Mary barra gm investigation

I want you to remember it. I want you to never forget it. The crisis began in February, when GM recalledolder-model Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 small cars because of defective ignition switches. GM soon added the Saturn Ion and other small cars to the recall, which ballooned to 2. The switches in the cars can slip out of the "run" position and shut down the engine.

That disables the power-assisted steering and brakes and can cause drivers to lose control. It also disables the air bags. GM reiterated Thursday that it only links 13 deaths to the problem, but trial lawyers suing the company put the death toll closer to Barra said attorney Anton Valukas interviewed employees and reviewed 41 million documents to produce the report, which also makes recommendations to avoid future safety problems.

Mary barra gm investigation

The government was expected to release the report later Thursday. It also eventually came out that GM knew about the defective part as early asVox reported in Ultimately, Barra fired 15 employees, including eight executives, for not responding quickly to the switches, the Detroit Free Press reported. She also appeared before Congress numerous times to answer for how the company had handled the situation.

Meanwhile, GM recalled a total of Barra also set up a victims' compensation fund with few limits, the Detroit Free Press reported in The lawsuit revealed that the faulty part had been changed at some point without the part number being changed. Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful.

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Search financialpost. Advertisement 1. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. Try refreshing your browser, or tap here to see other videos from our team. Advertisement 2. View more offers. Advertisement 3. Top Stories. I initially outlined a series of improvements GM would need to make over the next months for the transformation to mary barra gm investigation hold:.

I initially predicted Mary Barra would lead the greatest culture transformation of all time. I expected her to build on her positive initial response and cover at least some of the recommendations I outlined since they are based on many culture fundamentals I thought she understood. I watched all major communications from GM expecting to see more detail on their plans but the follow-up appeared to be completely focused on structure and process changes without clear effort to engage her organization in deeper, more meaningful change.

Two months passed before the independent investigation was completed and a thorough report was released. The Volukas Report read like a novel with many characters, potential villains, a Wisconsin State Patrol report that surfaced the specific problem, an Indiana University study that identified the issue, countless committees, and legal case after legal case.

Unfortunately, the hero never emerged in this story. Mary Barra started on the right path in the Town Hall meeting by showing respect for the victims and no excuses when sharing the report findings:. After reading the report from the independent investigator, the only point I disagree with is the point about it not being raised to the highest levels of the company.

Yes, it did not reach the top leadership team and the report confirmed Mary Barra did not know about the issue until December, She stopped short of sharing some of the points from the report that provide a clear picture of some undesirable aspects of the GM culture. Countless people came and went without dealing with the issue in any different manner than those that came before them, further reinforcing why this is a culture problem.

I am all for accountability and dealing with misconduct or incompetence. I get the need to show some accountability and tough action. I totally agree with the changes if these people consistently showed incompetent or toxic behavior that was clearly in conflict with important GM values that top leadership consistently supported. This was the part I have been waiting to see for months.

These and the many recommended policy and procedure changes in the report are not near enough to address the subject of culture. They may look fine on the surface and be suitable to make it through the government investigations. They are not near enough to evolve the GM culture. Not even close. Yes, not one reference. It was a perfect time for leadership to take ownership for allowing this culture to persist and to begin building the trust and transparency needed to unite the workforce in support of their customers.

It was completely clear at this point that Mary Barra would not lead the greatest culture transformation of all time as I predicted. I was wrong since culture and leadership inexplicably disappeared from the communication landscape. Mary Barra showed genuine concern for the victims and it is commendable. I wanted to see that same genuine concern for heremployees and for her to talk about how the GM leadership let them down.

A question she should have pondered was: how many of her employees would have made the same decisions as some of the 15 released if they were in the exact same situation?