For enterprises, the long-term and big business is not just a good wish. It is their common destiny to die with entropy and involute.
If you don’t believe me, look through nearly a century of business history, or compare the list of the world’s top 500 companies every 10 years, you will be able to understand this more deeply.
However, even if the fate is the same, companies are still different from each other-most companies can’t survive one round of economic cycle, and those that survive one round of economic cycle usually can’t survive the next round of economic cycle. cycle. Only a very small number of companies can traverse multiple cycles and become “super symbols” in the minds of consumers and in business history. Such enterprises are undoubtedly excellent, even outstanding.
Ford Motor is such a company. It was founded in 1903. With the T-car invented in 1908, the world’s first assembly line developed in 1913, and a series of disruptive innovations such as the first 8-hour work system, it has become a representative of the American manufacturing industry. It is still the “American symbol” that Americans are proud of.
Even with such a strong brand moat, Ford has been in desperation several times in the face of time and change. The most recent one occurred in 2006.
That year, there was no subprime mortgage crisis in the United States, but Ford Motor’s own economic crisis has arrived-the company has suffered losses for many years, its stock price has fallen to single digits, its debt rating has dropped to junk, and two successive CEOs have adopted reforms. Not only did the measures fail, but the situation got worse.
At that time, everyone thought that the end of Ford might be coming, including members of the Ford family. For a hundred years, the Ford family has been controlling and guarding the company. In that year, they had the idea of liquidating the stock and selling the company for the first time, so that the stock in their hands would not become worthless after bankruptcy.
You know the final result. Today, Ford is still alive and the Ford family did not sell the stock. It was the airborne CEO Mulally who saved them.
What exactly did Mulally do right to bring a dying Ford back to life? Today, Hu Xiu recommends a new book that tells the story of how Mulally rescued Ford cars-“Unified Operation”.
Click on the picture to buy now
Although this is an organizational change story that occurred in the automotive industry from 2006 to 2011, after reading it, you will understand that the roads are connected, and Mulally’s management approach that brought Ford back to life is not outdated today. , And there is a strong versatility. Whether you are an entrepreneur, manager, or ordinary office worker, I believe the content of this book can benefit your career a lot.
Why is Mulally?
Before Mulally joined Ford, the CEO at the time was Bill Ford.
The fourth-generation head of the Ford family has a sense of responsibility, a sense of mission, and made some very insightful decisions. However, with a somewhat weak personality, it is difficult for him to make decisions, which also led to his decision-making often “not out of Dearborn.”
The company’s situation is getting worse every day. For Ford, he decided to get rid of his own life and cede the position of CEO. The position of chairman, if the new CEO wants to serve concurrently, he can also let him out.
In fact, before Mulally, Bill Ford also looked for other candidates, such as Carlos Ghosn, the superstar CEO who successfully revived Nissan, Zetsche, who successfully revived Chrysler, and Volkswagen’s Volkswagen. Fugang Berhad, for different reasons, these people finally rejected Ford.
Bill Ford also thought about internal promotion. Mark Fields, an executive who has achieved outstanding results during his time in Mazda and the head of Ford Motor Europe, Bill Ford also gave him a chance.
In August 2005, Bill Ford transferred Mark Fields to the position of President of Ford North America. If he can make achievements in this position, he will naturally become the CEO of Ford Motor Company in the next step.
However, as we said earlier, the bureaucracy of Ford’s executive team is serious, and Mark Fields’ revival plan is not lightly dragged down. In fact, he is not to blame, Bill Ford himself can’t handle it.
Bureaucracy and big companies were about to drag Ford to death. At this time, Mulally entered Bill Ford’s sight.
Before joining Ford Motor Company in September 2006, Mulally was the head of Boeing’s Civil Aircraft Group. Boeing is another “American symbol”. Like Ford, Boeing was also a victim of corporate infighting, and the problems that plagued Ford were also troubled.Bother Boeing.
