Global Strategy at General Motors Essay Example for Free

Global Strategy at General Motors Essay Company, one of the world’s largest automakers, traces its roots back to 1908 and its annual revenue in 2000 of $185 billion. The company sells 8 million vehicles per years, 3. 2 million of which are produced and market outside of its North America. GM caught 27 percent share of the North America and 9 percent share of the market in the rest of the world as well as GM captured 12 percent share in the Western Europe in 2000 which is second only to that of ford. With its global headquarters in Detroit, GM employs 235,000 people in every major region of the world and does business in some 140 countries. GM and its strategic partners produce cars and trucks in 34 countries, and sell and service these vehicles through the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling. GM’s largest national market is the United States, followed by China, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Canada, Russia and Germany. GM’s OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. General Motors Company acquired operations from General Motors Corporation on July 10, 2009, and references to prior periods in this and other press materials refer operations of the old General Motors Corporation. Though GM had a long presence in developing countries, until recently sales there accounted for only a little fraction of the company’s total international business. Traditionally GM used the developing countries as a dumping ground for the obsolete technology and outdated models and earned huge money from this aging investment. This strategy has seen as lack of commitment from top management and GM offered very low quality, made of old product. All decision, plan and marketing decision were centralized by Detroit headquarter and they acted as a market context. GM kept in its mind about the poverty, crime, geographical situation and politics and communism in the developing countries. On the other hand, GM Detroit headquarters kept away GM European operation from other part of the world. And because of this arm’s-length-basis, company had failure to share all the valuable technology, skill and practice among the subsidiaries. But it had appealing market, and high profit opportunities in the Europe. So, GM did tailor the specific market needs because it had worried about blowing off from market if it didn’t tailor the specific market. So, while the GM tight controlled over its operation in the developing country but in the some time GM was too lax in Europe and felt lack of overall strategic coherence. Since 1997, GM has been trying to switch a philosophy that centre of excellence may reside any where in the global operation. An embodiment of this is to set up new four plants in the developing countries with investing $2. billion. And the four plants are identical and they can able to imitate Toyota. At the Eisenach plant, GM leant lean production from Toyota and implemented this. So the plant which productivity rate is at least twice that of most North American assembly operations is most efficient in Europe operation and the best in GM. Although they reach the more scale economics, more efficiency , more synergy, and ability to match local preference, but this strategy are not working because GM still suffers from high costs, low perceive quality. Finally, GM thinks that the push toward global cars is misconceived. At the Opel’s Russelsheim design facility, the German based engineering has uttered concerns that distinctively European engineering features may be left by the wayside in the drive to devise what they see as blander â€Å"global† cars. Question-1: How would you characterize the strategy pursued by GM in the (a) developing world and (b) Europe before 1997? Answer: The question asked to characterize the strategy pursued by GM in the developing world and in Europe before 1997. So, first of all it is very important to notice that in this question we have two important information for discussion: First information: there are two main market areas for GM’s international operations: Europe and the developing world which is made up of Latin America, Asia and eastern Europe and the strategy pursued in these two markets are totally different. Second information is that there’s a key date in GM’s history which is 1997. This date is an important turnaround for GM. Strategy in developing countries before 1997 The fact: †¢Outdated low cost products were selected for developing countries. †¢All the strategic decision, marketing and manufacturing plans were centralized by Detroit headquarter †¢Low commitment policy was there since GM select developing countries as a dumping ground for obsolete technology and outdated models The context: †¢The main context in the developing countries is the political and economical instability. †¢Low expanse capability of the developing countries as they are poor. †¢Low growth perspectives. The strategy: Decision to produce and sell low cost models that were considered outdated developed world. Added benefit of extending the return on investment of previous decade’s investments. †¢This allowed generating a continuous cash flow to be invested in more appealing markets like Europe. †¢Probably willingness is not to share valuable technologies and skills in countries with low patent protection. The Result: market sha re less than 8. 9% The strategy pursued in the developing markets before 1997 was a very low commitment from the top management towards the developing markets. This means that the product offer was very low quality, made of old products that would have not been sellable in a competitive, developed market like the US or western Europe. From the case we also noticed that all the strategic, planning and marketing decisions were centralized in the Detroit headquarter. So, this means that the top management didn’t consider important to have a direct contact with those markets and didn’t want â€Å"trust† local subsidiaries to manage on their own. They thought they could manage the developing market from their desks in Detroit. Lack of initiative or just plain Yankee arrogance weren’t the main reasons. We think the GM management acted accordingly to the market context. In fact to understand their strategy, we must keep in mind that the geopolitical situation before the nineties in South America had instability both in politics and economy, poverty, crime and sometimes civil wars. In Eastern Europe and Asia: communism was also known as not favorable to American capitalists. The choice of a low profile strategy was the only chance at these conditions and there were low risk, low investment, low commitment but also low return. The market share of GM’s vehicles in these markets was very little but, considering the amount of resources invested, it’s not bad at all. After all, this low-cost strategy allowed GM to extend the life of obsolete products without risking to loose valuable resources in risky states. And most important, generating some cash to be invested in more appealing markets like Europe. Strategy in Europe before 1997 The context: †¢Strong local competitors †¢Strong cultural identity †¢Differences in preferences compared to US †¢Tight urban space The pursued strategy: †¢Need to totally design, produce and sell different models( compared to US) †¢Huge investment. Allowed to produce state of the art vehicles featuring the ultimate technology and design tailored to the local customers. †¢Loose control by Detroit headquarter and wide freedom to regional and national subsidiaries( strategy planning, designing of cars and facilities were managed on their own) The Result: †¢11. 3% market share second only to Ford †¢Lack of an overall strategic coherence. Inability to leverage synergies And here we go with the second part of the question: strategy in Europe before 1997. Here everything is different. We have an appealing market, high profit opportunities, demanding customers and strong competitors. In Europe you can’t even imagine to sell the same cars you sell in America. First of all because there’s not enough space: streets are smaller, plain and simple. Second, because people have very different preferences compared to US and third because if you don’t tailor the cars to the specific market needs, local competitors will blow you off in a minute. And you’ll be out of the game. So here’s how GM managed the European operations: They gave local subsidiaries freedom to design, produce and sell new models. Impact of pre 1997 strategy In developing countries: †¢Inability to respond to market needs †¢Mediocre from a competitive point of view but decent from a financial point of view In Europe: †¢Good response to market needs †¢High costs †¢Good from a competitive point of view but very expensive and not much efficient To summarize Pressure for cost reduction was high in developing countries not because of competitors but mainly because of poverty. In Europe, compared to developing countries, customers have a high expenditure capability so if a pressure for cost reduction exists, it’s due to competition but still it’s not comparable to that in the developing world. That’s why we’ve put it in the lower end of the axis. Question-3: How would you characterize the strategy that GM has been pursuing since 1997? How should this strategy affect GM’s ability to create value in the global automobile market?

