Not long after we told you about the likely promotion of Derrick Kuzak to the role of global Car Czar, President and CEO of Ford Alan Mulally officially announced his corporate realignment plan. At the top of the pyramid is, of course, Mulally himself. Reporting to him are the leaders of Ford's three largest units: Mark Fields, Ford of the Americas; Lewis Booth, Ford of Europe and the Premier Auto Group (PAG); and John Parker, Ford of Asia Pacific, Africa and Mazda. Supporting this team will be the aforementioned Derrick Kuzak, whose office door now reads Global Product Development Leader (a.k.a. Car Czar). J Mays is still the leader of Ford's design teams and will support Kuzak.
The whole point of defining each executive's role in the company and creating clear hierarchies is so that Ford can begin acting like one company instead of five separate ones, each with their own interests. The biggest change here is that Fields, Booth and Parker will now all be reporting directly to Mulally. In the past, both Booth and Parker would report to Mark Schulz, the company's Executive VP of International Operations. Schulz, however, announced his retirement earlier this month, which gave management a perfect opportunity to cut out a middle man position and improve communication between various rungs of the corporate ladder.
Check out Ford's full press release on this realignment after the jump.
[Source: Ford]
PRESS RELEASE:
FORD ANNOUNCES CORPORATE REALIGNMENT
Reporting directly to Mulally under the new structure are the company's three automotive business unit leaders: Mark Fields, Ford of the Americas; Lewis Booth, Ford of Europe and the Premier Automotive Group; and John Parker, Ford of Asia Pacific and Africa, and Mazda.
In support of the business units, Derrick Kuzak will lead global product development, and report to Mulally. He will also continue to be responsible for product development for the Americas. J Mays continues to lead Ford design and will support Kuzak.
Also now reporting to Mulally, and similarly focused on using the company's global assets to better support its automotive business units, are: Tony Brown, purchasing; Bennie Fowler, quality and advanced manufacturing engineering; Nick Smither, information technology; and Richard Parry-Jones, chief technical officer. Mulally's other direct reports remain unchanged.
"An integrated, global product development team supporting our automotive business units will enable us to make the best use of our global assets and capabilities and accelerate development of the new vehicles our customers prefer, and do so more efficiently," Mulally said. "This new leadership will enable us to work together more effectively as one Ford team to continuously improve the quality, productivity and speed of our product development process."
The whole point of defining each executive's role in the company and creating clear hierarchies is so that Ford can begin acting like one company instead of five separate ones, each with their own interests. The biggest change here is that Fields, Booth and Parker will now all be reporting directly to Mulally. In the past, both Booth and Parker would report to Mark Schulz, the company's Executive VP of International Operations. Schulz, however, announced his retirement earlier this month, which gave management a perfect opportunity to cut out a middle man position and improve communication between various rungs of the corporate ladder.
Check out Ford's full press release on this realignment after the jump.
[Source: Ford]
PRESS RELEASE:
FORD ANNOUNCES CORPORATE REALIGNMENT
- Additional Focus on Worldwide Markets and Customers
- Improves Leverage of Global Assets and Capabilities
Reporting directly to Mulally under the new structure are the company's three automotive business unit leaders: Mark Fields, Ford of the Americas; Lewis Booth, Ford of Europe and the Premier Automotive Group; and John Parker, Ford of Asia Pacific and Africa, and Mazda.
In support of the business units, Derrick Kuzak will lead global product development, and report to Mulally. He will also continue to be responsible for product development for the Americas. J Mays continues to lead Ford design and will support Kuzak.
Also now reporting to Mulally, and similarly focused on using the company's global assets to better support its automotive business units, are: Tony Brown, purchasing; Bennie Fowler, quality and advanced manufacturing engineering; Nick Smither, information technology; and Richard Parry-Jones, chief technical officer. Mulally's other direct reports remain unchanged.
"An integrated, global product development team supporting our automotive business units will enable us to make the best use of our global assets and capabilities and accelerate development of the new vehicles our customers prefer, and do so more efficiently," Mulally said. "This new leadership will enable us to work together more effectively as one Ford team to continuously improve the quality, productivity and speed of our product development process."
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