Alan Mulally's American Story: How He Saved Ford Motor Company

Steffen: great insights how a company in the midst of a financial crisis got turned around and became profitable. Must read for all car industry guys

Germany on Aug 16, 2023

Leandro Santana de OliveiraLeandro Santana de Oliveira: A indústria automobilística foi um paradigma nos estudos sobre gestão no século XX, assim como hoje em dia se escreve incessantemente sobre o Vale do Silício.

Ocorre que a partir da década de 1980 as grandes montadoras americanas (GM, Ford, Chrysler) começaram a enfrentar dificuldades com a alta do petróleo e a invasão de carros japoneses mais eficientes.

A Chrysler foi a primeira a jogar a toalha e tudo indicava que a próxima seria a Ford. Porém, em uma ato inimaginável, em 2006, Bill Ford renunciou ao cargo de CEO e bancou a contratação de Alan Mulally, então executivo da Boeing. Mulally conduziu um dos turnarounds mais emblemáticos da história, pois salvou a Ford da bancarrota e construiu uma cultura mais saudável e competitiva.

A título de exemplo, a GM foi tecnicamente à falência em 2008 e teve que ser resgatada pelo governo americano.

O livro conta detalhadamente como Alan Mulally enfrentou uma cultura disfuncional, marcada por disputas internas e complacência. Em tempos onde só se fala de transformação cultural, vale a pena conhecer a transformação desse ícone americano.

Brazil on Aug 07, 2023

Dylan: Easily one of the best reads.

Canada on Jul 10, 2023

Peter Hansen: AMERICAN ICON is exciting. It almost reads like a thriller.
The book presents plenty of wisdom for any manufacturing company, regardless of the sector or company size.
Highly recommended - I often use it as a gift for my clients.

United States on Jul 06, 2023

Maounde: This is a business book but reads like a novel with plot, character development and great suspense . It is extremely well written and makes for a very enjoyable read. I certainly look fwd to the next book. The author puts to use the access he has to the key people of the story.

As the book ends, the Ford turnround per se is achieved but it begs for an epilogue in the near future or maybe a follow up about the search for Mr. Right, a replacement for Mullaly, and how a new leader will have Ford pursue and adjust Mullaly's Legacy.

A few interesting points for me.

- The adequacy of the duo Mullaly / Bill Ford: Mr. Hoffman mostly focuses on Mullaly, the main character. But he also emphasizes Bill Ford's self awareness. By acting the way he did, B. Ford enabled the Mullaly's success and deserves much credit for that. This is a useful teaching for any business successes to look for the enablers.
- Related to the former point: the end of the book where the author reflects on the various elements of the turnaround context is also useful. It is tempting to regard Mullaly as the white knight who shows up and figures it out. And Mullaly does that anyways. But it is...

United States on Dec 30, 2013

Dave Kinnear: I am not a car enthusiast. I enjoy having a reliable, clean and efficient vehicle, but the primary purpose, for me, is to get me where I'm going on time and without surprises. So when I ordered this book, my expectations were that I'd ignore the "car stuff" for the most part, and concentrate on the leadership stuff. Well, I wound up doing both, and enthusiastically at that. Hoffman has written an excellent book mixing family business intrigue with a history of the car business and its missteps as well as a book replete with leadership lessons. Here are just a few of the most notable for me.

Look outside the industry: Many leaders today realize that to avoid "group think" or "boxed in thinking," it is useful to have cross industry experience. To his credit, Bill Ford, Jr., recognized that not only was he not the best person to turn Ford around, but that he had to go outside the Detroit mentality to get the job done right. After several failed prospects, they finally "landed" Alan Mulally of Boeing fame. History shows that no finer pick could have been made.
Have a clear compelling strategy and/or vision: One Ford became Mulally's battle cry, and it was, essentially, the...

United States on Apr 04, 2013

Mr. Friedel Erdelmann: Having been a lifelong employee of Ford Motor Company, this book is a must. Apart from the fact that one of my hobbies is motor history and owning and running Ford Classic Cars. It is amazing to see that every big corporation seems to have the knack to appoint the wrong executives who bring their company to the brink of oblivion. These characters all start with grandiose plans for expansion, but within a short time loose control over their own ideas. Henri Ford I was may be a stubborn man, but he knew how to build an empire: stick to that you are good in, building reliable motorcars which people like to buy. All the rest is bunk. Amazing that there are also men who have the guts and the insight to turn an ailing corporation around. That includes making victims, but that is mostly the result of their predecessors. Let's hope that Ford Motor Company stays on the current path of recovery and that it has the wisdom to appoint in the future good executives instead of bums.

United Kingdom on Jul 05, 2012

edward: This book tells the story of ford turn around from one of the failing big three to one of the best car makers in the world.

It tells the story of Alan Mullay (the man credited with saving plane maker boeing after 9/11) taking the regins of ford over when Bill Ford step aside knowing that he did not have the ability to deliver the nessarily changes at ford, dealing with entrenched coperate culture of detroit that was focused more on infighting and ego between excutives and the american auto unions and enitlement culture that prevailed at all levels in detriot. A failure to use anyaltical type managment and assocaited lack of accountability.

Allan Mullay intergrated ford which had been running regionally with almost completly different model ranges europe america and asia at times.

This book also tells the story of how ford being a family controlled company with voteing preferntuial voting shares can have a long term vison ande common cause that may be harder for other buiness.

this is not just another buiness tale this is also a great read that leaves a postive feeling when read and restore faith in a can do attitude that has been so lacking in many...

United Kingdom on May 14, 2012