Kim Woods-Strategic Plan III

Students will have the opportunity to develop a Balanced Scorecard. This, in turn, will allow them to create effective strategic objectives to be included as part of their overall strategic plan. They will also be presented with the task of creating a brief communication plan that will be used by their proposed division to efficiently distribute information with regard to their strategic initiatives. 

Assignment Steps 

Resources: Strategic Planning Outline and Week 4 textbook readings 

Create a minimum 1,050-word strategic objectives summary. 

Include your balanced scorecard and its impact on all stakeholders, and the communication plan.

Identify key trends, assumptions, and risks in the context of your final business model.

Develop the strategic objectives for your new division of the existing business in a balanced scorecard format in the context of key trends, assumptions, and risks. The strategic objectives are measures of attaining your vision and mission. As you develop them, consider the vision, mission, and values for your business and the outcomes of your SWOTT analysis. 

Consider the following four quadrants of the balanced scorecard when developing your strategic objectives:

· Shareholder Value or Financial Perspective, which includes strategic objectives in areas such as:

· Market share

· Revenues and costs

· Profitability

· Competitive position

· Customer Value Perspective, which includes strategic objectives in areas such as:

· Customer retention or turnover

· Customer satisfaction

· Customer value

· Process or Internal Operations Perspective, which includes strategic objectives in areas such as:

· Measure of process performance

· Productivity or productivity improvement

· Operations metrics

· Impact of change on the organization

· Learning and Growth (Employee) Perspective, which includes strategic objectives in areas such as:

· Employee satisfaction

· Employee turnover or retention

· Level of organizational capability

· Nature of organizational culture or climate

· Technological innovation

Evaluate potential alternatives to the issues and/or opportunities identified in the SWOTT Analysis assignment and table you completed in Week 3.

Create at least three strategic objectives for each of the four balanced scorecard areas. Base your solutions on a ranking of alternative solutions including the following:

· Identify potential risks and mitigation plans.

· Analyze a stakeholder and include mitigation and contingency strategies.

· Incorporate ethical implications.

Develop a specific metric and target for each strategic objective using a balanced scorecard format. 

Example: a strategic objective in the shareholder or financial perspective is to increase market share. A metric to actually measure this strategic objective of market share increase is, “The percentage of increase in market share.” The target is the specific number to be achieved in a particular time period. The target for the metric of “Increase market share” could be “Increase market share by 2% for each of the next 3 years” of an increase of 2% per year for 3 years.

Outline a brief communication plan discussing how you will communicate the company’s strategic objectives including the following:

· Define the purpose.

· Define the audience.

· Identify the channel(s) of communication and why you selected that channel.

Format your assignment consistent with APA guidelines. 

Running Head: GENERAL MOTOR’S NEW AUTOMOBILE BRAND 1

GENERAL MOTORS’ NEW AUTOMOBILE BRAND 7

General Motor’s New Automobile Brand

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

General Motors’ New Automobile Brand

Propose a new product or service for the new company division. The division should be customer-focused with an innovative mission statement.

General Motors is one of the most valued automobile company in the world and it has been in the business for more than a century. It is also the world’s largest automobile company with braches all over the world and its production output is the largest at approximately 10 million vehicles annually. The company’s headquarters is at Detroit, Michigan, United States of America. The company has a number of subsidiaries which make different models of cars and to add to this list is a new subsidiary which will deal with the manufacture of the cars that utilize alternative source of energy to run. The alternative sources of energy will be solar energy and electricity. This new division has been created because General Motor’s management has sought it through and has seen that the future of automobile is green and therefore, fossil fuel will not be used because of the adverse environmental effects it has (Hill, Jones, & Schilling, 2014).

The new cars will be in line with the American vision of reducing its carbon dioxide emission as the United Nations Paris agreement. Furthermore, General Motors has done some extensive research and it has been realized that fossil fuel will not be there forever. A research conducted by some top scientists suggested that the oil wells are getting depleted as more oil is being mined due to the high consumption. This will drive the oil prices very high in the near future because of scarcity and there will be need to have automobile that use alternative sources of energy to run. The new division will focus on manufacturing vehicles that operate on rechargeable lithium ion batteries or solar energy or both.

Describe how the division addresses customer needs and achieves competitive advantage.

The new cars have been designed after an extensive research but at the moment the electric cars cannot compare to the gasoline cars in terms of distance they cover but this is just for a limited time because research is still going on and engineers are working day in day out to ensure that electric cars are suitable to replace gasoline powered vehicles. Research by General Motors conducted in the cities of New York, Los Angeles, London and Paris revealed that on average most people driving to the city for businesses or their own activities cover a distance of 60 miles on average. This means that this product will be marketed to target the people living in city suburbs and within the city. Cities are where most pollution from cars happen because of the high congestion of vehicles and therefore, changing the cars that these people use will achieve reduction in both air and noise pollution significantly.

