Biz people: Ford CEO says firm 'paranoid'
Alan Mulally didn't mince words in describing the guarded flow of information inside Ford Motor Co as he left a media dinner in Dearborn, Michigan, last week. The company, he said, "is so paranoid".
Mulally, hired from Boeing Co in September to run an enterprise about to report a $6.99 billion nine-month loss, discovered that Ford executives didn't share all they could with each other, he recounted in an interview last month. The new chief executive officer said managers also were afraid to say they didn't know the answer to a question.
As he tours the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week, he says open exchange is vital to make Ford faster, more efficient and more unified, like the rival he studies, Toyota Motor Corp.
(China Daily 01/10/2007 page16)
