General Motors Essay Example for Free

General Motors Essay General Motors Company, known as GM, was founded in 1908 in Flint, Michigan by William C. Durant and Charles Stewart Mott. The present chairman and CEO is Daniel Akerson. Akerson joined GMs board in 2009 as the company went through a bankruptcy reorganization. He became CEO Sept. 1, 2010, and led GMs 2010 return to the stock market — at the time the largest initial public offering in U.S. history (Detroit Free Press, 2013). The headquarters for GM is presently located in Detroit, Michigan. GM specializes in designing, manufacturing, marketing and distributing cars, trucks and vehicle parts. The brands under GM include Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Baojun, Holden, Isuzu, Jie Fang, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling. GM employs over 200,000 people and has 396 facilities on six continents. GM is divided into five business segments: GM North America, GM Europe, GM International Operations, GM South America and GM Financial. The two biggest markets for GM are the U.S. and China. According to Dan Akerson they continually do well in both markets and are making further progress in their European business (General Motors, 2013). In July, 2009, GM filed for bankruptcy. Later that year, GM emerged from a government backed Chapter 11 reorganization. Then in 2010 GM made an initial public offering (IPO) that was one of the world’s largest and helped them to return to making a profit later that year. An IPO is a type of public offering where shares of stock in a company are sold to the general public. Through this process GM, a private company, became a public company. Because of t he bankruptcy GM had to start from the beginning and figure out what caused them to go under previously and what they needed to do to become a top organization again. With the start of the â€Å"new† General Motors they were starting over so they created a new clearer vision and a new business model. As of 2012, GM was ranked among one of the world’s largest automakers. The company’s total worldwide vehicle sales were 9.3 million (The New York Times, 2013). GMs net revenue in the second quarter of 2013 was $39.1 billion up from $37.6 billion in the second quarter of 2012 (General Motors, 2013). Since their bankruptcy GM has been reporting record profits and has steadily climbed back up the ladder with customer satisfaction and productivity. Akerson said, So, here we are four years out of bankruptcy and weve made $25 billion (before taxes and interest). I think thats more than the companys ever made in a four-year period (Detroit Free Press, 2013). The company’s progress is indicative of a new business model that begins and ends with great vehicles. GM leveraged their resources to maintain stringent cost management while taking advantage of growth and revenue opportunities around the world, to ultimately deliver sustainable results for all of their stakeholders (General Motors 2010). Being one of the biggest markets for GM, General Motors North America (GMNA) has been a key contributor in bringing in a profit for the whole organization. They currently have 5,000 dealerships, 34 plants and employs over 68,000 people. The profits reported for GMNA for the second quarter was an adjusted EBIT of $1,976 million compared to $1,891 million for the same period a year ago. Total net sales and revenue was $23,495 million compared to $21,552 million for the same period a year ago. For the six months, the company reported adjusted EBIT of $3,390 million compared to $3,533 million for the same period year ago. Total net sales and revenue was $46,474 million compared to $44,727 million for the same period year ago (Bloomsburg Businessweek, 2013). The current president, Mark Reuss, of GMNA has recently revamped the organization. Attached is a copy of the previous organizational structure and the new structure. The old GMNA consisted of a vertical structure which is a hierarchical structure with many levels of authority and the jobs were grouped by function into departments. They were divided into different in dependent automakers. Each independent automaker was operated differently and competing with each other. The competition among its own independent automakers and lack of centralization was costly. When they restructured after the bankruptcy, GMNA adopted a flatter structure where accountability is key. The new structure is centralized and unified; a team versus several individuals working towards common goals. With this structure GMNA is running in a more streamlined manner and it’s a more cost effective way of running there organization. GM has a diverse listing of employment opportunities. The positions range from engineering and manufacturing positions to Human Resources and Research positions. According to several employees, past and present, GM provides great pay and hours. GM promotes employees to further their education and training. The work environment was fun, friendly and like working with family. Working in the plants many of the employees had to do shift work and heavy manual labor this didn’t seem like a deterrent they still enjoyed the job and the coworkers. The environment appears to be open when it comes to management and employee interaction. The CEO Akerson is a strong believer in management by walking around. Everywhere hes been you see pictures of him with employees. Hes a reminder that management is a contact sport, Merten says (Detroit Free Press, 2013). The reviews were mostly all positive. The only negative things that seemed to keep popping up were the long hours and the stress to meet deadlines. GM has enlisted their customers and employ ees to send them ideas to help improve vehicles, sales, marketing, etc. and they act on the ones that will improve their ability to serve the customers better. GM has come a long way since 2009. With the reorganization changes they have become quicker and more decisive so the customers’ needs are met and they are producing reliable vehicles. It seems like GM really is getting back into what they are best at; building vehicles and serving their customer’s needs. References Detroit Free Press. (August 5, 2013). General Motors CEO Dan Akerson Shares Top 9 Leadership Lessons. Retrieved August 21, 2013. http://www.freep.com/article/20130805/BUSINESS0101/308050088/dan-akerson-GM-CEO-leadership-lessons Jones, Gareth R. George, Jennifer M. (2013). Essentials of Contemporary Management. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. General Motors. (July 25, 2013). Investors: Earnings Releases. GM Reports Second Quarter Net Income of $1.2 Billion. Retrieved August 21, 2013. http://www.gm.com/content/gmcom/home/company/investors/earning-releases.conte nt_pages_news_emergency_news_072513-q2-earnings.~content~gmcom~home~company~investors~earning-releases.html General Motors. (2010). General Motors Company 2010 Annual Report. Retrieved August 21, 2013. http://www.gm.com/content/dam/gmcom/COMPANY/Investors/Corporate_Governance/PDFs/StockholderInformationPDFs/Annual-Report.pdf Indeed. (2013). GM Employer Reviews. Retrieved August 21, 2013. http://www.indeed.com/cmp/GM/reviews Bloomsburg Businessweek. (July 25, 2013). General Motors North America, Inc. Announces Earnings Results for the Second Quarter and Six Months Ended June 30, 2013. Retrieved on August 22, 2013. http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=24368349 The New York Times. (August 21, 2013). General Motors. Retrieved August 21, 2013. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/general_motors_corporation/index.html?offset=20s=newest

