Alan Mulally CEO Ford Motor Company Case

Alan Mulally the CEO of Ford

Discuss the role of leadership and how it can impact organizational performance?

Prior to Mulally's arrival at Ford in 2006, he carefully studied the organization, he took detail notes on the company. Mulally knew every detail about the organization prior to his arrival at Ford. His background in engineering and leadership is a great asset to Ford. He was selected by the Ford family to become the next President and CEO because of his intellectual capabilities and his vision for the organization. Mulally's first decision at Ford was to create a strategic plan for success for the organization. He looked at the products, the sales charts and made decisions based on previous records and current trends. Mullaly first major decision at Ford was to bring the Taurus model back. This car was a best seller until the 1990's, so Mulally made some changes to the car and brought it back. He also made many cost cutting initiatives, forcing the company to show profitability. Mulally showed the organization "The Way Forward," which turned the company around moving from losses to profitability and increased market share. Mulally had the leadership skills to make changes in this company and put the company back on the map. Mulally was an effective leader, who affected change by making strategic development continuous, decision-focused and economically disciplined as possible. Mulally impacted Ford's organizational performance with his leadership skills and hard work.

His leadership skills were needed for the organization at the time. The company was taking loses, sales declining and they were losing their market share. There was a definite need for change in the organization. Mulally recognized that change was necessary at Ford, however prior to making any changes he carefully assessed the organization before making changes that would impact the company. As a leader he had a clear vision for the organization, and a successful background. A business cannot accomplish success without a clear vision and someone who is able to lead them to that vision. Mulally's back ground in engineering, working with Boeing through a leadership capacity has empowered him with the ability to lead Ford to successs.

2. Disucss Mulally's leadership style at Ford Motor Company and provide examples of how his actions fit this style?

Mulally is a transformational leader, he is capable of looking at the business from different angles, making decisions based on previous history, current market trends, customer demands and doing what is best for the business. Mulally took risks when necessary and challenged the organization to make changes. He has conviction and can generate critical mass, which are all important attributes of a great leader and a transformational leader (Taffinder, 2007). Mulally set ambitious and yet attainable goals for Ford, he challenged the organization to become more profitable.

3. Discuss how goal setting helped Ford improve its performance?

In 2008 the economy made a significant downturn, which impacted Ford negatively. Sales in automotive industry declined, therefore profitability turned into losses and the stock prices tumbled. Mulally was facing bankruptcy; however he managed to create a plan for the company by setting goals that the company has been able to achieve with his leadership and direction. The first thing Mr. Mulally did was to cut his salary to $1.00 per year during the period they held government loans. Mulally sold all but one of the company private jets to raise capital, he made many cost saving initiative at the company and made exceptional effort to keep his employees employed. His goals for the organization were to rebuild the brand of Ford, by making the car more dependable, affordable and a household name. Today the company is one of the world largest automotive makers and its stock prices are soaring.

Mulally's goals for the company seemed unlikely at the time, however he had a strategic plan in place to ensure Ford could accomplish those goals. Some of the most important factors in goal setting, is to create a plan to achieve the goals, to communicate the plan to the management and staff, and to follow through on those plan. Mulally ensured that his plans were executed to ensure the goals of the organization was attained.

4. Assess Mulally on each element in comminication openess including message transmission, trust, agendas and goals?

Mulally communicated to America his goals for Ford at the end of 2008 when he shared with congress his detail plans for reconstructing the organization. He communicated his plans to our government, to the country, to the employees at Ford and other businesses. Mulally instituted color coding at Ford, green for good, yellow for cautious and red for problems, this system is used to communicate information to the employees. Mulally is known for his openness at Ford, he communicates to the organization his goals and how to achieve those goals. Mulally was not welcomed with open arms initially in 2006 when he joined Ford, however today he is looked at as a superhero in the organization. His employees trust his decisions and believe in his integrity.

Meeting was held where the staff was updated about plans for the organization. The company was being publicly viewed so much of the organization plans were also communicated by the media. Mulally communicated to the press his intentions for the organization, as well as answered tough questions by congress about his plans to reconstruct Ford.

Evaluate the effectiveness of Mulally's leadership style and recommend whether he should continue with this style, or use a diffrent style?