Good Example Of Critical Thinking On General Motors’ Fatal Decision Of Continuing With Production And Selling Of Obsolete Vehicle Models

Introduction

The human development go hand and hand with the organizational one, and therefore, managers and organizational leaders have to keep investing in their minds in order to keep growing so that they can fulfill their duties effectively as well. Most of the people choose to fail because they could not gather the courage to do the right thing when it mattered the most. The concept of resistance to change causes major human failures because we love to hold on to anything that is familiar. In personal lives, we can afford to follow the philosophical regime of status quo, but organizational science needs the managers to change their decisions in order to match the external environment of the business. The structure and culture of the companies are dictated by the environment that prevails in the outside world, and it is out of managerial control because the managers have to react to various governmental policy changes, competitive pressures, and innovative tendencies of the industry. The firm size does not play any significant role in terms of determining the competitive edge. However, the element of technology has made size differences amongst the organization irrelevant, and therefore, smaller companies are both effectively and efficiently competing against the larger ones in order to gain advantage in the market. Same is going on in the globalized world of automobiles where recessionary trends did their numbers, and people are always looking to reap a cost advantage over vehicles. The mindset of Wagoner was corrupted with the belief that he is invincible, and therefore, he is pervious to making erroneous decision. In the world of baseball, one’s confidence can have destructive effects of his or her performance. The attention deficit syndrome can occur in the life of any human, and the esteemed emotions of happiness, sorrow, and depression can cloud the judgment of any individual in the world. The manager of General Motors failed to plan and because of this reason, he devised a roadmap towards total annihilation without even knowing the powerful consequences those his decisions have created. According to one worldview, future can be very adequately predicted in the light of present developments. The marketing focus of the world is changing, and Chinese are making vehicles by keeping the buying power of the customers. In this way, they have indirectly introduced the concept of a perfect travelling solution that can meet the minimal requirements with exerting the least possible burden on one’s pocket. The General Motors cannot foresee the interdependence that prevailed between consumer demand and innovative product designs. The hybrid cars were thrown into the market, but the management at GM decided to continue the regular versions because of the fact that the belief was prevailing in the company that impressed the management that their products do not need innovation. However, in reality they did, but the managers thought the inception of novel product development as a wasteful adventure to say the least. The five step model of effective decision making preys on one’s tendency to identify the problem. The authoritative figure must find out all the possible solutions. Thirdly, he or she is going to determine the most effective and efficient course of action in a desperate situation. Fourthly, the manager will have to develop a plan to implement the solution on a practical basis, and finally, the results have to be evaluated with reference to their power to eradicate an unwanted condition.
The managers at GM could not see the problem at all, and they were of the view that they are not facing any internal threats so there is no need to incorporate the change. However, the challenges confronting the company were not internal, but they were external in nature, and therefore, the corporate player missed the ball altogether. However, it is imperative and painful to note that the process of problem solving never completed the first stage in the case of decisional failure. The GM neglected the issues because they expected that the challenges will failed rectify themselves on their own, but in the historical context, that never happened. Every problem has a solution, and it takes will and courage to find the way out. The featured company did not try to find the solution because they were unwilling to see the challenge. The company did not conduct the most warranted market survey that would have revealed fluxing and changing consumer needs regarding demand of novel and creative traveling solutions. The company created cars, but they failed to create a travelling solution. The traveling solutions mean that the organizations have to conceptualize a vehicle, which can meet the needs and wants of the clientele without consuming a significant degree of investment to say the least. Furthermore, the connection between availability of alternatives in the market is going to adversely affect the completive advantage of the company as well. The leaders were confirmed about the success of existing product line, and therefore, they did not use the scientific method of making decisions. However, when they realized that something is wrong, it was too late for the company. They suffered the consequences of confirmation bias in this way.
The trend of globalization has eaten away the advantages of close nationalist markets those forced the customers to buy what is offered by the companies. In the latest version of the world, people have notable number of choices, and therefore, the local firm has to invest their conceptual strength and power in order to develop new products. According to the theory of leading religions, laziness is the purest form of evil known to mankind, and because of this ultimate negative force, the management of GM could not make a timely decision with regards to their activating their creative team so that it can use their inceptive qualities and capabilities to give a unique look to the employer.
Based on above philosophical discussion, one can infer that the managers have to believe in the power of idea, and they should not embrace the concept of doing and performing functions in old ways. Still, the company has an opportunity to return in the competition because there is always a way to manage the challenge, and the GM has to target the needs of the elite class that has rivers of money at their disposal. Secondly, they have to get rid of traditional system of command and control. Instead, they are in need to establish the culture of participative management where everyone can put their intellectual abilities with physical ones in order to run the managerial side of the business. The time is nearing when managers have to finalize the decisions those taken by the employees’ collective mental strength. The top managers’ willingness to change is the driving force behind the concept and vehicle of organizational development. The lack of organizational development resulted in such a catastrophe that transpired in the form and shape of GM’s bankruptcy. However, I would like to state that there is still hope of recovery. In the backyard, GM needs to run new product developmental projects, and in the upfront, they have to sell luxurious cars in order to satisfy the needs and wants of the elite class. At last, the data of the market survey after passing through regressive testing would have helped the company’s management to see the interlinks between competition and fluxing customer demands.

Conclusion

This paper shares a design with literature that discusses the consequence of bankruptcy in great detail. The generalized knowledge was applied in order to discuss the specific case of GM in this regard. However, the situation is not that desperate because the company has significant nature of strengths those it can apply in order to return and bounce back in the corporate warfare. The company’s management took a decision of carrying on with the old line of products because it was working fine apparently. However, deep down there were considerable and gigantic problems those were eating away the competitive advantage of the company from inside out. Additionally, the company attempted to apply an outdated model of organizational philosophy in the world of latest nature, and therefore, the trend and regime of innovativeness is dying out with the passage of time. The innovative spirit the much needed energy to organizational setups that they prey on in order to ensure their survival, and without innovation, there is no organization in the modern era of the 21st century. The challenges have to be faced, and the managers have to develop manly features regardless of the gender in order to get things done. Leaders have to inspire themselves from the personality of Steve Jobs who never stopped until death.

References

Herbig, P., & Golden, J. E. (1993). How to keep that innovative spirit alive: An examination of evolving innovative hot spots. Technological Forecasting and Social Change Vol 43 (1) , 75–90.