马克•菲尔茨准备好了掌舵福特吗？

    眼下，福特公司（Ford）即将经历领导人的更新换代，这个过程可能会十分微妙，充满戏剧性，并且最终决定福特的竞争力。

    据称，公司董事会正在考虑由马克•菲尔茨来接任艾伦•穆拉利出任下一届首席执行官。穆拉利今年已经67岁，即将退休，正是他一手改造了福特的企业文化。而菲尔茨的主要任务将是证明自己能把新的企业文化很好的延续下去。自2006年穆拉利从波音公司（Boeing）退休后，他就在福特管理层中推行协作管理，从此终结了福特长期以来内斗不断的历史。

    菲尔茨之所以能获选成为接班人，部分原因是他愿意按照福特全新的企业文化来领导公司。2008年的金融危机中，福特一度濒临破产，正是这种新的企业文化挽救了福特，使其重回稳定的财务轨道。目前，菲尔茨主管福特在美国的业务，盈利情况一直良好。

    现在坊间盛传董事会准备提名菲尔茨接掌大权，成为穆拉利的继任者，对此福特公司拒绝证实。有关穆拉利退休的问题福特也讳莫如深，只是引述了执行总裁比尔•福特的话，邀请穆拉利无限期任职。

    对董事和大股东来说，穆拉利退休是一大损失——但是不公布选拔继任者的计划也会带来风险。不管在哪方面，穆拉利对福特的影响都是深远的。

    位于密歇根州安娜堡的汽车研究中心退休名誉主席戴维•科尔表示：“穆拉利让‘伟大领袖’式的首席执行官退出历史舞台，让‘智慧教练’式的当家人取而代之。福特的董事会必须有把握，公司的文化不会回到争执不休的老路上，这种风格曾是旧管理体制的典型特点。”

    福特当年与马自达合作时，菲尔茨就是福特的高管，更早些时候，他曾效力于福特南美公司。人们常常提起的穆拉利上任不久后的一段轶事是，当时菲尔茨是首位肯在首席执行官和其他高管面前承认经营困难的公司高管。而在穆拉利之前，这种坦承会被视为软弱无能，可能会给职业生涯造成不利影响。

    安娜堡的心理学家兼管理教练罗伯特•帕斯科称：“有关菲尔茨比较有趣的一点是，他也曾是旧体系的一分子。他能否接穆拉利的班还不得而知。不过他肯定已经证明了自己的价值所在。”

    路透社（Reuters）的一则报道引用一位匿名人士的爆料称，菲尔茨上任后，穆拉利可能会在福特的董事会中继续担任一段时间的非执行主席。董事会如果疏远菲尔茨，将会带来一定风险，还会造成一种不确定的氛围，让人无从得知谁会来掌管公司。

    一位不肯透露身份的底特律汽车咨询顾问称：“很难说穆拉利会何时退休，但像他这样谨慎周密的人，对此肯定早有计划，并且会完美执行这一计划。”

    这位咨询顾问还称，这一计划很可能包括彻底解决福特在欧洲泥足深陷的问题。今年第二财季，福特欧洲区亏损4.04亿美元，2012年全年可能会亏损更严重。咨询顾问表示：“他考虑的是，一定要扶持一位带领公司走向成功的继任者，”同时他指出福特已在中国实施了一项计划，将增强福特在中国的竞争力。

    股票分析师向福特表示，其股价明显低于其潜在市值，这主要是因为福特还未证明它能避免在欧洲高达数十亿美元的亏损。一旦能摆脱欧洲的困境，穆拉利就能安心向菲尔茨移交大权了——届时，这两位就都能安享福特更高的股价。

    译者：清远

    Ford is undertaking leadership succession that could be tricky, fraught with drama and ultimately decisive as to Ford's competitiveness.

    The company's board is reportedly considering Mark Fields, 51, to succeed Alan Mulally as the automaker's next chief executive officer. Fields's main task will be to prove he can perpetuate the change in corporate culture initiated by Mulally, 67, who is approaching retirement. Since 2006, when he was hired from Boeing, Mulally has imposed a collaborative management style for Ford's top executives, a departure from the automaker's history of internal combativeness.

    Fields, who is reportedly about to be promoted to Ford's chief operating officer, is being chosen in part for his willingness to lead according to the new cultural norms, which have helped the automaker regain financial stability after near-bankuptcy in the 2008 financial crisis. Fields is currently running Ford's business in the Americas, which has been profitable.

    Ford has declined to confirm widespread reports that the board was preparing to name Fields to a new post, positioning him as Mulally's successor. Ford also has sidestepped questions about Mulally's retirement, except to quote executive chairman Bill Ford's invitation to stay indefinitely.

    For directors and major shareholders, Mulally's retirement would be a loss – yet failing to provide a transparent succession plan carries hazards as well. In any event, Mulally's impact on the organization has been profound.

    "Mulally replaced the 'great leader' model of CEO for the 'wise coach' model," said David Cole, chairman emeritus of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan. "Ford's board of directors has to be certain that the culture doesn't revert to the old way of bickering that characterized the old regime."

    Fields was Ford's top executive when it was affiliated with Japanese automaker Mazda and earlier served in South America. One of the oft-told tales about the early days of Mulally's tenure is that Fields was one of the first to be willing to admit operational difficulties in front of the CEO and other executives. Prior to Mulally, such an admission would have been interpreted as weakness and possibly career-damaging.

    "One of the interesting aspects of Fields is that he was part of the old system," said Robert Pasick, an Ann Arbor-based psychologist and executive coach. "It wasn't clear that he was going to survive Mulally. He must have proved his worth."

    One news report from Reuters, citing an unnamed source, says that Mulally could serve on the Ford (F) board for some period as non-executive chairman after Fields takes over as CEO. The board would risk alienating Fields and create uncertainty as to who was running the company.

    A Detroit-based automotive consultant who declined to be identified said "it's hard to say when Mulally is leaving, but being as thoughtful as he is you can be sure there is a plan and he's going to execute it flawlessly."

    The plan, said the consultant, likely entails a resolution of Ford's troubled European operations, which lost $404 million in the second quarter and are likely to lose more through the end of 2012. "He wants to be sure to set up the next guy for success," said the consultant, noting that Ford has been able to put in place a plan for action in China that can make the company more competitive there.

    Equity analysts have told Ford that its shares are selling at a significant discount to their potential because the automaker hasn't proved it can avoid multi-billion dollar losses in Europe. Once that continent is fixed, Alan Mulally could be in a position to hand the keys to Mark Fields – while both enjoy a much richer price for Ford stock.