Lessons from the heart of American business : a roadmap for managers in the 21st century / Gerald Greenwald ; with Charles Madigan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Greenwald, Gerald.

Contributor:

Madigan, Charles.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Management--United States.

Management.

United States.

Physical Description:

viii, 276 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Warner Books, [2001]

Summary:

Integrity. Honesty. Hard work. Loyalty... These are not the buzzwords of business management today. But these qualities mark the career of one of America's most successful corporate leaders, Gerald Greenwald.

In 1957 Jerry Greenwald began his career at the Ford Motor Company -- right on the eve of the Edsel fiasco. In the next forty years he rose to the top during some of the most exciting, turbulent times in corporate history, from the near collapse of Chrysler to the employee buyout of United Airlines. All the while Greenwald did business the way he felt in his heart: as a straight shooter, and by listening and learning every step of the way. In this book, he shares his wealth of expertise as he looks back at his career, and looks ahead to the greatest challenges facing tomorrow's corporate managers.

Unabashedly old fashioned, shaped by the Great Depression and his Midwestern childhood, Greenwald made a career out of empowering others to work toward a common goal. Here he tells aspiring managers how they can achieve consensus, build partnerships, react to crisis, and steer a corporate ship through both smooth seas and storms. And he presents an overall view of management that is cliche- and fad-free, resting instead on principles of hard work, teamwork, respect for labor, and absolute, no-holds-barred communication.

Along the way, Greenwald shares his extraordinary memories. Here is the dramatic, inside story of the last-minute signing of the Chrysler bail-out arrangement -- including the office fire that nearly had the deal go up in flames -- and a marvelous look at the radically different managerial styles of Ford legends Phil Caldwell and Ed Molina, as well as Chrysler's Lee Iacocca.

An extraordinary book for real managers -- and real workers -- Lessons From the Heart of American Business is a remarkable look at a lifetime of business achievement -- from a man who did it from the heart.

Contents:

1 Have the Courage to Admit You Don't Know 1

2 In the Court of the Emperor Ford 16

3 We'll Always Have Paris: Around the World for Ford 39

4 Graduate School of Hard Knocks: Running a Business 64

5 Am I Nuts? Taking the World's Toughest Job 75

6 Not Such Friendly Skies 104

7 Workers Paradise? 126

8 Dealing with Deep Trouble 143

9 Two Forbidden Words: Trust Me 167

10 Leave Your Old Ethics at the Door: Ours Are Better 192

11 Golden Years 213

12 Who Killed Loyalty? 230

13 Paying Attention to the Right Things 244

14 How Not to Sell Your Soul 257.

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

0446525448

OCLC:

44952114