????就在不久前，福特汽車公司（Ford Motor Co.）管理層的變更就像是南美香蕉共和國的死刑執(zhí)行現(xiàn)場。

????1978年，亨利?福特二世突然裁掉了董事長李?艾柯卡。他把艾柯卡叫進辦公室，告訴他：“我就是不喜歡你?！?989年，CEO唐?皮特森對董事會失去了信心。他發(fā)表了一份奇怪的聲明，稱要“移植”他自己，隨后離去。而在2001年，福特公司經(jīng)受了好幾個月的公眾質(zhì)疑之后，董事長比爾?福特開除了CEO雅克?納賽爾。

????當然，比起1945年的那次斗爭，以上這些都只是小兒科。當年，亨利?福特二世不得不解除居心叵測的哈里?班尼特的職位，才終于從年老體衰的祖父那里接管了公司。

????假如有什么人不相信艾倫?穆拉利的確已經(jīng)改變了這家財富500強的企業(yè)文化，最新一系列管理層交接的消息足以打消他們的疑慮。

????福特管理層變動的故事沒有成為不和諧高層變動的范例，反而變成了商學院探討長期戰(zhàn)略性管理層變動的研究案例。

????這樣的轉變很大程度上要歸功于穆拉利出眾的能力。他公開透明的管理風格和執(zhí)行總裁比爾?福特對他毫無保留的支持都提高了員工對公司的忠誠度。

????在上周四的電話會議上，比爾?福特脫口而出：“我愛艾倫。”其他人可能不會如此明確地表達自己的感受，因此這句話蘊含的感情被廣為流傳。憑借他光芒四射的外向性格，艾倫?穆拉利贏得了所有人的支持，除了那些始終深表懷疑的頑固派。

????穆拉利希望在離職之前，能夠留在迪爾伯恩繼續(xù)工作，平穩(wěn)地度過這個時期，不過人們并不清楚他的這一意愿在這場權利的順利交接中起到了多大的作用。穆拉利已經(jīng)積累了相當?shù)膫€人財富，也沒有任何家人住在密歇根，因此人們有理由認為他有可能會迅速離職，前往氣候更加宜人的地區(qū)生活。

當天的重大新聞：

?????關于穆拉利退休時間的猜測持續(xù)了數(shù)月之后，穆拉利稱他會在迪爾伯恩的崗位上一直待到至少2014年年底，那個時候他都69歲了。這比預計多了至少一年，也留出了足夠的時間給下一任做好準備。

?????51歲的馬克?菲爾茲長期以來都是CEO的候選人。目前他已經(jīng)升職為首席營運官。這意味著只要穆拉利決定離職，他隨時都能接替。菲爾茲同時繼承了穆拉利標志性的管理革新：周四的業(yè)務流程工作總結會上，所有的主管都要在同事面前報告自己運營狀況的最新進展。

?????平步青云的制造專家、亞洲地區(qū)總裁喬?辛瑞克斯接管了菲爾茲監(jiān)管南北美洲的任務。對辛瑞克斯而言，這次提拔來得有些晚。他常年在亞洲的航班上奔波，是獵頭公司的追逐的熱門對象。

?????銷售奇才吉姆?法雷肩負起了林肯汽車復興的全球運營責任，獲得了將其理論付諸于實踐的機會。法雷加入時，林肯汽車正計劃推出首款重新設計的汽車款式，邁出大張旗鼓的復興之路上的第一步。

????這次管理層的變更正處于福特走向未來成功的潛在轉折點，它將決定福特是否能繼續(xù)穆拉利的改革，抑或將在不利的市場環(huán)境、復蘇的競爭對手和自身缺陷的三重夾攻下被迫退卻。

????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.