Question

In the context of this course, please address the issues/questions below for General Motors Company (GM). When addressing the issues/questions, be sure to do so in the context of this course and General Motors. Your primary sources of information will come from the GM website, in particular “Investors” and the “2018 Annual Report.” Also, look at the web pages for GM on Yahoo! Finance, Gurufocus.com and/or Morningstar.com.

1.      Discuss the critical success factors and whether or not you believe that

GM shows evidence of success for these factors.

b         Discuss GM in the context of the Theory of Constraints.

c)         From the material reviewed, explain whether GM shows

evidence in its operations/results of the perspectives of the balanced scorecard.

(d)          Discuss which of the activities of the value chain are most important to

                                    GM.

e)           Discuss the concept of customer delivered value in the context of

                                    GM.       

f)           Discuss the cost of controlling quality and the cost of failing to control

                                    quality in the context of GM.

g)          Discuss which strategic vision GM evidences.

(h)          Discuss which paradigm for creating value GM evidences.

https://investor.gm.com/static-files/54070a3d-55d9-4a0c-9913-7ba9b4d366de

Answer 1

To become the number one produce store in Main Street by selling the highest quality, freshest farm produce, from farm to customer in under 24 hours on 75% of our range and with 98% customer satisfaction."

(For more on this example, and how to develop your mission statement, see our article on Vision Statements and Mission Statements .)

The strategic objectives of Farm Fresh are to:

• Gain market share locally of 25%.
• Achieve fresh supplies of "farm to customer" in 24 hours for 75% of products.
• Sustain a customer satisfaction rate of 98%.
• Expand product range to attract more customers.
• Have sufficient store space to accommodate the range of products that customers want.

In order to identify possible CSFs, we must examine the mission and objectives and see which areas of the business need attention so that they can be achieved. We can start by brainstorming what the Critical Success Factors might be (these are the "Candidate" CSFs.)

Objective	Candidate Critical Success Factors
Gain market share locally of 25%	Increase competitiveness versus other local stores Attract new customers
Achieve fresh supplies of “farm to customer” in 24 hours for 75% of products	Sustain successful relationships with local suppliers
Sustain a customer satisfaction rate of 98%	Retain staff and keep up customer-focused training
Expand product range to attract more customers	Source new products locally
Extend store space to accommodate new products and customers	Secure financing for expansion Manage building work and any disruption to the business Once you have a list of Candidate CSFs, it's time to consider what is absolutely essential and so identify the truly Critical Success Factors. And this is certainly the case for Farm Fresh Produce. The first CSF that we identify from the candidate list is relationships with local suppliers". This is absolutely essential to ensure freshness and to source new products. Another CSF is to attract new customers. Without new customers, the store will be unable to expand to increase market share. A third CSF is financing for expansion. The store's objectives cannot be met without the funds to invest in expanding the store space. Figure 1: Critical Success Factors, Missions and Goals for "Farm Fresh Produce"

Once you have a list of Candidate CSFs, it's time to consider what is absolutely essential and so identify the truly Critical Success Factors.

And this is certainly the case for Farm Fresh Produce. The first CSF that we identify from the candidate list is relationships with local suppliers". This is absolutely essential to ensure freshness and to source new products.

Another CSF is to attract new customers. Without new customers, the store will be unable to expand to increase market share.

A third CSF is financing for expansion. The store's objectives cannot be met without the funds to invest in expanding the store space.

Figure 1: Critical Success Factors, Missions and Goals for "Farm Fresh Produce"

Tip: How Many CSFs?

Whilst there is no hard and fast rule, it's useful to limit the number of CSFs to five or fewer absolute essentials. This helps your CSFs have maximum impact, and so give good direction and prioritization to other elements of your business or project strategy.

Using the Tool: Summary Steps

In reality, identifying your CSFs is a very iterative process. Your mission, strategic goals and CSFs are intrinsically linked and each will be refined as you develop them.

Here are the summary steps that, used iteratively, will help you identify the CSFs for your business or project:

Step One: Establish your business's or project's mission and strategic goals (click here  for help doing this.)

Step Two: For each strategic goal, ask yourself "what area of business or project activity is essential to achieve this goal?" The answers to the question are your candidate CSFs.

Tip:

To make sure you consider all types of possible CSFs, you can use Rockart's CSF types as a checklist.

• Industry – these factors result from specific industry characteristics. These are the things that the organization must do to remain competitive.
• Environmental – these factors result from macro-environmental influences on an organization. Things like the business climate, the economy, competitors, and technological advancements are included in this category.
• Strategic – these factors result from the specific competitive strategy chosen by the organization. The way in which the company chooses to position themselves, market themselves, whether they are high volume low cost or low volume high cost producers, etc.
• Temporal – these factors result from the organization's internal forces. Specific barriers, challenges, directions, and influences will determine these CSFs.

Step Three: Evaluate the list of candidate CSFs to find the absolute essential elements for achieving success – these are your Criticial Success Factors.

As you identify and evaluate candidate CSFs, you may uncover some new strategic objectives or more detailed objectives. So you may need to define your mission, objectives and CSFs iteratively.

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Step Four: Identify how you will monitor and measure each of the CSFs

Step Five: Communicate your CSFs along with the other important elements of your business or project's strategy.

Step Six: Keep monitoring and reevaluating your CSFs to ensure you keep progressing towards your aims. Indeed, whilst CSFs are sometimes less tangible than measurable goals, it is useful to identify as specifically as possible how you can measure or monitor each one.

Key Points

Critical Success Factors, also known as Key Results Areas, are the areas of your business or project that are absolutely essential to its success. By identifying and communicating these CSFs, you can help ensure your business or project is well-focused and avoid wasting effort and resources on less important areas. By making CSFs explicit and communicating them with everyone involved, you can help keep the business and project on track towards common aims and goals.

If you're interested in this subject, take a look at our articles on Core Competences , Vision Statements & Mission Statements , and Goal Setting .

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