There has been much written lately about Carlos Ghosn. Some are thinking that with Kirk Kerkorian’s urging, this fellow is likely to be the next head of GM. Of course, there’s a lot required for this to happen, but would it make any difference?
Mr. Ghosn is considered an auto industry turnaround expert. How? Does he ride in with a program to slash costs by cutting marketing and R&D and killing new products – vis-a-vis Chainsaw Al Dunlap of Scott Paper infamy? Does he randomly implement across the board cost cutting? Hardly.
At Nissan, he quickly disrupted the company by killing off the Japanese keiretsu system of long-term relationships.. This opened the door for a dramatic series of actions which threw the company into White Space. For example, new competitive bidding teams were created for sourcing, and a wave of innovation programs were started. In one year, the company went from a loss to a record profit. That has been followed with 6 years of record profits.
Never one to stop disrupting, Mr. Ghosn recently took the dramatic action of moving Nissan’s U.S. headquarters from Southern California – the legacy location of headquarters for all Japanese auto companies – to Nashville, TN, much closer to the company’s plants. While this has upset a lot of industry watchers, there is no doubt he has used the move to change the leadership and the processes of Nissan U.S.A.
If he follows the same plans at GM, Mr. Ghosn could be a tremendously beneficial change for America’s largest car company. Like Ed Zander when he arrived at Motorola, Ghosn is likely to Disrupt the status quo, and implement White Space. Being a master disruptor is one of the most valuable traits of a good leader. Especially one needing to turnaround a behemoth. Just look at the Disruptions implemented by Lou Gerstner at IBM, which saved the company from the brink of disaster.
Given the incapability of GMs leadership to attack its Lock-in and create White Space for generating future opportunities, there is no doubt change is needed. Given his record, Mr. Ghosn would make dramatic change in GM by attacking its Lock-in and implementing White Space. And that would be good for everyone. If Mr. Ghosn gets the top job at this venerable company, give investing in GM another long hard look.
(Link here for more information on Mr. Ghosn courtesy of the Chicago Tribune.)