Case 5.2 Global Motors:

Case 5.2 Global Motors: Secondary Data Before going through the time and expense of collecting primary data, you should check for secondary data sources that may have been collected for other purposes but can be used in the immediate study. Secondary data may be internal to the company, such as sales invoices and warranty cards, or may be external to the company such as published data or commercially available data. Secondary data has the advantage of saving time and reducing data gathering costs. The disadvantages are that the data may not fit the problem perfectly and that the accuracy may be more difficult to verify for secondary data than for primary data. Assignment: Nick Thomas is an authority on automobile manufacturing. Like many good managers, he also knows he doesn’t know everything. A disturbing topic on which Nick has little real knowledge is global warming, but he knows that if evidence of global warming continues to grow and if consumers come to believe that gasoline emissions contribute to climate change, these trends will impact the automotive industry. Nick needs better information if he is to plan for the future properly.Global Motors Case ObjectiveYou are required to recommend and investigate secondary data sources and online information sources relevant to the integrated case.Case Questions:1. Go to secondary data sources such as your university’s online databases. You may want to talk to your librarian or search online for the most appropriate databases for this topic. Search for some articles on “global warming” or “climate change.” Take notes on the topics that are covered in the titles or abstracts and create an outline of the topics covered. This will help you become familiar with the subject in greater detail.2. Scan several of the articles you’ve found and outline key points made in the articles. Organize the articles based on the topics covered and write a TWO-page paper on the topic using subheadings to cover the different issues you’ve discovered.3. Evaluate the sources you’ve used in your paper according to the criteria outlined in this chapter. Do you believe some sources of information are more trustworthy than others? How would you determine trustworthiness?