Stanford University's Research to Enhance Work of GM Global Vehicle Teams

WARREN, Mich. - How do global companies manage work between multiple cultures and across time zones? General Motors Corp. has a collaborative research lab with Stanford University that is helping the company to identify engineering work processes and technology that will enable the company to fully leverage its global teams and respond quickly in the global marketplace.

"To win today, companies have to be able to effectively deploy their global resources, predict and respond quickly to emerging trends, and take full advantage of growth opportunities - faster than their competitors," said Alan Taub, executive director of Global Research and Development. "Our collaborative lab with Stanford, a recognized leader in work systems' research, will help us to take full advantage of our size and capabilities around the world."

GM initially established a $3 million collaborative research lab with Stanford's Engineering School in 2001 to study and make recommendations on GM's work systems - the way engineers use materials and technology on global vehicle programs. Recently, GM awarded an additional $2.5 million to continue the collaborative research program to focus on how engineers use technology to do their work and what skills they are likely to require in the years ahead.

Another area of focus for the Stanford team will be to study engineering projects on global vehicle programs to develop methods and tools for improving the work practices of the global teams and understanding how changes in technology will impact long-distance team interactions.

The National Science Foundation (NSF), which is dedicated to the advances in sciences and engineering, recently recognized the good work that is being done by the GM and Stanford collaborative lab and awarded a $1.3 million grant for a study in the area of "Transformation of Engineering Design: Digitization and the Global Distribution of Engineering Work."

Stephen Barley and Diane Bailey, professors in the Department of Management and Engineering and members of the Center for Technology Work and Organization, will serve as the University's principal investigators. "The collaborative research lab and the NSF grant will make it possible for us to do serious research on how new tools are changing engineering practices, " said Barley. "We are pleased to be doing this research study with GM."

GM's global network of research and development activities includes science offices around the world that coordinate industry partner projects and research work at collaborative labs at leading universities in North America, Europe and Asia. "We have ten collaborative labs at leading universities that are conducting research for us in areas where they have expertise on topics important to GM," Taub said. "This global network significantly expands our technical capabilities."

General Motors Corp. , the world's largest vehicle manufacturer, employs about 325,000 people globally. Founded in 1908, GM has been the global automotive sales leader since 1931. GM today has manufacturing operations in 32 countries and its vehicles are sold in 192 countries. In 2003, GM sold nearly 8.6 million cars and trucks, about 15 percent of the global vehicle market. GM's global headquarters are at the GM Renaissance Center in Detroit. More information on GM and its products can be found on the company's corporate website at www.gm.com.