Jump to content

Hackett, the Change Agent


Recommended Posts

Excellent article in today's Detroit News.  Love him or hate him, he is changing the company.

"Change can be uncomfortable. Hackett wasn't appointed CEO to make friends, says David Cole, a longtime observer of Ford and the Detroit-based industry. If Hackett was immediately embraced at Ford, it would have meant he wasn't doing his job.

"It was absolutely necessary to have somebody who can shake up the status quo here," said Cole, chairman emeritus of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor. "He's not out to be viewed as a glorious CEO. That's not the charge Bill (Ford) and the board gave him. The charge was to initiate the kind of structural change that can ensure Ford is going to be successful long-term."

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/ford/2019/04/04/hacketts-ford-coming-into-focus/3277045002/

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote

Hackett defends his discretion with Wall Street, calling it deliberate. He wanted to understand and right-size the business — get his entire plan in place — before he told anyone outside the company specifically what he was doing because he wasn't appointed CEO to deliver a short-term bump in the stock price.

"You prosper if you get it right," Hackett said. "You don't worry about the wrong things. The stock is a consequence of method and strategy."

This!!!!!  He gets it.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote

 

Original plans for the vehicle were thrown out — literally torn up, according to Hackett — shortly after he became CEO. Team Edison started from scratch with a Hackett-backed design method focused on developing something customers would actually love to drive. And that didn't delay the originally-planned 2020 launch.

Those processes are reaching other teams within Ford: "Change does not happen naturally," Cannis said. "It needs support from the top."

 

Y'all know I've been high on him from day 1 based on my contacts' information, but still... he gets it.

Quote

It's Hackett's maize-and-blue coming through. The former Michigan athletic director credited with wooing Jim Harbaugh back to Ann Arbor, Hackett says he's trying to emulate Bo, the coach he idolizes.

Obligatory "Go Bucks" necessary here. 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do like that Ford is getting out of some of their unprofitable markets. I also understand culling some models that do not make a profit. I wasn't a fan of the autonomous spending, but that seems to now be in-line with what other manufacturer's are doing. I see Ford stepping up their products, and I'm glad they are not using their limited resources and money chasing products or markets with minimal or no profit potential.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's good that Ford has a new standalone project that they can use to demonstrate the new processes and show everyone else that they work.  Trying to implement that type of change on legacy projects and processes can leave you :banghead:.   I've been fighting that with cloud computing for the last 5 years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, mackinaw said:

Excellent article in today's Detroit News.  Love him or hate him, he is changing the company.

Thank your for sharing this article mackinaw sir. I love Hackett's strategy even more now.

Ford's status quo prior to his arrival was "act like you're going out of business". And without Hackett's structural changes to get Ford fit again, Ford would likely be out of business by 2025.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The hardest part about initiating true and meaningful change is freeing management of all the reasons why something can't be done, Ford really needed to do something about it's European and ROW product philosophy because that's 90% of the problem with "other Ford" (outside USA)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is the first semi positive article I’ve read about this guy and I’m still not a fan. 

Hardly impressed with his strategy’s since everyone in the industry is pursuing the same so its not like he’s some type of genius. 

Hope I am wrong but still don’t see this ending well. 

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, kyle said:

This is the first semi positive article I’ve read about this guy and I’m still not a fan. 

Hardly impressed with his strategy’s since everyone in the industry is pursuing the same so its not like he’s some type of genius. 

Hope I am wrong but still don’t see this ending well. 

The problem with Ford is that like stated before-they keep going through a boom and bust period every 10-15 years. Most the issue is with middle management-that was very pointed with Mullaly leaving-they reverted back to the same Mickey Mouse bullshit they where doing for the past 10-15 years prior to that. 

Hopefully they have enough of an institutional change that it actually sticks this time around. 

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, silvrsvt said:

The problem with Ford is that like stated before-they keep going through a boom and bust period every 10-15 years. Most the issue is with middle management-that was very pointed with Mullaly leaving-they reverted back to the same Mickey Mouse bullshit they where doing for the past 10-15 years prior to that. 

