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Sould Bill Ford be FIRED??Or is he doing a GREAT job running Ford Motor Company???


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There is an old saying "the bottom line is the bottom line." Face it, how many execs would be allowed to oversee- now going on three- restructurings in six years if the man's name was not on the building.

 

Bystander, I agree that there needs to be someone running the company that worked in the trenches. This may even mean going outside of the company for a CEO. I do not think that Fields has what it takes to run the company- too much style and not enough substance.

 

Junior is the CEO of Ford, the Detroit Lions, and the Detroit Economic Club. He is proud of the appearances that he makes at local schools. if you ask me, he is spread way too thin- pick one of the four and that's it. He appears to surround himself with people that manipulate him and sell him a crock. Is it any conicidence that Ford and the Detroit Lions are in such bad shape. before you laugh at me and scorn me because they are businesses in two completely different segments- autos and entertainment- let's look at the bottom line. My point: bad management is bad mangement- period.

 

Ford needs someone that understands Business 101- if your market share is declining, you are not offering the product that the market wants. We need someone that is WITHIN the organization on a daily basis- not apart from it. Someone who is willing to spend 16 hours a day IN THE OFFICE 6 and 7 days a week working until things get turned around. Someone who knows how to smash bureaucracy and let people do thier jobs and release that creative freedom that the Women and Men of Ford have! We do not someone who is wearing so many hats that they are effective in nothing. And we certainly do not need a telecommuting President like Fields- someone who lives in Palm Beach full time. We need executives that know how to communicate to the lowest level of the organizations and not be too proud to eat in the same cafeteria that the "workers" eat in- not ones who read preprepared speeches in a movie-like set or have their 7 course gourmet meals in the executive dining room.

 

Face it. when Junior took over the reigns as board chairman about ten years ago, here is where Ford stood:

 

A market share within a couple points of GM

Leader in the midsize car category (Taurus)

Leader in the comact car category (Escort)

Leader in midsize SUV (Explorer)

Leader in compact pickups (Ranger)

Leader in the luxury car segment (Lincoln)

Leader in the full-size pickup category (F Series)

 

Today, Ford is leader in two segments; The F-series and Mustang. The Mustang will be challenged with the Camaro and Challenger. And despite the contrary, Ford seems willing to give up the leadership in full-size pickup sales. GM is planning full production at four and a half pickup truck plants with eyes toward expansion. GM would love to have their pickup as the world's best selling vehichle.

 

Fair or not, the heat flows to the person at the top. Judging from the above analysis, Junior has not been doing his job.

 

 

 

 

and thr FORD E-SERIS, dont forget that old barge!!!!!

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And we certainly do not need a telecommuting President like Fields- someone who lives in Palm Beach full time.

 

Well given the situation that Ford is in right now, Fields got that as a perk for taking the job. Esp with no one else wanting the job

 

Face it. when Junior took over the reigns as board chairman about ten years ago, here is where Ford stood:

 

A market share within a couple points of GM

Leader in the midsize car category (Taurus)

Leader in the comact car category (Escort)

Leader in midsize SUV (Explorer)

Leader in compact pickups (Ranger)

Leader in the luxury car segment (Lincoln)

Leader in the full-size pickup category (F Series)

 

And the products we have today where designed/locked into place right at that same time (with a 5 year development cycle) when Junior took over, thus he really had no input on the design of the vehciles etc..

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Who do you replace him with?

 

Come on, are you going to say that Ford Motor Company would be better off with a warm spot on a chair, instead of Bill Ford as CEO?

I Don't Know, I am not on the Board, I do not work for Ford i don't know who they have, but they can get someone who could easily do a better job than Bill Ford.

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Funny. The first half of your sentence completely undermines the second half of your sentence.

No it doesn't, just because i don't know someone by name to replace him other than Fields doesn't there is someone, there obviously are people capable of running the business better from within or outside the company.

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No it doesn't, just because i don't know someone by name to replace him other than Fields doesn't there is someone, there obviously are people capable of running the business better from within or outside the company.

Yeah, and just because I've never seen the boogeyman, doesn't mean he doesn't exist.

