General Motors has been in business for over 100 years (General Motors, 2016), and is one of the automobile industry’s top names when it comes to auto manufacturing. The company prides itself on “earning customers for life,” (para. 1) with a commitment to safety and quality standards (General Motors, 2016) for its customers, relying on its name and the trust built over a hundred years of service to the industry through its many brands. However, the company has discovered a safety issue with the ignition switch on some of its vehicles, which, when “shaken just the right way” (para. 2), may cause the ignition to switch off, even while driving (Basu, T., 2014), creating the potential for serious harm to the driver. As of 2014, GM has included …show more content…
For many years, the culture of GM was one of ambiguous messages and finger-pointing, of ignoring problems and denying responsibility (Kuppler, 2014), and it would appear that this could, in fact, be where the responsibility for the recall issues actually does lie. Where GM’s strengths are in its well-known brands and history of service, it would appear that the company’s prided trust is no longer as easy to establish, given the deaths of thirteen innocent people. Still, even with this culture issue in the organization, the company is still working, still producing, and even still thriving— a true testament to its staying ability. As Kuppler himself states, “rarely do we have a chance to pull back the covers and see a culture with some serious dysfunction that still accomplishes amazing work on a global scale in spite of it all” (2014, para …show more content…
After reading Kuppler’s case study, it would appear that GM has historically followed more of an autocratic model, where the leadership and top management are in control of all decisions, and those below do not particularly feel welcome to suggest ideas and/or changes to the organization’s systems or processes (MyOB.com, 2015), particularly since Kuppler notes employees’ resistance or hesitance to bring up issues or concerns within the culture of the business (Kuppler, 2014). Clearly, this lack of employee willingness to raise concerns to those in power is a major issue for GM, and can obviously be blamed for the fact that concerns first discovered in 2001 (Basu, T., 2014) were not brought to light until may years