Mulally and his boss, Philip Condit, managed to transform Boeing’s split culture into a collaborative culture, fundamentally transforming Boeing into a leaner and more profitable company. In this process, Mulally played a mainstay role.
Everyone believed that Mulally would become Boeing’s new head after Philip Condit’s resignation, but the board of directors chose Harry Stonesever.
Harry Stonesever resigned because of the scandal after working for less than two years. This time, people thought it was Mulally’s turn. However, as Boeing’s largest customer, the U.S. Department of Defense, tired of Boeing’s negative headlines, asked Boeing to airborne an outsider as CEO to ensure a complete break with the past. Boeing selected Jim McNerney, then CEO of 3M.
Mulali, who was about to 60 years old, was distraught, and it was during that time that he received a call from Bill Ford.
Mulali’s management approach
Mulally once saved Boeing from fire and water. If he can also save Ford, he will be regarded as one of the greatest business leaders of this era.
If he ends in failure, all his previous achievements will be wiped out. The outside world will not remember that he once rescued Boeing, but will only regard him as the sinner who brought down Ford.
However, Mulally thinks he can do it. He is ready.
The arrival of Mulally was not welcomed by Ford executives, because some people think Mulally is blocking their promotion. Some people think Mulally is a layman and is not worthy to lead a company like Ford? Even those who support Mulally out of politeness, they procrastinate in action, not sincerely supporting him. They believe that Mulally will eventually succumb to Ford’s toxic corporate culture, or he will be out.
However, Mulally gave these executives a disarm as soon as he came to power. He cut off most of the invalid meetings, leaving only one company-level meeting, the “Business Plan Review” (BPR) meeting.
The BPR meeting is held every Thursday. Mulally and the executives review the business environment, the progress of the plan, and the status of key goals. Every executive must make a report in person and be concise.
Mulali also emphasized the discipline of the meeting: no separate discussions, no whispers, no confidentiality to other colleagues, no use of BlackBerry phones, and no belittle other colleagues’ ideas.
There is a huge screen in the meeting room with all the dataAnd the facts will be displayed on it. Mulally asked executives to use red, yellow, and green to indicate the progress of important plans. Green represents smooth progress, red represents failure to complete the task on time, and yellow represents the state in between.
After four meetings, all plans were still marked as green, and Mulally started to rush to the team: “We will lose 18 billion US dollars this year. Are there any plans that are not going well?” The scene was silent. “Ford’s biggest problem is the lack of candor and transparency,” Mulally pointed out the team’s problems and expressed his expectations.
Mark Fields, president of North America, was the first to stand up. He marked the column of the new Ford Sharp in red. Sharp is the rising star of Ford Motor Company and the company’s first crossover in the true sense of the word. It is said that a good time to market can not be achieved. Everyone thinks that Mark Fields will lose his job this time.
But he didn’t. Mulally did not blame Fields, but applauded him for his frank applause, and mobilized the company’s resources to help Fields solve this problem. The story spread quickly throughout the organization like wildfire, and many old Ford people still doubt whether Mulally really agrees with words and deeds. However, with the passage of time and continuous demonstration of leadership behavior, a candid and transparent corporate culture began to form.
Of course, Mulally’s management approach is not only the BPR meeting, but his positive leadership reshaping by setting an example and enlightening a “convincing vision”; “One Ford, One Team” The global strategy and cultural reshaping of the company; the product reshaping of “simplification of the brand and lean management”; the reshaping of the humanized image of Ford as a result of the renewal of the advertising strategy; Remodeling… Each remodeling is a classic business case, which is described in detail in the book.
Although we often say that success cannot be copied, there are some things that can be copied, and that is the essence of management behind business activities. These things can span time, countries, and industries, and can play a corresponding role in any organization.
I want to emphasize again: Zhanlu Culture, the Chinese publisher of this joint book, will present this book to readers as soon as possible, an exclusive offer!
Click on the picture to buy now
Now click on the cover of the book above and go to the Tiger Sniff Pro gas station store to buy it. If you choose to become a Miaotou member, you can also enjoy 35% off all books!