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Maryann Keller

Rude Awakening: The Rise Fall and Struggle for Recovery of General Motors Hardcover – August 1, 1989

by Maryann Keller (Author)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Investment analyst, financial columnist and PBS-TV panelist Keller here retells how General Motors, a long-dominant, complacent corporate giant, was jolted by the 1970s oil embargos and by foreign competition. These developments led to massive company reorganization in the '80s under ebullient GM chairman Roger Smith, and to the joint GM-Toyota production of the Chevy Nova using Japanese concepts of worker participation. In a straightforward but engaging style, Keller recalls the corporate thrashings, as success, lost in a maze of missed opportunities, kept eluding GM. Astonishing accounts of human failures emerge as the author spins this sorry industrial saga, which ends on a barely hopeful note.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Automotive analyst Keller's detached prose makes this chronicle of General Motors' management process read like a business school case study. As well as illustrating the already well-known arrogance of GM management, Keller also provides balanced, fascinating accounts of GM's watershed decisions, such as the partnership with Japanese makers, the acquisition of Ross Perot's EDS Corporation, and its involvement with the Saturn project. The future of GM, according to Keller, is not at all clear, and her analysis of the options is intriguing. More objective than Call Me Roger ( LJ 4/1/88), Albert Lee's vituperative analysis of GM CEO Roger Smith, this corporate history should be purchased.
- Joseph Barth, U.S. Military Acad . Lib., West Point, N.Y.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

Publisher : William Morrow & Co; 1st edition (August 1, 1989)
Language : English
Hardcover : 275 pages
ISBN-10 : 0688075274
ISBN-13 : 978-0688075279
Item Weight : 1.2 pounds
Dimensions : 1.2 x 6.5 x 9.6 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,710,050 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #601 in Business Infrastructure

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Francis Cartwright

Roger Smith presided over the decline of GM

Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2019

Verified Purchase

In truth Roger Smith was a leader with good ideas, but he was a product of GM. He kept all the bad practices of GM's executive room and did not tolerate discording comments. It is possible that GM needed a Mullaly but they were not ready for that. Russ Perot tried to shake things up but he run into a chairman that would not learn from anyone. In all fairness, most practices that run GM on the ground were established by his predecessor ... The book is interesting but I am not sure that presents the complete story.

One person found this helpful

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Chris

The anecdote I liked best was when a automotive write was showing a ...

Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2015

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I can't verify the facts in the book, but they echo what I saw as a peon working for a Fortune 500 company. At a certain level of management, reality doesn't matter, the effort is all in pleasing the guy above you, and making sure the guy at the top never gets blamed for anything. I did have the misfortune to have bought an X-body car, and did see the way decisions by accountants (certain wasn't an engineer) made trade offs that messed what was a passable small car. The author does suggest fixes, but I don't think she thought it was fixable as she had lots of anecdotes showing how GM management never saw the real problems.

The anecdote I liked best was when a automotive write was showing a fancy new machine that used lasers and computers to figure out where the holes were for attaching tail lights. The comment was that it would have been a lot cheaper to always put the holes in the same place. My guess, somewhere one VP had responsibility for the holes and another VP for attaching the light. The first VP didn't want to admit fault, so the second VP had to use a Rube Goldberg device to cover up the problem. I expect some 3rd VP had to monkey with body try to cover the fact that the lights weren't always where they should be.

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Peter

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2016

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Teresa

If you Love GM, then you will love this book

Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2013

Verified Purchase

I purchased this book for my father who is a GM nut and he wanted to add to his collection. It was a used book, but it looks pretty much brand new. Arrived in perfect shape.

One person found this helpful

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Jeff Spear

Keller was prophetic

Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2012

The author is a well-known financial analyst who followed the auto industry for decades. Because of her stature in the industry, she was afforded access to high-ranking insiders. While she shares some history up to 1980, the book chronicles the events of the 1980s in great detail, with lots of first person references. Some think the captains of industry and the organizations they manage are paragons of virtue and meritocracy respectively. Keller show us just how human these places are, bordering on dictatorial and arcane. My first impression along the way was that her biases limited the sharing of whatever good news had come from GM during that period of time. Her intention, however, was to paint 'the General' with broad strokes, in an effort to determine the longer-term viability of what was a sick corporation in 1989. She was, after all, an analyst.

To her credit, she nailed the problems GM had with various products, exposing development processes that were doomed to fail. She also was prescient in her evaluation of the Saturn project. Twenty years and billions of losses later, her analysis proved accurate. After the book was published, the mistakes seemed to compound, reflecting the continuation of bad decision-making protocols and a culture of "yes". (As an example, Saab, purchased in 1990 and 2000, wound up being a total loss.)

Other books I recommend are "Chrome Colossus", "On a Clear Day, You Can See General Motors" and "Car Guys and Bean Counters". Reading these, you are likely to see similar themes. One can only hope that life is better there today. Recent results seem to bear that out.

2 people found this helpful

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James Mancuso

EYE OPENING EXPOSE OF INCOMPETENCE AT GM

Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2009

This book is a real eye opener at the growing incompetency of many of General Motors' top executives, too many of whom do not know the nature of the automotive business. Too many CEO's who ran the company came from the ranks of accountants who know little or nothing about building cars that people want to by. It outlines the many screwups of Roger Smith that made the UAW such a militant union that it has been.I would urge that President Barack Obama buy and read this book so that he gets a better idea of what has been building up over a period of years. I think this book will give Mr. Obama a better idea of the nature of the beast he is dealing with and General Motors is one hell of a sick beast.

One person found this helpful

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