5 ms·

Funny you should mention Boeing. Alan Mulally went to Ford in 2006 after working for Boeing for 35+ years. In my opinion he was a net positive for the company,

by chiph 4y ago

Funny you should mention Boeing. Alan Mulally went to Ford in 2006 after working for Boeing for 35+ years. In my opinion he was a net positive for the company, securing a credit line just before the 2007 recession so that Ford did not have to get bailed out by the government. He also sold off Jaguar/Land Rover just in time before gas prices spiked and their sales slumped. I think he is one of the "good" Boeing execs, unlike the ones that came in with the McDonnell Douglas merger and mismanaged production of aircraft like the 787 and 737-MAX https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Mulally https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Mulally

treeman79 4y ago
Story my dad told of McDonald Douglass merger was that they intentionally hired a drunk incompetent ceo to scare away all of their business. So that the merger with Boeing could be approved. He had many stories to tell of engineering non sense there. Supposedly they just trained whomever to be an engineer. They offered to make my dad one since they liked him.
- jacquesm 4y ago
  > McDonald Douglass merger Pray do tell more about that merger!
  - klyrs 4y ago
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downfall:_The_Case_Against_Boeing https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downfall:_The_Case_Against_B...
  - vishnugupta 4y ago
    It’s mentioned in a well made Netflix documentary about the downfall of Boeing I think. “Downfall: The Case Against Boeing” is the documentary title.
    - yetihehe 4y ago
      I think that this documentary is about McDonell Douglas, not MacDonald.
      - jacquesm 4y ago
        Exactly.
      - vishnugupta 4y ago
        haha yes yes. I just assumed the MacDonald was a typo and the GP meant "McDonell Douglas".
        jacquesm 4y ago
        And I figured that people that don't know the difference between McDonnell and McDonald can be ignored when it comes to their views on that particular merger.
heymijo 4y ago
> In my opinion he was a net positive for the company That opinion is well founded. In the book American Icon by Bryce Hoffman (Detroit News journalist) he chronicles that entire time period. Mulally pulled off one of the greatest challenges, a bonafide turn around. They had a company culture that was all about individuals protecting their own interests. Mulally changed it to one where they focused on making vehicles people want and thinking about the long-term. For example, Mulally held a weekly executive meeting and each head would give a color coded report of their domain's status (green for good, yellow for issues, red for caution). For weeks in this meeting every single executive reported their status as "green" for good. This in a fiscal quarter when Ford had a $6 billion loss! Mulally managed to change that culture, which for anyone who has work experience should speak very loudly.
- heymijo 4y ago
  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13132620-american-icon https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13132620-american-icon
coredog64 4y ago
Ford was never going to take the bailout: GM and Chrysler were prohibited from paying dividends, while the Ford family receives income from FoMoCo stock.
- Animats 4y ago
  It was more than that. GM went bankrupt and wiped out all the stockholders' equity. If Ford did that, it would have ended the two-tier stock structure that gives the Ford family control.

by chiph 4y ago

treeman79 4y ago

Story my dad told of McDonald Douglass merger was that they intentionally hired a drunk incompetent ceo to scare away all of their business. So that the merger with Boeing could be approved. He had many stories to tell of engineering non sense there. Supposedly they just trained whomever to be an engineer. They offered to make my dad one since they liked him.

jacquesm 4y ago
> McDonald Douglass merger Pray do tell more about that merger!
- klyrs 4y ago
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downfall:_The_Case_Against_Boeing https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downfall:_The_Case_Against_B...
- vishnugupta 4y ago
  It’s mentioned in a well made Netflix documentary about the downfall of Boeing I think. “Downfall: The Case Against Boeing” is the documentary title.
  - yetihehe 4y ago
    I think that this documentary is about McDonell Douglas, not MacDonald.
    - jacquesm 4y ago
      Exactly.
    - vishnugupta 4y ago
      haha yes yes. I just assumed the MacDonald was a typo and the GP meant "McDonell Douglas".
      - jacquesm 4y ago
        And I figured that people that don't know the difference between McDonnell and McDonald can be ignored when it comes to their views on that particular merger.

heymijo 4y ago

> In my opinion he was a net positive for the company That opinion is well founded. In the book American Icon by Bryce Hoffman (Detroit News journalist) he chronicles that entire time period. Mulally pulled off one of the greatest challenges, a bonafide turn around. They had a company culture that was all about individuals protecting their own interests. Mulally changed it to one where they focused on making vehicles people want and thinking about the long-term. For example, Mulally held a weekly executive meeting and each head would give a color coded report of their domain's status (green for good, yellow for issues, red for caution). For weeks in this meeting every single executive reported their status as "green" for good. This in a fiscal quarter when Ford had a $6 billion loss! Mulally managed to change that culture, which for anyone who has work experience should speak very loudly.

heymijo 4y ago
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13132620-american-icon https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13132620-american-icon

coredog64 4y ago

Ford was never going to take the bailout: GM and Chrysler were prohibited from paying dividends, while the Ford family receives income from FoMoCo stock.

Animats 4y ago
It was more than that. GM went bankrupt and wiped out all the stockholders' equity. If Ford did that, it would have ended the two-tier stock structure that gives the Ford family control.