????通用汽車公司（General Motor）首席營銷官喬爾?伊萬尼克知道自己有麻煩了。被炒之前的一周，有熟知內情的人表示，他在講述當前的項目時，便已經在使用過去時了，而且他看起來比以往更加安靜。有知情者稱：“很明顯，他明白有事情要發生了。”

????很快，所有人都知道了伊萬尼克似乎還在懷疑的事情：曾經的明日之星突然隕落。7月29日，通用汽車用一則簡單的聲明宣布伊萬尼克辭職。通用汽車發言人格雷格?馬丁對媒體表示，伊萬尼克“未能達到公司的預期。”他指的應該是通用汽車與歐洲最大的足球俱樂部曼聯（Manchester United）之間價值5.59億美元、長達七年的贊助合同。

????內部人士稱，伊萬尼克沒有如實向高層匯報贊助合同的財務細節，他告訴公司CEO兼董事會主席丹尼爾?艾克森，美國最大的汽車制造商在這份合同上的實際支出比最初與曼聯議定的金額低了三分之一。（此事被披露之后，合同被重新修訂。）內部人士稱，面對與此相關的質問，伊萬尼克反復否認存在虛報行為。通用汽車拒絕對此予以評論。目前，我們無法聯系到伊萬尼克本人。

????到目前為止，大多數人并不知道，在伊萬尼克離職背后，當事人的個人魅力和人際關系到底有多大的影響。《財富》雜志（Fortune）了解到，伊萬尼克與艾克森的關系驚人的密切，雖然兩人在管理和交流風格方面存在巨大的差異。艾克森畢業于美國海軍學院（U.S. Naval Academy），曾在美國海軍服役五年，他在公眾面前一直是一副處事圓滑、寡言少語的形象。而伊萬尼克于2010年5月加入通用汽車，他做人棱角分明，他曾經的同事評價他有一些魯莽。

????換言之，他與大多數首席營銷官截然不同。分析人士認為，在數項預算中，他可能并未就分攤和曼聯的合作成本做太多的考慮。美國知名汽車網站Edmunds.com的分析師米歇爾?克雷布斯稱：“他以前就干過這種事。”其他知情人士表示，5.59億美元僅占通用汽車總廣告預算的12%，而曼聯近期的IPO估值達23億美元，成為全球最有價值的球隊之一，所以，與曼聯合作的開支只有5.59億美元，算不上一筆很大的數目。

????伊萬尼克虛報合約的行為曝光是因為手下有人告密。然而，雖然這件事被視為伊萬尼克被解雇的導火索，但有知情人士表示，伊萬尼克矢口否認虛報問題，決定了艾克森對他的最終判決。內部人士稱：“這件事成為導致他遭到驅逐的最后一根稻草。”

????雖然艾克森與伊萬尼克有著顯而易見的差異，但兩人的經營風格都極富侵略性。曾幫助通用汽車處理破產問題的一名前政府官員認為，艾克森是個急性子，同時擁有很好的行事風格。自從2010年擔任CEO之后，他迅速在公司內部展開大刀闊斧的改革。這位前政府官員還表示：“丹喜歡把同樣充滿欲望和沖勁的人才招至麾下。”

????加入通用汽車之前，伊萬尼克在日產汽車（Nissan）有過很短時間的任職，他的運營風格與艾克森極為相似。與他共事的人都說，前一天他可能非常支持某個點子，但第二天就把它看得一文不值，迫使他的團隊不得不從頭再來，想出更好的點子。“他會讓你一直忙個不停，”伊萬尼克的前同事說。伊萬尼克在現代汽車（Hyundai）擔任營銷總監時，這種行事風格的效果明顯。他幫助現代汽車提高了銷量，主要原因是這家韓國汽車制造商的美國分公司實際上就是一家營銷公司。但克雷布斯認為，在通用汽車，“他必須考慮一些之前根本不需要考慮的內部問題。”

????這正是導致兩位高管產生矛盾的地方。六月份，伊萬尼克在戛納的講話被活動報道描述為風趣幽默，討人喜歡，這無疑展現了伊萬尼克人性化的一面。據彭博新聞社（Bloomberg News）報道，后來，艾克森因為此事責備了伊萬尼克。此外，在社交網絡Facebook進行IPO之前幾天，伊萬尼克公開談論通用汽車停止在Facebook上投放廣告的決定，對此，艾克森也非常不滿。但很明顯，當得知伊萬尼克在與曼聯的合作中誤導管理層之后，他清楚自己不可能再簡單地訓伊萬尼克一頓了事，也不能再睜一眼閉一眼裝糊涂。