Hopefully they have enough of an institutional change that it actually sticks this time around. 

They were doing the Mickey Mouse bullshit when Mulally was there, it was just on the down low and laying the groundwork for when he left. 

Looking at GM and looking at Ford, GM is the one that is in trouble and going forward its going to get even worse, Barra will be gone by the end of the year if things don't turn and the new full sized SUV's are not well received, I also suspect the UAW is going to be very unkind to GM this fall and there will be a Strike. Silverado sales were down almost 20%. That is over a billion dollars of lost revenue in the first quarter, and probable close to 250 million in profit that you don't get to invest in Electric or Autonomy. RAM is going full out on the Silverado and Ford is expanding production and going all out on your other cash cow BOF SUV's. While Ford won't be able to pass them on total sales, they can do enough damage that you can't run your dedicated plant at the profitability you need as well as cherry pick the highly profitable units and thats before Jeep / RAM come after them from the other side. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Both GM and Chrysler were forced to change their culture when the went through bankruptcy.  Ford didn’t face that.  In many ways, Mulally picked off the low hanging fruit (selling Volvo, LR, Jag….going to worldwide platforms, etc.) but the basic Ford culture remained the same.  It appears that Hackett is, finally, changing that.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, mackinaw said:

Both GM and Chrysler were forced to change their culture when the went through bankruptcy.  Ford didn’t face that.  In many ways, Mulally picked off the low hanging fruit (selling Volvo, LR, Jag….going to worldwide platforms, etc.) but the basic Ford culture remained the same.  It appears that Hackett is, finally, changing that.

I would totally disagree about GM. And let’s be honest, Chrysler hasn’t been Chrysler since before the Germans took them over. They are just super lucky they exist.

What did GM change after bankruptcy? Not a whole lot. Sure they cut some brands and restructured Europe but what else? Dumped billions into Cadillac chasing ring times. Chevy making some of the blandest sedans around. Making a great electric car only to saddle it with the looks of a 90’s crap econobox. Sitting on their asses with full size trucks and SUVs. In my opinion, the bankruptcy made them change skin deep and erases all their debt. This only to go back to the same bad habits.

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, kyle said:

This is the first semi positive article I’ve read about this guy and I’m still not a fan. 

Hardly impressed with his strategy’s since everyone in the industry is pursuing the same so its not like he’s some type of genius. 

Hope I am wrong but still don’t see this ending well. 

It’s not the strategy it’s the execution and how they’re thinking about future products and services.

But if you’re not impressed with the GT500, Bronco and baby bronco (what we think it will be), Explorer/Aviator, etc. etc. then I’m not sure what you want.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, akirby said:

It’s not the strategy it’s the execution and how they’re thinking about future products and services.

But if you’re not impressed with the GT500, Bronco and baby bronco (what we think it will be), Explorer/Aviator, etc. etc. then I’m not sure what you want.

 

Hackett is not the guy designing and building their products and no I will not give him credit there. Ford has a lot of talented people that do a damn good job of designing and building vehicles-Hackett is hardly a product guy and looks like he was driving a Lexus ES300 sedan before he came over to Ford-or maybe a Buick. 

 

And you are right it is the execution of the strategy that will determine if he was successful and I have not seen anything that changes my opinion. This is based on way to many off the record comments and grumblings by senior management that have been posted in articles. Then add on the way he is telling his employees we are going to restructure the business and you will get to work with your team members to enact changes and then they will reduce head count. That is just so messed up and kills morale. If everyone was saying this guy is the best thing that ever happened to Ford and a great leader than I would feel differently. 

Like I said, I hope I am wrong and he carries this off but the jury is still out. 

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, kyle said:

That is just so messed up and kills morale. If everyone was saying this guy is the best thing that ever happened to Ford and a great leader than I would feel differently. 

Like I said, I hope I am wrong and he carries this off but the jury is still out. 

