...Alan Mulally, CEO, Ford Motor Company Dr. Daniel C. Frost Leadership and Organizational Behavior- BUS 520 November 16, 2011 Strayer University-Allentown Campus Alan Mulally, CEO, Ford Motor Company 1. Discuss the role of leadership and how it can impact organizational performance. Answer: Leadership is the process of developing ideas and visions, living by values that support those ideas and that vision, influencing others to embrace them in their own behaviors, and making hard decisions about human and other resources (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011, p. 290). Whereas according to Richard et al. (2009), organizational performance comprises the actual output or results of an organization as measured against its intended goals and objectives. Effective leadership is a personal role that requires the blending of motivational, strategic and management skills to align focus, energy and drive while creating a culture that encourages individual thinking and attainment. For a leadership to impact organizational performance positively, said leadership has to posses the four leadership traits of intelligence-successful leaders tend to have somewhat higher intelligence than their subordinates; maturity and breadth-successful leaders tend to be emotionally mature and have a broad range of interests; achievement drive-successful leaders are result oriented; when they achieve one goal, they seek another and integrity-successful leaders, over the long term, usually...
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...Running head: FORD MOTOR COMPANY Leadership and Organizational Behavior Professor Michael Padgett Strayer University Ronetta Perry May 15, 2011 “Ford Motor Company” The Ford Motor Company, founded in 1903 by Henry Ford, is one of the largest auto makers in the world. In recent years, the auto industry, including Ford Motor Company, has experienced increase financial hardship. Ford lost $12.6 billion in 2006, $2.7 billion in 2007, and as a result of the biggest sales slump in decades, they lost $14.6 billion in 2008, making it the worst year in its history. But when the car industry went into what seemed like a death spiral during the global recession, Ford resisted taking the federal bailout and vowed to show the industry that the brand was built for toughness. Discuss the role of leadership and how it can impact organizational performance. “Leadership is commonly defined as establishing a clear vision, communicating the vision with others and resolving the conflicts between various individuals who are responsible for completing the company’s vision”(Media & Vitez, 2009). Traditionally there are four different leadership styles that suit the follower and their willingness; the telling style in which the leader gives specific directions and supervises closely, the selling style which helps builds confidence in the follower by the leader providing direction and encouraging two-way communication, the participating style in which the leader encourages followers...
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...“Alan Mulally, CEO, Ford Motor Company” Chiquetta Silver BUS 520 Dr. Amine Ayad May 15, 2011 Discuss the role of leadership and how it can impact organizational performance. Leadership is the process of developing ideas and a vision, living by values that support those ideas and that vision, influencing others to embrace them in their own behaviors, and making hard decisions about human and other resources (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011, p.4). Leadership is guiding people toward productive results to achieve the goals of the organization. It involves influencing people to move from where they are to some new place. An effective leader has the ability to motivate and influence others. Leadership influences organizational performance depending on the level to which the leader enables managers and team leaders to plan, organize, control, and act effectively. By accepting authority, responsibility, and accountability, managers can confidently face though situations that require decisions made. Both the manager and the subordinate must know how to distinguish right from wrong by using sound judgment. Likewise, the leader must to learn his own strengths and weaknesses at work as well as his personal life and seek new professional skills. Everybody has different opinions and attitudes towards values, lifestyles, and behaviors. Thus, an effective leader will use diversity at the workplace to combat the fierce competition in the market place. Cultural diversity within the...
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...Alan Mulally, CEO, Ford Motor Company Dr. Lu Leadership and Organizational behavior- BUS520 November 7, 2011 Alan Mulally, CEO, Ford Motor Company Discuss the role of leadership and how it can impact organizational performance In order for any company to succeed, there needs to be an effective leader to lead the organization in the right direction. The leader must be someone who not only knows about the company and where it needs to go but also how to take its resources (its employees, its equipment) and put it together to come up with a winning formula. The role of leadership is very important and the goals that a company wants to meet will not be attainable without an effective leader. A leader needs to be able to motivate and influence its employees. This is especially true in today’s down economy and highly competitive environment. The organization must look upon its employees to assess the playing field, formulate strategies, and unite organizational managers to work towards the common goals of staying in business, making a profit, and continuously improve market share. In essence, the primary role of a leader in an organization is to draw the road map for the organization to execute – often, this may involve some changes to the way it ran its business in the past. Therefore, the leader is the critical actor in drama of organization change to achieve the goals (Schneider, 1994). To initiate change, an effective leader, manager, director will need...
