本周，福特（Ford）辭退了履職三年的掌門人馬克·菲爾茨。在此期間面，他的任務異常艱巨，一方面要采用新技術，同時還要繼續發展公司的核心汽車業務。菲爾茨也一直在推動福特向這個方向發展，但華爾街并不相信他能完成此次轉型。過去三年，福特股價下跌了40%便是最好的證據。

新任CEO吉姆·哈克特應該更容易讓投資者相信，福特能從一家傳統汽車公司，轉變為一家更靈活、技術更先進的移動出行公司。這位直言不諱的高管很清楚如何吸引華爾街。哈克特從不回避做出艱難的決定。他在之前的職位上，為了削減成本曾經裁員數千人。預計他還將致力于解決福特的運營問題。作為智能出行部門的負責人，對于承諾樹立移動出行領域的領導地位這一公司愿景，哈克特自然是最理所當然的支持者。他并非“汽車人”在這方面也有幫助。

另外，哈克特在幫助公司扭轉困境方面，也積累了良好的信譽。他曾擔任密歇根州辦公家具制造商Steelcase的CEO。當時，整個行業低迷，面臨巨變，他的任務非常艱巨。據《紐約時報》報道，為了解決公司的問題，哈克特聘請了社會學家和人類學家，幫助公司的家具設計師們更好地了解人們的工作習慣。當時流行的依舊是標準的隔間，但Steelcase卻開始銷售打造開放辦公室的家具，幫助客戶打造更適合團隊合作的環境。這些改革使曾經處境艱難的Steelcase，變成了美國最受贊賞的公司之一。

哈克特解決的另外一個麻煩也備受關注。他在密歇根大學（University of Michigan）臨時體育部主任期間，成功請到前舊金山49人隊（San Francisco 49ers）教練吉姆·哈博擔任校足球隊教練。為了聘請哈博和恢復人們對該校足球課程的信心，哈克特付出了巨大的努力——這也證明了他的堅持不懈。

在周一召開的新聞發布會上，福特執行總裁小威廉·C·福特回憶稱，去年他訪問硅谷期間，有許多高管都認識哈克特，認為他是原創型的思想家，這令他印象深刻。如果哈克特能在自己身邊聚集合適的人才，他就可以成為福特移動出行部門和傳統業務之間成功的“橋梁建設者”。

福特內部將迫切需要哈克特的領導能力。在汽車行業，局外人通常很難打開局面。不過因為在金融危機期間避免福特破產而知名的艾倫·穆拉利也是一名局外人。現在，谷歌（Google）、特斯拉（Tesla）和許多硅谷初創公司讓所有人都緊張不已，而哈克特或許將給汽車行業帶來一些新鮮空氣。

最后，哈克特已經計劃對公司的組織結構和決策者們進行調整，包括任命福特全球市場、全球業務和移動出行部門的負責人等，這也會有所幫助。這將增強哈克特的能力，讓他可以更快、更有信心地進行決策。

投資者認為，汽車行業變革的時機已經成熟，所以他們才會對特斯拉、蘋果（Apple）和谷歌等公司如此熱心。但按部就班向未來轉變的可能性，遠遠高于一夜之間分崩離析。這也是福特和其他汽車廠商多年來所做的事情，包括緩慢推出盲點監測、自適應巡航控制和車道偏離警告等功能。為了讓投資者相信，這種按部就班的轉變比倉促采用新技術更有意義，哈克特的到來很有必要。（財富中文網）

本文作者克里斯汀·施塔德勒是華威商學院（Warwick Business School）的戰略管理教授

譯者：劉進龍/汪皓

Departed Ford head Mark Fields—who was forced out this week after three years in charge—was faced with the difficult task of adapting new technologies while continuing to grow the iconic company’s vehicle business. Fields was pushing Ford in that direction, but Wall Street didn’t trust him to shepherd the transition. A 40% drop in share price over the last three years has spoken loud and clear.

New CEO Jim Hackett should have a much easier time convincing investors that Ford will be able to make the jump from a traditional car company to a more flexible and technologically advanced mobility company. The straight-talking executive knows how to entice Wall Street. He doesn’t shy away from tough decisions—in a previous role he cut thousands of jobs to bring down costs—and is expected to sort out Ford’s operational issues. Coming straight from the company’s mobility unit, he is the most plausible champion of a vision that promises mobility leadership. That he is not a “car guy” also helps in this regard.

Hackett also has a reputation of turning around ailing companies. As CEO of Steelcase, an office furniture maker in Michigan, he had to weather several downturns and sharp shifts in the industry. To help fix the company, Hackett enlisted sociologists and anthropologists to help his furniture designers better understand people’s working habits, according to the New York Times. At a time when cubicles were still the norm, Steelcase started to sell furniture aimed at open offices and enabled his customers to create a better environment for teamwork. These changes helped turn the ailing manufacturer into one of America’s most admired companies.

Another of Hackett’s high-profile fix-it jobs was as the University of Michigan’s interim athletic director, where he managed to hire former San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh to head the college football team. Hackett undertook a mammoth effort to hire Harbaugh and restore confidence in the university’s football program—another taste of his perseverance.

At a news conference on Monday, Ford Executive Chairman William C. Ford Jr. recalled how he visited Silicon Valley last year and was impressed by how many executives knew Hackett well and saw him as an original thinker. If Hackett surrounds himself with the right mix of people, he can be a successful bridge builder between Ford’s mobility unit and legacy business.

Hackett’s leadership qualities will be in high demand internally. Outsiders usually have a hard time in the world of cars. But Alan Mulally, who is celebrated for keeping Ford out of bankruptcy during the financial crisis, was also an outsider. Right now, when everyone is nervous about Google, Tesla, and a long list of Silicon Valley startups, Hackett looks like a breath of fresh air.

Finally, it helps that Hackett has developed a plan to change both the structure and decision-makers at the helm of the company, including new heads of Ford’s global markets, global operations, and mobility divisions. This will enhance his ability to make quicker and more confident decisions.

Investors believe the car industry is ripe for disruption, which is why they are so high on companies like Tesla, Apple, and Google. But a step-by-step transition into the future is much more likely than an overnight disruption. That is what Ford and other manufacturers have been doing for a few years already, slowly introducing features like blind spot detection, adaptive cruise control, and lane departure warning. Hackett’s arrival is necessary to convince investors that this step-by-step transition makes more sense than diving headfirst into new technologies.

Christian Stadler is a professor of strategic management at Warwick Business School.