James P. Hackett, the newly appointed chief executive of Ford Motor, is giving the first signs of how he plans to run the Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker, realigning senior management around a handful of critical themes and delegating responsibility to others who can help the former Steelcase CEO guide Ford through what is perhaps the most treacherous period in its history.
“The leadership changes we are announcing…across our global business are important as we foster even greater teamwork, accountability and nimble decision-making,” said Hackett, who was named CEO on Monday, replacing Mark Fields. “I am excited to work together with Bill Ford and such a talented and diverse group of leaders to create a more vibrant Ford that delivers value for all of our stakeholders.”
One way Hackett hopes to speed decision-making is by slashing the number of executives who report to him directly. While Fields had 18 direct reports, and spent a lot of time on operational issues, Hackett has only eight and is delegating more responsibilities to leaders of three important new units: Global Markets, headed by President James Farley; Global Operations, headed by President Joe Hinrichs; and Mobility, headed by President Marcy Klevorn. At a news conference Monday, he called them "walking encyclopedias" about the automotive business.
It’s also clear he plans to share power with Bill Ford, the company’s executive chairman. As the great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford, and the man whose name is on nearly every vehicle it sells, Bill Ford will take a greater role as the public face of the company, handling government relations and communications.
Under the new organization, Farley will oversee sales and marketing for Ford's operations around the world, including North America, which will now be headed by Raj Nair, an engineer who was previously head of research and development. Also reporting to Farley are Steven Armstrong, the new president of Ford Europe, Middle East and Africa; Peter Fleet, newly appointed president of Ford Asia Pacific; Lyle Watters, president of Ford South America; Kumar Galhotra, president of the Lincoln luxury division; Sherif Marakby, the new vice president of autonomous vehicles and electrification; and Stephen Odell, executive vice president of global marketing, sales and service.
While Farley oversees consumer-facing aspects of Ford’s business, Hinrichs will oversee operations such as manufacturing, product development and supply chain management. Reporting to Hinrichs are Hau Thai-Tang, who was named executive vice president of product development and purchasing; Bruce Hettle, group vice president of manufacturing and labor affairs; Bennie Fowler, group vice president of quality and new model launches; and Kimberly Pittel, group vice president of sustainability, environment and safety engineering.
Klevorn, who had been Ford’s chief information officer, now has the wider title of president-Mobility, which includes the year-old Ford Smart Mobility subsidiary that Hackett chaired before becoming CEO as well as IT and Global Data, Insights and Analytics. Among her direct reports are Raj Rao, chief executive of Ford Smart Mobility, and Paul Ballew, chief data and analytics officer, and two newly appointed executives: Mobility Chief Financial Officer Neil Schloss and IT Chief Operating Officer Jeff Lemmer.
Besides Farley, Hinrichs and Klevorn, Hackett’s direct reports include John Casesa, group vice president of global strategy; Felicia Fields, group vice president of human resources; Robert Shanks, chief financial officer; Ken Washington, who was named chief technology officer Thursday; and Bradley Gayton, who was appointed chief administrative officer and general counsel.
With a smaller team than Fields had, Hackett looks to be pushing decision-making and accountability down to lower levels of the organization, something Bill Ford emphasized earlier this week when he named Hackett to the top job.
“If we going to win in this new world, we have to empower the team. We have to move fast, and we have to trust our people to move fast,” he said.
He and Hackett are zeroing in on three strategic priorities:
· Execution, which means improving Ford’s operations worldwide and taking tough decisions to address underperforming parts of the business.
· Modernization, which means capitalizing on trends like artificial intelligence, robotics and 3D printing to unleash innovation and improve efficiency.
· Transformation, which means ensuring the company has the right culture, talent and strategies to meet society’s rapidly changing transportation needs.
Hackett, who ran Steelcase for 20 years, was a Ford director for three years before Bill Ford convinced him in 2016 to take the reins of a newly formed subsidiary, Ford Smart Mobility, created to design, build and invest in emerging mobility services like autonomous vehicles and ride-hailing services.
But staying on top of those fast-changing technologies while simultaneously managing headwinds in Ford’s core business is difficult. In recent months, Bill Ford and the board of directors lost confidence in Fields’ ability to handle those challenges and worried that cultural changes that occurred under his predecessor, Alan Mulally, were backsliding. That’s when Bill Ford tapped Hackett to take over the entire company as CEO.
