Finally someone came out and said it.

 

I am an enginner and had a principles of management class in college.

Not that I'm in charge or anything, but I just wanted to let it be known. heheh...

Hopefully Ford can pull it through.

Daniel

 

I've stepped on a lot of toes when I openly said who dumb management was and they should all be fired and replaced with people who know what entropy is (thanks to the FCN message board for all you guys 'on the inside')

Jac Nasser had a good idea, but jekyl became hyde and he didn't stop with the quality... err.. cost reduction nonsense.

 

Hey SilverBullet! I think we met one time at at a FME picnic/carshow. I hope everything is going well for you, but I respectfully disagree about his knowledge of the money side.

What Nasser did was put everything in jeapordy to bolster short-term profits. When he took over Ford had 30 billion in the bank. Nasser went through that like Sherman through Georgia. Being an employee, you see bits and pieces on FCN (Ford Communications Network) announcing his acquisitions and they were non-stop. I felt he squandered most of that money. All sorts of e-commerce ventures, many already written off for tens of millions. He even went as far as buying junk yards in Flordia, and jiffy-lubes in europe (kwik-fit). He lost focus on the core business.

He absolutely gutted things. Everyone understands and agrees with the importance of controlling costs, but he instituted wave after wave after wave through the product lines (and everything else). One year there was even a 90 day moratorium on office supplies for chrissakes...people had to buy pens and pencils out of their own pockets just to do thier jobs. That did wonders for morale. I saw this with my own eyes. Ford posted 6 billion profit that year. While many things got 'lip service', cost is what drove the business. You can't take that much content out of everything and expect customers to still stand in line when your competition is offering more. A simple look at how much GM gained ground in truck sales in 2001 should speak for itself. People are voting thier preferences with thier pocketbooks.

And finally, if he was so good, how come corporate america didn't immediately snap him up when he reappeared on the job market? Has anyone even heard from him since?

Obviously Wall Street realized this, that's why even though Ford was posting billions in profits during those years, the stock price didn't reflect those numbers. When he took over the stock was trading as high as $65.00. It closed last Friday at $16.94.

What may have been even more damaging was what Nasser did to employees and morale. That was evident the first few months he was in control. Remember all the board members that jumped ship at the end of the first year? Employee discrimination class-action suits and disgruntled engineers leaking everything under the sun over at BON. Not to mention the hundreds of years of automotive experience (at all levels) that is no longer around to give guidance.

Then came the Firestone debacle. I honestly felt he got a raw deal on that, he was just the guy in the chair when that came down. I do applaud him for doing the right thing and recalling all those tires. The govt pretty much sided with Ford later when they recommended Firestone recall the majority of those tires that Ford announced they would replace. Firestone has now said they are 'open' to allowing Ford to recover at least part of those costs. Other than the short name-calling phase he handled that no-win situation pretty well (IMHO).

On a personal note, he addressed an awards banquet I attended a couple of years ago (Customer Driven Quality Award, thank you very much <g>). I saw absolutely nothing to dispell the rumors of his ego and arrogance. If they ever put 'short man syndrome' in the dictionary, it will have his picture next to it...'nuff said.

The temporary doom and gloom aside, the company (and its employees) will recover from Jac. Within days of his departure steps were being taken to safeguard (and improve) vehicle quality. Content was being put back into the products. Quality is again being touted as #1. The sad thing is it will take time and many people will suffer greatly (job loss and everything that goes with that) on the road to recovery. The next round of cuts will be announced on January 11th. It won't be pretty. But Ford will be back. I just hope they're a little better judge of talent next time.

These are just my personal observations and thoughts as a 28 year employee. Your mileage may vary.

 

Roger,
Good to read your post and nice to hear from someone on the inside. Yea Jac got some praise from the Gov. of our great state as a "Great business executive and leader". What a JERK at least President Bush has not given Engler an appointment.
__

 

This seems to be a trait that every big company has. Even the company that I work for seems to be starting to get that way. I have been around enough big companies to know that the bigger they are the more impersonal they become to the people that basically made it possible for them to be where they are today. My company is in the process of buying the largest cable tv service provider in the country and I am still waiting for my review (pay raise) to come through. Maybe they needed the extra money to help pay for this buyout. My other problem with all this is the same as with Ford. A lot of big companies have a lot of union shops ( I know I'm going to catch it for this) and they protect the loafers and deadbeats working for them. I know that unions serve a purpose, but they also stop creativity and personal advancement. I don't want to be put in the same category as someone who comes to work just to collect a pay check. If I am good, I should be paid for it. If I am bad I should be paid less for it. I have heard too many stories about workers at the plants not wanting to work, so they find a way to screw up production and don't come back until the next day or whenever it is fixed. That is BS to me. Earn your pay, don't think anybody owes it to you, cause they don't. This applies to every level of the business. This is a problem across the business world, but probably more so in this country (unfortunately).

just a little venting....

Steve

 

I don't think you'll find any more of a concentration of 'goldbricks' in an auto plant than any other place of employment (dealt with a government agency lately?).

Some people just aren't too motivated and figure out how to work the system (any system) to thier advantage. This is true whether you make cheeseburgers, autos, or rocket engines.

Granted its frustrating, but that's human nature. It's not something unique to the auto industry (or union shops for that matter). One person may use the union rep to protect them, the other will kiss butt with the boss to get out of work. Different technique, same result.

 

roger, hey I'm doing great, I do remember meeting you, I still go to some FME events.

I said Jac knew the money side, but he made some very poor car decisions. Most of them were regarding vehicle marketing, vehicle quality, and personnel development. Don't read this as I like Jac, in fact I think he was the worst thing that ever happen to Ford Motor Company. I just think Billy Ford is even less qualified. The only thing that qualifies him to run Ford Motor Company is his last name. Billy Bob is right, allot of Ford employees are hoping Billy Ford will save the day. Ford Motor Company needs a good leader, that will place Ford Motor Company objectives above his own initiatives. If Billy Ford can do this, and keep moral up, that will surprise me.

I'm on another team now (Read I work for a different OEM), but I wish Ford Motor company the best.

 

Hey SilverBullet. I don't think Billy is running the day-to-day auto stuff; isn't that Nick Scheele? (http://media.ford.com/newsroom/relea...40,9500&sec=78 )


So is the Lightning getting any competition soon? <g>

 

If I get hired in @Ford, I promise everyone that I will take a stand against stupidity.

If no one listens, I will jump ship to Porsche NA Operations in Troy.

Thank you *bows*

 

Maybe there's too many chiefs and not enough indians....