Track: Engineering Management

Abstract

The Automotive Industry has entered a period of rapid change. Technological advances have given rise to many new profit models from the automobile, which has created massive corporate growth potential. Consumer expectations have also changed, pushing Automotive companies into a new business territory. While external factors have transformed, are Automotive companies organized to innovate within their industry and create profits from these new expectations? In this paper the author examines a history of the organizational framework used in the Auto Industry to help answer this central question. Additionally, through a survey of industry professionals, this paper will examine current organizational structure within automotive companies and link the results to possible explanations of innovation. Chi Squared Goodness-to-Fit models are developed to show trends of innovation within the survey data. The study of innovation within the Automotive Industry is an important consideration as it will help industry leaders harness the benefits of an innovative workforce.

Keywords: Automotive, Innovation