This book is a real eye-opener. It talks about the stratification if not the outright ossification of a community, an organization, and business.

It is not simply a book about the the automotive business in general or GM in particular. You will learn about those things, of course. But it is also a sociology book about a corporate culture at one of the biggest companies in America.

I read this back in the 1980s. GM has been in the news a lot lately. Anyone who needs to understand GM - or big companies that have been around for ages – should read this book. It will help them visualize things they could probably not imagine on their own.

This book introduces the reader to a lot of really strange stuff and makes it seem understandable. The reader is left with the feeling that there is something unfortunate about the whole thing.

At least afterwards, they understand a little about what it is like and how it got that way.

The thing that I still cannot forget is that GM employees are all expected to buy GM cars. Something I find maybe wise from an competitive economics standpoint – but also likely to lead to inbred ideas and a lack of broad awareness and deep familiarity with competitors products. In a sense, that sort of reminds me of a cult.

What is even weirder is that they take it a step further. In the GM corporate parking lots, everyone parks in bands of of spaces:

1. management and most senior people are closer in
2. low-wage workers must park further out
3. people are expected to buy a class of car that is comparable to the class of employee position that they hold

It almost sounds like an insect empire, doesn’t it?

Sounds interesting, right?