General Motors Mission Statement

This is General Motors Company mission statement overview in 2013. For more information on how to write a mission statement, please refer to our article.

Company Background

NameGeneral Motors Company
LogoGeneral Motors logo
Industries servedAutomotive
Geographic areas servedWorldwide
HeadquartersU.S.
Current CEODaniel Akerson
Revenue$ 152.3 billion (2012)
Profit$ 4.9 billion (2012)
Employees202,000 (2012)
Main CompetitorsBayerische Motoren Werke AG, Chrysler Group LLC, Daimler AG, Ford Motor Co., Honda Motor Company, Nissan Motor, Tata Motors, Ltd., Toyota Motor Corporation, Volkswagen AG and many other automotive companies.

General Motors Company (GM) is a corporate that designs, builds and sells cars and trucks. GM owns 18 brands, including Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac, Buick, Opel and many others. The company operates in about 160 countries and is one of the largest vehicle manufacturers.

Mission

General Motors mission statement 2013

GM doesn’t have an official mission statement. But this is what they state about the company in their website:

“Making the world’s best vehicles can only happen with the world’s greatest employees. We take great pride in our work, and take great care to deliver exceptional cars and a positive ownership experience to our customers around the world.

At the new GM, we make a strong commitment to our customers, employees, partners and other important stakeholders. We state proudly our five principles that guide us in everything we do:

  • Safety and Quality First
  • Create Lifelong Customers
  • Innovate
  • Deliver Long-Term Investment Value
  • Make a Positive Difference”
Evaluation
Does it include…?
CustomersProducts/ ServicesMarkets
YesYesYes
TechnologyConcern for survivalPhilosophy
YesYesYes
Self-conceptConcern for public imageEmployees
YesNoYes
Does it mention values like…?Customer or product-oriented?
CitizenshipTeamworkProduct-oriented
NoNoScore
ExcellenceIntegrity
NoNo2.7/4.5

(This evaluation framework is composed of the guidelines listed in our article: Mission Statement for Success)

Overview

GM’s mission has scored 2.7 points out of 4.5, due to product-oriented mission that doesn’t include any of the most important values. Product-oriented mission provides less flexibility for the company, has shorter life cycle than customer-oriented mission has and offers limited expansion to other markets. For example, GM would struggle to grow to other product categories, such as motorcycles because it would have to restructure its business model and their mission accordingly. The company should rather focus on moving people around the world or improving world’s mobility as Toyota does. Therefore, GM’s mission is poorly constructed and doesn’t address all the stakeholders properly. Nevertheless, it is clear what GM’s core business is and where the company is heading to.

Sources

  1. GM (2013). About GM: Our Company. Available at: http://www.gm.com/company/aboutGM/our_company.html

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