The case of GM culture crisis addresses the General Motors company that was involved in ignition switch crisis which led to the death more than 13 people. The GM is an American automotive manufacturing company that operates in several states. The case study points out that the major issue of the company is its culture as the GM lacked culture among its personnel (Kuppler, 2014). The major strength of the company was its highest leadership, Mary Barra, who responded properly to the crisis. The key attributes of the GM which are relevant to the case analysis are that there is no communication between the leadership and operational bodies, no sense of urgency, and lack of accountability. The flowing section would address organizational modeling.
The organizational behavioral model is autocratic model as the case presents the leadership as the highest authority where employees are obedient to it. In the case analysis, employees were passing the problem among each other and departments, not notifying the authoritative body. Lower-level personnel had a limited control over how the job is done. Due to critical choices were decided at the highest management level, their ideas and innovations were not often appreciated. The case study suggests changing a top-down approach to be more inclusive and develop a company culture that encourages friendly atmosphere (Kuppler, 2014). In the current autocratic model, employees are motivated toward compliance and discipline. They are completely reliant on their employer. The employee requirement of sustenance is met. The performance outcome is poor. People are easily frustrated by this paradigm, and it also has instability, dependency on superiors, and low performance due to low pay.
In comparison to other models, it seems that the autocratic behavioral model has more drawbacks. For example, supportive model which is widely used in the industry focuses on a driven and ambitious leader (Stewart et al., 2019) This model has no room for control or authoritative power, nor for incentives or reward programs; instead, it is only focused on inspiring people through the formation of a manager-employee connection and the treatment that employees receive on a daily basis. Another model is collegial behavior (Stewart et al., 2019). This model’s foundation is partnership, with a managerial focus on teamwork. Employees in this paradigm are geared toward self-discipline and responsible behavior (Stewart et al., 2019). Self-actualization is an employment requirement that is met. This paradigm makes use of the teamwork approach and there is also self-control is preserved. Workers feel obligated to keep quality standards in order to improve the company’s image.
The choice of organizational behavior model is determined by various factors, including the company’s leadership preferences. Some companies want to preserve traditional authoritative model as it is embedded in their culture for a long time while other prefer having friendly and supportive atmosphere. Factors may also include the scope of an organization, for example, the GM is a giant company where the communication between the leadership and employees cannot be managed easily.
The issue of culture that was addressed in the case analysis has a great impact on organizational behavioral models. The culture is extremely important as it connects employees with the leadership and provides an environment for work. The case shows that culture of past organizational models was inadequate because the work environment was described as “toxic” and unable to provide an effective solution to the issues that led to crisis. The impact culture has now on the models has a greater significance due to its ability that allows the leadership to manage the work of the whole organization.
The autocratic organizational model is not unique in that industry as it is an automotive company with the great history. The company is large, operating in several states and consisting different international units, thus a suitable model for the GM indeed is autocratic model. This type of leadership style is effective in business entities when fast decision-making is required and should be done in highly stressful circumstances. The leader bears complete accountability for the choice and its outcome. Therefore, the GM’s choice of an autocratic model is reasonable and adequate with regards to the company’s attributes. Although their model is considered a flexible leadership style, it can be vied as outdated model.
In the current times, the organizational behavior models have shifted to more inclusive and supportive approach. The autocratic one is not popular in emerging businesses as it is traditional and do not motivate employees to be proactive and creative in their work. This is because obedience to the established rules and obligations do not help but limit the development of creative thought. Moreover, the popularity of companies, such as Google and Meta, illustrate that people want to see more engaging and open leadership. On the other hand, in cases where a company is constantly changing or facing a crisis, autocratic leadership will be beneficial. Due to its streamlined organizational structure and ability to make quick decisions, it will be able to react to situations more quickly than other leadership styles.
References
Kuppler, T., (2014). The GM Culture Crisis: What leaders must learn from this culture case study. Switch & Shift.
Stewart, G. L., Courtright, S. H., & Manz, C. C. (2019). Self-leadership: A paradoxical core of organizational behavior. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 6, 47-67.