How would Google change Detroit?

In this week's BusinessWeek, they ran an article that looked at how Google might approach the challenges of the Big 3 automotive companies in Detroit.  It was based on an excerpt from a new booked called "What Would Google Do?", by Jeff Jarvis.  I have written about this book before, but hadn't had a chance to read any of it prior to this article.  

After looking through the article, I was glad that many of the concepts aligned with some of the ideas I had written about in a previous Decision of the Week.

At first blush, the idea of open collaboration for product design probably sounds completely foreign to most people that work in industries where that information is closely guarded.  But as we're beginning to see with many industries, the pace of change is forcing them to look for more ways to solve problems.  I'd be interested to hear how my classmates think their companies could benefit from open collaboration with their customers, partners or even competitors  to solve their most critical challenges.  

"Decision of the Week" - Building a 21st Century Car Company

OK, here goes...we're going to see if we can create some interaction on the site. This question is open to everyone, and all comments are welcome. I'm thinking this one relates to everyone (we almost all drive cars) and it relates to class, as we're taking a mix of Marketing, Operations, Technology and Accounting classes.

We've all been watching as the Big-3 US Auto companies fly to Washington DC and ask for money (bailout, bridge loans, etc.). I believe the total is somewhere between $25-$34B at this point. While these companies all have their share of HUGE challenges (retirement costs, union costs, inefficient operations, poor brand images, etc.), they also have a number of valuable assets (engineering knowledge, production facilities, etc.).  

So here's the question... 

What if the US Gov't (Congress, TARP, Treasury..whoever) decided that instead of giving the existing companies the $25-$34B, they were going to give it to you and asked you to create an automotive start-up. You'd be allowed to pick and choose from existing US Auto expertise, personal, facilities, suppliers, etc., because they all went under. How would you build a 21st century automotive company?  

Some initial thoughts...

My initial thought was to see if I could envision an automotive company being setup and run like a Silicon Valley company that sells hardware and software.  So this new company might look something like this:

• Design - This would be a combination of world-class engineering talent (in-house) and the use of crowdsourcing efforts to continue to stimulate innovative ideas and leverage "proudly found elsewhere" mentality for global ideas.  Build communities of potential consumers to give you real-time feedback on potential designs and demands.
• Production - Why do the automotive companies need to own their own plants?  I wouldn't advocate outsourcing all the production, especially since the funding came from US Taxpayers.  But I would advocate using some of the funding to kick-start a few production facilities that would be spun-off and allowed to compete against each other for the business.  
• Sales and Distribution - We buy books and media from Amazon or iTunes.  We buy groceries and homegoods from Target.  But we have to go to a brand-specific dealer for a car?  No way does that model continue.  And I'm not even sure the Auto Superstores are the right answer either.  
• Messaging & Vision - Maybe this is really advertising, but the American automotive companies really need to start making ads that create a desire to be in their cars. Knowing that I get the employee discount does nothing to give me that awesome feeling you get in a new car and the adventures it could bring.  

OK, that's a few starting points.  I'm interesting in other areas of innovation, or other aspects to consider for change.  Ideas are welcome....

More than a WFU MBA journal

Since I'm still in time-warp mode until January, backfilling a bunch of posts to recap the 1st semester, I'm occasionally going to preview some of the other things that I hope to do with this blog.  If it were just a journal, I doubt anyone would keep reading.  But if I take Seth Godin's advice and create a Tribe, then the possibility exits that we can create interest and expand the conversations we have in Winston-Salem (and Charlotte) each week

1 - "Decision of the Week" - Each week, I will take a recent topic from the Business Press and highlight certain aspects that are worth exploring in more detail.  It may be an executive decision, a competitive market shift, a unique marketing approach, a savvy financial transaction or some other interesting element.  I'll open up the discussion (via blog comments) to my classmates in both the Winston-Salem and Charlotte programs.  We have mechanisms in the program to do this within the context of a class topic, but this should let us explore cross-topic impacts of business decisions, as well as open it to outside input and discussion.

2 - "Discussion of the Week" - This segment allows me to highlight an interest discussion, or person from each weekend's discussions.  These discussions may involve classroom topics, or may center around back-of-the-napkins brainstorming that often leads to great ideas and great companies.  I also hope to highlight some of the gifted personalities from the WFU EXFT2009 class, or across the WFU MBA programs.  

3 - "Connecting the Dots" - Academics are greats, but unless you can tie it to real world activities, it's just learning for learning's sake.  This segment will highlight connections between the topics in class, and real world examples of the concepts in practice.  

4 - "inVinCible Ideas" - What would a MBA program be without the creation of new business models and company ideas?  This segment will spotlight the activities that classmates are exploring and developing as they plan for the next step in their career or life.  VC funding may be required.

[Update - Dec.28, 2008] - The more I think about this, and the more I follow people like Fred Wilson, Umair Haque and the read books like What Would Google Do?, I have to ask myself if the recent worldwide economic crisis doesn't require us to truly think differently about how we conduct business, define government and shape societies.  I don't have a name yet for this segment, but there will definitely be segments where we'll explore this type of thinking, which should be a lot of fun.