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...years old, found itself floundering, lacking leadership, and near insolvency. It had lost 25% of its market share since 1990 and lagged behind some of its competitors in innovation and design, all the while burdened with drastically increasing legacy and operating costs. The company’s Board of Directors recognized that bold leadership is required if Ford was to be saved. In September 2006, although faced with much skepticism for its decision to seek external candidates for its top job, decided to hire Alan Mulally, an executive from Boeing Corporation without any automotive experience, as its Chief Executive Officer. Eight years later, not only is Ford profitable again and on the path to continued prosperity and growth, but Mr. Mulally is considered as one of the five most significant corporate leaders of the last decade by Forbes magazine (2014), and one of the World's 50 Greatest Leaders by Fortune magazine (2015). Through this case study, I will explore and discuss Mulally’s leadership approach, traits, and attributes, relative to the principles of leadership characteristics and attributes, leadership ethics and values, and leadership behaviors as taught by Bordeaux (2015), and Hughes (2015). Leadership Although there are various definitions for what leadership is, there seems to be common attributes among those who are considered effective leaders, past and present. According to Hughes (2015), “defining leadership as the process of influencing an organized...
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...ASSIGNMENT #3 ALAN MULALLY, CEO FORD MOTOR COMPANY STUDENT: LINDA LANG AUGUST 8, 2010 STRAYER UNIVERSITY BUSINESS 520: LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR INSTRUCTOR: CARLENE GRAHAM ALAN MULALLY, CEO – FORD MOTOR COMPANY The Ford Motor Company began its journey in the auto industry with the creation of the 1908 Model T. Henry Ford’s creation of the Model T changed the way in which people transported themselves on a daily basis. This paper will address how an iconic company such as the Ford Motor Company is currently negotiating the issues of organizational performance, leadership style, and goals for the company. Lastly, I will attempt to address the effectives of the changes that the Ford Motor Company has made and continues to assess. Discuss leadership and how it can impact organizational performance. Leadership is, simply put, the art of inspiring and motivating others into motion in order to achieve an aspired goal. The leader sets the direction of action and takes part in the process, whether alone or as a guide to a team, so as to accomplish a set goal. In the world of business transactions, leaders who are successful and effective are those who inevitably increase a business’ productivity. There are so many different styles and models of leadership. Each style or model can be both successful and unsuccessful in reaching goals, contingent upon the context in which the style or model is being used. Reaching the productivity goal is dependent...
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...Innovative Change at Ford Motor Company Keller University Human Resources 587 August 24, 2014 Abstract Since Alan Mulally took over as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Ford Motor Company the business has been transformed into a powerful competitive force in the global automotive industry. An examination of the company’s communications surrounding Mulally’s retirement and the appointment of Mark Fields as the new CEO demonstrate how Ford used positive and candid communications to overcome resistance to the change. Actions as simple as providing verbal and nonverbal cues have a powerful influence on how others perceive a change (Nekoranec & Fourrier, 2013). A proposed alternative communication plan, including the use of more communication channels with increased frequency, would have helped the company address some of the fear and uncertainty among stakeholders. An example of an internal memo is provided to show how the use of positive and supportive descriptions of the change can motivate stakeholders to act as change agents on behalf of an organization by embracing the change and recognizing their essential role in the process. Innovative Change at Ford Motor Company In the past few decades Ford Motor Company has experienced a series of disruptive changes pertaining to the company’s leadership. In 2006, the appointment of Alan Mulally as the company’s Chief Executive Officer prompted extensive changes within the company that served to transform the once struggling...
