Final Project Milestone One the GM Culture Crisis

I.  Introduction 

The case study that has been analysed is based on the GM culture crisis. The GM Company is illustrated as a company facing reluctance in addressing issues due to various factors, poor communication being on top of it (The GM Culture Crisis, 2017). There is a communication gap between the workers and junior managers; messages do not reach the senior management on time. The lack of leadership and responsiveness is another reason why top management is unable to take serious action. The GM organization is described as an organization having a poor communication system and not responsive in addressing the issues. For example, the company took too long to address the ignition switch crisis. Though the company has achieved much on the global level this issue is an indication of a dysfunctional organization culture despite. Like everything has its own cons and pros, the GM Company has its own strengths and weaknesses. There are leaders who take responsibility and accept failures. Mary Barra is one of those leaders ready to move on to implement the most effective strategies in order to cope with similar challenges in the future. The company’s communication process is slow and ineffective. This is a weakness that has led to the current challenges and issues in the scenario.

II.   Organizational Modelling

A. GM organization currently employs the custodial model. This model is based on the concept of decision-making power in the hands of top management. It is characterized by passive cooperation whereby the workers and junior managers do not have the right or power to initiate actions to solve existing problems or issues. They wait for the senior management to initiate actions to solve current challenges. Employees and managers are only involved in production and labour work. The model is based on economic resources which are pretty much elaborated from the case study.

B. Supportive, autocratic, and collegial models are other known models employed in other industries. In the Autocratic model, managers are given authority to make decisions unlike in custodial model. In the autocratic model, employee’s results and outcomes rely on the managers and their decisions (Barjis, p.21).  What supportive model does? The model support based and the leadership style plays an important role in this regard. In this model, leadership gives support to employees to encourage them to perform better. In the collegial model, a joint effort is an orientation to administration. Collegial encourages employees to make team decisions in order to achieve organizational objectives. For this model to work effectively, it is vital to have an employee's discipline. With discipline, teamwork works with no major conflict.

C. Different factors play a significant role in letting different organizations to make use of different organizational models. The factors include, and are not limited to, environmental factors, size, strategy, and age. Culture plays a significant role when it comes to environmental factors. How models should be decided? For instance, if a company promotes teamwork and the employees take pride in teamwork than a model should be employed which supports teamwork. Nonetheless, the organizational objectives and goals are the foremost factor to decide which organizational model to adopt.

D. The existing impact of culture on the discussed models is quite extreme. The GM Company is eyeing to introduce a supportive model. It seems to be a very good decision. With advancement in technology, the models need to be updated. Culture has interfered with communication, both on a negative and positive note as far as the models are concerned. For examples, it helped reduce the communication gap between workers, junior management and the top management. Technology has improved the communication between various stakeholders in the organization. Ideas and decisions can be shared within minutes. But, it has a negative side to it. People now do not sit together to discuss the problems as they used in past. The online platform is preferred over face to face communication. The past models stressed on teamwork & joint efforts while the current ones promote specialization.

            E. Due to the communication gap, GM was not functioning according to its model. It can be said that the upper-level communication was not effective as it took Barra took time to realize that GM was in a crisis. Being an international entity, GM Company should focus on addressing the current issues. The company should make timely decisions to encourage more consumers. Supportive model best fits the GM Company. If the top managers are supportive and guide junior managers and employees then the issues will be sorted out on time. The supportive model makes employees feel recognized. If Barra is able to implement effective strategies, GM will begin operating according to its model.

F. In comparison to the organizational models, the motivational model has not shifted much. Motivational models are there since ages and do not have anything unique. The models are mainly focused on encouraging employees, whereas organizational models have various unique objectives and require them to be updated with time. This is the main reason why these models drastically shift. 

 Works Cited

Barjis, Joseph. Enterprise and Organizational Modeling and Simulation: 11th International Workshop, Eomas 2015, Held at Caise 2015, Stockholm, Sweden, June 8-9, 2015: Selected Papers. , 2015. Print.

“The GM Culture Crisis: What Leaders Must Learn from This Culture Case Study.” Switch & Shift, 4 Aug. 2017, switchandshift.com/the-gm-culture-crisis