Analytical essay example
General Motors Organizational Structure
- Subject
- Business & Management
- Type
- Analytical essay
- Citation style
- APA 7
- Length
- 6 pages
About this sample
The paper examines General Motors' organizational structure and argues that the company's 2012 shift from decentralized to centralized authority makes it a formalized, standardized bureaucracy. It then analyzes how this structure affects employee behaviour, treatment of customers and suppliers, and communication with senior management. The discussion moves from defining the structure to its behavioural and communication consequences.
- Centralization versus decentralization
- Formalization and standardization
- Bureaucracy
- Organizational structure at General Motors
- Employee behaviour and creativity
- Communication and information flow in hierarchies
How it opens
After yet again releasing disappointing financial reports, General Motors announced in 2012 that they were changing their organizational structure. Previously they had regional managers who could take decisions themselves but after the change they centralized the organization, giving it a global management. For example, Opel, which is owned by GM previously had full control over their business but is now controlled by GM. Product development and marketing is also now centralized. After the change in structural organization, the hierarchy of authority has shifted. Regional centrals of power that previously had the authority to make their own decisions but have now been striped of that power. The power has moved to the absolute top of the organization where the decisions are made and the regional centers have less freedom do what they want (knowlage@whartoon, 2012). To conclude on their current organizational structure, General Motors moved from a decentralized structure to a centralized one in an attempt to streamline their operations.
GM is a formal business where everything is controlled by a set of rules that needs to be followed. This means that they have a specific goal they want to reach in every aspect of the company. No creative thinking is allowed since the rules have to be followed. After the goals of the business are set they are analyzed and a set of rules are made to maximize profit even thought that might not be the outcome (Webb, 2000).
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Using an example well
Read it for how the paper is built, not for wording to reuse: how the introduction frames the question, how each paragraph moves from a claim to evidence, and how sources are cited in APA 7. Submitting any part of it as your own work would be plagiarism, and it is written for a different brief than yours.
Writing one yourself? Read the guide How to write an essay and the APA format guide.