A Nice Chat With Alan, The Ford Guy

Cammy Corrigan
by Cammy Corrigan


I’m not a big fan of Ford. But you have to respect their turnaround. They took a huge gamble at a really, economically-speaking, dangerous time. What’s also hard to deny is Alan Mulally’s charisma and ability to get people to work together.

Without it, Ford would be tapping that line of credit they secured from the US government. Well, while I was reading the BBC website I came across this radio show, Global Business with Peter Day. And Alan Mulally was the guest for today’s episode. I found it very interesting and I hope you do too. Click on the link to take you to listen.



Cammy Corrigan
Cammy Corrigan

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  • Dimwit Dimwit on Oct 12, 2010

    Nicely done Cammy. He's a little too quick with the corp speak but his ideas are good and of course, he's implemented brilliantly. Nobody's mentioned the bodies at the wayside though. I think that Ford is going to come out of this quite nicely. Their biggest problem will be his replacement. It could backslide if one of the oldtimers gets the top job. It bears watching in the years ahead.

    • Donkensler Donkensler on Oct 13, 2010

      That's been my worry as well, whether he can embed this management style sufficiently before he retires that it becomes a way of life, or whether Ford will revert to the bad old ways once he's gone. You really have to have lived at Ford for a while (I was there for an entire career of 29 years) to understand how deeply dysfunctional it could be at its worst. Marketing, Finance, Product Development, Manufacturing, all spent quality time firing memo bombs around Dearborn. North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America all needed unique platforms and drivetrains (typified by the fact that the original Escort shared I think two parts with its European forebear by the time the North American PD types were done, and by the idea that Australia - industry volume somewhere between 1 and 1.5 million in a good year - needed all unique platforms and an engine plant to build engines that weren't sold anywhere else besides maybe New Zealand). When I was a young Finance supervisor at Ford Credit, my Assistant Controller boss explained to me that reporting bad news across the street to the Parent was to be avoided at all costs, because that would just result in "help" arriving from Finance Staff, which would mostly involve headcount tasks rather than anything actually useful (to be fair, we were honest in our reporting to Ford Credit management - they were mostly experienced credit guys who could look through the management reports as well as we could and knew where the problems were - it was just Ford management who had to be kept in the dark). I believe Alan is a talented executive who has achieved a remarkable turnaround in the way Ford works day to day. I just hope the change is institutionalized. And, as mentioned upthread, a shoutout to Bill Ford, who recognized that he wasn't the one who could do what had to be done, and turned over the power to Alan.

  • CarPerson CarPerson on Oct 12, 2010

    Not into listening to Big Al over the Marconi? Prefer to rub French cuff links with him over Capers? Seattle. November. Be there. http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/event/22911

  • SCE to AUX SCE to AUX on Oct 12, 2010

    Sounds like they've rediscovered Deming's principles which Ford once embraced, but GM never has. Truthtelling is a rare feature in corporate America.

  • Buickman Buickman on Oct 12, 2010

    good interview, worth listening to. thanks.

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