Customer Reviews

On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Excellent book detailing the failings of GM. Mismanagement, inefficiency, illegal tactics and blatant disregard for the public interest are described. This book ranks with Ralph Nader's work. De Lorean describes his rise from Packard to Pontiac division of GM, where he made a failing division successful, then to the Chevrolet division, where he greatly boosted profits through sound business practices. He was then promoted to the "14th Floor" at GM, where he was a good candidate to become the head of GM. But he gave up. He could not stomach all the problems that he saw. Instead, he left GM to set up his own company. Good book to read if you are interested in why big corporations act as they do. It reveals the inner workings of GM. It is broadly applicable to many corporations. A classic.

DeLorean is a very observant individual: it takes about one page of this book to figure out how smart DeLorean is. His critique on GM is often incisive and leaves you feeling that he was the only rational man in an irrational organization. His deconstruction of the GM organization leaves little unscathed: the browbeating of dealerships by the GM salesman; the planning committees that designed cars whose front ends would fall off after 8 miles; management's unwillingness to incur even minor expenses to make the infamous Corvair safer. More than anything, GM management comes off as incredibly rigid and totally unable to adapt to a changing marketplace where its big cars were seen as inefficient dinosaurs. Gripping like few books are, reading this book can only leave you more enlightened about how not to run an organization. This is one of the most enlightening management books I've ever read and I recommend it highly. DeLorean's subsequent downfall only adds to the tragedy of this book.

John Z De Lorean is far more than just the name sake to his car.

John Z De Lorean is quite possibly one of the most intelligent and organized people that ever worked for GM.. ever. And if he would have been alive today, and been able to see through the clouds at GM, GM could have been profitable. But their own undoing, is their own work.. he just staved off the inevitable.

Opening the book, you expect to hear about his own car company...

But it delves into operations, his thought process, how he ran two divisions at GM. He talks openly about how he turned errors and problems in the company into positive cash making operations.

Nearly everything that he was put in charge of would turn to gold, through his smart and knowledgeable background and something else that didnt exist at GM.. common sense.

This book.. absolutely parellels the problems GM was facing 30yrs ago, with the problems of today.

A fantastic book.. that deserves to be read, and re-read hundreds of times over.

Clearly, DeLorean is one of the more intriguing figures of the post-War auto industry. At this point, he's at the top of the game and quite in love with himself. The book provides a great backboard for someone trying to understand his later foibles.

I read this book decades ago. My Father had a copy, and told me some of the stories regarding General Motors. This book is not very well written, but the message is a good one. GM had become a massive bureaucracy. The entire management is focused on how to please other mangers. No one cares about product development, or how the plants are running. Its all about making a good impression with the boss. There is one story where a guy rents a crane, so he can get a fridge put into a superior`s hotel room. The fridge would not fit through the hotel door way. The word was out that this particular boss, enjoyed having some fresh fruit and cold beer before he went to bed. They made sure the fridge was full of fresh fruit and cold beer.
Later when Ross Perot went public with his complaints regarding General Motors, I had no problems believing his story. Ross Perot`s comments regarding the bureaucracy of GM, is the same story that Delorean makes in this book.
This book is also a great fit with Alfred Sloan`s book on General Motors. You can see how GM started off successfully, and changed into a bureaucratic nightmare.

great historic view of just how messed GM has been thru the years and why they deserve what they have today.

A very interesting book which gives insight into John Z. Delorean and his years at General Motors, prior to developing his own car, the DeLorean. Well written and good reading.