就在不久前，福特汽车公司（Ford Motor Co.）管理层的变更就像是南美香蕉共和国的死刑执行现场。

    1978年，亨利•福特二世突然裁掉了董事长李•艾柯卡。他把艾柯卡叫进办公室，告诉他：“我就是不喜欢你。”1989年，CEO唐•皮特森对董事会失去了信心。他发表了一份奇怪的声明，称要“移植”他自己，随后离去。而在2001年，福特公司经受了好几个月的公众质疑之后，董事长比尔•福特开除了CEO雅克•纳赛尔。

    当然，比起1945年的那次斗争，以上这些都只是小儿科。当年，亨利•福特二世不得不解除居心叵测的哈里•班尼特的职位，才终于从年老体衰的祖父那里接管了公司。

    假如有什么人不相信艾伦•穆拉利的确已经改变了这家财富500强的企业文化，最新一系列管理层交接的消息足以打消他们的疑虑。

    福特管理层变动的故事没有成为不和谐高层变动的范例，反而变成了商学院探讨长期战略性管理层变动的研究案例。

    这样的转变很大程度上要归功于穆拉利出众的能力。他公开透明的管理风格和执行总裁比尔•福特对他毫无保留的支持都提高了员工对公司的忠诚度。

    在上周四的电话会议上，比尔•福特脱口而出：“我爱艾伦。”其他人可能不会如此明确地表达自己的感受，因此这句话蕴含的感情被广为流传。凭借他光芒四射的外向性格，艾伦•穆拉利赢得了所有人的支持，除了那些始终深表怀疑的顽固派。

    穆拉利希望在离职之前，能够留在迪尔伯恩继续工作，平稳地度过这个时期，不过人们并不清楚他的这一意愿在这场权利的顺利交接中起到了多大的作用。穆拉利已经积累了相当的个人财富，也没有任何家人住在密歇根，因此人们有理由认为他有可能会迅速离职，前往气候更加宜人的地区生活。

当天的重大新闻：

    •关于穆拉利退休时间的猜测持续了数月之后，穆拉利称他会在迪尔伯恩的岗位上一直待到至少2014年年底，那个时候他都69岁了。这比预计多了至少一年，也留出了足够的时间给下一任做好准备。

    •51岁的马克•菲尔兹长期以来都是CEO的候选人。目前他已经升职为首席营运官。这意味着只要穆拉利决定离职，他随时都能接替。菲尔兹同时继承了穆拉利标志性的管理革新：周四的业务流程工作总结会上，所有的主管都要在同事面前报告自己运营状况的最新进展。

    •平步青云的制造专家、亚洲地区总裁乔•辛瑞克斯接管了菲尔兹监管南北美洲的任务。对辛瑞克斯而言，这次提拔来得有些晚。他常年在亚洲的航班上奔波，是猎头公司的追逐的热门对象。

    •销售奇才吉姆•法雷肩负起了林肯汽车复兴的全球运营责任，获得了将其理论付诸于实践的机会。法雷加入时，林肯汽车正计划推出首款重新设计的汽车款式，迈出大张旗鼓的复兴之路上的第一步。

    这次管理层的变更正处于福特走向未来成功的潜在转折点，它将决定福特是否能继续穆拉利的改革，抑或将在不利的市场环境、复苏的竞争对手和自身缺陷的三重夹攻下被迫退却。

    In the not-so-distant past, management transitions at Ford Motor Co. were much like the firing squad at a South American banana republic.

    Henry Ford II abruptly fired president Lee Iacocca in 1978 by calling him into his office and telling him "I simply don't like you." CEO Don Petersen departed in 1989 after losing the confidence of the board of directors with the bizarre announcement that he planned to "repot" himself. And chairman Bill Ford booted CEO Jac Nasser in October 2001 after months of public disputes.

    Of course, all of that was an improvement over 1945 when Henry Ford II had to practically disarm the thuggish, gin-toting Harry Bennett in order to take over the company from his ailing grandfather.

    If there were any doubts about the changes in Ford (F, Fortune 500) culture wrought by CEO Alan Mulally, they were erased by the news of the latest series of management changes.

    Instead of being a textbook example of jarring executive moves, Ford now becomes a business school case study of strategic long-term management transitions.

    The transformation is largely the result of Mulally's ability to inspire personal loyalty, due to his transparent and open management style, along with the unqualified support he gets from executive chairman Bill Ford.

    In a conference call Thursday, Bill Ford blurted out, "I love Alan." While others may not be so demonstrative about their affections, the sentiment behind the expression seems to be widely shared. With his radiant and outgoing personality, Mulally has won over all but the most deeply cynical.

    Less obvious in the smooth transition is how it was facilitated by Mulally's willingness to remain in Dearborn and on the job well past what might have been expected to be his normal sell-by date. Having amassed a considerable personal fortune and without any family ties to Michigan, he might have reasonably been expected to depart more quickly for temperate climes.

