The second extra credit option is to answer questions based on a podcast from the show “This American Life”.
The podcast is about the GM and Toyota partnership to make cars at the NUMMI car plant.It covers many
topics related to continuous improvement, quality, and management-employee relationships. The podcast is
available for free on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmLUY-4xJb0)or can be purchased from
iTunes for a small charge.Note: There is an issue with the audio in the YouTube videothough. It is missing the
very last part of the podcast and for some reason starts again from the beginningof the show about halfway
through. While the YouTube video shows the length as almost two hours, you only need to listen to the first 61
minutes.There are no issues with the iTunes podcast. Option 2 Specific Requirements•The paper must include
name, assignment, section, and date. •Each question must be numbered so I can see which ones have been
answered.Questions:1.Give what you think was the biggest reason for the animosity between GM
management and the workers/union at the Fremont plant.2.Whatdo you see as the biggest reason why the
Fremont plant had such bad quality and employee performance issues? 3.Why were the Fremont workers able
to get away with such poor performance for so long?
4.Give threeways the production line was different in Japan from how cars were manufactured at GM Fremont?
5.What do you see as thetwobiggest reasonswhy the (almost) same workers who were the worst of all GM
plants, then became the best of all GM plants? 6.Based on the podcast, why couldn’t GM get the same high
levels of quality in their other plants, and what do you see as the biggest reason why it took so long for the
quality initiatives at NUMMI to be implemented at other GM plants?You must number each answer so it is clear
you have answered allof the questions. The length requirement is 500 words, which is about 80 words per
question. Some questions may take more to answer, so youcan be shorter on some and longer on others.