 

But it's pretty hard to use it as proof that he does.

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Well given the situation that Ford is in right now, Fields got that as a perk for taking the job. Esp with no one else wanting the job

And the products we have today where designed/locked into place right at that same time (with a 5 year development cycle) when Junior took over, thus he really had no input on the design of the vehciles etc..

 

I can think of many people who would want the job of running Ford- they do not necessarily have to be from within the company too. Sorry, you want to be one fo the most powerful people in the business, you have to live FULL TIME where the action is.

 

About your second statement: It was not until 2002- six years after Junior had the Chariman spot that a clear midsize strategy to replace Taurus/Sable was in place. And how many times has a redesigned Ranger been cancelled since Jr. was the Chairman? And the DEW 98 platform- still the platform that many things could have kept Lincoln as the leading luxury brand- was implemented and cancelled under Junior's watch.

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Yeah, and just because I've never seen the boogeyman, doesn't mean he doesn't exist.

 

But it's pretty hard to use it as proof that he does.

You are so ignorant about this it is unbelievable.

 

I don't know who could replace him but that must there is no one in the world that could take over /sarcasm, please just save your blind ford defense for someone else. Bill needs to go he has proven many times he is incapable of running te company or any company as large as ford and it is obviously he is only still there because his last name. I don't who should replace him but of course that must mean there is no one, blatant bullshit.

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I don't know who could replace him ... I don't who should replace him

There is no soul alive that you are able to point to as more equal to the task of running Ford than Bill Ford himself. This not me defending Ford, this is you being unable to point to a better candidate.

Edited by RichardJensen
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You are so ignorant about this it is unbelievable.

 

I don't know who could replace him but that must there is no one in the world that could take over /sarcasm, please just save your blind ford defense for someone else. Bill needs to go he has proven many times he is incapable of running te company or any company as large as ford and it is obviously he is only still there because his last name. I don't who should replace him but of course that must mean there is no one, blatant bullshit.

 

DCK - The board consists mostly of bankers and other financiers who own stake in Ford - own ford stock - These men have one single thing in mind - Profitability ... heck not even that - STOCK PRICE (although profitability IS the best wy top get stock prices up)

 

I will not argue that there is no one better to run Ford as a CEO .. but they are almost definitely NOT on the board... unless you count Edsel ford II - who is a gearhead and has beeen involved with Ford Racing.

 

The hire will either be a promotion to Fields (eventually) or an outside hire. Ford tried to get Ghosn and a couple other exec to be CEO's but unsuccessfully, so I would give higher probability to Fields being a CEO eventually.

 

After all, one this Bill Ford IS good at is putting people in place that can do the hands one management - so the divisions are actually quite well run.

 

Igor

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Well... I've been at Ford now for 27 years, and have witnessed all the wonderful "processes" and "programs" that have been used to identify, hire, and promote managers; and unfortunately we are now reaping what we've sown over all this time, with a great number of totally incompetent people in our lower and middle management ranks.

 

Those incompetent managers are now making decisions. They are also selecting the next generation of managers to lead this company.

 

It's going to take some fresh blood, frank talk, and guts to clean out the dead wood... and we are inundated with it.

 

Anyone who can look at our advertising over the past 10 years and not see total incompetence in the Marketing and Sales organization is living in a dream world.

 

Why did we build the Thunderbird? Or the Ford GT? Or the Mercury Marauder? There was a golden opportunity to show the world that we can and do build exciting products, and these cars should have been PLASTERED all over our advertising to tell that story. This "Build it and they will come" philosophy of marketing deserves a lion's share of the blame for where we are today.

 

I was fortunate enough last year to have a Thunderbird as a mgt lease car, and showed it off to everyone I could. On two separate occasions, when my friends first saw the car, they absolutely raved about it, yet neither of them knew what it was until I told them. One of them even went so far as to ask me if it was a CHRYSLER product!!!!

 

Yeah, we need to build exciting products... but we also need to SELL them when we do!

 

Bill inherited a huge mess from Jacuzzi Jac... I just hope he's not too nice a guy to do what needs to get done here.

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