In 1956, just before Sloan retired at the age of 80, GM became the first company to net more than $1 billion, on revenues of $10.8 billion.
Structure:
Sloan wrote, from decentralization we get initiative, responsibility, development of personnel, decisions close to the facts all the qualities necessary for an organization to adapt to new conditions". According to Sloan, handling the contradiction between the two was at the very crux of the manager's job. Members of this committee included the top officers of the company the president, chairman of the board, chief executive officer, the chief financial officer, any vice-chairs and executive vice presidents, many of whom also served on GM's board of directors. The heads of each staff area, such as finance, purchasing, personnel, and engineering, chaired a