GM Bankruptcy

The clock is ticking for Frederick A. “Fritz” Henderson. Tapped by the Treasury Dept. to run General Motors after the feds fired his old boss, Rick Wagoner, CEO Henderson understands that he needs to take a wrecking ball to the automaker’s rigid culture or he could be history, too. “I know I have to re-prove myself,” he says.

Henderson, who joined GM in the 1980s as a financial analyst, vows he will make the company less bureaucratic and nimbler. But his government minders are determined to provide adult supervision. They have installed as chairman former AT&T (T) boss Edward E. Whitacre Jr., considered a pragmatic change agent by Treasury officials for his successful reign at the telecom giant. And they’re pushing Henderson to recruit other outsiders who can bring dramatic change to an organization that has long resisted it—and may still push back despite the near-death experience of bankruptcy.

Whitacre declined to discuss his new role, but Treasury officials say they are counting on him to help Henderson turn GM into a more consumer-focused company, much as Whitacre did at AT&T. Kent Kresa, who will be the interim chairman until GM emerges from bankruptcy and Whitacre takes over, says the former AT&T boss was so keen to fix GM that he volunteered for the job. “He’s the kind of guy who will assess what’s wrong, what should be done, and how we will get there,” Kresa says. As chairman, Whitacre will stress-test Henderson’s strategies and, says one Treasury official, help the CEO build the right management team.

The feds want Henderson and Whitacre to lure the kind of talent that will help GM reach consumers the way it did when legendary Chairman Alfred P. Sloan Jr. turned the company into one of the best carmakers in the world. Task force insiders say they don’t want to pick who stays and who goes. But they have suggested that GM find new people who can help it get a quicker read on consumer tastes and build on the handful of recent hit models. “It’s about Fritz and Ed picking a winning team,” says an Administration official. “There will be a talent search.”

For more information on GM Bankruptcy, please visit Debt Consolidation Care.

Kasia writes about financial issues.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/gm-bankruptcy-982418.html