For this assignment, you will write a case study based on the following set of facts:

You are the Assistant Vice President of the Mercosur division of General Motors $($GM$).$ You report to Carlos Zarlenga, who heads the Mercosur division. It is November $2018.$ At the time, GM$\text{'}$s South American operations are split into the following geographic units:

Mercosur which consists of Argentina and Brazil.

Andina which consists of Columbia, Ecuador, and formerly Venuezuela.

Central which consists of Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.

The South American division of GM is the third largest division in terms of vehicle sales after North America and China. Unfortunately, the division has been struggling for the last several years due to anemic sales growth, political and economic instability in some countries in the region, and the seizure of GM$\text{'}$s plants in Venezuela by the socialist government. Your boss, Mr$.$ Zarlenga, has just informed you that the corporate leaders have decided to merge the three units $($outlined above$)$ into a single entity known as GM South America. Mr$.$ Zarlenga is going to head the new entity, which will be based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He has asked for your assistance in making the merger a successful one. In the case study, you need to outline what steps you would take in making the merger a success by applying Kotter's eight$-$stage process.

Mr$.$ Zarlenga has a number of concerns about the proposed merger, which include the following:

GM is a corporation with a long$-$history. Among other things, it is a complacent organization, which is set in its ways.

Many of the managers at GM tend to focus primarily on planning, budgeting, organizing, and monitoring results.

GM is a big organization with approximately $150,000$ employees globally and $29,000$ employees in its South American units.

The executives at the Andina and Central units will likely resent the merger, as it dilutes their power and prestige, and threatens their job security.

Secondary functions for GM $($e$.$g$.,$ finance, human resources, information technology, and legal$)$ are based at GM$\text{'}$s headquarters in Detroit, Michigan.

Mr$.$ Zarlenga has the backing of Mary Barra, the CEO of GM and a charismatic leader, but is concerned that she may retire in approximately $5$ years.

Mr$.$ Zarlenga is concerned that there is mixed support for the merger of the units amongst GM$\text{'}$s board of directors.

In writing your case study and applying Kotter's change process, you should take into account Mr$.$ Zarlenga's concerns $($outlined above$).$