Question 3 Study the scenario and complete the questions that follow General Motors through the Years The USA Based Automotive company, General Motors (GM) has been through quite a number of changes since its founding in September 1908. The General Motors productions plants had to stop the manufacturing of public vehicles during both World War I and World War II in order to produce military vehicles and weapons. General Motors experienced extreme financial difficulties at difficult times in its history. In 2007 the company recorded a notable loss of close to $38 billion which led to government bailouts totalling more than $50 billion in 2008 and 2009. In the period of 2009/10 had four different CEO's. During these difficult times General Motors had to come up with way to keep the company afloat. They had to start the process of reducing the number of workers. But they also gave workers the opportunity to take half-day positions where they shared the workload with a co-worker. They thus reduced the working hours of some of their workers in order to minimise the number of employees that had to be retrenched. General Motors realised that they had to apply meaningfui changes in the way they did business and handled their employees. They had to determine how the production processes can be streamlined to save cost, and how they can get the best out of talented and motivated employees which form the core of their business. In 2010 General Motors recorded a profit of almost $5 billion, its first since 2004. In 2012 General Motors is once again deciared as the leading automotive company in the world, even within the Chinese market. Marry Barra became the first female CEO at General Motors in 2013. She is well aware of the challenges facing her, her leadership team and the employees of General Motors. It is part of her leadership philosophy to acknowledge that being CEO is not the emphasis but the process of leading should be central to achieving success. She admits that the rapport between the executive and employees within General Motors have not always been very well, and that she would like to create a new partnership between the executive and the employees within a "new" General Motors. It is also important for her to create a new way of thinking within General Motors with her team. She wants her management team to inspire the employees of General Motors to follow this new manner of thinking. They will strive to get a strong buy-in from the employees to the vision and objective of the "new" General Motors. She believes that the commitment from the employees to the new strategy need to be valued because their input can bring transformation about that can truly make General Motors great. Mary Barry see General Motors as an exceptional company that can only become stronger through the combined effort from the executive team and the workers. Labour disputes within the automotive industry also led to a number of notable labour actions within General Motors such as the Flint sit-down strike (1936-1937), the Strategy strike of 1939, the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike (1945-46) and the General Motors strikes of 2007 and 2019. General Motors surely need to change the relationship they have with their employees. They will need to increase the employers job satisfaction commitment and engagement through improved employee relations. The 2007 adoption of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations for the State of Michigan also forced General Motors to alter some of their key production processes to ensure the safety of employees. The processes in production have changed quite significantly within General Motors over the last number of years. General Motors have made some significant changes in the employment of staff in particular departments in the organization in terms of tasks being performed in order to remain competitive in the market. General Motors acquired a number of local and international brands over the years including USA brands Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac, Australian brand Holden, and Chinese FAW brands Baojun, Jiefang and Wuling. General Motors had to be quite adaptive regarding their hierarchy to accommodate the mergers and acquisitions with other automotive companies over the years. The HR department within General Motors took advantage from these mergers and acquisitions by investigating the work procedures from the other companies. General Motors increased their participative communication between employees and management in order to get useful feedback from employees to improve the ergonomics of their work processes. Technological advances also brought about the development and manufacturing of electric powered vehicles, hydrogen powered vehicles and self-driving vehicles. Technological advances also enabled General Motors to make changes to the work patterns of their administrative employees. Through the use of mobile phones, laptops and continuous connectivity through the internet and the General Motors online system a large number of these employees are able to work from home. With an everchanging world one can only wonder what is laying ahead for General Motors and its workers? Source: Erasmus, H. (2019) Question 3 3.1 Clarify the concept of 'leadership' by referring to the definition(s) of the term and key aspects of the definition of leadership. Support your answer with reference to the scenario. (10 Marks) 3.2 Flexibility is a tool used in human resource management in order to achieve a competitive advantage. Explain what is understood by the term 'flexibility'. (2 Marks)