The cars will be designed to have a total mileage of 100 miles before they can be recharged again for three hours to 100% and this gives the customers a great value. This means that customers can charge their cars overnight and be sure to do all their activities of the day without worrying that the car batteries will be depleted. The value conveyed to customers is that electricity is cheaper than gas and therefore, they will be saving money. There is also a greater good being achieved, the effects of too much carbon dioxide on our atmosphere are obvious. Global warming is as a results of these gases that are emitted by cars and factories that hinder the terrestrial heat from earth from disappearing into the atmosphere, but it is trapped within the earth’s environment and the result is the greenhouse effect. The earth now is like a huge greenhouse and that is why, there is increased desertification in sub-Sahara in Africa, ice is constantly melting in Greenland, Iceland, arctic and Antarctica and water levels in oceans is increasing. Islands such as Hawaii are in trouble because of the increase in water levels, they will soon be covered by water if something is not done.

Reducing the carbon dioxide emitted is one way of reducing the effects of global warming and General Motors is taking the broad step. Furthermore, gasoline cars are very noisy in the cities, one of the advantages of electric cars is that they do not produce sound and therefore, not noisy at all. The cars will also have a solar panel which can use the sun energy to charge the batteries of the car. This means that when the sun is shining, customers will not need to charge their batteries using electricity, the solar panel will convert sun energy to electricity which will charge the battery continuously and this will give General Motors a competitive advantage over other players in the industry.

Create a vision and a business model for this new division that clearly demonstrates your decision on what you want your business to become in the future.

Vision

The vision of the new division is as follows; ‘to develop a sustainable product that will take care of the people, planet and bring profits to General Motors.’ This vision aligns with the bottom line of the company and by taking care of the people and the planet, GM aims at making profits and this is why it is the long time goal of the organization to completely stop manufacturing cars that run on gasoline. The world is changing fast and the effects of global warming are causing poverty in other areas of the world and one way to show that the company cares for the people, is by manufacturing cars that do not emit carbon dioxide which is the most abundant greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.

Mission

The mission of the organization is as follows; ‘comprehend importance of people and the planet and hence become a responsible company understanding global environmental issues like global warming and doing all possible to reduce their effects.’

Business model

The division will create value by making the market understand the effects of global warming and hence the need to do something about it. Since, people have come dependent on cars, they cannot be eliminated but the source of energy they use to operate on can be changed and hence the electric cars. The cars are cheaper to maintain and operate because their batteries can be recharged either by electricity or solar energy from the solar panels installed on the roof of the cars.

Explain how the vision, mission, and value of the new division align with the company’s mission and vision.

The current vision of GM is to be the world leader in transportation products and related services. The vision of the division is aligned with this vision because GM will be the first large automobile manufacturer to mass produce electric vehicles to promote environmental sustainability. The company will have the first mover advantage giving them some edge over their close competitors such as Toyota, Ford Motor and Volkswagen. The organization’s mission statement establishes the approaches required to push the organization towards its desired future position in the automotive industry. The future of the industry is to reduce the adverse environmental effects of fossil fuel which automobiles operate on.

Summarize how the vision, mission, and values guide the division’s strategic direction.

The future has many uncertainties and for a company to be successful, it has to think, about the long term goals, 30 years or 50 years ahead. General Motors has been a leader in the automobile industry for more than a century and for them to maintain the position of the leader of the industry, they have to think ahead and invest in continuous development. The trend shows that the next big thing is electric vehicles and that is where GM should invest their resources to ensure that they achieve the first mover advantage on the new technology (Sukitsch, Engert, & Baumgartner, 2015).

Define your guiding principles and values for your division in the context of culture, social responsibility, and ethics.

The principle guiding the division is the triple P, profits, people and the planet. When these three things are taken care of, the division will be able to generate high revenue, show some social responsibility and also be on the safe side with the law. By taking care of the people, GM will not just be taking care of their customers, but also showing concern to all people. Manufacturing electric cars to reduce effects of global warming means that the people living in areas where the adverse effects of global warming are visible will have something to be proud of. Taking care of the planet means that the organization will be dedicated to ensuring that their products have no adverse effects on the environment and this indirectly helps the people as well (Senge, 2014).

References

Grant, R. M. (2016). Contemporary Strategy Analysis Text Only. John Wiley & Sons.

Epstein, M. J., & Buhovac, A. R. (2014). Making sustainability work: Best practices in managing and measuring corporate social, environmental, and economic impacts. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Hill, C. W., Jones, G. R., & Schilling, M. A. (2014). Strategic management: theory: an integrated approach. Cengage Learning.

