• See large image

  Car Guys Vs Bean Counters: The Battle for the Soul of American Business (Hardback) By (author) Bob Lutz

  

  $28.69 - Save $1.51 (4%) - RRP $30.20 Free delivery worldwide (to United States and
  all these other countries) Usually dispatched within 24 hours Add to basket | Add to wishlist |

  Also available in...

  CD-Audio $23.74

  Short Description for Car Guys Vs Bean CountersA legend in the car industry reveals the philosophy that's starting to turn General Motors around. Lutz's commonsense lessons (with a generous helping of fascinating anecdotes) will inspire readers at any company facing the bean counter analysis-paralysis menace.
  Full description

  • Publisher: PORTFOLIO
  • Published: 21 July 2011
  • Format: Hardback 244 pages
  • See: Full bibliographic data
  • Categories: Memoirs | Business & Management | Business Strategy | Road Vehicle Manufacturing Industry
  • ISBN 13: 9781591844006 ISBN 10: 1591844002
  • Sales rank: 34,141

• The Handmade Marketplace

  

  Add to basket $18.11 - Save $0.96 (5%) - RRP $19.07

• Blue Ocean Strategy

  

  Add to basket $28.46 - Save $6.51 (18%) - RRP $34.97

• Good to Great

  

  Add to basket $25.31 - Save $4.68 (15%) - RRP $29.99

• Prosperity without Growth

  

  Add to basket $15.44 - Save $0.44 (2%) - RRP $15.88

• The Social Animal

  

  Add to basket $13.58 - Save $0.71 (4%) - RRP $14.29

Full description for Car Guys Vs Bean Counters

• "It's time to stop the dominance of the number-crunchers, living in their perfect, predictable, financially-projected world (who fail, time and again), and give the reins to the 'product guys'...those with vision and passion for the customers and their product or service." When Bob Lutz got into the auto business in the early 1960s, CEOs knew that if you captured the public's imagination with innovative car design and top quality craftsmanship, the money would follow. The "car guys" held sway, and GM dominated with bold, creative leadership and iconic brands like Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, GMC, and Chevrolet. But then GM's leadership began to put their faith in numbers and spreadsheets. Determined to eliminate the "waste" and "personality worship" of the bygone creative leaders, and maximize profitability, management got too smart for its own good. With the bean counters firmly in charge, carmakers, and much of American industry, lost their single-minded focus on product excellence and their competitive advantage. Decline soon followed. In 2001, General Motors hired Lutz out of retirement with a mandate to save the company by making great cars again. As vice chairman, he launched a war against the penny-pinching number-crunchers who ran the company by the bottom line, and reinstated a focus on creativity, design, and cars and trucks that would satisfy GM customers. After emerging from bankruptcy in 2009, GM is finally back on track thanks in part to its embrace of Lutz's philosophy, with acclaimed new models like the Chevrolet Volt, Cadillac CTS, Chevrolet Equinox, and Buick LaCrosse. Lutz's common-sense lessons, combined with a generous helping of fascinating anecdotes, will inspire readers in any industry. As he writes: "It applies in any business. Shoe makers should be run by shoe guys, and software firms by software guys, and supermarkets by supermarket guys. With the advice and support of their bean counters, absolutely, but with the final word going to those who live and breathe the customer experience. Passion and drive for excellence will win over the computer-like, dispassionate, analysis- driven philosophy every time."