General Motors Case Study Project

Name of Student

Institutional Affiliation

General Motors Case Study Project

Introduction

The case describes the organization as having a clearly defined structure in the way the organizational duties and activities are performed. The organization seems to have an overlap of roles, a factor that leads to the mal performance of specific duty and the failure of the performance of others. The lack of defined roles is evident following the fact that the issue of the inefficiency of the ignition switch that it produced was evident in the organization for a period of at least eleven years, yet it was not addressed.

The key attributes of the organization include the fact that other than the CEO; the rest of the employees are not ready to take responsibility for the failures in the workplace, Through the case, there is the assertion that following the recall, the CEO admitted to the failures of the organization. However, even at this point, the engineers and the investigators investigating the incident fail to effectively carry out the work they are tasked with. Another key attribute of the organization id the failure of the organization to acknowledge the real problem present in the organization. Despite acknowledging the failure in the processes, the CEO, in her address, fails to recognize the real problem in the organization that fails.

The strength of the organization includes that following the failure in the manufactory of the gm ignition switch, the top leadership was able to accept the mistake on its part and apologize on behalf of the organization. Rather than blaming the victims for the occurrences, the organization acknowledged the failure in the part of the organization and further apologized to the victims.

The major weakness presented by the organization is that despite acknowledging the existence of a problem, it fails to determine the real course of the problem. The problem, according to the case study, has existed in the organization over a long period of time. Rectifying the problem would consequently require the determination of the real course of the problem and finding a solution the organization, rather than doing this, attempts to solve the problem on the face value, a factor that could fail in finding a permanent solution.

 Organizational Modelling

The organizational model exhibited in the case is the collegial organizational model. The case illustrates an organizational model that suggests that there is no clear definition of the roles of the employees (Wibowo, 2017). It further illustrates that there is no clear definition of the managerial structure. A result of this, the roles of the employees significantly interact. The organizational model is structured in a way that there are no clear leaders to check on the works of the subordinates, and there is no clear definition and division of roles.

Other than the collegial model used in the organization, other model used in the industry include the autocratic model and the supportive model. The autocratic model exhibits an organizational model in which the top management of the organization makes all the decisions and pass them to the subordinates who follow them without questioning (Al Khajeh, 2018). Through this model, the upper levels of management are seen as the sole decision-makers of the organization and are responsible for organizational performance. They are charged with the responsibility or faking production decisions and passing them to the subordinates who are required to follow the set decision and work per the passed instructions to facilitate the required organizational goals.  The supportive model of organizational functioning entails the organizational model that focuses on the welfare and the wellbeing of the employees, the employees work together, and with the top management to ensure that in the production process, the wellbeing of the employees is taken into consideration in determining the achievement of organization goals. It acknowledges the fact that the achievement of the organizational goals is dependent on the well being of the employees.

Different organizations use different organizational models as a result of the differences in organizational cultures. The organizational cultures affect the running of an organization and various organizational process through impacting on the values, behaviours and the ethics of the employees (Ellinas, Allan & Johansson, 2017). Following the availability of various organizational cultures, various organizations adopt various models supported by the different cultures in the organizations.

The current organizational culture and organizational models ate significantly intertwined and supported each other. The organizational culture significantly dictates the nature of the organizational model. In the case that the organizational culture exhibits a supportive system where employees care about the wellbeing of other employees, it is likely that the ultimate model of the organization will also be supportive, however, in the case that the organizational culture involves the employees functioning as independent entities without the interactions with one another, it is likely like the ultimate model of the organization will also be a freestyle model that does not illustrate coherence in the work performance processes. In the past, however, the organizational cultures and the organizational model were not essentially related. In essence, the organizational model significantly relied on the contract of the management, rather than the employees.

The organization fails to operate within the organizational model that its unique to its industry. While the organizational model unique to the industry requires efficient cooperation between the employees, and that the top management and the subordinate work incoherence, the organization exhibits a type of organizational performance that depicts significant independence on the operations of the employees. It fails to exhibit the cooperation required in the employees. As a result, there is significantly no accountability required for employees in the industry in which the organization is based.

From the cases study, it is evident that motivational models have significantly shifted in comparison to the organizational modelling trends. Similar to the shift in organizational models, employees are increasingly motivated by different factors, in contrast to the fact that traditionally the employee motivation was thought to be financial incentives the current motivation models have shifted to include factors that ensure the comfort of the employees in the workplace, including safe working environment and effective organizational culture, in the case of the gm motors, following the fact that the organizational culture presented fails to take the needs of the employees into much consideration, and that it does not follow up on the employees, the employees are significantly not motivated, as a result, the employees are evidently not efficient in their work, and they fail to take the work in the organization seriously.

References

Al Khajeh, E. H. (2018). Impact of leadership styles on organizational performance. Journal of Human Resources Management Research, 2018, 1-10.

Ellinas, C., Allan, N., & Johansson, A. (2017). Dynamics of organizational culture: Individual beliefs vs. social conformity. PloS one, 12(6), e0180193.

Wibowo, G. (2017). Comparison of the models of organizational behavior: A review. Manag Econ Res J, 2(2016), 1264.