GSBS6514 Group 17 Mary Barra

Hello, today's presentation will be a leadership analysis on Mary Barra, the CEO and Chair of the automotive company General Motors. We are Shibum Consulting, please meet our team. These will be the areas we'll be discussing in today's presentation. GM is one of the world's largest automobile manufacturers, ranking sixth in the world car group sales figures with a 2023 revenue of $171.8 billion. Barra's entire career has been with GM, exceeding 40 years, inheriting her interest from her father, who worked in the Pontiac division for almost 40 years. Her career timeline demonstrates her growth in grassroots, beginning as a parks inspector while earning her degree at General Motors Institute and holding various positions on her journey to the apex of the organisation. Barra is known to be a transparent and inclusive leader who is approachable, spending time with staff and their families and listens to what is important to them. She is obsessed with the speed of action and addressing problems head-on, wanting to find the solution quickly but in a non-aggressive manner. Barra fosters a customer-focused culture. Her vision is summarised in three goals, zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion. Zero crashes demands no compromise on safety and quality. Zero emissions and zero congestion modernises the product mix and maintains technology advancement with a goal of 100% EV production and a robust autonomous vehicle fleet by 2035. Barra is the first female CEO and Chair in a male-dominated industry and is regularly ranked as one of the world's most powerful business leaders. She was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2023. One of her most notable achievements is seeing profits almost double since her CEO inauguration. Upon becoming CEO, Barra faced a product recall of 2.6 million cars due to a defective ignition switch resulting in 124 fatalities. She masterfully handled the situation expressing genuine concern for the victims' families and was transparent with regulators. Barra changed the organisational culture and instated new policies. During the GFC auto crisis, automobile demand diminished. Barra responded with increased efficiency through innovation and designing vehicles to share more parts. Another challenge is GM's heavy investment in EVs as EV demand stagnates. Some critics believe Barra is trying to transform an automotive company into a tech company that is under-equipped, resulting in significant software issues. GM's commitment to producing only EV products by 2035 is also questionable, considering that its record profits stem from combustion engine vehicles. There was also significant impact on GM's investment in the autonomous vehicle startup cruise after having to pull out 400 operational cars after a pedestrian accident. Another criticism is Barra moving some of GM's operations to Mexico to reduce costs impacting US jobs. Mary Barra has a unique viewpoint as CEO of GM. As Sam said, she has worked her way up from GM's factory floor as a student, through the ranks of manufacturing and product development, was vice president of HR prior to her current position as CEO. This has meant she understands what it's like for her employees from the bottom up. A real focus of hers has been encouraging a diverse workplace where staff feel empowered and valued. Throughout her various positions, she has influenced GM's organizational culture. Some examples of this. During her time as vice president of HR, GM had just restructured. Barra took this opportunity of change to take GM's 10-page employee dress code and revise it into just two words, dress appropriately. While there was some opposition from management, Barra defended her decision, stating that employees live down to overly detailed policies, and that if managers cannot own the policy and give guidance to their employees with something this simple, then what other decisions should they not be entrusted with? Having a simple policy owned by the employees to enact it develops and empowers them. Another pivotal example of Mary shaping the organizational culture of GM is when, as a newly appointed CEO, she handled the faulty ignition switch crisis, which resulted in many deaths and a congressional hearing. She used this as another opportunity to influence GM's culture, making the organization transparent and accountable. Another example is as executive director of vehicle manufacturing of engineering, she had taken six independent divisions and turned them into one to streamline operations. She is currently leading the charge as CEO to modernize GM with the goal of fully electric and autonomous vehicles accessible to all people. Using Quinn's competing values framework, it can be seen why Mary is a celebrated leader. She can balance the tensions of flexibility and control and the tension between internal and external focuses. The examples before provided all being in four different quadrants, the dress code in human relations, the ignition crisis in internal processes. Consolidating separate divisions into one is in the rational goal quadrant, leading the charge in innovation with electric and autonomous vehicles is in the open systems. Mary is often talked about as being a transformational leader. She has worked hard to enable her employees to feel valued and empowered and states that her style is collaborative, promoting vigorous debates and constructive tension. But then she also states that she has no qualms in making final decisions. With her push to electric vehicles, she seems quite autocratic, making decisions and worrying about the support later. While on the other end, the example with the dress appropriately, it's completely in the democratic part. I think the truth for Mary is somewhere in the middle. She encourages collaboration and diverse ideas. But it seems like she likes to have the final say. She's also able to adapt her leadership style to each situation. Sarah holds substantial positional power as the chair and CEO of General Motors, aligning with Max Weber's theory of legitimate authority, which highlights the power comes from official sanctioned positions within an organisation. Her dual roles, which she assumed in 2014 and 2016 respectively, gives her extensive authority over the company's strategic direction. This dual position amplifies her control over GM's financial and human resources, enabling her to allocate budgets effectively and shape the leadership team. Additionally, her access to critical internal data, market analysis and technological advancements ensures she's well informed to make pivotal decisions. Her extensive external network further enhances her influence, providing insights and fostering relationships with industry leaders and policy makers. Sarah's decision-making approach exemplifies key elements of transformational leadership theory. First, her focus on innovation is evident through GM's significant investment in electric and autonomous vehicles, committing $35 billion through 2025. She envisions a sustainable future for GM, aiming to phase out gasoline and diesel-powered cars by 2035. This vision inspires and motivates employees to embrace change and innovation. Sarah's leadership style is highly collaborative. She values team input and fosters a culture of open communication and inclusivity, enhancing employee engagement. This aligns with the concept of participant leadership, which emphasizes the importance of involving employees in decision-making processes. During crises such as the ignition switch recalls and the COVID-19 pandemic, she demonstrated decisiveness and agility, addressing issues head-on and pivoting production to support medical