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A not so nice view on Hackett


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1 hour ago, jasonj80 said:

The easiest solution is what they have done with the Fusion and Edge. Eliminate all the build combinations. Fewer build combinations is easier to sequence, make the ability to have dealer stock what customers want as well as vastly more profitable. 

They did pretty well on the Ranger is well. A few complained about the lack of combinations, but really one all around good engine and transmission, two cab combos, and three trim levels with two XL, three XLT, and two Lariat equipment groups at each level. In the end they have everything from an inexpensive basic fleet truck to a loaded up personal use pickup. There’s no reason to take things beyond that. They could easily streamline the F150 line-up. That’s gone out of control!

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Hackett may end up being one of the best CEO's Ford has had in the past 50 years, long term he very well could be equal to Mulally in what he is doing with the overall business, time will tell that. I get it people don't like him, he's not a car guy or a life Ford guy, but no one likes the guy that comes in and flips everything around when they look around and every thing appears to be fine. This is even more so in Ford culture where you basically have a job for life and aligning yourself with the proper group does more for your advancement than actually doing a good job. I'm not saying he is perfect but with the groups that were fighting when Fields was there and the direction the company was in, it was easy to see why Ford went someone that didn't have history at the company and was a close ally. I'm not sold on Farley either, he seems to be at Fields level or arrogance at times.

He got Ford to use a new Ad Agency to do advertisements, something that hasn't been done in 90+ years, he is looking at areas around the world and making tough decisions in closing factory's and changing the area's Ford is going to compete in. He is streamlining the build combinations which leads to profitability, he realizes cutting models in markets helps profitability.

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If you want to gauge how long Hackett May be around, keep an eye on how UAW contract negotiations play out later this summer. If it goes the way I think it will, he won't be around much longer.

That's all I'll say on that subject for now. There's a lot of sheep that read this board and that's how idiotic rumors start. 

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1 hour ago, AGR said:

I agree with Delorenzo, Hackett isn't up to the job. While Mulally went from building jet airliners to making cars, Hackett ran a furniture company...

Feel free to dislike Hackett, but be careful in agreeing with Peter D. who is just putting his own biased spin on Phoebe Howard's original story.  Remember, Peter hates everybody (Sergio, Dan Amman, J Mays, etc.)

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2 hours ago, 2005Explorer said:

Bring back Alan. Yes I know he’s 73, but if Bernie can run for US President at 77, Alan Mulally can come back for a few years and straighten Ford back out. Hey it’s just a thought. :)

Alan Mullally is a hero to Ford and Boeing alike. But I think he deserves some rest and relaxation at this point. He really earned it.

Jim Hackett should remain CEO of Ford. The fact Autoextremist criticizes him so much means that Hackett is doing the right things.

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7 hours ago, akirby said:

Not true.  They could find the newest scheduled dealer stock vehicle (scheduled a few days ago e.g.) that has the same options and swap it and reschedule the dealer stock order next week.

Now I get it.

I've been thinking about what you're suggesting and combined with what Fuzzy has been saying and there seems to be some options available to Ford to at least  try to improve delivery times. If they could charge a premium like you suggested for say $250, then that would more cover the switches needed to get customers vehicles built more quickly and perhaps priority road transport instead of weeks waiting for a train.

Instead of running down Hackett, I'm gonna say that he in a difficult postion doin an impossible job of trying to please everyone.

Edited by jpd80
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7 hours ago, mackinaw said:

Feel free to dislike Hackett, but be careful in agreeing with Peter D. who is just putting his own biased spin on Phoebe Howard's original story.  Remember, Peter hates everybody (Sergio, Dan Amman, J Mays, etc.)

I read Peter D on a regular basis. He has for the most part graduated to curmudgeon status, but sometimes still gets it right.

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Ford's biggest issue in the here and now? Its product cadence borders on the piss-poor. Its inability to execute new products in a timely fashion is glaringly inexcusable. The delayed delivery of the Bronco is just one painful example of this – that it may see showrooms by the end of 2020 (let's face it, that means early 2021 in Ford time) is simply incomprehensible. In fact, it has now achieved status as the worst running joke in the industry. If Jim Hackett had stood up on his first day at Ford and said, "It's about the product, it has always been about the product, and it always will be about the product" I would have given him the benefit of the doubt at least. 