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...Alan Mulally, CEO, Ford Motor Company Elizabeth Haskins Strayer University Instructor: Dr. Yohannes Abate Leadership and Organizational Behavior – BUS 520010VA016 August 7, 2011 Abstract This case focuses on the challenges Alan Mulally (Mulally); CEO of Ford Motor Company faces to implement a new beginning for Ford. Upon Mulally’s arrival, Ford was on the verge of a financial collapse, reporting a $12.6 billion dollar loss in 2006 and a $2.7 billion dollar loss in 2007. Bill Ford hired Mulally to lead the company as he felt that only an outsider could take the extreme steps needed to save the company from financial failure. In a strategic move to ensure Ford maintained its independence and sensing a recession as well as not to be forced to accept a government loan , Mulally borrowed $23 billion against Ford’s assets. This was a strategic move in the hopes that Ford would maintain its independence. This case study will highlight the challenges faced by Mulally, his management and leadership style and what changes were implemented into the organizations culture to ensure its success and place in the car industry. Introduction Mulally moved to Ford in September 2006. When starting at Ford, he had not engineered, designed or built any cars. He came from the defense industry. Previously, he had been employed with Boeing since 1969. At Boeing, he held a number of engineering and program management positions, making contributions to the Boeing 727...
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...This paper is about Alan Roger Mulally (born August 4, 1945), who is an American engineer and businessman. Mulally is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Ford Motor Company. Ford, which had been struggling during the late-2000s recession, returned to profitability under Mulally and was the only major car manufacturer to avoid government-sponsored bankruptcy. Mulally moved to Ford in 2006. He had worked at Boeing since 1969. He had been chief engineer for development of the 777, and was later Vice President of Engineering for commercial aircraft. Mulally had no sales experience, and he was not a “Detroit car man,” much less a car man at all. He sold his Lexus after moving to Dearborn. What is most impressive is Mulally’s “results oriented” leadership style. His management is crisp and authoritative, although he defers to the firm’s design experts on the minutiae of the product lines. But on the big questions of the company’s past mistakes and where it’s headed, Mulally made key decisions that placed Ford in good stead. When Mulally testified before Congress in December 2008, along with GM’s Rick Wagoner and Chrysler’s Robert Nardelli, he announced that Ford would be able to survive the recession without a bailout. The Role of Leadership and How It Can Impact Organizational Performance Leadership is an art, and like other arts, requires discipline, good techniques and self-expression. There are some basic rules or formulas connected with an art...
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...ALAN MULALLY, CEO – FORD MOTOR COMPANY The Ford Motor Company began its journey in the auto industry with the creation of the 1908 Model T. Henry Ford’s creation of the Model T changed the way in which people transported themselves on a daily basis. This paper will address how an iconic company such as the Ford Motor Company is currently negotiating the issues of organizational performance, leadership style, and goals for the company. Lastly, I will attempt to address the effectives of the changes that the Ford Motor Company has made and continues to assess. Discuss leadership and how it can impact organizational performance. Leadership is, simply put, the art of inspiring and motivating others into motion in order to achieve an aspired goal. The leader sets the direction of action and takes part in the process, whether alone or as a guide to a team, so as to accomplish a set goal. In the world of business transactions, leaders who are successful and effective are those who inevitably increase a business’ productivity. There are so many different styles and models of leadership. Each style or model can be both successful and unsuccessful in reaching goals, contingent upon the context in which the style or model is being used. Reaching the productivity goal is dependent upon the success of the leader to effectively evaluate and motivate the team. In my opinion, after reading the accounts of so many businesses (such as Ford, Campbell’s Soup, DineEquity, and PricewaterhouseCoopers)...
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...Introduction One of the topics that exist since ancient times are leadership, national culture and organizational culture because every nation and country have their culture and need their leaders. Some of the leaders are better than others and because of this reason they manage to govern their countries better and to win advantage for them. Like every country the companies all over the world have their organizational cultures and their leaders. Every company is trying to shape its organizational culture striving to reach its personal goals and because some are better than others they have better products and bigger market shares. The first purpose of this paper is to present the old organizational culture, the old values and leadership style of Ford and how they affected the performance of the company. The second goal of the paper is to show why the need for change came in Ford and how they managed to implement this change into practice. Organisational culture, Leadership and Leadership Style – Definitions One of the possible definitions for organisational culture that exists is as follow: Organisational culture is “the set of shared values, beliefs and norms that influences the way employees think, feel and behave toward each other and toward people outside the organization” (George and Jones, 2012). One of the aspects which are considered in this paper and which is aspect of organisational culture is organizational structure. It can be described as “the pattern of...