Sukitsch, M., Engert, S., & Baumgartner, R. J. (2015). The implementation of corporate sustainability in the European automotive industry: An analysis of sustainability reports. Sustainability, 7(9), 11504-11531.

Senge, P. M. (2014). The fifth discipline fieldbook: Strategies and tools for building a learning organization. Crown Business.

Running head: SWOT ANALYSIS OF GENERAL MOTORS’ NEW DIVISION 1

SWOT ANALYSIS OF GENERAL MOTORS’ NEW DIVISION 11

Swot Analysis of General Motors’ New Division

Name:

Institution:

Background Information

Apart from being the world’s largest automobile company, General Motors is also one of the most valued automobile organization and has been for a very long time. To further this amazing success story, a new division which produces cars using alternative sources of energy- solar and electricity is proposed. Since the future of the automobile industry is green, General Motors must move towards using lean sources of energy to produce cars.

Also, the car manufacturer understands that with Tesla producing electric cars, there is going to be a lot of competition in the automobile industry hence the need for the newly created division. Charged with furthering research on producing cars which use leaner sources of energy, the new division will largely focus on producing cars that operate on rechargeable lithium ion batteries or solar energy or both.

External Environmental Forces

Global and Industry Changes

Globally and in the United States, the auto industry is going through rapid changes that present opportunities and threats to major players like General Motors. According to Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, the auto industry is going to experience massive changes especially in the next decade. Firstly, according to trends already being seen, more than 50 percent of new car production in the United States will be electric in the next ten years (Calabrese, 2016).

From the current statistics, Americans are embracing the new electric car technology and therefore companies in the industry must adjust to get a share of the shifting customer demographics. Secondly, almost all the cars produced in the next decade and a half will be autonomous. Companies should embrace this change and should already focus on producing cars that will have this quality. Thirdly, in the next two to three decades, there will be no steering wheel for the motor vehicles. A lot of changes will have happened that will make driving cars be like driving horses.

Economic Forces

Firstly, the high growth rate of the developing markets is an external economic opportunity for the new division. The high growth rate of the developing creates an opportunity for the new division to grow and expand into these new horizons (Pound, 2013). For instance, Indonesia and India are presenting a viable market for the new division.

Secondly, the economic stability of major markets like United States, Europe and China is a major opportunity for the growth and expansion of the new division. The major markets are relatively stable and therefore the new division and General Motors as a whole is not likely to face major challenges (Pound, 2013). However, rising competition in the developing markets especially from Tesla is like to be a massive challenge.

Legal and Regulatory

The legal environment is likely to present opportunities and threats to the newly created division. Firstly, expanding regulations on the safety of automobiles is an opportunity for the new division. Secondly, stricter emissions regulations is another opportunity for the new division. The new division is focused on making the environment safer in product design and development and hence will boost GM’s brands. Thirdly, expanding environmental regulations is an opportunity in the legal environment. The new division will benefit largely from intensified efforts for end-of-life considerations in product design, supply chain sustainability and business sustainability.

Environmental Forces

For the newly created division, environmental trends and changes can impact availability or resources, product usage and supply chains (Ili, Albers, & Miller, 2010). The following opportunities will boost the performance of the new division: rising interest in business sustainability and rising concerns on the air quality effects of automotive emissions. The new division is developing automotive solutions that promote pollution-free air and business sustainability.

By enhancing its electric or hybrid automobiles, the division is addressing the rising concerns on the air quality impacts of automotive emissions (Ili, Albers, & Miller, 2010). This way, the organization improves its sustainability position, brand image and corporate image, based on the rising interests in business sustainability.

Technological Factors and Innovation

Three factors are at play here. Firstly, the high rate of technological change is both an opportunity and threat. The high rate of technological change is presenting a great opportunity for the company to enhance its automobile’s technologies but also threatens the new division in terms of the potential rapid obsolescence of the technologies currently being used.

Secondly, increasing automation is an opportunity since the new division has great growth opportunities through further automation of the business processes. Thirdly, the increasing popularity of the online mobile systems should prompt the new division to increasingly integrate these systems into the automobiles.

Social Factors

There are three social factors that are likely to present opportunities or threats to the newly created division. Firstly, the increasing popularity of low-carbon lifestyles is an opportunity for the new division. People are increasingly shifting to low-carbon lifestyles and hence the division can tap into it (Deyo, 2016). Secondly, there is increasing preference for renewable energy especially in the automotive industry. People are caring more for clean energy and the new division can tap into this potential. Thirdly,

Competitive Analysis

The automotive industry is crowded. Over the years, several automobile manufacturers have into producing electric car batteries and electric cars. In fact, today, people are not asking about companies which produce electric cars. They are rather interested in companies producing the best electric cars. Elon Musk’s Tesla is the major competitive threat to GM’s newly created division. Considered to be one of the best innovative technology company, tesla produces high quality, cutting edge cars with creative and high-end features. Tesla is best known for Tesla Model X and Tesla Model S.

