Bedford Public Library

Car guys vs. bean counters, the battle for the soul of American business, Bob Lutz

eng

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Car guys vs. bean counters

Bob Lutz

the battle for the soul of American business

In 2001, General Motors hired Bob Lutz out of retirement with a mandate to save the company by making great cars again. He launched a war against penny pinching, office politics, turf wars, and risk avoidance. After declaring bankruptcy during the recession of 2008, GM is back on track thanks to its embrace of Lutz's philosophy. When Lutz got into the auto business in the early sixties, CEOs knew that if you captured the public's imagination with great cars, the money would follow. The car guys held sway, and GM dominated with bold, creative leadership and iconic brands like Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, GMC, and Chevrolet. But then GM's leadership began to put their faith in analysis, determined to eliminate the "waste" and "personality worship" of the bygone creative leaders. Management got too smart for its own good. With the bean counters firmly in charge, carmakers (and much of American industry) lost their single-minded focus on product excellence. Decline followed. Lutz's commonsense lessons (with a generous helping of fascinating anecdotes) will inspire readers at any company facing the bean counter analysis-paralysis menace

The beginning -- An unstoppable force -- The beginning of the end -- A failed "culture of excellence" -- Ground zero -- "Here's what we're going to do first" -- Tackling the 800-pound gorilla -- Learning to go global (what took so long?) -- Chevrolet Volt ("I'll let you explain it to the board") -- Meltdown and rebirth -- What's with American business anyway? (Ask the dogs!) -- Of management styles -- If I had been CEO -- And in conclusion

Car guys versus bean counters