Detroit: General Motors Co. Chief Executive Officer Dan Akerson is planning a reorganisation of the automaker that would move it away from long-entrenched regional authority toward a structure built on global functions, said two people familiar with the planning.

Power would shift from regional chiefs to global leaders in areas such as marketing, purchasing and product development, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. While details are still being determined, the company is working to upgrade its accounting system to support the new organization, the people said.

The reorganization would be an extraordinary challenge for the world’s largest automaker. The basic idea is that global chiefs can make the company more nimble and efficient. Three years after GM restructured in a government-backed bankruptcy, Akerson is tackling something that flummoxed his predecessors for decades.

“Everyone knows that the changes need to be made,” said Dennis Virag, president of Automotive Consulting Group Inc in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Akerson’s efforts are hampered by the company’s size, history, complexity and his own lack of manufacturing experience, he said. The CEO, a Navy veteran, has mostly worked in telecommunications and private equity.

Randy Arickx, a GM spokesman, declined to comment.

While GM has slid 35 per cent since its initial public offering in November 2010 through yesterday, Akerson has expressed frustration about the company’s splintered fiefdoms and culture of slow-moving consensus. Net income fell by 50 per cent in the first half of the year as the company lost money in Europe and its US market share slipped by 2 percentage points.

After GM took back the global sales crown last year, while earning a record $9.19 billion, Toyota Motor Corp led six months into 2012.

“Poor Dan, he feels like a herd of wolves is after him and he’s out in the Canadian wilderness,” David Cole, chairman emeritus for the Centre for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, said yesterday in a telephone interview. “He’s got to do something even while he’s learning the game.”

GM gained 3.2 per cent to $22.01, the highest closing price in two months. The US Treasury is GM’s biggest shareholder.

Taking Shape

Pieces of Akerson’s GM are already taking shape after almost two years as CEO. He is pushing Chief Financial Officer Dan Ammann to implement by the end of this year or early next year an accounting system that will allow for greater transparency in results by country, the people said.

The CEO has appointed new global leaders for manufacturing and information technology this year. He had previously elevated Joel Ewanick to global marketing chief, in line with his plans for Cadillac and Chevrolet to be worldwide brands while GMC, Buick and Opel serve specific markets.

Ewanick was ousted last month after GM determined he had failed to properly disclose about a third of the cost of a $559 million sponsorship arrangement with English soccer team Manchester United, people familiar with the matter said. Alan Batey, who runs US sales and service operations, is serving as interim chief marketing officer.

Akerson hired Randy Mott as chief information officer in February and tasked him with overhauling the company’s old IT systems. Mott has said he wants to in-source thousands of jobs as part of an effort to give the automaker greater flexibility for innovation.

Global Manufacturing

Akerson has also boosted the duties of Tim Lee, who heads GM’s international operations, which include China, India and Russia, by naming him global head of the automaker’s manufacturing operations.

Parts of GM were already globally organized under previous reorganisations. Product development, for example, is aligned globally under Mary Barra, a senior vice president.

She announced last month a restructuring of her operations to consolidate vehicle development under one executive chief engineer for each program. Previously, a vehicle program was developed under the direction of the vehicle line executive, the vehicle line director and vehicle chief engineer. The changes removed a layer of management and about 20 executive positions, GM said in a statement.

“I think they’re going back to the 1980s when they did their old reorganization,” said Maryann Keller, principal of Maryann Keller & Associates, a consulting firm in Stamford, Connecticut. “It’s very difficult to make an auto company fast moving when the chief executive officer is still learning about the auto industry.”