Cyber Pornography :: essays research papers fc

Geeks & Pr0n: A study of the culture behind the underground realm of cyber pornography.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The spawning of the public Internet as we know it today provided a brand new type of communication, virtually unrestricted, and naturally, as with nearly every other form of communication, has been exploited by pornography. This newly-invented category of pornography, to be called â€Å"cyberporn,† would not only revolutionize its own industry, but also help to speed the development and growth of the Internet. Feeding off of each other, technology and pornography have played an equally transforming role in our current methods of communication. It is important to note that in the past, communication technologies that were prevented from being used as a means of sexual communication were vastly subject to failure. For example, it is highly arguable that one of the main reasons for the victory of VHS tapes over the Beta format is that Beta refused to let pornography occupy their tapes. Similarly, many people attribute AOL’s victory over Prodigy to the fact that Prodigy refused to allow sexual content (Pornography and Technology). Pornography and technology are so tightly woven together that it would appear that neither can exist without the other, at least not in their current forms. Partly due to their interest in technology, it is no surprise that geeks, especially geeks of the male gender, are common consumers of the cyberporn industry. The industry is estimated to be the highest grossing sector on the Internet (Pornography and Technology), and for many geeks who spend a significant amount of time â€Å"on the web,† it is difficult to avoid. This paper is meant to address the culture of these geeks, and will attempt to portray to the reader the hidden lifestyle of a geek porn-addict.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This paper will not discuss the moral concerns of pornography, because though they exist, this portrayal is meant to be factual and not opinionated, and one cannot discuss morals without opinions. That said, this paper will address pornography as an addiction, and therefore a problem, when taken to certain extremities. Where these boundaries lie, however, will not be discussed; this will be left up to the reader to define.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is difficult to define a porn-addict without laying down boundaries that have been previously forbidden, so this paper will use the simple definition of â€Å"one who views pornography on a regular basis, and either suffers from or regrets his or her actions.

