"Riding the storm" Economist, November 6 - 12th, 1999, pp. 63-64.

Synopsis:
The opening case about General Motors (GM) in Chapter 12 describes why it is important for GM to put itself at the center of excellence in order to compete successfully on a global basis.

This article, reporting Ford and GM's recent attempts to embrace the Internet , explains how e-business can affect big companies in a range of industries. By investing a lot in their e-business infrastructure, the world's two biggest car makers change their entire way of doing business. For example, GM has chosen Commerce One as its technology partner to build the world's largest virtual marketplace for a wide array of parts, products, raw materials and services. This article also explains how the decisions to go online can affect customers and suppliers.

Full-text Article:
http://www.economist.com/tfs/library_tframeset.html

Case connection:
"Global Strategy at General Motors" in Chapter 12 (pp.376-378).