STEM. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.  (Of which I most recently spoke last Friday.)

Diversity- enlarge and engage those involved with these disciplines to include women and minorities.

Those have been the goals for about a decade now, here in the States.  Our country is falling far short of its needs for practitioners of these disciplines. And, American firms have been lazy, been willing to sacrifice the future of our economy by hiring transient (who hope to become permanent) foreign workers to fill their needs. Of course, the companies pay these folks less than they would have to if they were American citizens, too.

But, today, I will be lauding one woman who has bucked the odds. Who attained the top position at one of the world’s largest firms and has been doing a spectacular job. At the age of 53, Mary Barra became the CEO of GM (General Motors) on the ides of January 2014. (She is now also the Chairperson!) Oh, yeah- she’s also on the board of Disney. Another firm that has a relentless focus on quality, safety, and the customer. Plus, a board seat on GD (General Dynamics) and Stanford, to boot.

Mary’s dad worked at Pontiac when she was growing up. Which was probably why she thought it perfectly natural to take up a line position (Detroit Hamtramck Assembly plant) as a co-op student when she was 18. So she could pay for her college tuition.

Where did Mary matriculate? The General Motors Institute. (It is now known as Kettering University.) After earning her BSEE (Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering), GM let her go to Stanford to obtain her MBA (which she earned at the age of 29). And, she didn’t stop there- last year, Mary joined the ranks of the pile higher and deeper (PhD) ranks, the degree she received from Duke University.

Has her reign at the 109-year old industrial behemoth been perfect? Heck, no! She presided over 84 safety recalls (30 million vehicles) as soon as she became CEO. (Yes, that would mean these were inherited problems [such as the ignition defects], but still…) Which is why she worked hard to change the corporate culture- a very difficult task for large companies, and one nearly impossible within the auto industry. Mary’s goal was to empower workers to begin reporting problems the moment they recognized them- and no longer wait until the vehicle was at the end of the production cycle.

But, Mary also pushed hard to have GM enter the new era of vehicles. And, in so doing, stole the thunder from Tesla by introducing the first all-electric vehicle- the Chevy Bolt EV (200 mile range) before Tesla had its production vehicle Model 3 out the door.

She continues to disrupt the auto market, to ensure that GM stays on top. Beyond the 200 mile battery, GM’s acquired Cruise Automation so it can provide autonomous Bolts to the public (soon) and a car-sharing service (Maven), targeting Lyft and Uber drivers to the GM moniker. (Mary has made her intent plain that she plans to stick around and extend her 37 year association with GM- refusing the offers of employment that cross her transom.)

And, like the CEO of Merck, she did accept a position on the business forum for strategic and policy advice for TheDonald- and left after he equated the Nazis, fascists, and other hooligans with the citizens of Charlottesville who protested the invasion.

Mary Barras has kept her focus on GM- the immediate issues and the long-term challenges. From producing cars that are competitive- yet profitable- at prices to ensuring success in the markets of the future. (Europe wasn’t one of them- GM sold it’s division there to focus on China and North America markets instead.) The reward? Three years of record earnings. Even though it took the stock market almost 2.5 years to recognize the changes at GM.

Oh, and Mary knows that a great team is what it takes to make and keep a company great. None of this “I did it myself”. She has Dan Ammann (President), Chuck Stevens (CFO), and Mark Reuss (Global Product Development Chief) to maintain the focus on quality, safety, and the customer.

Amman allocates GM’s capital and focus to maximize returns, while minimizing risk. Stevens maintains a relentless focus on cost reductions (and rewarding shareholders with dividends, which ceased when GM was a bankrupt entity in 2010). All the while, Reuss seeks out new vehicle architectures (to save costs) and to service the Chinese market, while advancing Cadillac (and soon to be GM-wide) super cruise [self-driving touches] technology.

Let’s also realize that luck- or great timing- helps the cause. With the market dying for crossovers and SUV’s, GM’s met that demand with its newly developed XT5 (Cadillac), Acadia (GMC), Envision (Buick), Encore (Buick), Equinox (Chevy), Traverse (Chevy), Terrain (GMC) and the Enclave (Buick). All of which have healthy profit margins to secure GM’s efforts for the future. (Yes, this also means that GM has a few [this is an understatement] too many passenger cars in its inventory. I’m guessing a fire sale may be in the offing to unload the backlog.)

In China, GM has been cleaning up in the larger cities with its new Buick lines. But, in the hinterlands- where demand is just beginning to awaken and the customer wallets are thinner, it’s been soaking up the demand with its Baojun line of cars. Made in China for China. Selling about 1 million cars- beating the Chevy position and almost tying Buick’s.  Earning $ 2 billion in profits (18% of the world-wide total) on sales of 4 million GM cars. (Yes, that’s a million more than GM sold in the States.)

The Baojun 310 sells for under $ 6K. The SUV (the 560) hits the market at $ 11K and the 7 person van can be yours (if you live in China) for $18.5K. At that price level, folks start to consider buying the more expensive Chevy and Buick lines. They even have an all-electric vehicle that runs about $ 14K- but the Chinese government subsidizes the buyers so they only have to shell out about $5200 to take possession of the vehicle!

While these Baojun vehicles are relatively cheap, they come with AC (air conditioning), power windows, and infotainment systems- but manual (as opposed to automatic)  transmissions. No lane departure warnings, no emergency braking, or OnStar, either. GM does this with manufacturing in the hinterlands, where the labor costs run $5 to $7 an hour- some $3 to $5 less than folks in Beijing and the larger cities would command. It also doesn’t hurt GM’s plans that China is limiting sales of cars in the larger cities- to reduce congestion (both on the roads and in one’s lungs)

The plans for the Chinese market follow Sloan’s original concept for the US and Europe- hook the customer on the brand- and as they become more affluent, upsell them. (Many of you may be too young to recall that Chevrolet was the starter brand, and one graduated to the Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac brands with time- and money.)

It won’t hurt that SoftBank (the Japanese firm that owns Sprint among other ventures) has invested some $2.25 billion in the Cruise Automation subsidiary, giving it a 20% equity stake. And SoftBank is also a major investor in Uber and its Chinese competitor, Chuxing Didi. Let’s not forget its ownership interest in the two autonomous vehicle chip suppliers- NVidia and ARM. You can bet that SoftBank will be helping GM garner more market share from such ventures.

Not surprisingly, Mary Barras declared the partnership will afford GM more “oomph” in its quest for vehicles with “zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion”.

With all this, it isn’t surprising to hear many pundits declare that Mary will be challenging the position of Alfred Sloan as the greatest CEO in GM’s history. And, a woman STEM professional, at that!