Linda S. (GoneToTheDogs) reviewed on 5/14/2006 + 625 more book reviews

Business consultants Doody and Bingaman here recall the Ford Motor Co.'s stagnant, low-market situation in 1982 after Chairman Henry Ford II's departure. They ascribe the firm's first-place comeback against innovative foreign and domestic competition to a new, quality-oriented business philosophy that involved integration of formerly isolated divisions within the company (design, finance, supply, manufacture, marketing, etc.) and greatly increased employeeand even customerinvolvement. The turnaround centered on a four-year planning and production program for Ford's "European-like" Taurus mid-market line of cars, which eventually won "car-of-the-year" accolades. The silk-smooth prose reads at times like a luxury-car sales brochure, much being made, for example, of "aerodynamic" exterior styling (something known as streamlining a half-century ago). The authors link Ford's new success to the management-employee alliance, citing recent employee profit-sharing bonuses of $2000 or $3000.

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