 

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7 hours ago, jpd80 said:

Instead of running down Hackett, I'm gonna say that he in a difficult postion doin an impossible job of trying to please everyone.

That is exactly the issue-he's trying to change the mindset of the midlevel managers that are stuck in their ways (thats how its always been done) and Wall Street that wants see cuts and new product five years out before its supposed to be released. 

Perhaps the issue with the employees is that they aren't seeing what he wants changed, because they don't want to change their ways of doing business, which would explain ALOT of what is happening. Outside of some leadership that gets it (which seems to be the team feeding him information like Farly and the like), other people aren't getting it. 

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1 minute ago, MKII said:

Ford's biggest issue in the here and now? Its product cadence borders on the piss-poor. Its inability to execute new products in a timely fashion is glaringly inexcusable. The delayed delivery of the Bronco is just one painful example of this – that it may see showrooms by the end of 2020 (let's face it, that means early 2021 in Ford time) is simply incomprehensible. In fact, it has now achieved status as the worst running joke in the industry. If Jim Hackett had stood up on his first day at Ford and said, "It's about the product, it has always been about the product, and it always will be about the product" I would have given him the benefit of the doubt at least. 

 

No, the Bronco was exasperated by Ford saying in 2017 that it was coming out in 2020 because they completely lost their way after 2016 or so with new/refreshed product releases because Fields was expecting another major downturn in the market. 

The lateness of the Bronco is exasperated by tying to the cadence of next gen Ranger platform also-its roughly running 6-12 months behind the "expected schedule" in people's minds. 

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I only know one person still at Ford in a management position.  He got a nice promotion about 2 years ago and had to sign a contract for a minimum number of years.  They are working him to death, handling pre-production issue on 3 different continents.  He is very tight lipped and will only say he can not wait for the contract to be up so he can retire.

Several of my fellow retires, including ones that have pretty much direct access to Hackett have expressed their displeasure to him on the way things are going.

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The bottom line is, engineers (and almost all of Ford's middle/upper management have engineering backgrounds) and Wall Street do not like "touchy feelly", especially from someone who is supposed to be a LEADER !

Releasing 3 major new vehicles in 3 years (2019 Ranger, 2020 Explorer, 2021 Bronco) is a challenge, especially since the RWD Explorer seems to have come out of nowhere.

I would like to know who was the person was who pushed expanding the Mustang platform into the Explorer and potentially many other vehicles.  I will give Hackett credit for NOT "throwing cold water" on that idea.  This new platform is going to "make or break" Ford for the next 5-10 years.

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11 hours ago, Bob Rosadini said:

Isn't that what leadership is all about?.  You don't replace every one-you get them to change-and quickly..And it sounds like "Theory" or in DeLorenzo's view, "bullshit" vs focused (hate that buzzword but it is correct IMO) attention on the problems is what Hackett has to do. Direct them-don't replace them-they are not rookies  Totally understand the downside of "just in time inventory" and given the amount of outsourcing I would imagine it is like stopping a super tanker,  But getting finished product to the customer sooner?  How complicated is that?  logistics 101. Knock off the easiest and most obvious issues first.

Amen. Real leadership to confront the situation at hand.  The big difference between Mulally and Hackett..  Mulally.."where are we this week vs where were we last week and did we get better? And if NOT- why?.  Hackett.. "Read this book"...At least that is the continual impression I get.

 

It's pretty obvious from the Mark Fields era that Mulally didn't change anyone's thinking.  They just went along with whatever he said until he was gone.

Trust me on this one.   My company is older and larger than Ford and we have the same issues.   You can tell people this is how we want you to think and operate but you can't force them to do it.   And there are a lot of leaders and middle managers who simply don't want to work that way.   They either don't want to change or they're incapable.

We've had an extraordinary amount of turnover at the VP (and higher) levels in the last 18 months.  They are literally showing people the door if they're not embracing change and new ways of thinking.  You have to get people with new ideas who are willing to think outside the box and find creative solutions. 