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...FORD’S CEO ALAN MULALLY A NEW APPROACH TO DECISION MAKING 1.0 According to Rowe and Mason (1987), each decision style elicits specific traits and/or preferences. For example, the following decision making styles of analytical, behavioral, conceptual, and directive, respectively prefer specific facts, accurate and complete data, broad coverage of many options, and limited data that are easily understood (Rowe & Mason, 1987). Further, Rowe and Mason (1987) believe that style descriptors should be able to describe an individual’s mental predisposition, cognitive process, and problem solving ability. They also deem that the style descriptors can be contextually explicit—describing the environment in which the decision is being made (Rowe and Mason, 1987). These theorists describe four elements of an individual’s decision style. The four elements are: • Perception and reception to stimuli, • Capacity to handle information and to reach a meaningful conclusion, • Intuition or creativity to develop alternatives, • Dexterity to make a decision (Rowe and Mason, 1987). Rowe and Mason’s model provides general descriptions of each style through specific categories such as organizational fit, problem orientation, level of tolerance for ambiguity, technical concern, leadership, and major criticism. The general descriptions of each decision style are as follows: Analytical Style This style is characterized by a problem solving and intellectual orientation. These...
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...Discuss the role of leadership and how it can impact organizational performance “Leadership is the process of developing ideas and visions, living by values that support those ideas and that vision, influencing others to embrace them in their own behaviors, and making hard decisions about human and other resources” (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2010, p.290). Leadership has a huge role in organizational performance, in that organizations that are effective have leaders who integrate customer, employee, and organizational goals. The leadership abilities and styles guide the organization and all employees must be clear on their jobs, the organizational goals, and the plans to achieve them. When a leader is clear, concise, open, and honest and conveys those characteristics to employees, he/she is able to gain the trust and loyalty of the employees. Employees who feel that they are valued, respected, and trusted feel happy about the organization and are more likely to put forth maximum opportunity in reaching for the goals. Discuss Mulally’s leadership style at Ford Motor Company and provide examples of how his actions fit this style. Mulally’s leadership style is selling. “In using a selling style, the leader provides direction, encourages two-way communication, and helps build confidence and motivation on the part of the follower” (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2010, p.306). Upon joining Ford, Mulally was able to identify specific goals for the company, implement a process to work toward...
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...ALAN MULALLY, CEO, FORD MOTOR COMPANY By Pamela Reynolds Strayer University Dr. John Muehl Leadership and Organizational Behavior – BUS 520 Date: [ February 22, 2011 ] INTRODUCTION This paper aims to discuss the leadership implemented in Ford Motor Company under the management of Alan Mulally and to discuss Ford’s performance improvement. I will also attempt to identify and assess Mulally’s leadership style. “Ecclesiastes 9:11- I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.” From the early days of my professional life, I learned the significance of goals and objectives in the work place. Most importantly, I learned the importance of effectively communicating them to the people involved in the project(s) to ensure success for all involved. When employees understand the rules and what the goals are, they can not only complete the task but, they will enjoy what they are doing. Someone who enjoys their job will be much more productive than someone who is just trudging through the day doing what they are told. The most efficient organizations are those where individuals take personal pleasure in meeting the goals of the organization. The least efficient organizations are those where individuals don't really care anything about the organization's goals or...
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...The New Thinking on Followership and Leadership Philosophy The New Thinking on Followership and Leadership Philosophy Is good followership more important than good leadership? Followership is defined as the ability or willingness to follow a leader. Leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes and outcomes that reflect their shared purposes. Effective followers can develop productive leader behavior just as effective leaders shape people into good followers. The new thinking on followership and leadership philosophy is very important In my opinion, good followers are just as important as the leader. According to Daft, “without followers, there are no leaders.” (Daft, 2010, pg. 196) People are followers more often than leaders, and effective leaders and followers share similar characteristics. An effective follower is both independent and active in the organization. To be an effective follower, one must not be alienated, conforming, passive, or pragmatic. Most people think of followers as ‘yes-men’ but this is far from the truth. A good leader would not be considered a good or effective leader if his or her followers always agreed with whatever the leader said. Roger Adair states, “A follower shares in an influence relationship among leaders and other followers with the intent to support leaders who reflect their mutual purpose.” There are five levels of rationale that followers...
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