Unquestionably, he has killed morale in almost all of the white collar work force.  Telling a major portion of the engineers that "the future is electric" but forgetting to mention that 60% of the old Powertrain budget is intact and those nasty old gasoline and diesel engines are going to be installed in vehicles that the customers want to buy TODAY is not helping improve it.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

36 minutes ago, kyle said:

 

Hackett is not the guy designing and building their products and no I will not give him credit there. Ford has a lot of talented people that do a damn good job of design

Did you not read the article?  If not for Hackett we'd have a less than stellar Mach E.  He's the one who told them to start over from scratch.  More importantly he got them to do it in record time.  So apparently they DO need Hackett to tell them how to design good vehicles.

Or more accurately - he's enabling them to build great vehicles.  And that does come from the CEO.  Look at the vehicles that Hackett has greenlighted and even sped up versus what Fields did - delaying Explorer/Aviator and other stupid stuff.

I'd be much more concerned if he was cutting back on important products or forcing half hearted efforts but from Mustang to Bronco to BEVs to Maverick to hybrid utilities I'm not seeing that.  Some things had to be deprioritized but I like what I'm seeing on the product side.

Morale will improve once they start to see results and figure out there is plenty of work to do - it just might be different kinds of work from what they're doing now.  Most people don't like change and will only get there kicking and screaming.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, mackinaw said:

Both GM and Chrysler were forced to change their culture when the went through bankruptcy.  Ford didn’t face that.  In many ways, Mulally picked off the low hanging fruit (selling Volvo, LR, Jag….going to worldwide platforms, etc.) but the basic Ford culture remained the same.  It appears that Hackett is, finally, changing that.

As others have noted, the bailout essentially short-circuited any cultural change at GM or the UAW.

Selling Volvo, Land Rover and Jaguar may have been the equivalent of picking the  low-hanging fruit, but GM didn't unload its money-losing acquisitions until it was forced to do so during the bailout/bankruptcy. At least Ford did get rid of them before they became even more of a long-term drain on the bottom line.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, grbeck said:

As others have noted, the bailout essentially short-circuited any cultural change at GM or the UAW.

GM only changed as much as they were forced to change and they rode the gravy train of (IMO) improper tax breaks for years.   How can you say on one hand that this is a brand new company that doesn't assume the old company's liabilities but at the same time retain the old company's losses to offset future taxes?  Ridiculous.

They squandered that opportunity to really make big changes instead chasing BMW with Cadillac and continuing to build too may similar vehicles and one off projects like Bolt instead of focusing on a core strategy company wide.   This is the same old GM.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

45 minutes ago, theoldwizard said:

Unquestionably, he has killed morale in almost all of the white collar work force.  Telling a major portion of the engineers that "the future is electric" but forgetting to mention that 60% of the old Powertrain budget is intact and those nasty old gasoline and diesel engines are going to be installed in vehicles that the customers want to buy TODAY is not helping improve it.

He hasn't done anything for morale with us blue collar folks either...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Morale has always been an issue at Ford. I've never worked at  a place where so many people were as miserable as they were.  The hourly personal get mad at the salary guys or the lazy other blue collar guys who get the better jobs because they are in with the Union, they get mad they have to work overtime and then are mad there is no over time. Salary gets mad they aren't in the chosen group and get passed over, but also stay in their box, they get mad finance comes in and cuts budgets or changes directions based on market and have to do something they don't want.  If you're miserable at the job (any job) leave, you're happiness is worth way more than a few extra dollars in your paycheck. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, jasonj80 said:

If you're miserable at the job (any job) leave, you're happiness is worth way more than a few extra dollars in your paycheck. 

Agreed!  I've never understood people who complain incessantly about their job.  If it's that bad, then leave.  If you can't find something comparable, then it must not be that bad, so quitcher bitchin.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, fordmantpw said:

Agreed!  I've never understood people who complain incessantly about their job.  If it's that bad, then leave.  If you can't find something comparable, then it must not be that bad, so quitcher bitchin.

Those people are usually too lazy to find a new job.   And too lazy to change anything in their current job.  They just want to show up at work and get a huge paycheck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...