Strategic Management Case Analysis - Research Paper Example

The broad spectrum of activities that demand changing strategic and operational policies continue to reinforce GM’s commitment to the environment. In 2011, GM recycled or reused 2.6 million metric tons of raw or finished waste rather than delivering them to landfills (General Motors, 2012). The business even received the much-heralded Energy Star Award for generating 35 percent less greenhouse gas emissions and 35 percent less electricity and other energy usage compared to buildings of the same construction and capacity (General Motors, 2012).

The business’ commitment to recycling has led to 100 facilities that are considered landfill-free in which materials are recycled back into energy post-production (General Motors, 2012). These activities strongly indicate that GM is way ahead of the competitive curve in terms of environmental sustainability. GM’s radical changes to many of its automotive models to provide better fuel efficiency and operational changes to facilities management will absolutely offset environmental concerns.

The company is offering 20 different flex fuel automobile models, including the Buick Regal, Cadillac Escalade, Chevy Tahoe, and the GMC Yukon (among 16 other well-known brands), with reduced carbon dioxide emissions (Basel, 2012). More than seven million flex fuel vehicles that can use ethanol have been sold around the world, a fuel that burns 21 percent less carbon dioxide than non-flex-fuel vehicles offered by competitors (Basel, 2012). This is a very high volume of vehicles world-wide that have more efficient fuel-burning capabilities to contribute to better greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere.

Furthermore, General Motors reports that the Chevy Volt (alone) has managed to save an entire supertanker worth of fuel nationwide, due to the 40 million different electric miles travelled without reliance on gasoline (GM, 2012). The business is currently developing more electric hybrid vehicles and, with these statistics at the same pace of consumer usage, would save one supertanker per model release. Each maritime Supermax fuel tanker can hold upwards of 200,000 metric tons of fuel, which is a significant improvement in sustainability for each model offered.

The real strategic reason for this heavy concentration and investment into sustainability and environmentalism is profit-motivated. By installing energy efficient lighting in some of the company’s production facilities, it represented a cost savings of eight hundred thousand dollars per plant (GM, 2012). If the business were to transform five other plants, with similar capacity, it would represent four million dollars in operational savings each year. This could easily be applied to other capital investment projects to expand the business or improve operations in key areas with high consumer demand.

Further, the Federal government offers tax incentives to companies that meet sustainability expectations and devote investment into environmental policy, thus it improves the annual income losses associated with tax structures. High investment and publicity of environmental policy and sustainable business practices also help from a marketing angle, by grabbing the attention of younger and more environmentally-focused buyers that are concerned about the health of the planet. It allows GM to attract and retain loyal buyers in key market segments that make product