时势造英雄：穆拉利为什么能跻身福特最伟大的CEO行列

    上周，福特汽车公司（Ford Motor）总裁兼CEO艾伦•穆拉利在执掌福特八年后正式宣告退休，福特也终于实现了公司111年历史上少见的权杖平稳交接。早就被培养为继任人的马克•菲尔茨正式接掌大权。

    穆拉利已然是荣誉等身，此时的福特也处于继上世纪90年代的后金牛/探路者时代后最具竞争优势的时期。穆拉利几乎是奇迹般地让公司“咸鱼翻身”，走上了一条新的战略道路，同时也成为福特历史上最受欢迎的CEO以及媒体界争相赞颂的人物。与前任们咄咄逼人的风格不同，穆拉利的管理风格更倾向于胡萝卜，而不是大棒。

    但在我们开始因为穆拉利的离任变得过于伤感之前，我们也要记得穆拉利的任期里也不都是鲜花和掌声。企业、尤其是汽车企业是非常复杂的机构，穆拉利时代还有很多鲜为人知的故事。

    1. 独一无二的穆拉利

    穆拉利身上结合了一种独特的竞争力和魅力。他小时候在堪萨斯州经常去教堂，还参加了童子军，这段经历也培养了他的一股朴实劲儿。由于为人热情公正，他得以成功推动了福特高管团队的人事变动，既没有伤害他们脆弱的自尊，也没有引发权力斗争。指望穆拉利的继承人能复制他的表现不公平。

    2. 菲尔茨不是穆拉利

    菲尔茨聪明刻苦、风度翩翩，对公司和整个汽车行业了如指掌。但是有些人认为他生性圆滑，不是一个真诚的人，因此他估计很难继续保持穆拉利那种“以德服人”的企业文化。另外，外界还认为菲尔茨与公司的执行总裁比尔•福特走得很近，这说不定会在福特高层引发像《权力的游戏》（Game of Thrones）里的那种“宫斗”戏码。

    3. 战略问题仍未解决

    穆拉利的“同一个福特”愿景（也就是同一个团队/同一个计划/同一个目标）旨在把福特的全球业务统一起来。但到目前为止，福特的发展重心仍然在北美，其中相当一部分利润来自于卡车业务。2013年，福特公司在北美赚得87.81亿美元的税前利润，但在全球其它地区则累计亏损12.28亿美元。福特最畅销的车型F-150皮卡在海外市场很少有人问津。

    4. 海外业务尚需努力

    福特在中国市场发力较晚，而现在它已经渐渐追了上来。据《汽车新闻》（Automotive News）报道，福特在华销量已经超过了丰田（Toyota）。目前它的在华销量排名西方汽车厂商的第五位，但仍然远远不及大众（Volkswagen）和通用（General Motors）。另外福特在欧洲推出的一系列新产品已经对销量产生了刺激作用，但欧洲对于福特来说仍是个亏损地区。福特希望今年在欧洲减少亏损额，而且从2015年开始扭亏为盈。

    5. 林肯品牌仍未完工

    作为一个全部行头经常就是运动上衣、休闲裤再配一条红领带的人，穆拉利怎么看都和豪车业务不太搭调。而林肯也依然处于品牌重组的早期阶段，林肯高管甚至表示品牌的重组可能会花上20年。随着量产车领域的竞争愈发激烈，一条强劲的高端车生产线无疑将成为提高利润的关键。但是在穆拉利的任期内，林肯对公司利润的贡献微乎其微。

    This week, Ford Motor president and CEO Alan Mulally retired after a nearly eight-year run and the automaker accomplished something that has frequently eluded it over its 111-year history: a peaceful transition of power. Longtime heir apparent Mark Fields takes over.

    Mulally goes off bedecked with laurels, and he leaves Ford in the strongest competitive position it has enjoyed since the late Taurus/Explorer years of the 1990s. Somewhat miraculously, he revived the company and set it on a new strategic direction while also becoming the most popular CEO in Ford F 0.06% history and the object of universally admiring media coverage. Unlike his sharp-elbowed predecessors, he governed with carrots instead of sticks.

    But before we get too nostalgic about Mulally and the changes he wrought, it is important to remember that his tenure wasn’t all about attaboys. Corporations, auto companies especially, are complex entities, and there is more to the Mulally era than is immediately visible on the surface:

    1. Mulally is unique

    Mulally possessed a unique combination of competiveness and charm, leavened with a guilelessness that appeared to be rooted in his Kansas church-going, Eagle-Scout upbringing. Enthusiastic and fair-minded, he was able to push changes on Ford’s executive team without damaging fragile egos or igniting turf battles. It would be unfair to expect Mulally’s successors to duplicate his performance.

    2. Fields is not Mulally

    Fields is smart, hardworking, personable and knows the company and the industry inside and out. But some see him as slick and insincere, which will make it difficult for him to preserve Mulally’s kumbaya corporate culture. The additional fact that Fields is perceived as being close to executive chairman Bill Ford could also lead to a revival of Ford’s palace politics that in years past has resembled an episode ofGame of Thrones.

    3. Strategic issues remain unresolved

    Mulally’s One Ford vision of One Team/One Plan/One Goal sought to unify the company’s operations around the world. Yet Ford remains a North American-centric automaker that gets the bulk of its profits from the truck business. In 2013, it made $8.781 billion in pre-tax profit on auto operations in North America and lost $1.228 billion everywhere else. Ford’s best-selling vehicle, the F-150 pickup, is a non-starter in overseas markets.

    4. Foreign operations need more work

    Ford is making up ground in China where it has long lagged, and Automotive News reports that it has passed Toyota TM in sales. It now ranks fifth among Western automakers, though way behind Volkswagen and General Motors GM 0.40% . A new product blitz is boosting sales in Europe, but the region remains a money loser. Ford hopes to trim losses this year and return to European profitability in 2015.

    5. The Lincoln brand is still under construction

    As a man whose wardrobe seems to consist of a blazer, slacks, and a single red tie, Mulally never seemed comfortable with the upscale car business, and Lincoln is still in the early stages of a rebuilding process that even division executives say will take 20 years. With competition fierce in the volume car business, a robust premium line is key to improved profits, but Lincoln provided little in the way of margin expansion during Mulally’s tenure.