
Ford's CEO on social media and innovation
10 months ago
At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Jan. 7, 2009, Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford Motor Company, took out time to sit down with a couple of bloggers for an interview.
Chris Heuer and JD Lasica interviewed Mulally about how Ford is using social media to drive innovation and transformation.
Chris Heuer and JD Lasica interviewed Mulally about how Ford is using social media to drive innovation and transformation.
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Naturally, the CEO doesn't have the ground-level insight of the specifics of our social media activities, but Alan is the kind of guy who "gets it." He understands the importance of personal interaction, and he reflects it in his own behaviors around the company. He sends personal notes to employees and personally responds to his email. And he's a genuinely nice guy who's very easy to talk with.
While crowdsourcing the development of a car is a dangerous prospect (remember the car Homer Simpson designed? ), the point is that we don't do so in a vacuum. We are committed to making cars that people want and value, and we can only do that through interaction.
I hope this gives people a sense of the excitement we've got at Ford.
Scott Monty
Global Digital Communications
Ford Motor Company
1. When I drove a Sierra way back when I had a real driver centric design around me. I think spatial design is an incredibly important component of the new social world. You see it in office redesign and you see it in the printed press. Giving expression to sociability and awareness is really important.
2. I think companies like Ford have become ungovernable because of ubiquitous communications. It's an irony I know. We can all communicate more so it should make governance easier. But it doesn't because there are so many more things people would rather do than be governed. I was looking for Alan to tell us how he is going to reinvent management at Ford because that too is critical to your brand.