Arslan Ali

Ayesha Anwar

.

•Under Billy Durant’s leadership, General Motors Company was founded on September

16, 1908

•Today, GM is recognized as the world’s second largest automaker

•Global automotive sales leader since 1931

•Has manufacturing operations in 32 countries and its vehicles are sold in 200 countries

•Currently, GM Dealers in the United States have sold 257,623 new cars and trucks as

of October and 445,555 of pre-owned cars

Richard Wagoner GM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

John M. Devine GM Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer

Robert A. Lutz GM Vice Chairman, Global Product Development

• Few years back, GM was predominantly a North American brand where 80% of its

vehicles were manufactured.

• It has become a global automaker in recent years.

• The goal is to manufacture 50% of its vehicles outside of North America.

• GM is now using Toyota’s strategies of plant standardization and lean manufacturing.

International Operations at General Motors

• GM now has four manufacturing plants in Argentina, Poland, China and Thailand.

• All the plants are standardized and are almost identical to each other.

• This helps not only in launching global products but also in sharing knowledge and

modern techniques across the globe.

• New factories have been designed with flexibility and efficiency in mind.

• Supply chain has been improved effectively.

• Despite being similar, the plants have room to make adjustments according to local

demands of each country.

• Standardized plants have helped reducing the costs.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of General Motors’ Strategy for

operations?

Discussion Question No.1

What operations management decisions are illustrated in this case?

Discussion Question No. 2