GM bankruptcy effects – long lasting
GM Bankruptcy Effects – Long Lasting…
In terms of competitive intelligence, one thing that entrepreneurs
world wide can appreciate and love is flexibility.
That’s one thing large companies don’t have and small startups and age old
smaller companies *DO* have. The ability to make a decision or re-work
an entire idea in a weekend instead of a year long effort.
GM was too BIG for their britches
The end of large companies? No, not at all.
See, it’s a cycle that’s been happening for a long time. Companies start
small, grow too big and become top heavy & unmanagable, restructure
and either die, or come out as a series of smaller companies serving
different interests.
I’ve been following the GM story for a long time. I grew up in a GM Family.
No, none of us worked for GM but Dad & some of his friends drove GM
vehicles and we found them easy to work on, find parts for and were
fairly economical at the time.
The immediate predictions and effects of
the bankruptcy…
Instant unemployment jump…
We’ve all been expecting it, but it’s inevitable. We’re going to see more unemployed due to the restructuring and changes at GM.
Long term less production of parts & vehicles…
Parts may be come harder to find, jobs in the parts industries will also be effected. Long term bonus for the non-oem manufacturers as they can start producing what the factories can’t keep up with in demand for parts…
The smaller more versatile company
GM may find itself in a position to re-think some of their earlier concepts of marketing & services. Their OnStar service was a strong benefit to their cars over the other manufacturers, perhaps this along with other benefits will give the smaller GM more weight.
What can we learn from this?
First off, GM could have survived if their "weight loss" program were more vigorus in the begining. Cut 50% of your dealerships this year? Sheah right! They were TOO big to execute a move like that, but quick drastic moves would have save d them. Not saved all the jobs, or all the parts manufacturing, but definitely saved the company & brand they spent 100 years developing!
Secondly… SIZE of company.. When a company gets too big, the smartest thing to do RIGHT away is to start branching the company into smaller pieces & chunks. Those departments form their own companies.
If you don’t do this, the entire entity becomes too hard to make swift moves with. Truth is a company should always we able to make bold decisions in tough times.
A small company lays off 1/2 it’s staff every couple summers and no one find’s it that surprising or crazy, a large company does that and it’s going for broke.
A small view perhaps, but when your doing competitive intelligence against other companies, watch the BIG companies competing against you, start thinking about what you can do against a slow moving dinosaur. Rock & Roll.
