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Whitacre Vows to ‘Learn About Cars’ as Chairman of New GM Board

TheHat

TheHat

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"I Dont Know Anything About Cars":shock:

Wonderful, who better to appoint CEO of Government Motors, but someone who doesnt know anything about the industry itself.

Got to hand it to the folks at the Treasiry, they sure do know how to pick them!

Does anybody else have a problem with the Treasury selecting CEOs?

Something else that is funny, this is the same guy that got grilled on Capitol Hill over spying on phone calls as the CEO of AT&T under Bush.

He calls this role a "public service". And rightly so, since the government owns it.

Money quote in this article comes from a GM engineer named, Jim Hall:

"...There’s a parallel with General Motors. GM is not now about just making cars. It’s about re-creating itself as a 21st-century car company. They have to have somebody at the top that understands they have to make a new GM....."
Click to expand...

So GM is not about making just cars?:doh So what else does GM plan on doing in the future? Making post-its?:confused:

Whitacre Vows to ?Learn About Cars? as Chairman of New GM Board - Bloomberg.com
 
Re: New CEO of GM: "I Dont Know Anything About Cars"

So, all in all, no change at GM, huh?
 
Re: New CEO of GM: "I Dont Know Anything About Cars"

my sentiments exactly.......

its looks as though Mickey Mouse could do a better job than the last guy
 
Re: New CEO of GM: "I Dont Know Anything About Cars"

Obviously this is the right choice. Havent you seen the commercials GM can compete anymore with other countries so they will start making containers to bring in Chinese cars.
 
Re: New CEO of GM: "I Dont Know Anything About Cars"

I wonder if Obama uses a proctologist to treat anxiety. LOL.
 
Re: New CEO of GM: "I Dont Know Anything About Cars"

Hat please read the forum rules reguarding how to post proper threads in the breaking news section of the forum....this forum isn't ran all loosy goosy as some of the other forums you post on.

Thanks for abiding by the rules of this forum.
 
Re: New CEO of GM: "I Dont Know Anything About Cars"

That's OK, sir. Mr. Obama doesn't know anything about the Constitution, but it's not stopping him.
 
Re: New CEO of GM: "I Dont Know Anything About Cars"

TheHat said:
"I Dont Know Anything About Cars":shock:

So GM is not about making just cars?:doh So what else does GM plan on doing in the future? Making post-its?:confused:

Whitacre Vows to ?Learn About Cars? as Chairman of New GM Board - Bloomberg.com
Click to expand...

Bailouts and government control of these companies is really great for us, actually.

I mean, heck - now we can buy cheap cars from an American company that rival the highest quality cars from around the world..wait, what? We can't?

At least those without completely abysmal credit can now get low interest loans from Citibank...huh? No dice there, either?

Well, I'm consoled by the fact that at least the American people will get a percentage of the TARP paid out directly to them instead of AIG receiving executive bonus pay, as compensation for losing significant portions of our life savings...wait, what's that? We don't?

What the hell?

I'm not so much upset about who they install as a figurehead as I just want them to stop throwing my money away.

Brief Onion interlude:
In The Know: Should The Government Stop Dumping Money Into A Giant Hole? | The Onion - America\\\\\\\'s Finest News Source

Bailouts = +1 for "doing something", -10 trillion for good thinking.
 
Re: Whitacre Vows to ‘Learn About Cars’ as Chairman of New GM Board

I'd rather have someone who knows about running a company than someone who knows about cars. That, after all, is what the Chairman of GM needs to be concerned about.

“I don’t know anything about cars,” Whitacre, 67, said yesterday in an interview after his appointment. “A business is a business, and I think I can learn about cars. I’m not that old, and I think the business principles are the same.”
Click to expand...

I completely agree with those sentiments.

With that said, the Treasury shouldn't be trying to run auto companies. That's just retarded.
 
Re: Whitacre Vows to ‘Learn About Cars’ as Chairman of New GM Board

whitacre.jpg
 
Re: New CEO of GM: "I Dont Know Anything About Cars"

goldendog said:
Hat please read the forum rules reguarding how to post proper threads in the breaking news section of the forum....this forum isn't ran all loosy goosy as some of the other forums you post on.

Thanks for abiding by the rules of this forum.
Click to expand...

Who died and made you a mod?

Its been taken care of by the REAL mods. :thumbs:
 
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Re: New CEO of GM: "I Dont Know Anything About Cars"

TheHat said:
Who died and made you a mod?

Its been taken care of by the REAL mods. :thumbs:
Click to expand...

No one did...I just know that your M.O. is to use flaming thread titles in the "current events" or "breaking news" sections. Glad to see that you are not going to get away with it here.....:laughat:
 
Re: New CEO of GM: "I Dont Know Anything About Cars"

goldendog said:
No one did...I just know that your M.O. is to use flaming thread titles in the "current events" or "breaking news" sections. Glad to see that you are not going to get away with it here.....:laughat:
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Well in order to "get away with something" that would mean I was trying to circumvent something, which was not the case.