The day's big news:

    •After months of speculation about the timing of his retirement, Mulally says he will stay on the job and in Dearborn at least through 2014, when he will be 69 years old. That's at least a year longer than expected, providing ample time to make the transition to the next in line.

    •Mark Fields, 51, long tipped as a CEO candidate, moves up to chief operating officer, clearly positioning him to succeed Mulally whenever he does decide to step down. Fields also takes over Mulally's signature management innovation at Ford: the Thursday business process review meeting, in which all executives are expected to provide unflinching updates of their operations in the presence of their colleagues.

    •Joe Hinrichs, a fast-rising manufacturing expert who had been running Asia, takes over Fields' old job overseeing North and South America. The promotion is overdue for Hinrichs, who was wearing himself on long-distance flights around Asia and was highly sought-after by headhunters for other firms.

    •Marketing whiz Jim Farley gets a chance to put actions behind his words and theories by accepting global operating responsibility for the revival of Lincoln. Farley steps in just as Lincoln is scheduled to introduce its first redesigned model as part of a much-hyped turnaround.

    The changes come at a potential tipping point in Ford's future success that will determine whether it can continue to build on Mulally's reforms or be forced to retreat due to a combination of adverse markets, resurgent competitors, and its own shortcomings.

尽管上周发布的第三季度财报显示盈利，福特仍然有不少麻烦：

    •福特必须重新调整在欧洲市场亏本的运营结构，包括忍痛关闭在比利时和英国的工厂，公司制定了计划，以避免在面对复苏的大众汽车公司（Volkswagen）时遭遇更大的亏损。

    •福特的市场占有率大幅降低，而且这种下滑的趋势仍然得不到扭转。十月的销售报告显示，福特的销量仅增长了0.5%，而整个行业销量则增长了6%。要不是因为超过1/4的车卖给了租车公司，福特的业绩还会更糟糕。

    •尽管福特十月的销售额在美国排行第三，日本丰田汽车（Toyota）138,000辆的销量却超越了福特的124,000辆。专业汽车网站Edmunds.com的分析师刻薄地说：“十月对福特来说还真不是个好月份。”

    •穆拉利的全球“一个福特”战略实施后，新产品的推行并不顺利。竞争对手称，福特推出了奖励机制，每卖出一台新款福特翼虎（Ford Crossover）跨界车，奖励2,000美元，然而更老的竞争对手雪佛兰春分（Chevy Equinox）在销售时并没有实行这样的奖励机制。

    •《消费者报告》指出，福特新款汽车的一些技术故障导致顾客不满。由于顾客不满于娱乐信息触摸屏控制系统和重新设计的自动换挡功能，福特和林肯汽车在该杂志的年度质量评分中排名接近垫底。

    投资者们注意到，福特今年的市场占有率最高仅有2.56%，而通用汽车公司（General Motors）则达到了27.6%。不过后者在欧洲和北美也有自身的问题。

    所以，对于穆拉利和比尔•福特整顿了福特易怒的企业文化，执行了这次看起来几乎完美的管理层换届，我们应该充分予以肯定。但是不要误以为新的团队能够就此一帆风顺地走下去。

    不会的。

    译者：严匡正

Despite record third-quarter profits announced this week, there are several trouble spots:

    •Ford must restructure its money-losing European operations, which will involve painful plant closings in Belgium and the U.K., as it develops a plan to avoid further momentum loss momentum in the face of a resurgent Volkswagen.

    •The automaker has been losing market share for a significant stretch, and the slippage has yet to be reversed. October sales reports show Ford gained only half a percent in volume vs. 6% for the industry as a whole. It would have lost even more ground had not more than a quarter of its sales gone to fleet, the most of its major competitors.

    •Despite ranking third in U.S. sales for October, Toyota (TM) handily outsold Ford at retail -- 138,000 to 124,000. "October was not a stellar month for Ford," one Edmunds.com analyst commented drily.

    •New Ford models, the products of Mulally's global "One Ford" strategy, haven't been launching well. Competitors say the new Ford Escape crossover already carries incentives of $2,000 per vehicle, while an older competitor, the Chevy Equinox, sells with no incentives.

    •And new Ford vehicles have customer-repelling technical glitches, according to Consumer Reports. It ranks Fords and Lincoln near the bottom of its annual quality scores due to owner complaints about their touch-screen infotainment controls and redesigned automatic transmissions.

    Investors have noticed. Ford shares are up only 2.56% for the year vs. 27.6% for General Motors (GM, Fortune 500), which has its own problems in Europe and North America.

    So give Mulally (and Bill Ford) credit for overhauling Ford's fractious culture and executing what looks like a picture-perfect example of management transition. But don't confuse that with a sign that the new team will face smooth sailing from here on out.

    It won't.