General Motors social responsibility strategy Essay

They emphasize clearly on enthusiasm. They want the employee, customer and shareholder enthusiasm to be extremely high. Targets that are environmentally cleansing will give the enthusiasm to the customers. The customers may then start to buy GM vehicles, Which will result in the business being more profitable, which will then give the shareholders enthusiasm. GM work as one big family and state that the most important assets are its colleagues. This will prompt employee enthusiasm. IF this goes to plan then they have partly fulfilled their vision statement. Looking at the environmental side of the vision statement, they want to completely remove the automobile from the environmental equation. This means that GM wants to produce the perfect vehicle that has no harmful emissions, is safer to drive and is affordable. GM have recognised that it could be a long time before this vision can be achieved but have started to implement various solutions to the long-term efforts. They have developed technologies such as advanced internal combustion power trains, modern diesel engines and hybrids. Each one helps in achieving their vision for the company and gradually progress and advance their technology. Communication within GM Communication is about transmitting ideas. There are many different ways in which others can obtain the ideas, such as through the various forms of medium, by telecommunications, and face-to-face. The communication between humans is principally language but can also take on other forms as well. Body language for instance, is a very powerful mechanism of communication because a lot can be read from facial expressions, gestures and posture. The simple fact that individuals have different upbringings means that they may perceive things in different ways. John Naylor states, â€Å"The receiver interprets the message into meaningful form†. This therefore means that the language the sender uses is very important because conveying the right message will depend on it. Language also needs to be adapted appropriately in order to fit the situation. Naylor suggests that the rules of language are as follows: Phonological- sounds and their combinations   Semantic- links between sounds and meaning   Syntactic- construction of phrases and sentences. Pragmatic- relating words, phrases and sentences to context, for example culture, behaviour, history and relationship GM’s website is very effective in my opinion as a communicator because it conveys relevant information. The website coheres to Levi’s and Conrad’s first principle of usability to web systems because it uses words and phrases and concepts familiar to the user. It also presents information in a natural and logical order. Within GM’s website, the home page is very clear because the buttons are quite large, clearly labelled and colourful. The language used on the buttons is very simple and specific. They allow the user to navigate themselves around the site efficiently and easily. There is also a search button to use as well. People would use this website for many different reasons such as car dealers, managers of the motor industry, customers and potential customers, all of which would find the website easy to use. Levi and Conrad (1996) also suggest that a web system should â€Å"organise information hierarchically, with more general information appearing before more specific detail. Encourage the user to delve as deeply as needed, but to stop whenever sufficient information has been received†. GM’s website implements this because each button on the home page links to a list of information that is contained within a section. Each option from the list then links to either the specific topic or subheadings of that topic. GM’s website fits very well into all nine o Levi and Conrad’s usability principles for web systems and is therefore a good method of communicating information to the GM audience. Application of Control Models. In this of work I will look at the different types of control systems within the GM industry. â€Å"The function of control is to ensure that the plan is achieved in spite of obstacles, variations and uncertainties in both the organisation and its environment. † Control systems basically assess the performance and then compare the results to the planning. They are then used as a tool to correct the differences between these two by the use of control loops. Control systems help managers to gain information back on what could be a number of activities such as higher profit, better efficiency, improved customer care. They set out their ideal goals and compare them to what has actually been achieved and then look at ways on how to improve the current state if it needs to be. There are three main types of control systems, Feedback control, Feed forward control and Concurrent control. First of all starting with Feedback control. This looks at the information about past behaviour to correct the performance of an operation. The process being controlled converts inputs into outputs. The feedback is used to help make the inputs more useful so that the outputs are more successful. There are four key areas to the model: – Goals- these are the standards set out by the company. These are the ideal performances and are set out to be achieved at any cost. Monitor Performance- this is the measuring of process outputs. This is basically looking at the activity through each of its stages. This process is mainly routine for many businesses. An example of General Motors monitoring performance would be using techniques such as safety tests, how fast the car goes, and how many miles a car can do to the gallon. These are then reported back to management to check on the progress. Comparison- the next stage is comparison. This compares the monitoring of the results to the goals. This is where action is taken upon the controller if the results are not matching to the company goals. Control Action- this is when corrective action is taken depending on the details of the control system. An example of