Case Study

Nicaud Robin

General Motors is...

By William Crapo Durant

In 2011, 150,28 billion $ of revenue.

The headquartered is in Detroit, Michigan.

Founded in 1908

an american multinational automotive corporation

The company is composed of several brands :

GM produces cars and trucks in 35 countries

Employs 284,000 people

Present in 157 countries

Analyze GM using the competitive forces and value chain models.

With free trade and globalization new entrants in the market like Japan or China have taken a big market share.

GM has faced competition from foreign car makers ahead of the game in technology.

None of their system are interconnected.

All the process was inefficient and cost a lot of money.

They didn't have any advantage in relation with their competition.

What is the relationship between information systems and GM's business model ?

How are information systems related to the problems GM has been experiencing ?

The problem of GM is due to its enormous size.

As a matter of fact, the company is divised in several sectors. Each sectors communicates with the direction, but not with the others sections.

The company have a communication vertical and not horizontal.

It tool GM more time and money than competitors to produce a car because the firm was saddled with a lumbering bureaucracy, inefficient production processes,and thousands of outdated "legacy" information systems that could not communicate with each other.

How have information systems helped GM transition to a global business

model ? They can check  and  control the  operation of the  remote

enterprise.

It  helps develop  good communication with  different groups of  separate operating company.

They  help to better  sort the information and thus avoid  the accumulation of useless information.

To attack news targets and to boost the turnover.

Do you think GM's global processes and upgraded information systems will be able

to improve its business performance ?Explain your answer

Global Processes  of  different  GM  helped  modernize  information systems  and so improve communication  at several stages  with business  partners

To better record and  accumulate information  and have  better tracking  of all this information.

Faster adaptation  to  the ever-changing  automotive market  and to better  anticipate the development of competitors

Allowed  this to  General Motors  has once again become  the world number 1  in sales  in 2011  thanks to  the improvement  of information systems

Deleting multiple  brands  has  allowed  the company  to better focus  in the development  and innovation  of its main  vehicles

SWOT analysis

Strenghts weaknesses

opportunities Threats

-Overly Dependent on US market-Ineffective marketing strategy-Product Design Problems-Poor financial position

-Size and high market share-An international presence-Name recognition-Variety of Brand Names-Employs 284,000 people-It has strong technological potential.-They do business in 157 countries

-Develop New Vehicle Styles and Models-Expansion of their global presence -Improvement in economic climate-Opportunities in emerging markets

-Competition from foreign markets-Market slow growth-Financial slowdown

Sources

http://www.gm.com/

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:World_locations_of_General_Motors_factories.PNG?uselang=fr