Tag Archives: Ed Whitacre

Automobiles

Review: <em>American Turnaround</em>

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By Dan Roth

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Ed Whitacre‘s Postcard From The Auto Bailout

Ed Whitacre freely admits “I knew nothing about cars. Zero.” Which made the out-of-the-blue phonecall from Steven Rattner all the more strange. But he does know management, and that’s why Team Auto reached out, because General Motors management was all kinds of bad, and that needed to change now that taxpayer money was at stake.

In his memoir American Turnaround, Ed Whitacre gives his side of the reinvigoration of General Motors. It’s another slice in the ongoing dissection of What Just Happened in the American auto business, and Whitacre sets up the story by asking, “How could I even consider taking the reins of a company whose business I knew nothing about?”

The book is written like a chat with Ed Whitacre himself; the words on the page almost twanging. The plain, direct language make the 271 pages of American Turnaround go quickly. The book was released February 12th, and as with any memoir, be sure to pick up a few grains of salt or look into some other perspectives so you can form your own opinions about the history that’s now being written down.

There will be critics who write off American Turnaround as a vanity piece written by a typical big-business type adept at tooting his own horn. A memoir by its very nature is going to be filled with a lot of I, Me, Mine, and the inherent inertia in the car business will see Whitacre accused of trying to take credit for things set in motion by the leadership he kicked out. The criticisms might be missing the point, or worse, misinterpreting. Whitacre didn’t swashbuckle in like, say, Bob Lutz, brimming with ideas about product development. Instead, he came in and looked at the way the business of GM was run, and according to his account, it wasn’t firing on all cylinders. That seems to square with other reports, regardless of what you believe caused it.

Continue reading American Turnaround

American Turnaround originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 15 Feb 2013 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog

News, Politics, Government

Ed Whitacre: Rebuilding the American Workforce

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By Dan Schawbel, Contributor Ed Whitacre is the former chairman and CEO of two major American corporations: General Motors and AT&T. At GM he set a clear vision and mandate – “Design, Build and Sell the World’s Best Vehicles” – that continues to this day. As the chief executive of AT&T, Whitacre applied a set of management principles and disciplined growth strategy that would turn the company, originally known as Southwestern Bell, into the largest telecom in the world. Born and raised in Ennis, Texas, Whitacre attended Texas Tech, earning a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering. He began his career with the phone company in 1963, as a student engineer in Dallas. In 1990 he was named CEO, and he remained in that leadership position for 17 years. In 2009, the White House appointed him chairman of GM, and he became CEO later that year.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

Automobiles

Report: Read an excerpt from Whitacre's book about how he fired Henderson and why Akerson got the job

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By Jonathon Ramsey

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Ed Whitacre's new book American Turnaround - coverIt is probably best just to play this down the middle and let you read the excerpt from American Turnaround: Reinventing AT&T and GM and the Way We Do Business in the USA by Ed Whitacre. The author, you’ll remember, was the former AT&T CEO who came out of retirement to take the position of chairman at General Motors in June of 2009. Six months later, he took the role of CEO, and on September 1, 2010 he was replaced by current CEO Dan Akerson and gave up the chairmanship at the end of that year.

To read the excerpt, you’re going to have to get past the Fortune headline “How Ed Whitacre brought GM back from the brink.” Now, Whitacre didn’t choose that headline, and since we’re playing this down the middle, we can’t say that the headline isn’t the only eyebrow-raising line in the piece – but we won’t charge it to Whitacre’s account. However, when it takes five years to develop a single car, and redesigning a taillight for a midcycle refresh might take a year, we’re not sure how anyone can reinvent a global automaker in just nine-months as CEO. Perhaps we should ask Ford boss Alan Mullaly about that timeframe.

To the point, the book will be out on February 12 – you can pre-order it on Amazon now – and Whitacre’s explanation of how Fritz Henderson was let go, how he got the CEO position and how Akerson came to follow will be sure to get enthusiasts intrigued in what else the complete tome might say. All you’ve got to do is follow the link to read it.

Read an excerpt from Whitacre’s book about how he fired Henderson and why Akerson got the job originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 24 Jan 2013 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog