...Business Economics GM545 Summer Session A July 2011 One Question One: Everyone’s Gasoline Problem Gas prices are constantly fluctuating with reviewing the text we see where the United States has depended on the Middle East to purchase the crude oil to manufacture the gas needed to fuel our cars. (Stone, 2007) It was evident that there were issues during the years of 2006 and 2007 when we seen the biggest rise in gas at that time there was not much we could do we needed to purchase the gas to use for everyday functionality throughout the United States we seen here in the state of Florida (Jacksonville) particularly that the prices went from $2.10per gallon to an all time high of $3.06 this increase was not gradual it was almost overnight when this increase was a period just about a month. This tended to come from some events that occurred in the following countries Mexico, Iran, Iraq, Israel, India, and North Korea that have energy markets on edge and the crude oil prices were heavily elevated at that time. (Jacksonville Bussiness Jornal, 2006). When looking at recent information that has been collected on gasoline prices we tend to look at earlier month May 2011, Jacksonville Florida was getting near the $4.00 per gallon with that we then seen a drop in prices from $4.00 down to $3.85. Typically this is when the summer driving season is starting and the elasticity for fuel starts to rise and continues to do so along with that need for gas the prices rise along with it...
Words: 1334 - Pages: 6
...Business Economics GM545 Feb/2012 lynnettehamrick@yahoo.com The gas prices in my area have significantly increased within the past few weeks. I reside in Silver Spring Maryland and my Nissan Maxima requires premium fuel. The current price at Shell for premium gasoline is $3.999. I'm paying $4 a gallon for gas. Fox five dc news reported that last year around this time, the price for regular gasoline was $3.25 a gallon (http://www.Thepriceoffuel.com). The gas prices lately have not been stable and since the recession started in 2008 the gas has been fluctuating around $4 a gallon for regular oil. Gas prices fluctuate for many reasons which include the price for crude oil in the world market, supply and demand for gasoline, local competing gas stations, government regulations, and taxes. Crude oil prices are 55% of the price of gas and distribution and tax account for the remaining 45% (http://www.Thepriceoffuel.com). The demand for gas occurs around summer vacation and major holidays where motorist consume the most gas. When people drive less and use other means of transportation like, car pools, public transportation, and bicyclist, this brings the demand down. The average price in Maryland for regular gas is $3.626 compared to a month ago at $3.416. The highest gas stations in the area our in Montgomery county, where as locations like Baltimore county and Waldorf have cheaper priced gas. Another aspect of the lower prices is that these our locally...
Words: 950 - Pages: 4
...Course Project Part 1 GM545 Business Econcomics (Fall Session A 2010) November 9, 2010 Ethical Issues in Business Ethics is an everyday occurrence in the corporate world as well as one's personal life. Business ethics is the same as normal ethics. In both cases, ethics is knowing what is right or wrong, and/or learning what is right or wrong in the environment in which one is involved. An ethical issue may not have a concrete answer; therefore a person's decision may depend on that person's situation. This may happen because "ethics is a broad and murky area and the workplace is full of ethical dilemmas and issues" (Orinsi, 1999). Therefore, employees feeling the pressure to perform may resort to unethical decisions in order to meet the goals that they feel are unreasonable. This can happen at any level of management (Orinsi, 1999). I work in a industry full of healthful living and fitness plans, one of the most recent corporate ethical dilemas I believe is reasonable to discuss, centers around Susan G. Komen (SGK) for the Cure and chosing cause-marketing partner, Kentucy Fried Chicken (KFC). Questions have been raised by various media, including The Washington Post and The Huffington Post (one specifically about pesticides and their link to corn, chickens and cancer) to which Andrea Rader' SGK's director of commnications, responded with dollar amounts of SGK's contributions to research and education. (Stengel, 2010) In the majority of its responses to the media...
Words: 1194 - Pages: 5
...come under growing pressure to ensure that workers in their supply chain - particularly in labor-intensive markets such as India and China - are not exploited. The BBC's Panorama programme, which carried out a six-month investigation, alerted Primark to the problems that their suppliers are sub-contracted smaller firms, which were using child labor to carry out embroidery and sequin work. Under the terms of its code of practice for suppliers, Primark prohibits the use of child labor in its manufacturing chain. Equilibrium Price: This is the price at the quantity of goods demanded is equal to the amount supplied. Let us take an example, say when the price of a tin of sugar is $1 there was a demand of 100 boxes of sugar and 100 boxes were supplied to the market at that particular time. Then we say that $1 is the equilibrium price at that point. Considering consumers as stakeholders, the intense pressure cause the demand of the Primark’s products to decrease. A decrease in the demand of their product leads to excess supply of their products. Since supply is excess, equilibrium price will fall. A case may also arise where there will be a change in both supply and demand of their commodity. This may occur in the ways that both demand and supply may increase or both supply and demand may decrease, supply may increase while demand decreases and lastly, supply may decrease while demand increases. If both supply and demand decrease equally, it is assumed that no change had occurred...
Words: 979 - Pages: 4
...A Multimethod Approach for Creating New Business Models: The General Motors OnStar Project Vince Barabba General Motors Corporation, Corporate Strategy and Knowledge Development, 400 Renaissance Center, P.O. Box 400, Detroit, Michigan 48265 Chet Huber • Fred Cooke General Motors Corporation, OnStar Headquarters, 1400 Stephenson Highway, Troy, Michigan 48083 Nick Pudar General Motors Corporation, Corporate Strategy and Knowledge Development, 400 Renaissance Center, P.O. Box 400, Detroit, Michigan 48265 Jim Smith General Motors Corporation, OnStar Headquarters, 1400 Stephenson Highway, Troy, Michigan 48083 Mark Paich Decisio, 320 West Cheyenne Road, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80906 vince.barabba@gm.com • chet.huber@onstar.com • fred.cooke@onstar.com • nick.pudar@gm.com • jim.smith@onstar.com • m.paich@att.net We developed a multimethod modeling approach to evaluate strategic alternatives for GM’s OnStar communications system. We used dynamic modeling to address some decisions GM faced in 1997, such as the company’s choice between incremental and aggressive marketing strategies for OnStar. We used an integrated simulation model for analyzing the new telematics industry, consisting of six sectors: customer acquisition, customer choice, alliances, customer service, financial dynamics, and dealer behavior. The modeling effort had important financial, organizational, and societal results. The OnStar business now has two million subscribers, an 80 percent market share...
Words: 6641 - Pages: 27
...The Sustainability Business Case for General Motors April 22, 2014 Master’s Project for the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment Team Rose Buss Heather Croteau Steven Davidson Carole Kerrey Janet Van De Winkle Faculty Advisor Professor Thomas Gladwin Abstract The purpose of this report is to evaluate and articulate the business case for sustainability for General Motors Company (GM). After assessing the company’s exposure to risk and opportunities, the team recommends that GM should implement an internal price on carbon and a sustainable supply chain strategy. These recommendations will provide GM with tangible and substantial financial benefit in addition to improved risk mitigation and brand value. Additionally, the team found that these recommendations are viable within GM’s corporate structure and can generate systemic benefits throughout the company. Thank you to our client, David Tulauskas, and our advisor, Professor Thomas Gladwin. Executive Summary 4 Introduction 6 Client GM Corporate Overview 7 Sustainability & General Motors Sustinability & the Auto Industry Green Ranking Systems 14 Competitor Trends 17 About the Project Proposal & Opportunities Scoping 26 22 Contents 11 Research GM Interviews 28 Conferences 31 Corporate Trends & Innovations Regulations & Legislative Activity Recommendations Recommendation Development Carbon Monetization 39 Sustainable Supply Chain Strategy 32 35 36 42 Supporting Statements Support...
Words: 38081 - Pages: 153
...1. What does the Chevy Volt case tell you about the nature of strategic decision making at a large complex organization like General Motors? Strategic decision making is often met with cognitive biases that are formed around prior victories or defeats. From the Chevy Volt case, we can see that GM is a large complex organization and has a lot of processes to make any decision in changing their strategic plan. Moreover, they sticked to the past failure that they had experienced. Therefore, they moved too slow and missed the opportunity to change or adapt themselves to the external trend or a better opportunity. The nature of strategy made was based on the following factors • Increase in oil price • Limit carbon emission go green • The cost of manufacturing lithium ion batteries was falling 2. What trends in the external environment favoured the pursuit of the Chevy Volt project? Trends included increases in oil prices :-Gas price was increasing sharply because of growing demand in developed countries including China and India -Global Warming become a significant concern so people trend to use the car which produce less Carbon Dioxide. -The cost of Manufacturing lithium ion batteries was falling and new technology make them more powerful, competitive use of battery technology for fuel efficiency. -Demand for fuel efficient car like Prius (Toyota) that utilize new battery technology shows the customer demand for fuel efficient cars 3. What impediments to pursuing...
Words: 877 - Pages: 4
...HINDUSTAN/SAMBHAR SALTS LIMITED JOB PROFILE POST NAME: GM (WORKS) POSITION TITLE REPORT TO: FUNCTION LOCATION JOB SUMMARY: TOUCHPOINTS : : : : GM(WORKS) CMD TECHNICAL SSL EXTERNAL -CLIENTS # 1 REPORTED BY AGM,DGM,CM, SR. MGR, MGR,AM,SUPERVISOR DATE: 11.04.2014 VERSION: 1.0 APPROVED BY: CMD AS BUSINESS HEAD FOR SSL UNIT. INTERNAL GM-W,SSL,DIVISIONAL HEAD AT SSL, GM-COMM.,HO,CMD AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITIES ROLE ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES 2 3 4 5 6 BEHAVIOURAL COMPETENCIES PRODUCTION DRIVER DIRECT AND COORDINATE ACTIVITIES OF BUSINESS OR DEPARTMENT CONCERNED WITH PRODUCTION ,PRICING, SALES, AND /OR DISTRIBUTION OF PRODUCTS. MANAGE STAFF , PREPARING WORK SCHEDULE AND ASSIGNING SPECIFIC DUTIES. ESTABLISH AND IMPLEMENT DEPARTMENTAL POLICIES, GOALS, OBJECTIVE, AND PROCEDURES, CONFERRING ORGANISATION OFFICIALS. PRODUCTION OF SALT AS PER PRODUCTION SCHEDULE, ACHIEVE MAX EFFICIENCY OF THE PLANT, COST OPTIMIZATION, MAINTENANCE OF PLANT EQUIPMENT CO-ORDINATION WITH TECHNICAL TEAM DRIVER CO-ORDINATION WITH TECHNICAL TEAM TO ENSURE MAX. PLANT UTILIZATION RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT DRIVER EFFECTIVE TEAM BUILDING WITH ALL DEPT. COST OPTIMIZATION THINKER ACHIEVE MAX. OUTPUT WITH LEAST RESOURCES TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT DRIVER TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT OF STAFF TEAM BUILDING AND SECOND LINE THINKER & DRIVER DEVELOPMENT LEAD THE TEAM WITH THE HIGHEST ETHICAL STANDARDS, BY MAINTAINING EXCELLENT COMMUNICATION, WHICH WILL BE MOTIVATING THE CONFIDENCE OF THE TEAM. WORKING COLLABORATIVELY...
Words: 4520 - Pages: 19
...GENERAL MOTORS COMPANY (GM) History of the Company In 1900 New York held an Auto Show where there was a surprise turnout and it showed just how much interest the United States citizens had with automobiles. This enticed many different companies into entering the automobile history to try and meet the growing demand. On September 16, 1908, William “Billy” Durant founded General Motors Company (GM) who at one time was a leading manufacturer of horse-drawn vehicles in Flint, Michigan. Initially, GM consisted of only the Buick Motor Company but took only a number of years to acquire more than twenty different companies. Some of these companies include Oldsmobile, Cadillac, and Pontiac. Opel, a brand that was recognized worldwide, became General Motor’s first international acquisition (http://www.gm.com). The major recession that came about in 2008 dried up private sources of capital and had the United Sates Treasury give GM a bridge loan to aide in the restructuring of its operations. Furthermore, it is evident that sales of motor vehicles have increased since the rescue of the auto industry each year since 2009 (http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/). The economy is finally recovering and we will soon see if GM is in a place to again thrive. In the 80’s and 90’s GM encountered its largest single production expansion outside of North America in Spain. Furthermore, since GM had joint ventures in both China and India, they were able to provide a variety of automobiles...
Words: 5244 - Pages: 21
...EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This projects report containing the marketing research on “Brand Awareness of General Motors at Bellad Enterprises PVT LTD. Hubli. I have chosen this topic concerned to their requirement as the Bellad Enterprises PVT LTD. GM having over 12 brands in different countries, but mainly 2 brands on which I have concentrated more as per requirement of Bellad Enterprises PVT LTD. Because as the GM is one of the biggest companies in the world not only producing and selling cars and now they concentrating to target the domestic market and they trying to know how much the domestic market or local people are aware of their different brands and how they have opinion regarding these brands. So in simple the need is to know, the awareness level and the customers response about brands of GM. My basic intention is to make the customers or people make aware of different brands of GM and also to know the opinion in the market and their perception and satisfaction in the market of GM brands. Data collection approach: By using primary and secondary sources collected the required information. 1.Primary source: Questionnaire, Personal interview. 2. Secondary source: Company website, related information from Internet, journals, Textbook, Newspapers, etc. Sample Selection Method: Regarding to my project sample size is 100 and the sample target customers are those people who visit the company’s showroom and by random sampling...
Words: 9168 - Pages: 37
...Closing case: Planning for the Chevy Volt 1. What does the Chevy Volt case tell you about the nature of strategic decision making at a large complex organization like GM? From the case we can see that strategic decision making at a large complex organization like GM has to be decided by several divisions before they can execute so it takes time and may affect at time the company launch new project to the market it may be changed. Moreover the large organization concerned about their past failure to keep improve the quality of product so they would spend more time and may miss the opportunity for some market situation. 2. Why trends in the external environment favored the pursuit of the Chevy Volt project? Base on the information there are 3 factors effect this project. First is oil price which GM foresees that its price will increase sharply due to demand of developed nations like China and India. Second, global warming concerned so the trend of using oil fuel will be reduced to less carbon monoxide which cause greenhouse effect. 3. What impediments to pursuing this project do you think existed with GM? For GM already invested in huge amount on fuel cells so they need to come up with final product which related with this innovative. This can also agree by decision makers in company since they don’t want to suddenly switch gears but focus on lithium ion batteries instead. However the failure in the past obstructs the project by slow down the process to make sure every...
Words: 853 - Pages: 4
...The Non GMO Project is a stakeholder in support of labeling GMOs. The Non-GMO Project is a non-profit organization committed to preserving and building the non-GMO food supply, educating consumers, and providing verified non-GMO choices. They are known for their butterfly Non-GMO Project verification seal which indicates that the product bearing the seal has gone through their verification process. The seal was created in the absence of mandatory GMO labeling. The verification is “an assurance that a product has been produced according to consensus-based best practices for GMO avoidance” (GMO Facts). The Non-GMO Project argues there is a growing body of evidence connecting GMOs to health problems, environmental damage, and violation of farmers’...
Words: 1042 - Pages: 5
...General Motors (GM), with its headquarters based in Detroit, Michigan was one of the world's largest automakers in the world. Their business operate in 140 countries with an employment of 204000 people, and together with their strategic allies, they produce cars and trucks in 34 countries (General Motors, 2010). However, in June 2009, GM filed for bankruptcy protection and reach out to U.S government for financial assistance (Taylor III, 2009). In this essay, a look will be taken at the nature of GM’s organizational structure such as its organizational design and how GM’s operation is conceptualized, as well as its existence as an organization. How GM and the environment affect each other will be discussed too. GM was born out as a conglomerate of firms (Bordenave & Lung 2003). From a multinational organization with a headquarter set in Detroit and unified products, design and manufacturing resources throughout its field of business, GM was quick in moving itself out to become a global organization whereby they valued diversity and flexibility to match with the changing pattern of opportunities and threats posed in the industry sector. They actually diverged from Ford’s monolithic structure, gained own corporate stability and shortly after, challenge Ford’s hegemony internally and globally (Bordenave & Lung 2003). A division of labour is set up, whereby production has been divided into different skills and tasks spread across countries (Hatch & Cunliffe 2006). GM extended their...
Words: 2290 - Pages: 10
...Semester/Trimester: 2 Student ID: 0916657 1. Executive Summary The report comprises the following sections which discuss the connection between General Motors (GM) as a major car manufacturer, and the environmental issues and policies that concern the company: * Environmental legislation affecting GM is outlined. * The internal and external drivers of GMs policies are analysed. * The policies themselves are discussed. * Recommendations and conclusions relevant to the future of environmental protection from the automobile industry’s point of view are made. Contents 1. Executive Summary 2 2. Introduction 4 3. General Motors 4 4. Main Legislation (International, National and Local) Affecting General Motors 4 5. Analysis of the Main Drivers of GM Environmental Policy 9 5.1. Internal and External Drivers 10 6. General Motors Environmental policies 11 7. Analysis of General Motors Environmental Policies 12 7.1. Specific 13 7.2. Measurable 13 7.3. Achievable 14 7.4. Realistic 14 7.5. Timely 15 8. Recommendations 15 9. Conclusions 16 10. Table of Figures 18 11. List of Tables 18 12. List of References 18 13. Bibliography 20 2. Introduction This report investigates and analyse the impact of General Motors (GM) on the environment, the company’s environmental policies and an outline of the main environmental policies affecting GM. The problem of global warming and the...
Words: 5931 - Pages: 24
...would not have been able to survive. How did GM, as the number one auto manufacturer and seller, go from being at the top to almost ceasing to exist? This kind of financial mess usually takes years of poor decisions and does not happen to a large company overnight. To come to my conclusion I analyzed four books written by people with inside knowledge of the company, as well as magazine articles and a couple of online websites. As a result of my research, I believe that the problems that GM faced stemmed from poor risk management. Rick Wagonner, former CEO, made several poor business decisions that did not take into account any future risks or market changes. A new management team and a fresh perspective were able to turn the company around and put them back at the top of the automotive industry. Risk Management within the General Motors Company General Motors has been in business since 1908 and currently employs 202,000 people in 157 countries world-wide. It is a well-known fact that GM took government bailout money and filed bankruptcy in 2009. How did one of the largest companies in the world fall to needing financial assistance and declaring bankruptcy? One of the largest issues within the company was the lack of risk management practiced by leadership. How did the company then bounce back from declaring bankruptcy to being the auto manufacturer who sold the most cars world-wide in 2011 (Rosevear, 2012)? It is quite a project to overhaul a company, and the end result...
Words: 3861 - Pages: 16
