I just wanted to throw this quote out there as well. This was said by Ross Perot in 1988, who was the CEO of EDS which GM, under Roger B. Smith's leadership, attempted to "merge" with. It is in regards to GM's management and why EDS wasn't helping them successfully challenge and overtake the Japanese competition.
"My question is: Why haven't we unleashed their potential? The answer is: the General Motors system. It's like a blanket of fog that keeps these people from doing what they know needs to be done. I come from an environment where, if you see a snake, you kill it. At GM, if you see a snake, the first thing you do is go hire a consultant on snakes. Then you get a committee on snakes, and then you discuss it for a couple of years. The most likely course of action is -- nothing. You figure, the snake hasn't bitten anybody yet, so you just let him crawl around on the factory floor. We need to build an environment where the first guy who sees the snake kills it."
Things might have changed over the past few years as Wagoner and Co. tried to return the company to profitability, but honestly, I still think that this particular kind of thinking is partially to mostly still in place at GM, and it's that way of thinking that will do GM in.