Free Custom «The Downfall of "Old-GM"» Essay Paper

The argument that Failure to innovate is the key to the conquest of "old-GM is rational, and in this group, we exist to agree with the statement. Innovation is the process whereby the management team of an organization is charged with the responsibility of introducing something new, which might be a new idea or a methodology or rather, a contrivance to facilitate the operational concerns and production. As a GM, one is charged with many innovations in the company he or she heads. This is according to the field of operation which ensure that the organization do continue to produce the respective consumer centered products. This does ensure that the output they deliver to the consumer do meet their needs and expectations. They ensure the consumers against other same need satisfying products achieve this in a way that is realistic and makes their product to have a preference.

The fall of the "Old GM" in this context was initially by the lack of personal innovation. The manager was desperate for people who could see things in a different perspective. People who would quickly size up the problems and come up with creative solutions to issues the organization was facing. The failure of the "Old GM" to innovate made him less essential to his employers, consumers of the company products and other key personalities, which he or she was supposed to influence. This was both in the organization and outside its walls. The GM did lack the "go to idea personality," which is essential, to work through intricate challenges and come up with creative solutions. The failure to innovate more so did not differentiate the GM skill set from the other employees in his organization hence resulting to his failure.

Innovation is essential in an organization for it to be able to thrive in the challenging business world. The company's products go through a life cycle. At the initial stage, the product is not well known, and it is costly such as the way microwave ovens were in1970s hence the sales are restricted. The product does reach growth after a short time, and there is no more growth seen in sales, and the time, it goes to decline stage because a better and more satisfying product has replaced the same product. It is at this stage that the manufacturer is supposed to come up with realistic ideas towards product development if he has to remain competitive. For example, the typewriters did reach the declining stage simply because the consumer switched to computers.

The innovation diffusion is the factor that the organizations tend to take them to be in a better position of running the business. An Innovative GM is one, which is likely to adopt a new production technology and is prepared to pay a premium price to acquire the new production process: one, which is willing to pay for an unwarranted technology. This is because a later adopter relay on advice from the innovators who are more informed on the new techniques. The fall of the "Old GM" seemed to have been influenced by such factors in that he never adopted the new technologies not even in the latter stages.

The product life cycle shows exceptionally well, where innovation is critical;

When the "Old GM," company product did go through the life cycle as shown he, ran out of ideas, sat down, and watched when other company products replaced its offer to the market. At the latter product life cycle stages, the company is supposed to make a modification of its marketing strategy a factor on which the Old Gm failed. For example, when Arm U Hammer, was facing an inundated market for its baking soda based on its conventional usage, the company did opt for a major promotion to attract customers to utilize the product for deodorizing refrigerators. They extended this to even the production of deodorizing powders, which were supposed to be used before the vacuuming process.

It is essential for an organization to come up with new products for its consumers, because that is what can make them have a bigger realization of sales. Either these new products can be new to the market in that, no any other manufacturer had made such a product before just like the Chrysler invented the minivan, or the product can be new to the company in that it was an invention done by another organization and the organization is coming up with its own version. For example, The IBM Computer Company was not the original manufacturers of the personal computer, but they came in after the market depicted a high potential. This, though, a Xerox kind is innovation at its best, which the old GM failed to adopt. A product can be innovated to be new to a certain market segment. For instance, the mobile phones were first aimed at the price-insensitive segments, but the manufacturers in latter stages decided to target the price-sensitive segment too. This was innovation.

Innovation adoption over time is a critical thing that each of the organizations do consider towards enabling it to thrive in the market. Innovation starts with the innovators who account for about 2.5% of all innovations, then about 13.5% of early adopters and at least 34% of the early majority to take in the innovations. Afterwards, a 34% of the later majorities in innovation adoption do come in place. The laggards are at 13.5% as far as innovation adoption and implementation is concerned. The "Old GM" failure could have been caused by his choice of being a laggard in the innovation adoption.

Graphically the innovation adoption is shown as follows:

The old GM must have allowed the force of innovation to work against him. He feared the risk associated with innovation and its adoptions that can either be financially bent or rather socially indented. The GM did as well fear the chance of trying edging ideas towards product development and growth for the organization to be able to remain in business. He might as well have resistance towards erudition on how to use the new technologies and innovation towards consumer satisfying products fabrication and pricing as well as positioning.

The required innovations for an organization to remain in business are adopted and implemented in varying degrees. The innovations might be continuous in that it includes the trivial improvements in due course. For example, the year to another change in vehicle, yet they are driven the same way they were in 1940s. Dynamic constant innovation is essential in that technology is varied even though the product usage is similar to the older one. As an example, the jet technology came in to replace the propeller aircraft yet they are used for the same purpose. Alternating innovation is as well practical in an organization in that it creates a product that utterly varies things execution methods. For illustration, the fax machine prologue and photocopiers introduction did differentiate fully the paperwork sector.

Innovation is hard to embrace, but in due time, the results are significant, and a failure to innovate in an organization does result to fatal implications. The "Old GM" for instance did not embrace innovation and the organization he was leading opted to operate with obsolete technologies a factor that could not let them stay in business. The failure to creativity did check the organizational profitability and sustainability in production and marketing of its product. This is inconsiderate in the manufacturing sector that made the Gm be regarded as failure with little to offer to the company he was leading.

The Old Gm did lack the modernity-desired innovation and its adoption in that his extent to new things reception was below par and tainted with fear and frustrations, which are the practical, proves of failed leadership. The GM might have been lacking the opinion leadership aspects in that he did not value opinion leaders, which made such people; the opinion leaders more conservative. The chances that the Old GM never did appreciate the opinion of others did bar innovation in the organization he was leading a factor that resulted to no innovation at all. This factor coupled by his resistance to change and fear of trying new ideas are some of the factors that resulted to his organization becoming just a general venture. Hence, it did lose ambitiously in its market and standards.

Innovation does create a desirable environment for production position of a company's products. More so, with the efficiency desired by the organizational product consumers to ensure that they are able to satisfy their needs effectively (Trott 2008, 19-28). The resistance and lack of innovation is a reasonable and justified factor towards concluding that the fall of the Old GM was by his lack of innovative ideas. He was reluctant in their adoption too when the organization was desperate for innovations. Innovation is thus paramount in any organization if it has to be able to thrive in the challenging and turbulent times and business environment. This is as far as the operational concerns are considered towards the organizational goals and objective to its product consumers.