????當然，這份處在漩渦中心的足球贊助協議最終能否有助于通用汽車的銷售，尤其是在歐洲市場的銷售，現在還言之尚早。但在未來幾年內，這對伊萬尼克來說應該是一個明智的決定。

????如今，前首席營銷官顯得非常低調。在被辭退的消息傳出后，他便陪同家人來到密歇根北部度假。有傳言稱，他將寫一本書，或者進行巡回演講，但這些都只是猜測，我們并不知道伊萬尼克會選擇哪條路。有熟知內情的人表示：“一切來得太快了。他現在還沒有完全消化。”

????譯者：劉進龍/汪皓

????Joel Ewanick, General Motor's chief marketing officer, knew trouble was brewing. During the week leading up to his ouster, sources familiar with the situation say he had started to refer to current projects in the past tense and seemed quieter than usual. "It was kind of clear he knew something was going to happen," one source says.

????The rest of the world quickly learned what Ewanick apparently suspected: the once-rising star had flamed out. On July 29, GM (GM) announced Ewanick's resignation through a terse statement and GM spokesman Greg Martin told the press, Ewanick "failed to meet the expectations the company has of an employee." The failure centered on the $559 million, seven-year sponsorship deal GM inked with Manchester United, Europe's largest soccer team.

????Insiders say Ewanick misrepresented the deal to upper management, telling CEO and chairman Daniel Akerson that the largest automaker in the U.S. was spending about a third less on the deal than what was originally agreed upon with Manchester United. (Upon the revelation, the deal was reworked.) When confronted about the situation, Ewanick repeatedly denied the misrepresentation, insiders say. GM declined further comment. Ewanick couldn't be reached for comment.

????What hasn't been widely known until now was the degree to which personal dynamics -- and personal relationships -- played a role in Ewanick's departure. Fortune has learned that Ewanick and Akerson were surprisingly close, despite deep differences in their management and communications styles. Akerson, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy who served in the Navy for five years, is polished and buttoned-up in public settings while Ewanick, who joined GM in May 2010, is rough around the edges, and some former colleagues describe him as a bit impetuous.

????In other words, he's not unlike a lot of marketing executives. And analysts suggest he probably didn't think twice about spreading the cost of the Manchester United deal among several budgets. "It's the kind of thing that's been done in the past," says Edmunds.com senior analyst Michelle Krebs. Other sources add that $559 million is only 12 percent of GM's entire advertising budget – a small amount to spend on a deal with Manchester United, whose recent IPO valued one of the most valuable sports franchise in the world at $2.3 billion.

????But while the deal misrepresentation, which was brought to light by a whistleblower within Ewanick's division, sparked the ouster, sources say that Ewanick's denial of it sealed his fate with Akerson. "That may have been the final straw," an insider says.

????For all their outward differences, Akerson and Ewanick shared an aggressive operating style. A former administration official who helped GM through its bankruptcy describes Akerson as impatient "in a good way;" he's moved quickly through the company to make changes since taking over as CEO in 2010. The former official adds, "Dan wants to bring in guys who share his hunger and drive."

????Ewanick, who spent a brief stint at Nissan (NSANY) before joining GM, operated in a similar fashion. People who worked with him say he might rally behind an idea one day and squash it the next, forcing his team to go back to square one to find something better. "He really kept you on your toes," says one person who worked with Ewanick. That style worked well for the marketing guru at Hyundai, where he helped spur sales, because the U.S. arm of the Korean automaker essentially operated as a marketing firm. But at GM, "he had to pay attention internally on levels he never had to think about on an import," Krebs says.

????And that's where tension arose between the two executives. When Ewanick cursed during a talk in Cannes in June, a source at the event describes it as funny and endearing, putting a human face on Ewanick. Akerson later chastised the marketing exec for the incident, according to Bloomberg News. Similarly, Akerson wasn't pleased when Ewanick publicly discussed GM's decision to pull its advertising from Facebook (FB) days before the social networking firm's IPO. But apparently Akerson felt he could not simply scold or look the other way when he learned Ewanick misled management about the Manchester United dealings.

????Of course it's too early to tell whether the soccer sponsorship at the center of the maelstrom ultimately will help GM's sales, particularly in Europe. But Years from now, it may look like a brilliant move on Ewanick's part.

????In the meantime the former marketing chief is lying low. After the news of his resignation broke he took his family to upstate Michigan for vacation. And there's speculation that he may write a book or go on a speaking circuit, though it's unclear if Ewanick will go that route. "It happened so quickly," says a source familiar with the situation. "He's still processing it all."