- UID
- 835564
- 在线时间
- 小时
- 注册时间
- 2012-12-1
- 最后登录
- 1970-1-1
- 主题
- 帖子
- 性别
- 保密
|
楼主 |
发表于 2013-12-13 21:41:55
|
显示全部楼层
|
Part II: Speed Article 1: Being a Woman Is the Least Interesting Thing About Mary Barra, New CEO of GM [Time 2]
Who could have imagined a woman being named CEO of a manufacturing-industry company? Today, for the first time in its 100-plus-year history, GM announced that Mary Barra would be the new CEO. Almost every headline you’ll see on the news will use the descriptor woman even though that refers to 51% of the population. And in truth, being a woman is the least interesting thing about her. Her most recent role was to run the $15 billion product-development division. After her 30-year career within the company, you could dub her the chief product officer. Her pedigree is flawless with a B.S. in electrical engineering and an M.B.A. from Stanford. She represents a very different type of leader, not just because she’s a woman, but because she wants to reinvent the firm. GM used to have a 10-page dress code. Who abolished it? Mary Barra. At the time, Barra said that “the key to unlocking innovation at GM is to trust the people to do the very best they can.”
But instead of honoring her design prowess, cultural turnaround, her long arc of commitment, or even her inherent geekiness, the focus will be on her gender. That’s because women still continue to hold far too few leadership roles: in Congress, women hold only 18% of the seats; just 17% of corporate-board roles; and just 23 of the Fortune 500 chief executive posts (counting Barra), a measly 4%. In the venture-capital world, women receive less than 3% of funding. This is not a pipeline problem. There are plenty of qualified women entering politics and business. The most telling fact to me is this one: when the movie industry wants to film a “general population scene,” that scene only includes 17% female. So even when the only qualification is to be female, women are still invisible.
【303】
[Time 3]
Twenty years ago, management guru Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence, wrote about gender inequalities in business. Recently, I asked him for his take on why the most powerful and influential companies in the U.S. have yet to make meaningful moves to advance women into top leadership positions.
He replied, “Why don’t companies ‘get it,’ circa 2013? Women are invariably their primary customers. I’ve run out of logical answers, so I’m left with only emotional responses such as ‘blind,’ ‘nuts,’ ‘impervious to the obvious.’ The research clearly demonstrates that, overall, women’s preferences for goods and services and the manner of the purchasing process differ significantly from that of men. What better, and, frankly, easier way to address this mammoth opportunity than to aim for/insist upon women’s representation, from junior engineer to board member, that more or less mirrors purchasing power. After 17 years of study, I remain as mystified as ever that something like my ‘solution’ is rarely in place. For God’s sake, to use the overused term, this ain’t rocket science.”
Of the Fortune 500, Catalyst points out that 50 companies still have zero women on the board. Interestingly enough, the now outgoing CEO of GM had something to say at this topic. “The rate of growth of women on boards is glacial. It’s simply unacceptable,” Daniel F. Akerson, CEO of General Motors, said to the audience at a recent gathering of the Women’s Forum of New York at the New York Stock Exchange.
Women drive cars. Women buy cars. Women sell cars. Ergo women run car companies. I dream of the day when her name and ideas make news, not the fact that she is a woman.
【281】
Source: time
http://ideas.time.com/2013/12/10/being-a-woman-is-the-least-interesting-thing-about-mary-barra-new-ceo-of-gm/
Article 2: Breaking glass ceilings [Time 4]
IN THE more than three decades working in the men’s world of the auto industry, Mary Barra (pictured) has gotten used to glass ceilings—and the feeling of crashing through them. Barely three years ago she became one of the highest-ranking women in that world when she was named General Motors’ head of global product development. On December 10th she broke through the final one: the firm announced that come next April, Ms Barra will take the helm at GM and become one of the auto industry’s—and hence corporate America’s—most powerful executives.
The first woman to head a big global automotive manufacturer, the 51-year-old Barra will replace Dan Akerson, GM’s current chairman and chief executive, who decided to move up his own retirement because of the illness of his wife. Mr Akerson’s departure will trigger a series of changes on the top floors of the Renaissance Centre, GM’s corporate headquarters in downtown Detroit. Dan Ammann, the chief financial officer, for instance, will become the firm's new president—a move that could also lead to a search for new talent from outside.
The good news for potential candidates is that GM will now be able to offer whatever the market demands. Less than a day before the succession plans were announced, America’s treasury revealed that it had sold off the last of the shares it received in return for the maker’s $49.5 billion bailout in 2009. Among other things, GM will no longer have to follow rules set by Washington’s executive compensation czar.
【254】
[Time 5]
Ms Barra’s appointment as chief executive has been rumoured for months and Mr Akerson did little to hide his respect for the GM veteran. In a conference call with reporters he said that seeing Ms Barra approved unanimously by the firm’s board was a little like “watching your daughter graduate from college.” When asked how Ms Barra might fare in a company traditionally known for its old-boy mentality, Mr Akerson insisted that “that perception is quite dated.”
Indeed, the carmaker now has a fast-growing cadre of female top managers, including five on its executive committee. A full quarter of its factory managers are women. And a woman runs the crucial electric vehicle program. Still Ms Barra was not selected for her gender, Mr Akerson asserted. “She is one of the most gifted execs I’ve met in my career.”
Mr Akerson did note, however, that the new GM that emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2009 is run very differently from the way the giant maker was managed in the past. It requires as much of a high EQ, or “emotional quotient,” as a solid IQ. During his nearly four years at the wheel, Mr Akerson has focused on team leadership rather than top-down management.
“Mary is a coach, and that’s the sort of management style this company needs,” says David Cole of the Centre for Automotive Research. “Women were generally more team oriented than men and tend to think outside the normal boundaries. And what we’re seeing in the auto industry is a movement from a more traditionally masculine management style to a more feminine one—where they function like a coach.”
【274】
[Time 6]
With the exception of a possible outside replacement for Mr Ammann, GM’s board is sticking with the team it has in place, although the roles will change. Theodore “Tim” Solso, the former chairman and chief executive of automotive supplier Cummins will take over Mr Akerson’s role as chairman. Mark Reuss, a veteran engineer and currently president of North American operations, will replace Ms Barra as head of global product development. Chevrolet’s global marketing chief Alan Batey will replace Mr Reuss.
Mr Akerson will be going out on an upbeat note. The carmaker’s recent earnings have exceeded Wall Street’s expectations. The share price has risen sharply in recent months, though it blipped after the Tuesday morning announcement. The core North American market is generating better than 9% returns. And many of GM’s latest models are widely praised for engineering, design and quality. The 2014 Chevrolet Impala, for example, was cited as the best sedan the influential Consumer Reports magazine has ever tested.
Still, Mr Akerson warned that “as far as we’ve come, we’ve got to go that far again.” Among other things, GM still has to fix the mess in Europe where it has been running up annual losses in the billions ever since the start of the new millennium. It also has to maintain momentum in China where there have been worrisome signs of a market slowdown. And it has to continue to upgrade older products as well as consolidate the number of different vehicle platforms it uses. But Mr Akerson said he’s confident the new chief executive can make things work. ”Life throws you curve balls,” he said. “Mary is someone who can adapt and adjust.”
【277】
Source: economist
http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2013/12/gm-s-new-boss
|
|
京公网安备11010202008513号 京ICP证101109号 京ICP备12012021号
发表于 2013-12-13 21:41:54
