Summary
On December 10th in 2013, General Motors announced that it had selected Mary Barra (Executive Vice President, Global Product Development & Global Purchasing & Supply Chain at GM) as its next chief executive officer.
Fig.1 Mary Barra
(http://www.gm.com/company/corporate-officers/mary-barra)
She has spent her entire career working as a car engineer. She is an engineer who knows cars inside out. People call her a genuine “car guy” because of her remarkable success in a male business environment. Her engineering skills will contribute to GM’s achievement.
GM has been changing its organization after the bankruptcy in 2009. Current GM’s CEO is Dan Akerson, who came from other industries the same as his counterparts at Ford and Chrysler did. When he was asked how Ms. Barra will manage in the male business environment, he mentioned “the perception is quite dated.” GM had made big efforts to get and groom female labor. Now, it has five female executive committees, and a quarter of its factory managers are female. GM had trained a generation of women for coaching leader, and Ms. Barra is part of the generation.
Recently, GM’s share price has risen sharply as below, and the new Chevrolet Impala was cited as best saloon (sedan) in a certain influential magazine.
Fig.2 GM’s share price (from Jan. 8th in 2013 to Jan. 9th in 2014)
( http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q?s=GM )
Fig. 3 Chevrolet Impala
(http://www.chevrolet.com/impala-4-door-sedan/exterior-photos.html)
GM has improved its achievement dramatically. However, it still has headaches. Opel, a GM’s affiliate in Europe, is loss-making, and important Chinese market appears to be slowing. Ms. Barra has to address problems ever so many more.
Reporter’s opinion
It is the first time that a woman becomes CEO of major car-maker. But I think it’s not surprising because of GM’s big efforts to get female talent. We should pay attention to trend of other major companies in industrial world.
Written by Masaaki Ichimura, B4 student