September 18, 2000

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General Motors' Go-To Manager

If General Motors Co. VP and CIO Ralph Szygenda has a go-to person when he needs to get a job done, it's Cherri Musser, CIO of eGM and supply chain.

In November 1996, Szygenda recruited Musser from Texas Instruments, where both had worked in IT. She became information officer for GM's business systems processes, including human resources, purchasing, and finance. In that position, Musser guided the selection of standard software platforms--and subsequent reengineering efforts--for processes such as HR (PeopleSoft) and finance (SAP).

"Ralph convinced me that [a post at GM] would be a good opportunity to be involved with the creation of a brand-new IT organization," says Musser. "When would I get the chance to do that again?"

In the four years since Musser was hired, Szygenda has regularly chosen her to tackle new projects and troubleshoot problems. "I've just picked up new responsibilities as I've moved along," she says. Among those new duties were production control and logistics systems, GM's order-to-delivery systems, and a four-month stint in late 1999 as interim CIO of GM's European operations after Sateesh Lele left to become CIO at Avon Products Inc.

GM's logistics and order-to-delivery systems reengineering will be key in eGM's build-to-order offerings during the next two years. That's another reason Szygenda decided to put Musser in charge of those processes as well as eGM, and offload some of her corporate systems responsibilities to Nancy Stewart, information officer for business systems.

Musser is responsible for eGM and order-to-delivery, "the two biggest development areas of the company," Szygenda says. "That's the real supply chain."

"I'm called when you need someone who's good working a business relationship as well as the technology," Musser says. "I'm good at getting to the root cause of problems within a business." For Musser, that means showing non-techies within GM how new IT systems and reengineered processes will improve the company. "When you turn someone's world up-side down and tell them to work differently, it takes a lot of work to show them the value that will bring," she says.

Musser does that by describing the big picture and letting others fill in the details. "I work in partnership with business when implementing a major change," she says, "so that when the technology is ready, the business is ready to accept it."

Return to the main story, "Wake-Up Call."

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