Feedback control within General Motors is for their project Environmental Principles. GM wants to set out a policy in which they can help rebuild and regenerate the various communities. This basically is the use of surplus properties and redevelopment of them so they are suitable to live in. The goal is environmental stewardship. The ability to balance environmental, social and economic considerations in the GM actions that help shape the world. This is a challenging goal, one that will not be realised either through an occasional accomplishment or simply by announcing it. GM states that the only way they can create the future is to use the past. This is an example of feedback control. A report has been published every year called the Environmental Report. The information is gathered each year and the achievements are compared to the goals, the relevant actions are taken to help complete this goal that GM have. As well as the Redevelopment scheme being included in the report, there are also other criteria. For instance GM have set out another goal in which the report sites that there will be reduction in emissions and fuel consumption and an increase in philanthropy and community support. One of their ideal goals is to use 90% recyclable materials, 30,000 metric tons of recyclable metal for their cars. GM uses the report as monitoring device. Each year the goals are set out and at the end of it they are compared to the results and the appropriate actions are taken. A new report is developed to help complete the goals of the company. As you can see this fits into the Feedback model fairly well. All the key features are there, goals are set in one report, these are monitored throughout the year, the results are compared to previous years, and action is then taken if they have not been successful, which can take form of a new report. The next type of control feature is Concurrent control. This is sometimes described as real time or self-control. This control system works as close as possible to the process. The process does not need to be interrupted for monitoring and adjustment, in some cases. There are several perspectives that Concurrent control can be seen as. From the view of the worker it resembles Feedback, as they are processing, then monitoring, and so on. From the view of management though, the goals are set and they expect the employee to act without further intervention. The difference between feedback control is that the arrangement has internal monitoring and action. An example of Concurrent control within the GM organisation is the processing of the vehicles. The processing, monitoring, actions and controls are all is all done in real time. The vehicle descriptions are processed into the equipment that processes the cars. The input is the metal, furnishings, engines and other equipment needed to make the vehicles. These are then processed and the various technicians monitor the performance of the machinery and they are expected to use control actions if any problems occur. The goals will be producing a car that is economically sound, a people carrier, and cars that are specifically designed for the city and other similar goals. If there are any problems the technicians are expected to take the relevant actions to sort out the problems. As you can see the processing of vehicles has a certain element of Concurrent control within it. Nearly everything is done around one process and it is up to the employees to adjust and correct any problems that occur Now moving onto Feed forward control. Feed forward is about anticipating an event or problem before they arise within a business. The controller receives the monitoring information on outputs; these outputs are then converted into forecasts of the future outputs if the process continues as it is. Feed forward differs from planning. Planning answers questions such as â€Å"How can we get from here to here? † Feedback looks at questions such as â€Å"What early warnings do current outputs give us of future process performance? † The forecasting part only works on the output data. An example of Feed forward control within GM could be within their Seven Year Plan. This plan is included within GM’s Targets and Mission statement. GM wants the transportation of the future to have a lot less impact on the environment and the quality of life. The plans are assessing the possibilities of changing the major modes of transportation and start to develop future land transportation systems. GM is also intent on producing a vehicle that has no harmful emissions and either runs on a fuel that is harmless, runs on electric, or runs on solar power. They want to make motoring as safe to the environment as possible so that people are no longer concerned with the effects vehicles have on the environment. GM has many forecasts within this plan. They forecast to develop a prototype car that runs on electric by the year 2004. Each step of this production will be closely monitored so that other forecasts can be made to improve the process. Evan now forecasts are being made upon the vehicles they produce so that they can be improved when the next sets of goals are thought up. A lot of GM’s current processing is using feed forward control. They are constantly forecasting better ways to produce their goods so their Outputs can be improved. I do not think that any of these suggest any possibilities of problems or failure. GM have stated that they want to strive forward in the car industry and make sure that their products are safe to the environment and safe to the people that use them. They are using these models to improve on what they have already done within the car industry. They also want to lead by example and make other car industries follow their lead. They are a pioneer company and do not show signs of failure. References Management (1998) by John Naylor http://www. gm. com/ http://www. ilds. com/ http://stats. bls. gov/ore/htm/ Management BUSAG2031 Adam Tilston 00302568 Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Variation and Inheritance section.