Chapter Seven
The Hazard of Growth
The number “29” seems harmless enough, but it got General Motors into a heap of trouble not too long ago. In 2003, GM's North American market share dropped to 28.3%. This was down from 28.7% the previous year, the first such decline the company had experienced in three years. So what did the GM executives in their wisdom choose to do? Did they take a closer look at the value drivers within the company in order to figure out where greater value generation could be achieved? Did they adopt a fresh perspective regarding the manner in which they judged the Net Present Value (NPV) of the projects they invested in or the day-to-day decisions they made?
No – they started wearing lapel pins in the shape of the number ...
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