Summary
The management challenge for American automotive companies must be to focus on the customer and the need to provide value in their products. Past practices led both senior management, and the unions, to focus on their pay, their power and their perks. The customer was not their first priority until they finally realized how much market share they lost. Then the credit crisis came along and everyone was shoved into a bad corner. Innovation in all levels and all aspects of the corporation are required, not just in manufacturing and engineering. Putting the customer first, outdoing the competition must be the top priorities in this global business and getting everyone on the same page are absolute requirements.
Analysis
Partly agree with Mr. Kay when he writes that "...globalization of world markets became the source of [GM's] downfall." It was one of the key factors in GMs downfall.
Fully agree with Mr. Kay when he writes that "The cadre of professional managers became a complacent, inward looking bureaucracy."
Unfortunately, many other American companies fell to the same management errors. Preservation of their power base and their excessive compensation, not to mention their perquisites, became their top priorities. Of course, the unions then followed their lead, striking for more and more. Top management accepted huge salaries, bonuses and stock options while the market was closed to foreign competitors. When global competition began to chip away at their market shares they, and the unions, continued their old habits.
A "...culture of innovation..." is required in ALL aspects of the American corporation. Managers who are focused on anything but the customer need to be extracted and made extinct. People in the company, from top to bottom need to be focused on the customer and on the same page with each other.