Joy Harjo (1951--) :: Artist Poet Joy Harjo Biography Essays

Joy Harjo (1951--) Joy Foster was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on May 9th, 1951 to Wynema Baker and Allen W. Foster. She is an enrolled member of the Creek tribe, and is also of Cherokee, French, and Irish descent. Descended from a long line of tribal leaders on her father’s side, including Monahwee, leader of the Red Stick War against Andrew Jackson, she often incorporates into her poetry themes of Indian survival amidst contemporary American life. In 1970, at the age of 19, with the blessings of her parents, Foster took the last name of her maternal grandmother, Naomi Harjo. As she often credits her great aunt, Lois Harjo, with teaching her about her Indian identity, this name change may have helped her to solidify her public link with this heritage. Although primarily known as a poet, Harjo conceives of herself as a visual artist. She left Oklahoma at age 16 to attend the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, originally studying painting. After attending a reading by poet Simon Ortiz, she changed her major to poetry. At 17, she returned to Oklahoma to give birth to her son, Phil Dayn, walking four blocks while in labor to the Indian hospital in Talequah. Her daughter, Rainy Dawn, was born four years later in Albuquerque. For years, Harjo supported herself and her children with a variety of jobs: waitress, service-station attendant, hospital janitor, nurse’s assistant, dance teacher. She then went on to earn a B.A. in English from the University of New Mexico in 1976 and an M.F.A. in poetry from the University of Iowa’s famed Iowa Writer’s Workshop in 1978. She then went on to an impressive list of teaching positions beginning with the Institute of American Indian Arts and ending with her current position with the American Indian Studies Program at the University of California at Los Angeles. Harjo is an award-winning poet many times over. She has won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas, the Oklahoma Book Award in 1995 for The Woman Who Fell from the Sky and in 2003 for How We Became Human: New and Selected Poems, the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America for and the American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation for In Mad Love and War (1991), among other awards.

