2. According to the BMW Press Club USA, “In September 2010, the
BMW brand in the U.S. reported sales of 18,228 vehicles (+21.1
percent) and a year-to-date sales volume of 157,464 vehicles, up
9.2 percent. US$ 750 million of the total investment plan have been
used to prepare Plant Spartanburg to produce the all-new BMW X3
and included construction of a new assembly hall for the BMW X3
and expansion of the Body and Paint Shops for higher production
capacities. As a result, Spartanburg’s production capacity is set to
increase by 50% from 160,000 to 240,000 units by 2011.
Since the start-of-production at the Spartanburg plant in September
1994 more than 1.6 million BMW vehicles have been manufactured
for customers around the world and total capital investment now
amounts to US$ 4.6 billion.
3. Historically, organizational functionality at BMW has been a
good indication of cost efficiency, product quality, and
overall organizational success. However, due to the ever-
changing environment and the quest for profitability; BMW
had to become more diversified in their product line. The
product line was expanded an effort to capture a larger
percentage of the premium market share by narrowing the
margin between them and the competition. In order to
accommodate this organizational change, BMW had to find
ways to streamline its resources without compromising its
culture.
4. People resist being changed
People are more likely to accept change that they
are familiar with
The Resistance to change comes from a fear of
the unknown or an expectation of loss.
5. Overt Alignment
◦ Relies on management maintaining control over the
operational-level behaviors and is directive in nature
Unobtrusive Alignment
◦ Relies on control over team’s norms, values, and beliefs.
6. One major systems BMW used to support its
organizational change was Value-Added
Production System (VPS). This system consist
of 10 core principles and supporting
improvement methods that enabled BMW to
identify and to eliminate process waste that was
not essential to produce our vehicles.
8. As a result of the systems that BMW implemented during this organizational
change, productivity has increased by approximately 16% as depicted in the
number of automobiles processed within a 10 hour shift.
“Managerial behaviors showing (1) support of and respect for employees
and (2) investment in and commitment to the organization’s vision or goals
may motivate employees to accept and work towards the goals, helping to
bring about alignment.
Theoretically, these effects of managerial behaviors occur through the
development of employee trust, morale, and value congruence” (Terry A.
Beehr, 2009)
