How Does GM Relate to Ch. 4: International Management and Cross-Cultural Competence?

Posted: 11:56am 9/13/08
Edited: 12:25pm 9/13/08

In summary number 1 of Chapter 4 it reads as follows:
The study of international management is more important than ever as the huge global economy continues grow. Doing business internally typically involves much more than importing an/or exporting goods. The six stages of the internationalization process are licensing, exporting, local warehousing and selling, local assembly and packaging, joint ventures, and direct foreign investments. There are three main guidelines for success in international joint ventures: (a) Be patient while building trust with a carefully selected partner; (b) learn as much as fast as possible without giving away key secrets; and (c) establish clear ground rules for rights and responsibilities. Global companies are a present-day reality, whereas transnational companies are a futuristic vision. A global company does business simultaneously in many countries but pursues global strategies administered from a strong home-country headquarters. In contrast, a transnational company is envisioned as a decentralized global network of productive units with no distinct national identity. There is growing concern about the economic and political power that such stateless enterprises may acquire as they eclipse the power and scope of their host nations.
From Wikepedia:
General Motors entered the European market only three years after the company's foundation in 1908. This involved the construction of Chevrolet cars in Denmark in 1923 and Belgium in 1925. This involvement was greatly expanded by the acquisitions of Vauxhall in 1925 and Opel in Germany in 1929. In 1986 GM bought Lotus group in England and 7 years later on August 27, 1993, GM sold the company, for £30 million to owners of Bugatti. GM acquired a 50 percent stake in Saab of Sweden in 1989, taking full ownership in 2000. General Motors also developed a partnership with and acquired a stake in Fiat in 2000. GM divested its minority equity interests and dissolved the partnership in 2005, following a legal fight regarding the conditions of a put option afforded Fiat.

General Motors is a global company that does business simultaneously in many countries but pursues global strategies administered from a strong home-country head-quarters in Detroit, Michigan. They started in the United States and licensing, exporting, local warehousing and selling, local assembly and packaging, joint ventures, and direct foreign investments in North America, South America, Europe Africa, Asia and Australia/Oceania.

From GM's history, I can understand why there would be concern about the economic and political power that such a stateless enterprise has acquired as they eclipse the power and scope of the United States. General Motors has been around for 100 years come September 16, and have been international 97 of those years. They are definitely powerful and represent the United States and the "American Dream" no matter what they may try to represent in other countries. The world will either love it or hate it, just as they do the US.