General Motors is one of America's biggest corporations. It would seem to be very successful, but it is having problems today. A lot of large companies are having troubles today along with small companies. The recession is one of the reasons, but there are other reasons too. General Motors has a long history, and during that time it has changed its management and its management style several times. The way the company is administered has something to do with the troubles it is having today. It is having so many troubles that it is closing plants and firing people by the thousands. No one is sure if these measures will make enough difference to save the company. What should be done is an analysis of the company to see where the problems come from and how they might be solved. The Chairman of the company is resigning, but will this make the difference that is needed to save the company? Is it really his fault or is there some other reason why the company is having trouble? Is it only the recession, which means that the country will have to change before General Motors can get better?
The automobiles industry as a whole was very successful in the United States for a long time. Flint (1987) describes how the automobile business grew and how General Motors and Ford were giants in the automobile industry for seventy years. General Motors has dominated the industry for much of that time, and many times some people in Congress thought that General Motors was too dominant and even suggested breaking up the corporation. However, the government always decided to let the market decide, and both General Motors and Ford survived. These two giants lasted while a lot of their competition did not, and in some cases they worked to eliminate that competition. General Motors eliminated some competition by buying up partsmakers, such as Fisher Body and Delco. Because of this, independents lost their sources of supply and had to build t...