General Motors Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

General Motors - Research Paper Example From the discussion it is clear that  General Motors Company, normally abbreviated as GM, is a United States multinational automobile company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. The company is among the globe’s prime automakers in vehicle unit sales. It holds almost 202,000 employees, and it does business in around 157 nations. The company is split into five business divisions: GM North America, GM Europe, GM South America, GM International Operations and GM Financial. The firm produces trucks and cars in 37 countries, and services and sells the automobiles through the following brands: Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, Baojun, Isuzu, Holden, Jie Fang, Vauxhall, Opel and Wuling.This essay stresses that  General Motors (GM) compensation and benefits system considers the executives’ salaries based on their performance, as well as the company’s performance. As a result, a huge fraction of individual executive compensation is in jeopardy because this compensation is connected to achieving certain quantifiable results aimed at generating worth for shareholders on both a temporary and long term basis. General Motors institutes its intended compensation for the executives annually by taking into account the compensations paid to executives in related internal and external positions, the performance of the company and the challenges being faced. It offers benefits to all employees, together with the executives by considering by and large the package offered by other employees in the same position.   They also have additional benefits for executives as part of their compensation and benefits package that is in line with the labor market. This paper will examine General Motors, an organization that is experiencing challenges with its compensation and benefits systems. A brief history of General Motors will be given before assessing the current challenges it is facing. It will also review other organizations that have been in a similar situation. The paper will seek to draw from the strategy that those organizations have devised to address the issue of compensation and benefits. The paper will show theories and strategies that should be contemplated in addressing the situation. Finally, the paper will give recommendations to the GM management on how to address and resolve the situation. Review of the Literature An Assessment of GM’s Current Challenge General Motors financial crisis started in 2005 when the company posted a loss of US$10.6 billion (Martocchio, 2010). This was enhanced further when they tried to get United States’ government financial support, in 2006, for its pension liabilities, but they were not successful. Their loses, in 2007, were US$ 38.7 billion followed by a drop on sales, in 2008, of 45% and its reports indicated that it would be out of money by the middle of 2009 excluding the amalgamation of the government funding, a merger or sales of assets. At a Congressional hearing, in Washington DC, General Motors representatives and executives stated that they were in dire need of financial assistance, but unfortunately they did not succeed in their endeavor to get legislation to sanction the U.S.s’ government assistance. Instead, they were advised to come up with a new action plan to sustain the company. It eventually submitted its restructuring plan to the U.S. Senate committee in charge of bankin g and the House of Representative committee in charge of financial services, but Congress refused to act on it.