Roger Bonham Smith (1925 – 2007). Chairman and CEO of General Motors Corporation from 1981 to 1990, and is widely known as the main subject of Michael Moore's 1989 documentary film Roger & Me.
Smith seemed to be the last of the old-line GM chairmen, a conservative anonymous bureaucrat, resisting change. However, propelled by industry and market conditions, Smith oversaw some of the most fundamental changes in GM's history. When Smith took over GM, it was reeling from itsfirst annual loss since the early 1920s. Its reputation had been tarnished by lawsuits, persistent quality problems, bad labor relations, public protests over the installation of Chevrolet engines in Oldsmobiles, and by a poorly designed diesel engine.
A controversial figure widely associated with GM's decline, Smith's tenure is commonly viewed as a failure, as GM's share of the US market fell from 46% to 35% and the company lapsed close to bankruptcy during the early 1990s recession. Consequently, CNBC has called Smith one of the "Worst American CEOs of All Time".
Smith seemed to be the last of the old-line GM chairmen, a conservative anonymous bureaucrat, resisting change. However, propelled by industry and market conditions, Smith oversaw some of the most fundamental changes in GM's history. When Smith took over GM, it was reeling from itsfirst annual loss since the early 1920s. Its reputation had been tarnished by lawsuits, persistent quality problems, bad labor relations, public protests over the installation of Chevrolet engines in Oldsmobiles, and by a poorly designed diesel engine.
A controversial figure widely associated with GM's decline, Smith's tenure is commonly viewed as a failure, as GM's share of the US market fell from 46% to 35% and the company lapsed close to bankruptcy during the early 1990s recession. Consequently, CNBC has called Smith one of the "Worst American CEOs of All Time".
- "Standing at medium height and with blond-reddish hair, a ruddy complexion and a rather high-pitched voice, he hardly fit the stereotype of a boardroom tycoon." http://autonews.gasgoo.com/m/Detail/4193.html
- "Of modest height, with a weak voice, wispy red hair and blotchy skin, he looked like the self-effacing accounts clerk he was when he started at GM in 1949." https://www.theguardian.com/…/guardianobituaries.generalmot…
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