Significant GM appointments may rebuild reputation

[Bruce Nunnally]

By JOSEPH SZCZESNY

Of The Oakland Press

The changes set in motion recently at General Motors Corp. by Chairman and acting CEO Ed Whitacre are more significant than they might appear on the surface.

At first glance, it appears Whitacre simply replaced one set of GM lifers with another set of GM lifers. Mark Reuss, Susan Docherty, Diane Tremblay and Tim Lee, the four principal promotions made by Whitacre after the abrupt departure of Fritz Henderson, have all had long careers inside GM over the last three decades.

Henderson certainly had his fans, particularly in the business press, that liked to hold him up as an alternative to the leadership of Rick Wagoner, whose only strategy for dealing with the challenges facing the company was to badger the United Auto Workers for concessions.

However, the appointments of Reuss and Docherty mark a significant break with GM practice since the early 1990s and going back even into the 1970s and early 1980s when the personnel from GM's New York Finance Office basically took over control of the company from the manufacturing, engineering and sales guys that had built GM into a powerhouse back in the 1950s and 1960s.

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[OynxSTS]

I wonder how long before Lutz is working on his golf game?