Gender Empowerment Measure

Gender Empowerment Measure or GEM is a system used in measuring the gender inequality of a nation when it comes to both the political and economic opportunities. Using data from different nations, GEM is able to ranked nations on how the gender inequality issue is improving over time. The system used a more complex formula when it comes to measuring the political and economic participation of women relative to that of men. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) used four indicators in order to create a composite GEM.These indicators are seats held by women in parliament, female professional and technical workers, female administrators and managers, and the real GDP per capita of women. A GEM table is an indicator of gender inequality between different nations. It captures three major areas of gender inequality among nations. The first area is the extent to which women participate in decision-making in terms of political aspect. The second is the economic participation of wom en as well as their decision-making power. The third area is the measure of the power that women exert over the nations economic resources.In the 2009 Human Development report, Sweden was ranked first in GEM with 47% sets in parliament held by women, 32% female legislators, senior officials and managers, 51% female professional and technical worker and 0. 67 ratio of estimated female to male earned income. The figures show that Swedish women enjoy the most gender equality than any other nation included in the report. GEM is also a measure of how the inequality between men and women are changing through time. Thus, having a greater GEM means that a country is likely to develop a sense of equality between the role of men and women in society. Reference Human Development Report (2009). Gender Empowerment Measure and its Components.

Analysis on Fate of a Cockroach - 3961 Words

Tawfiq al-Hakim or Tawfik el-Hakim, (October 9, 1898 – July 26, 1987) was a prominent Egyptian writer. He is one of the pioneers of the Arabic novel and drama. He was born in Alexandria, Egypt, the son of an Egyptian wealthy judge and a Turkish mother The triumphs and failures that are represented by the reception of his enormous output of plays are emblematic of the issues that have confronted the Egyptian drama genre as it has endeavored to adapt its complex modes of communication to Egyptian society. Early life Tawfiq Ismail al-Hakim was born October 9, 1898, in Alexandria to an Egyptian father and Turkish mother. His father, a wealthy peasant, worked as a judge in the judiciary in the village of al-Delnegat, in central Beheira†¦show more content†¦However, in spite of such critical controversies, he continued to write plays with philosophical themes culled from a variety of cultural sources: Pygmalion (1942), an interesting blend of the legends of Pygmalion and Narcissus; Sulayman el-Hakim (Solomon the Wise, 1943), and El-Malik Udib (King Oedipus, 1949). Some of el-Hakims frustrations with the performance aspect were diverted by an invitation in 1945 to write a series of short plays for publication in newspaper article form. These works were gathered together into two collections, Masrah el-Mugtama (Theatre of Society, 1950) and el-Masrah el-Munawwa (Theatre Miscellany, 1956). The most memorable of these plays is Ughneyyet el-Mawt (Death Song), a one-act play that with masterly economy depicts the fraught atmosphere in Upper Egypt as a family awaits the return of the eldest son, a student in Cairo, in order that he may carry out a murder in response to the expectations of a blood feud. El-Hakims response to the social transformations brought about by the 1952 revolution, which he later criticized, was the play El Aydi El Namah (Soft Hands, 1954). The soft hands of the title refer to those of a prince of the former royal family who finds himself without a meaningful role in the new society, a position in which he is joined by a young academic who has just finished writing a doctoral thesis on the uses of the Arabic preposition hatta. The play explores in anShow MoreRelatedFate of a Cockroach Analysis Essay2016 Words   |  9 PagesAl-Hakim’s Fate of a Cockroach was first published in 1966. 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The following sections of this BookRags Premium Study Guide is offprint from Gales For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, CompareRead MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 Pageslooking at alternative actions that can be taken, then considering the probable good consequences of each action and the probable bad consequences while weighing the positive and negative impact of each consequence. It’s a kind of cost-benefit analysis. Exercises 1. Columbus Day is an American holiday. Write a short essay that weighs the pros and cons and then comes to a decision about whether there should be more or less public celebration (by Americans and their institutions) on ColumbusRead MoreIgbo Dictionary129408 Words   |  518 Pagespalatalized consonant. 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