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Case Study

GT Automotive (A): Transforming a corporate culture

By Daniel R. Denison and Colleen Lief

8 pages

June 2009

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Reference: IMD-4-0308

GT Automotive was a worldwide leader in the production of heating, ventilation and air conditioning products, brake and fuel line systems, as well as fuel tanks, fuel delivery systems and fuel tank fill pipes, for original equipment manufacturers and the automotive aftermarket. Tim Kuppler was general manager of the HVAC unit of GT’s North American business at their headquarters in Michigan. When he took the job in 2003, he found the work unit was unclear about its mission and was resistant to change. Over the course of a year, however, the leadership team was able to help turn around the existing corporate culture. The success of the North American group initiative resulted in Kuppler’s promotion to a new position in charge of global HVAC operations. Corporate culture would undoubtedly be an issue at the global level as well. The scattering of the workforce around a wide geographic area and the influence of diverging national cultures would make Kuppler’s efforts to improve the effectiveness and cohesion of HVAC’s global operations more critical and more challenging.

Learning Objective

This case serves to examine tangible steps in enacting real, sustainable corporate culture change; to reflect on the similarities and differences in enacting a change program in diverging contexts; to highlight the importance of engagement of the workforce in the development of solutions.

Keywords

Corporate Culture, Change Management, Employee Engagement, Team Building, Organizational Behavior

Settings

World/global, United States of America
2003-2005

Type

Field Research

Available Languages

English

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This case study is part of a series

GT Automotive (A): Transforming a corporate culture
GT Automotive (B): Building a global team

This case study is part of a series

GT Automotive (A): Transforming a corporate culture
GT Automotive (B): Building a global team

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