You train the ones that are trainable but I bet in a company like Ford that's downright impossible for 75% of them.

Maybe Hackett could do a better job with education.  There are courses available that teach this type of thinking and they really help if you're open to the concept.

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9 hours ago, jpd80 said:

Now I get it.

I've been thinking about what you're suggesting and combined with what Fuzzy has been saying and there seems to be some options available to Ford to at least  try to improve delivery times. If they could charge a premium like you suggested for say $250, then that would more cover the switches needed to get customers vehicles built more quickly and perhaps priority road transport instead of weeks waiting for a train.

Instead of running down Hackett, I'm gonna say that he in a difficult postion doin an impossible job of trying to please everyone.

Now you're getting it.   Don't just say can't be done or defend what's being done now.  Come up with options even if they don't work out or they cost too much.  Don't make assumptions like the customer won't pay extra - that may not be true and you're missing an opportunity.

It's problem solving 101.  Why can't we do less than 81 days?   Allocation, parts, transportation.    How can we fix allocation?  Skip allocation for retail orders.  they've done it before for certain models.   Parts?  How much would it cost to fix the parts issue?   Transportation - what would it cost to do truck transport for retail orders?   Can we charge more to cover these costs or can we save money elsewhere to cover it?

Solve the problem and offer solutions instead of just saying can't be done.  That's all he's asking.

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1 hour ago, MKII said:

If Jim Hackett had stood up on his first day at Ford and said, "It's about the product, it has always been about the product, and it always will be about the product" I would have given him the benefit of the doubt at least. 

 

From what I understand Hackett is the one who put Explorer and Aviator and a bunch of other projects back on the fast track after Fields delayed them.  I think he is about product as long as that product is suitably profitable.   Just understand that some of those products are not traditional vehicles.

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37 minutes ago, theoldwizard said:

The bottom line is, engineers (and almost all of Ford's middle/upper management have engineering backgrounds) and Wall Street do not like "touchy feelly", especially from someone who is supposed to be a LEADER !

Releasing 3 major new vehicles in 3 years (2019 Ranger, 2020 Explorer, 2021 Bronco) is a challenge, especially since the RWD Explorer seems to have come out of nowhere.

I would like to know who was the person was who pushed expanding the Mustang platform into the Explorer and potentially many other vehicles.  I will give Hackett credit for NOT "throwing cold water" on that idea.  This new platform is going to "make or break" Ford for the next 5-10 years.

 

The RWD Explorer has been rumored here for the past 2-3 (if not longer) years I believe. I think @PREMiERdrum was actually the first one mention something about it. 


I don't think its directly based off the Mustang-Ford still hasn't said exactly what it is. 

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14 hours ago, 2005Explorer said:

They did pretty well on the Ranger is well. A few complained about the lack of combinations, but really one all around good engine and transmission, two cab combos, and three trim levels with two XL, three XLT, and two Lariat equipment groups at each level. In the end they have everything from an inexpensive basic fleet truck to a loaded up personal use pickup. There’s no reason to take things beyond that. They could easily streamline the F150 line-up. That’s gone out of control!

Well, I think a big part of that is just wanting to keep the build combos simple since it's a short-lived product, to be replaced in a few years.

I think we'll see a much wider variety of options with the next-gen model, with the US in mind from the get-go.

Edited by rmc523
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2 hours ago, akirby said:

From what I understand Hackett is the one who put Explorer and Aviator and a bunch of other projects back on the fast track after Fields delayed them.  I think he is about product as long as that product is suitably profitable.   Just understand that some of those products are not traditional vehicles.

He's certainly not saying it publicly like he should. All he talks about is "fitness" and various ways of cost cutting. Still only one public mention of quality during his entire tenure so far. 

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4 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

 

Well, I think a big part of that is just wanting to keep the build combos simple since it's a short-lived product, to be replaced in a few years.

I think we'll see a much wider variety of options with the next-gen model, with the US in mind from the get-go.

No, that's an across the board thing not just for short lived models - reducing option combinations.   I do expect a few more options next year and even more after the new model but you still won't have as many option combinations as in the past.

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