Secondly, BMW, the German’s car marker has entered the electric car market with its all electric luxury SUV BMW i3. The model is already changing the market. Nissan’s Nissan Leaf is probably the most popular electric vehicle in the world produced by Japanese based Nissan Company. Ford’s Ford Focus Electric and Volkswagen’s Volkswagen e-Golf is likely to give the company a run for its money.

Internal Forces and Trends

Structure and Culture

General Motors has a regional divisional organizational culture. Business activities are grouped into areas of operations or geographical segments (Helper, & Henderson, 2014). The structure is characterized by: regional segments, business-type divisions and corporate functional groups. Firstly the regional divisional structure allows for flexibility in responding to regional market variations (Helper, & Henderson, 2014). Secondly, the structure allows the division to separately focus on automotive business and financial services business hence optimizing its effectiveness in the global market.

However the structure has limited support for branding consistency at the global level. The new division has an organizational culture of agility just like the parent company. The agile organizational culture in the new division is based on five important pillars: freedom and opportunity to grow, learn and evolve; fast thinking for continued success; innovation and emphasis on quality; responsibility and accountability; and positive relationships for operating success.

Strategy and Strategic Capabilities

General Motors has a generic strategy that ensures competitive advantage even with the rising competition in the global automotive industry (Goolsbee, & Krueger, 2015). The company’s generic competitive strategy is based on cost leadership and this has been taken up by the new division. The new division’s competitive strategy emphasizes on the opportunities created through economies of scale.

The new division’s automobiles will be offered at lower prices to attract customers. Three strategic capabilities support the generic or overall business strategy: fast market penetration, automated and efficient product development; and market development (Goolsbee, & Krueger, 2015). However, limited product diversification may limit the ability of the new division to take on the industry giants.

Processes, Technologies and Innovations

The new division will benefit from technologies and innovations that have been embraced by the company. The division is focused on delivering IT and other innovations faster, help in shortening the time from design of the vehicle to its manufacturing. One of the best innovation is the Detroit-based Social Center of Expertise where members of a team can monitor and contribute to social media conversations about the organization.

Through the use of GM’s Oracle-based Social Media Management system, new division’s CoE agents are capable of tapping into the organization’s databases to record ongoing interactions with customers and sales leads. Secondly, the company has improved and sped up back-end processes with several tech innovations. The company’s engineering team for instance has ramped up its high performance computing capabilities to improve wind tunnel, crash, combustion and many other simulations.

Thirdly the manufacturing branch of GM is applying monitoring and data analytics to different processes to evaluate the quality of a plant’s pant jobs in real time. This helps in spotting problems before the vehicles can get to final inspection. The company also has a vision for autonomous driving. Tightly connected to the future of urban mobility is the concept of autonomous driving where the vehicles equipped with sophisticated software and sensors navigate themselves without the aid of a person in control of the wheel. As a move towards autonomous driving, the company has acquired Cruise Automation to accelerate the development of autonomous –vehicle innovative technology.

Leadership

Transformational leadership at General Motors is a strength that will transform the new division into a performance- based outlet. Mary Barra’s transformational and exceptional leadership has changed how things are done at the company and the same is likely to be experienced in the new division (Colby, 2015). Barra has brought in three transformational leadership qualities that will be significant for the new division.

Firstly she is team oriented. Mary Barra and her team believe that collaboration yields results and so they have invested in teamwork. Secondly, she is decisive. Transformational leaders must take decisions in the most difficult moments (Colby, 2015). Thirdly, together with her team, they have built a culture of respect and persevering attitude at General Motors.

Summary of the SWOTT Analysis

References

Calabrese, G. (Ed.). (2016). The greening of the automotive industry. Springer.

Colby, L. (2015). Road to Power: How GM’s Mary Barra Shattered the Glass Ceiling. John Wiley & Sons.

Deyo, F. C. (Ed.). (2016). Social reconstructions of the world automobile industry: Competition, power and industrial flexibility. Springer.

Goolsbee, A. D., & Krueger, A. B. (2015). A retrospective look at rescuing and restructuring general motors and Chrysler. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 29(2), 3-23.

Helper, S., & Henderson, R. (2014). Management practices, relational contracts, and the decline of General Motors. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 28(1), 49-72.

Ili, S., Albers, A., & Miller, S. (2010). Open innovation in the automotive industry. R&d Management, 40(3), 246-255.

Pound, A. (2013). The Turning Wheel-The story of General Motors through twenty-five years 1908-1933. Edizioni Savine.