needs. Lastly, her customer-centric approach prioritizes vehicle quality, safety and advanced technologies, ensuring that GM meets and exceeds customer expectations. This aspect of her leadership mirrors the principles of servant leadership, which focuses on meeting the needs of stakeholders, including customers and employees. To support contextualizing Barra's leadership approach and decision-making, a few examples will be shared. GM made remarkable strides in the realm of electric vehicles. The company's $35 billion investment in EVs through to 2025 underscores a commitment to innovation and sustainability. This strategic decision reflects the resource-based beauty theory, which suggests that a firm's resources and capabilities are crucial for achieving competitive advantages. Furthermore, strategic alliances such as her collaboration with Honda leverage shared resources and expertise to advance EV development. Barra has also spearheaded cultural transformation within GM, focusing on creating a more inclusive and innovative workplace. This initiative can be linked to the cultural leadership theory, which emphasizes the role of leaders in shaping organizational culture to foster an environment of conductive to innovation and inclusivity. As summed up by John Potter in 1985, power is the ability to influence others to get things done, while authority is the formal rights that come to a person who occupies a particular position. Effective leadership can only be attained by a combination of the two. As noted previously by Hendrik, Barra holds significant positional power in her role as CEO and Chair of GM. Whilst this aspect is essential to Barra's success as a leader, she also holds substantial personal power, which has been alluded to throughout the presentation thus far. Barra incites respect of her followers through her expertise and reputation. She's not afraid to lean on her staff and by doing so creates an authentic approach to leadership. Throughout literature, it's noted the power that can be drawn from perceived authenticity. Followers are more likely to invest trust in an authentic leader and align with their overall goals. Referring to French and Raven's six bases of power and influence, it's evident that Barra draws on several sources of power. Formal power is straightforward through her position as CEO and Chair. Barra has held this position for a significant tenure and has guided the business through difficult and successful times. Whilst the influence that Barra can draw from these formal sources of power is essential in guiding such a large company, it's evident that Barra also draws from the informal power with her referent leadership and significant experience with GM. These informal sources of power draw a much more positive response from employees, leading to higher motivation and productivity. In assessing Barra's utilisation of the power to influence the performance of the company, it's evident she has had great success in her approach. Essential to her approach is leading by example. Best summed up in the quote, whatever you decide to do, do it with passion and all of the energy that you have. It's well known that statistically women are underrepresented in high levels of organisational leadership. They face additional challenges in this space around gaining trust and respect with their subordinates and often struggle to make the same career progressions as their male counterparts. This adds another dynamic layer to Barra's success in the face of a historically male-dominated industry. Whilst Barra has downplayed the role of gender being any hindrance in her career progression, she is cited throughout literature and media to have broken the glass ceiling and represent a great success story for women in leadership. Since being made CEO of General Motors, Mary Barra has often been named a pioneer of the automotive industry for her leadership style. As previously discussed, Barra has been described as displaying a transformational leadership style. This is supported by a number of traits and behaviours that she exudes to combine to create a collaborative and commanding leadership style. Current research shows that the personality traits of a leader impact the leader's effectiveness and influences organisational growth through task competency and interpersonal attributes. The personality traits of conscientiousness, openness to experience, intelligence and emotional stability affect the task competence by impacting how effectively a leader performs their role and executes the company's desired outcomes. Barra utilises strategic planning, analytical thinking and problem-solving skills to increase task competence and achieve organisational goals. Conversely, extroversion, agreeableness, communication skills and emotional intelligence affect the interpersonal attributes and influence how a leader relates to and is perceived by their followers. Barra further uses communication and collaboration to increase the perceived interpersonal attributes by her followers and allow for an authentically dynamic environment. As such, Barra's drive to ensure the satisfaction of stakeholders and clients whilst also accepting input from employees has contributed to the growing success of General Motors and management. Current articles describe Barra as displaying traits of determination, resilience and strategic thinking, contributing to her success as a manager and leader in General Motors. As such, her collaborative skills and innovative problem-solving skills have given her a strong reputation as an effective leader in the media. Displaying change-oriented behaviours is critical for organisational development. This focuses on innovation and developing a organisation as well as gaining perspective from followers. Barra has been noted to place a keen focus on innovation through collaboration to ensure that the best ideas are developed for organisational growth. Given the organisational growth of General Motors under Barra's leadership with a focus on collaboration and strategic growth, Barra appears to display change-oriented leadership behaviours. Furthermore, this focus on collaboration and growth assists in employee task performance through proactive leadership behaviours. Barra is shown to be proactive in that she wants to create an environment where people feel that they can voice their concerns and that we can get the best ideas on the table and then make the right decision. As such, her personality traits combined with change-oriented collaborative behaviours have allowed Barra to continue to grow General Motors under her leadership. In conclusion, Mary Barra is a pioneer of the automotive industry, especially as a female who has worked her way up to the rank of CEO of General Motors. Despite becoming CEO of the company at a challenging time and facing a number of obstacles, Barra has managed to develop a reputation as an innovative and collaborative leader that has made an effort to change the organisation's culture. This is marked by her decision-making approach and use of positional power to transform the role of General Motors in the automotive industry. Barra has also continued to develop personal power and influence to better establish authentic leadership that empowers her employees. Furthermore, Barra displays the traits and behaviours of an effective leader working to promote employee task performance through proactive change-oriented behaviours. Through this, Barra has continued to grow General Motors through her leadership style and behaviours. We thank you for watching this presentation on the leadership of Mary Barra. Attached here are references to relevant information used throughout the presentation.