That is all I am going to say to this flame-bait, trolling of yours.

So, back to the subject, do you have any thoughts on it, or is this strictly you trolling my threads?

I will not comment back to you unless your on topic. I am not going to play the troll game with you. I got better things to do.
 
Re: New CEO of GM: "I Dont Know Anything About Cars"

TheHat said:
Well in order to "get away with something" that would mean I was trying to circumvent something, which was not the case.

That is all I am going to say to this flame-bait, trolling of yours.

So, back to the subject, do you have any thoughts on it, or is this strictly you trolling my threads?

I will not comment back to you unless your on topic. I am not going to play the troll game with you. I got better things to do.
Click to expand...

It was not a flamebait troll post....you have a long history of doing just what you tried to do in this thread in fact that was not the first time it has happened in your short time on this forum was it?

I'm just glad that you may have learned a lesson from this and will follow the rules in the future.
 
Re: Whitacre Vows to ‘Learn About Cars’ as Chairman of New GM Board

TheHat said:
So GM is not about making just cars?:doh So what else does GM plan on doing in the future? Making post-its?:confused:
Click to expand...

Yes. Actually most business are about more than just making the basic product you associate them with. If all a company did was just make the product, they'd likely fail. A successful company has to excel at making its product, showing that the product provides direct and clear value to consumers and that associated services that come with the product provide ancillary value. Xerox is not just about copy machines. It's about keeping them running, providing entire office solutions and integrations with existing often non-Xerox machines as well as data management. Most people just associate them with a copy machine, but that's just part of the firm. If Xerox just made copy machines, it would have long ago died off.

GM needs to revamp its service business, financial arm business, as well as leverage any patents it produces through R&D. Furthermore, if GM can branch out into supplying parts for other means of transportation it can diversify into related fields to reduce market risk.

Like all firms, GM isn't JUST about cars, it is principally about providing value to customers.
 
Re: Whitacre Vows to ‘Learn About Cars’ as Chairman of New GM Board

obvious Child said:
Yes. Actually most business are about more than just making the basic product you associate them with. If all a company did was just make the product, they'd likely fail. A successful company has to excel at making its product, showing that the product provides direct and clear value to consumers and that associated services that come with the product provide ancillary value. Xerox is not just about copy machines. It's about keeping them running, providing entire office solutions and integrations with existing often non-Xerox machines as well as data management. Most people just associate them with a copy machine, but that's just part of the firm. If Xerox just made copy machines, it would have long ago died off.

GM needs to revamp its service business, financial arm business, as well as leverage any patents it produces through R&D. Furthermore, if GM can branch out into supplying parts for other means of transportation it can diversify into related fields to reduce market risk.

Like all firms, GM isn't JUST about cars, it is principally about providing value to customers.
Click to expand...

More than this: auto supplier companies in the area are rapidly announcing that they are branching out into other industries. Supposedly, the whole industry is looking to diversify for stability, including the auto makers themselves.

About 2001ish, the company I work for had a big scandal where the executive officer was basically cooking the books to hide that our branch of the multinational(home corp is actually Canadian) was losing money. He and most of the rest of the executives where fired, and a new XO and plant manager where brought in who had never worked in the auto industry. Two years later we were pulling a nice profit.
 
Re: Whitacre Vows to ‘Learn About Cars’ as Chairman of New GM Board

Moderator's Warning:
Just going to say this one. Leave the other forum gurdges OUT of this thread or you'll be escorted out of it. Keep to the topic.
 
Re: Whitacre Vows to ‘Learn About Cars’ as Chairman of New GM Board

I see no problem in appointing someone who knows diddly squat about cars to run a Vehicle manufacturing business.
In much the same way we appoint (elect) politicians to run our society.

Look at the great job they have done thus far.
 
Re: Whitacre Vows to ‘Learn About Cars’ as Chairman of New GM Board

jujuman13 said:
I see no problem in appointing someone who knows diddly squat about cars to run a Vehicle manufacturing business.
In much the same way we appoint (elect) politicians to run our society.

Look at the great job they have done thus far.
Click to expand...

It is quickly becoming apparent who went to business school and who did not.

A great many firms hire people outside of their industries to take control. Boeing hired a former 3M president. Yahoo hired Carol Bartz. Ebay hired John Donahoe. And these are outsiders. Sometimes it takes an outsider perspective to get the company going in the right direction.

Good Ol' Wharton. Never lets me down.

Wishing Upon a Star: Hiring a CEO from Inside the Company Vs. Going Outside - Knowledge@Wharton
 
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