Dimmesdale: The Scarlet Letter Essay

Richard Perle, a political advisor of the 1940s, once said, â€Å"Sometimes the things we†¦ do seem objectionable in the eyes of others† (â€Å"Brainy Quote† 7). This is true of people and situations we encounter in our everyday lives, and all of us are most likely deemed objectionable more frequently than we realize. Our behaviors can appear undesirable, offensive, or scornful to others, while we may not conceive it ourselves. This is certainly true of the way readers perceive Dimmesdale’s actions to be in The Scarlet Letter, an acclaimed novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The story is a romance involving characters that have been embroidered so intricately that their natures can be equated to the needlework created by Hester, a protagonist in the story. The complexity of the romance woven into the tale soon consumed the lives of all three of the main characters, to the point where both Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth, the two male characters in the plot, underwent drastic changes. Uncharacteristically, the romance brought out the worst in the characters, allowing the reader to question which of these two men can be considered to have the least admirable of qualities. Arthur Dimmesdale, because of his lack of moral fiber, his inability to living up to the values of both the Puritan and Christian beliefs of his ministry, his cowardice, and his hypocrisy, is by far the most objectionable character of the two. Unable to control his lustful impulses, Arthur Dimmesdale committed adultery with Hester, and sired their illegitimate child, Pearl. Dimmesdale’s immorality defied all that he preached as a minister, as well as the commandments of his Christian faith. Dimmesdale made an extremely poor decision. To make matters worse, while Hester continued to be publicly scorned for her sin of adultery, Dimmesdale’s chose to conceal his part in this sin from the public. He left the entire burden of this sin on Hester’s slim shoulders. Because of his unwillingness to confess sleeping with another man’s wife, Dimmesdale lived a life of guilt and adopted vigils involving self-harm; â€Å"In Mr. Dimmesdale’s secret closet, under lock and key, there was a bloody scourge. Often times [he] had plied it on his own shoulders†¦ it was his custom, too, as it has been that of many other pious Puritans, to fast† (Hawthorne 289-291). He both fasted and whipped himself, emulating devout Catholics. Dimmesdale failed to open himself to help and choose other forms of repentance, making his choices additional bad stitches in the tapestry of his life. Dimmesdale’s failure to realize that his poor decisions were leading him into a downward spiral and that there were ways to dig himself out of his grave, confirm in the reader his disreputable character. As mentioned before, Dimmesdale’s sin of adultery was kept quiet, as he never publicly confessed his actions, nor took responsibility for them. As the minister of the Boston, he was revered and admired by the entire town. â€Å"â€Å"The godly youth! † said they among themselves. â€Å"The saint on earth! †Ã¢â‚¬ (289), did the congregation exclaim regularly. It is because of this acclaim and Dimmesdale wish to keep his high place in the social hierarchy that he refrained from publicly revealing his true character. The narration comments on Dimmesdale’s practices saying, â€Å"And he himself, in so far as he shows himself in a false light†¦ the only truth that continued to give Mr. Dimmesdale a real existence on this earth was the anguish in his inmost soul,† (293). The only truth was his anguish. The minister continued to struggle with himself, and after one night of his dangerous vigils, staggered to the scaffold on which Hester had stood years earlier, in an attempt at confession. Pearl and Hester, coming back from an errand, joined him and Pearl asked if he would stand with her and her mother at noontide. Dimmesdale’s reply disappointed her as he said, â€Å"â€Å"Nay; not so, my little pearl! †Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ for, with the new energy of the moment, all the dread of public exposure, that had so long been the anguish of his life, had returned upon him†¦ â€Å"Not so†¦ I shall, indeed, stand with thy mother and thee one other day, but not to-morrow† (307). In this instance, Dimmesdale disregarded his wishes to liberate his soul and once again refused to own his sin. For some time, Dimmesdale was patient and carried on with his life, but his patience slowly metamorphosed into cowardice, a despicable trait in a man. Further supporting the argument that Dimmesdale was a hypocrite, is the fact that he preached prodigious sermons on the topic of morality and confession, but was unable to live up to their messages. Roger Chillingworth stated this to Hester, â€Å"his spirit lacks the strength that could have borne up, as thine has, beneath a burden like thy scarlet letter† (343). Dimmesdale could preach the consequences of sin, but could neither keep himself from sinning nor own up to his sin. When Hester was put onto the scaffold, Dimmesdale spoke to her directly, as he was directed to do by the magistrates, in an effort to force her to speak of her sinner, and said, â€Å"Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him†¦ though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life†¦ Thy silence †¦ compel him†¦ to add hypocrisy to sin? † (133). Dimmesdale argued that if her lover were to step down from his high status onto the scaffold beside Hester, it would be better than for him to hide his sin for eternity. Yet, Dimmesdale, the sinner, did not do this. Lastly, Dimmesdale stated when meeting with Hester, â€Å"I should long ago have thrown off these garments of mock holiness, and have shown myself to mankind as they will see me at the judgment-seat. Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret! † (383-385) and ultimately expressed to her his jealousy towards her. He envied how public her sin was and stated that he was in agony because his scarlet letter burned in secret. Yet, he, coward and hypocrite that he was, refused to state his sin to the entirety of Boston. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale cannot have his cake and eat it too. His impotence was contemptible. As a minister and leader of the town, he should have been able to remain strong and reinvent himself. Some readers may argue that Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s husband, was the more abominable of the two, claiming that he wed Hester knowing she did not love him and that he did not love her, tormented both Hester and Dimmesdale, and turned into a devil. In order to fully understand and empathize with Chillingworth, the reader must consider things from his point of view, climb into his skin and walk around in it. It was common in Puritan times for couples to wed for money and security rather than for love. Many of these loveless marriages were successful. In addition, Chillingworth’s â€Å"torments† towards Hester and Dimmesdale were out of passion towards his wife. He, like any other man, felt it necessary to remain close to his wife, regardless of the lack of love felt between them. Yes, Chillingworth did turn into a bit of a devil in the end, lusting after vengeance towards Dimmesdale. But Dimmesdale turned into a floppy, soggy, mush of fabric, unable to support himself. Chillingworth was still able to support himself, and properly chase after and acquire his goal. Dimmesdale was not. In summation, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale was an objectionable character not only because of his cowardice, but because of his hypocrisy, lack of moral fiber, and poor choices. Ambrose Bierce, a journalist in the 1940s caveats to his readers, saying â€Å"note the particulars in which one person or thing is, if possible, more objectionable than another. † (â€Å"Think Exist†, 9). And as readers of The Scarlet Letter, we do just that; the audience realizes the altogether disgraceful character of Dimmesdale, a man whose life came apart at the seams because of love, but who, because of his poor choices, was unable to stitch his muddled tapestry back together. In many ways, The Scarlet Letter is actually Dimmesdale’s story, as the central struggle is his. The other characters employ nearly fixed positions while the minister must – in one sensational decision – dismantle his actions of seven years’ time. And it is that reversal that marks his defeat over himself and marks the apex of the novel. Works Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter: A Kaplan SAT Score-raising Classic. New York: Kaplan Pub. , 2006. Print. â€Å"Objectionable Quotes and Quotations. † Think Exist. N. p. , n. d. Web. 22 Oct. 2013. â€Å"Objectionable Quotes. † BrainyQuote. Xplore, n. d. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.

