American Icon

Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company

By: Bryce G. Hoffman

Narrated by: Pete Larkin

Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

At the end of 2008, Ford Motor Company was just months away from running out of cash. With the auto industry careening toward ruin, Congress offered all three Detroit automakers a bailout. General Motors and Chrysler grabbed the taxpayer lifeline, but Ford decided to save itself. Under the leadership of charismatic CEO Alan Mulally, Ford had already put together a bold plan to unify its divided global operations, transform its lackluster product lineup, and overcome a dys­functional culture of infighting, backstabbing, and excuses. It was an extraordinary risk, but it was the only way the Ford family - America's last great industrial dynasty - could hold on to their company.

Mulally and his team pulled off one of the great­est comebacks in business history. As the rest of Detroit collapsed, Ford went from the brink of bankruptcy to being the most profitable automaker in the world. American Icon is the compelling, behind-the-scenes account of that epic turnaround. On the verge of collapse, Ford went outside the auto industry and recruited Mulally - the man who had already saved Boeing from the deathblow of 9/11 - to lead a sweeping restructuring of a company that had been unable to overcome decades of mismanagement and denial.

Mulally applied the principles he developed at Boeing to streamline Ford's inefficient operations, force its fractious executives to work together as a team, and spark a product renaissance in Dearborn. He also convinced the United Auto Workers to join his fight for the soul of American manufacturing.

Bryce Hoffman reveals the untold story of the covert meetings with UAW leaders that led to a game-changing contract, Bill Ford's battle to hold the Ford family together when many were ready to cash in their stock and write off the company, and the secret alliance with Toyota and Honda that helped prop up the Amer­ican automotive supply base. In one of the great management narratives of our time, Hoffman puts the reader inside the boardroom as Mulally uses his celebrated Business Plan Review meet­ings to drive change and force Ford to deal with the painful realities of the American auto industry.

Hoffman was granted unprecedented access to Ford's top executives and top-secret company documents. He spent countless hours with Alan Mulally, Bill Ford, the Ford family, former executives, labor leaders, and company directors. In the best-selling tradition of Too Big to Fail and The Big Short, American Icon is narrative nonfiction at its vivid and colorful best.

©2012 Bryce G. Hoffman (P)2012 Tantor

Critic reviews

"For those interested in the recent political interventions and maneuvers in the auto industry, this book provides a fly-on-the-wall view of the meetings and behind-the-scenes deal making necessary to revive an ailing giant." ( Library Journal)

Great read!

True leadership! Able to do without the aid of government funds … will try to by a Ford next time!

Inspiring Story

Well written and narrated, this book is an inpriring story of American ingenuity and drive.

America

A true story about American resiliency. A truly inspiring page-turner had me wanting to buy another Ford

Eye opening!

Outstanding book! Must read if you have any interest in the automotive industry. Or big Buisness.

Great book

Excellent book that chronicles Ford's journey back to profitability by Bill Ford and Alan Mulally.

A great book on business and leadership

This was a text book on organizational leadership. A must read for anyone interested in business

Great Story of Business Leadership

This is really a great book that, in telling a very interesting story, provides a compelling story of business leadership on multiple levels.

First, there is the story of Bill Ford, who was running Ford but not making progress. Ford was smart (and humble) enough to realize that the company with his name on it was in effect going out of business slowly. He knew the company needed new leadership, and was not afraid to seek it.

When Ford turned to Alan Mulally in 2006, Mulally had already been instrumental in turning around Boeing. To a large extent, Mulally had much to lose and little to gain by taking on Ford. Bill Ford and many employees and shareholders are sure glad he did.

The book outlines, in fairly graphic detail, what a dysfunctional place Ford was when Mulally arrived. No one was on the same team, much less on the same page. Mulally brought procedures to solve this, but much more than procedures were involved. Mulally's personal leadership skills and charisma must have just been off the charts. One of the things he did not do was to clean house and bring in his own team. As the book explains, Mulally set the new standards and those who did not want to follow them "self-selected" out.

After Mulally had the team mostly rowing in the same direction, the financial crisis hit. The description of how Mulally and his management team, worked their way through the crisis while GM and Chrysler filed for bankruptcy is pretty amazing.

This is a very entertaining book that provides a lot of business and life lessons along the way. First rate!

Top 5 Leadership Book

I would put it up there with Jack Welch "Winning" and Bill Walsh "The Score Takes Care of Itself". Well written

Very entertaining and informational

Amazing book that cuts out all management jargon and focuses on how practical strategy implementation worked at Ford. The biggest plus of this book is the narration; it brought the author's words and Ford's characters to life. A nice read for folks interested in strategy formulation and implementation.

engaging read

this book provided a lot of context for someone who did not quite understand what was happening to the automotive industry in the recession of 2008. I feel this is a compelling story about corporate management in the automotive field which could benefit many readers.