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There's something to be said about a driven leader pursuing a vision. The other good example would be Apple + Steve Jobs. For example, I know that with Ford Mo
by pyre 14y ago
There's something to be said about a driven leader pursuing a vision. The other good example would be Apple + Steve Jobs.
For example, I know that with Ford Motor Company, as an example, the Ford family has a heavy hand in the top-level management (i.e. previous CEOs have been kicked out 'unofficially' because they didn't follow what the Ford family wanted or didn't live up to their expectations). That kind of stuff puts a drag on innovation.
- bane 14y agoAgree re: Apple + Jobs It's interesting that you bring up Ford. Of the big American auto companies, the only ones who have been putting out product I'm not just remotely interested in, but actually interested in, is Ford. IMHO, decent looking product, good value, mileage ratings look good, interior design is decent, etc.
- cpursley 14y agoI agree. The new Fords are nice products. Not to mention, they're the 1 out of the big 3 that didn't take bailout money.
- culturestate 14y agoI agree, and there's another interesting parallel: Ford has their own version of Jony Ive in J Mays. I've often wondered why GM doesn't back a tractor-trailer full of money in Mays's driveway to switch sides; in my opinion, GM never found the magic again after Harley Earl died.
- randallu 14y agoHenry Ford almost destroyed the Ford Motor Company because he believed the Model T to not need improvement. So the Ford family doing things that don't benefit the company has some history :).
- wiredfool 14y agoThey have the official power to back that up, since the Ford family holds stock with a 10x voting preference. It looks like they had about half of the votes at the shareholder meeting this year. There was a shareholder resolution to abolish that this year that failed with something like 66% of the voting shares against it.