The Woman Who Fathered Me A Caribbean Womans Role in...

The Woman Who Fathered Me: A Caribbean Womans Role in the Family Female children born into low income families in Jamaica and other islands of the Caribbean are burdened with a stereotype that their male counterparts will never know. When faced with the gender oppression their society has constantly been feeding, and the fact that so many women must act as the single financial heads of their families, many women of the Caribbean must settle for low paying occupations associated with female or domestic labor. For women born into families at the bottom of the economic ladder, there is little hope of social mobility or escape from the fist of poverty. In most cases, the cycle continues to feed itself from mother to daughter. In my†¦show more content†¦Here where the fences penetrated each other and in silent collaboration produced a corner there were three. The three were shuffling episodes and exchanging confidences which informed their life with meaning. The meaning was not clear to them. It was not their concern, and it never would be. Th eir consciousnesshad never been quickened by the fact of life to which these confidences would have been a sure testimony. The sun let its light flow down on them as life let itself flow through them. I begin my paper with this excerpt because it says a great deal about life for women, and especially mothers, in the Caribbean. I recently took a travel study course through the English department to study Caribbean literature in Barbados and we were asked to read Lammings book before we left. Reading it I had assumed that the lifestyle and events he was describing had to be somewhat dated, but after two weeks on the island I realized that things are just now beginning to change as far as womens identity and role in the family. It has only been with in the past thirty years that women in the Caribbean have collectively begun to gain consciousness, unite, and come forward in their pursuit of equality with their male oppressors. Not only is it beautifully written, but Lammings description brings up two important issues that are crucial to the thesis of my paper. First, as seen through all the different fathers of Miss Fosters six children, the commonShow MoreRelatedEssay on The End of Oppression for Jamaican Women5572 Words   |  23 Pages12) Women have different roles in politics, economics and religion than their counterparts. It is important to know not just the general role of women, but it is also important to know where they come from. Women have not played a big role in politics, have been oppressed economically, and have not received equal pay. In the Rastafarian culture women are subservient, this is slowly changing. Where does this leave Jamaican women? A race looking for strong women role models. Black women do notRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 PagesBlack, ed., Modern American Queer History Eric Sandweiss, St. Louis: The Evolution of an American Urban Landscape Sam Wineburg, Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts: Charting the Future of Teaching the Past Sharon Hartman Strom, Political Woman: Florence Luscomb and the Legacy of Radical Reform Michael Adas, ed., Agricultural and Pastoral Societies in Ancient and Classical History Jack Metzgar, Striking Steel: Solidarity Remembered Janis Appier, Policing Women: The Sexual Politics of