Mark B. Morrow Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-sto...eastoriginalsR2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomServo92 Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 A very interesting read. Thanks for posting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mettech Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 A very interesting read. Thanks for posting. +2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldwizard Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Ford actually paid Demming big bucks to do so lectures (I attended one) while he was still alive and many internal classes based on his teachings were set up. Sad how they were ignore for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snooter Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 how ironic..deming gets railroaded/abused/smacked/whacked/tarred/feathered/hung by detroit big 3 then was welcomened with open arms by toyko rose...its just funny..we had the guy-they used the guy and ate us for lunch...deming i would bet is just smiling..you cannot write a script any better then what happened Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 kudos to this guy for knowing some history, although his explanation of the Ford/GM competition in the 20s is a bit simplistic. By the time Ford faced serious threats from GM the Model T -was- available in a variety of colors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soupy Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 I just copied this response from the article; thought it was different Ford gets Kudos for flying a private jet to meet with the congressional gestapo and walking away from them. That alone makes them the best! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soupy Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 kudos to this guy for knowing some history, This guy doesn't seem like no dummy. Nice to see Ford get some East Coast grats! John P. Avlon is the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics. He writes a weekly column for The Daily Beast and is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Previously, he served as chief speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark B. Morrow Posted June 4, 2009 Author Share Posted June 4, 2009 The beast is a great read with a diverse group of contributors. Point No. 2 applies to all American business of the last few decades. The tail has been wagging the dog in American industry. In the buildup to this economic crisis, too many executive decisions were made with an eye on impressive quarterly reports rather than achieving real strategic goals. This opened the door for the type of con-man gamesmanship that pumped up the appearance of short-term profits at the expense of long-term shareholder value. Mulally's eye on the long term probably has a lot to do with the kind of business Boeing is in. Commercial aircraft don't have annual model changeovers and it often takes years, not months, from order to delivery. Add in the obvious safety issues regarding any quality problems in an airliner, and you can see why Mulally is so serious. Quarterly profit just isn't a reasonable measure of corporate success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Mulally's eye on the long term probably has a lot to do with the kind of business Boeing is in. Commercial aircraft don't have annual model changeovers and it often takes years, not months, from order to delivery. Add in the obvious safety issues regarding any quality problems in an airliner, and you can see why Mulally is so serious. Quarterly profit just isn't a reasonable measure of corporate success. You know, I've never really thought of it that way. You're probably just about spot on with that assessment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 You know, I've never really thought of it that way. You're probably just about spot on with that assessment. + 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustangman9494 Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 I just womder if the uaw will allow ford to be profitable again or will the selfabsorbed again force the last free market car company in ruin and destruction????. therby sealing it,s own fate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92merc Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 I just womder if the uaw will allow ford to be profitable again or will the selfabsorbed again force the last free market car company in ruin and destruction????. therby sealing it,s own fate? With GM and Chrysler going down the tubes, they're going to have to cater to Ford. They're the only ones left with a major presence in UAW really left. If it came down to Ford being the only UAW employer, Ford could decide to go it on their own here too. Now I don't think any of that is likely though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soupy Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 I just womder if the uaw will allow ford to be profitable again or will the selfabsorbed again force the last free market car company in ruin and destruction????. therby sealing it,s own fate? You give the UAW too much credit. Ford hourly workers have been represented by the UAW since 1941. That means it took us 59 years to force the company to ruin and destruction. How could we possibly do it again anytime soon? Just reading your post I notice that, I, was the only capital letter you use, maybe you're self-absorbed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soupy Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 My bad. make that 68. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retro-man Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 The tail has been wagging the dog in American industry. In the buildup to this economic crisis, too many executive decisions were made with an eye on impressive quarterly reports rather than achieving real strategic goals. This opened the door for the type of con-man gamesmanship that pumped up the appearance of short-term profits at the expense of long-term shareholder value. One of my favorite critiques of this remains "When Corporations Rule the World" by David Korten (don't let the title put you off, it's more of a critique of what Korten calls a "rogue" financial system, focused on short-term and transient gain, that drives good corporations to ruin). It's more than 10 years old now, but still very relevent. I think a certain amount of Ford's standing at present can be attributed to its ownership structure, with the Ford family having a controlling interest. They had to be, by nature, more long-term focused. Of course, bringing in Mulally s turning out to be a crucial move as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark B. Morrow Posted June 5, 2009 Author Share Posted June 5, 2009 (edited) One of my favorite critiques of this remains "When Corporations Rule the World" by David Korten (don't let the title put you off, it's more of a critique of what Korten calls a "rogue" financial system, focused on short-term and transient gain, that drives good corporations to ruin). It's more than 10 years old now, but still very relevent. I think a certain amount of Ford's standing at present can be attributed to its ownership structure, with the Ford family having a controlling interest. They had to be, by nature, more long-term focused. Of course, bringing in Mulally s turning out to be a crucial move as well. One of my major complaints about the way corporations have been run during the last 20 years has been the structure that excessively rewards C-level execs for short term gains. By the time the folly of their focus on the next quarter's share price is realized the responsible parties are gone and the next set of "turnaround specialists" are in, making decisions to generate short term results so the new guys can cash in on their bonuses. The carousel goes around another turn. Corporations are being run in a constant cycle of boom and bust. While many have criticized Ford's family control, it is the one reason Bill Ford could bring in Mulally. Unlike many CEOs Bill Ford had real skin in the game. Edited June 8, 2009 by Mark B. Morrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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