Overview	General Motors is a global automotive company with substantial operations and markets in the Asia-Pacific Region. General Motors Corporation (GM) is the world’s largest vehicle manufacturer. The company has manufacturing operations in 32 countries and its vehicles are sold in 192 countries. In 2003, GM sold more than 8.5 million cars and trucks, representing approximately 15 percent of the global vehicle market. In 2003 GM employed 326,000 people and generated US$ 186 billion in revenues. GM Asia Pacific (GMAP) includes GM’s activities: Japan, Korea, China, Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and India, and Australia and New Zealand. In 2003 GMAP employed 14,000 people and generated US$ 5.3 billion in revenues. This case is illustrated with examples from a representative programme in Thailand which employs 2,500 people. GMAP locations which have, or soon will have, programmes include: Halo, India, which employs 600 people; Jakarta, Indonesia, which employs 500 people; and China which employs 9,000 people.
Business Case	The vision of GMAP’s HIV/AIDS programme is to ensure a policy of nondiscrimination and support for those employees living with HIV/AIDS as well as to invest in prevention to reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS in employees, their families and the communities in which GM operates and sells its products. GMAP gained top management support for a regional HIV/AIDS programme after being inspired by guidance from headquarters and informed by local experts. Although the company recognized the potential business threat to its employees and markets, it was motivated primarily by a belief in the principles behind corporate social responsibility and the company’s moral imperative to respond proactively towards HIV/AIDS. GMAP’s two-year budget for the pilot projects in Thailand and India was US$ 50,000, which corresponds to approximately US$ 8 per employee per year.
Programme Description	GM’s programme focused on developing and communicating a clear workplace policy, peer education, access to voluntary counselling and testing, and community outreach activities. GMAP developed HIV/AIDS programme guidelines for each plant, which included a sample workplace policy. GM Thailand developed its policy in mid-2002. GMAP’s prevention and awareness programme uses peer education to train employees, managers, and families in awareness as well as prevention messages. GMAP employees are encouraged to access voluntary counselling and testing services either through company facilities or through external resources. While developing the workplace education content, the steering committees developed contacts with local NGOs and used these contacts to identify and select community outreach activities.
Programme Evaluation	After a formal review process, GMAP believes that this pilot project has been successful and is in the process of rolling it out to additional facilities. GM has developed the four main lessons to share with other companies: (1) use your company’s existing project management expertise (2) select motivated high-energy champions (3) look at the long-term perspective (4) don’t go it alone. The project is managed by an HIV/AIDS project coordinator and guided by a steering committee. Selecting these country-resources is the first step in the project rollout. GMAP evaluated this project both on a country and a regional level using standard internal tools. In addition to this, the project also received a number of external certifications and awards. Based on the success of the pilot project in Thailand and India, it is being expanded to include Indonesia and China.
Documents	GM HIV/AIDS Thailand Case Study (PDF format; 8 pages; 159k) GM Asia Pacific Sample HIV/AIDS Policy (2002) (PDF format; 1 page; 58k) GM Asia Pacific HIV/AIDS Programme Elements and Guidelines (2002) (PDF format; 12 pages; 80k) GM Asia Pacific Project Proposal to Regional Strategy Board (February 2002) (PDF format; 23 pages; 418k) GM Asia Pacific Project Update to Regional Strategy Board (October 2002) (PDF format; 16 pages; 401k) GM Asia Pacific Sampe Annual Business Plan Deployment Worksheet (2002) (PDF format; 1 page; 93k)