My Challenge

I've been challenged to stop saying, "Didn't I say that months ago?!" whenever a news item on the television repeats one of my casual insights. The challenger (my sister) further suggested that instead of saying, "I told you so", I write my insights and see whether they are ever borne out in fact. As an unemployed (and some would say unemployable) MBA with more going on in my head than could possibly be useful, I've decided to take up the challenge. Henceforth, this blog's meanderings will consider and treat with whatever issue(s) of the day catch my eye.

The Background:
Months ago I suggested in the privacy of my home, that Toyota's troubles would be a boon for Ford. Tonight on the news, it was reported that Ford's sales were up 43% in February alone. Liesl was right. Several months before that, I had said that Ford was the car company to watch and that if I had a dollar, I'd buy the stock. Late last year, Ford reported an almost $1 billion profit. Right about that too.

Since this isn't the first time this has happened (you'll have to take my word for it), I'm going to do as was suggested and post my insights and test myself.

Next big insight: I'm suggesting that Ford, if the organization wishes to hold tightly to its new found position of supremacy in the market place, needs to call every division head to a meeting and have a no-holds-barred, tell-me-the-truth meeting. Any and all issues that might affect the brand's position in the market place (particularly issues around safety) need to be aired now and dealt with swiftly. Now is the time for Ford to actively seek out product weaknesses and proactively recall and fix them before they become a public relations nightmare, because believe me when I say this, if anything comes out later the company's stock will fall faster than a stone dropped from the top of Mt. Rushmore. If it later comes to light that Ford knew about a problem and failed to act in a timely manner, the brand will take a hit and it may never recover. I really hope that Ford has figured all this out already and I'm well behind the curve here. We'll see what happens over the next several months.

Minor insight: I also commented at home that Ford's real problem was going to be its union. A billion dollar profit sounds like a lot, but automotive manufacturing is an expensive business to be in and Ford needs many quarters of billion dollar profits to pull itself from the brink of disaster. Workers and union bosses though, may not quite understand the dynamics of the business and may simply see Ford as a deep pocket from which to draw. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is left to be seen what the union will demand when the next round of negotiations begins, and how Ford's leadership will deal with requests that could potentially put the company right back where they started....on life support.

So there they are. My Ford insights. Let's see what happens in the real world.
Next: throwaway people