Download or read book Car Guys vs Bean Counters written by Bob Lutz and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2011-06-09 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A legend in the car industry reveals the philosophy that's starting to turn General Motors around. In 2001, General Motors hired Bob Lutz out of retirement with a mandate to save the company by making great cars again. He launched a war against penny pinching, office politics, turf wars, and risk avoidance. After declaring bankruptcy during the recession of 2008, GM is back on track thanks to its embrace of Lutz's philosophy. When Lutz got into the auto business in the early sixties, CEOs knew that if you captured the public's imagination with great cars, 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 analysis, determined to eliminate the "waste" and "personality worship" of the bygone creative leaders. 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. Decline followed. Lutz's commonsense lessons (with a generous helping of fascinating anecdotes) will inspire readers at any company facing the bean counter analysis-paralysis menace.
Download or read book Icons and Idiots written by Bob Lutz and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2013-06-04 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Bob Lutz retired from General Motors in 2010, after an unparalleled forty-seven-year career in the auto industry, he was one of the most respected leaders in American business. He had survived all kinds of managers over those decades: tough and timid, analytical and irrational, charismatic and antisocial, and some who seemed to shift frequently among all those traits. His experiences made him an expert on leadership, every bit as much as he was an expert on cars and trucks. Now Lutz is revealing the leaders-good, bad, and ugly-who made the strongest impression on him throughout his career. Icons and Idiots is a collection of shocking and often hilarious true stories and the lessons Lutz drew from them. From enduring the sadism of a Marine Corps drill instructor, to working with a washed-up alcoholic, to taking over the reins from a convicted felon, he reflects on the complexities of all-too-human leaders. No textbook or business school course can fully capture their idiosyncrasies, foibles and weaknesses - which can make or break companies in the real world. Lutz shows that we can learn just as much from the most stubborn, stupid, and corrupt leaders as we can from the inspiring geniuses. The result is a powerful and entertaining guide for any aspiring leader.
Download or read book Guts written by Robert A. Lutz and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 1998-09-29 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides Chrysler's Senior Manager Bob Lutz's philosophy behind his "seven laws" of business, explaining how that can be applied to making changes, transforming an operation, and creating a successful company.
Download or read book Fast Food Stock Cars and Rock n Roll written by George O. Carney and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 1995 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The only anthology of its kind, this collection brings together classic and recent essays by thirteen leading geographers exploring American popular culture. The essays examine music, food, sports, politics, architecture, clothing, and religion within the context of five themes of cultural geography: region, diffusions, ecology, integration, and landscape. A list of suggested readings follows each section. Fast Food, Stock Cars, and Rock-n-Roll is an excellent text for introductory courses, appealing to students through its discussion of such topics as "grunge" rock, fast food, and blue jeans.
Download or read book Once Upon a Car written by Bill Vlasic and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2011-10-04 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Once Upon a Car is the brilliantly reported inside-the-boardrooms-and-factories story of Detroit’s fight for survival, going beyond the headlines to chronicle how the country’s Big Three auto companies—General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler—teetered on the brink of collapse during the 2008 financial crisis. In a tale that reads like a corporate thriller, Bill Vlasic, who has covered the auto industry for more than fifteen years, first for the Detroit News and now for the New York Times, takes readers into the executive offices, assembly plants, and union halls to introduce a cast of memorable characters, many of whom are speaking out for the first time, including the executives who struggled to save their companies but in the end had to seek a controversial, last-gasp rescue from the U.S. government. Vlasic goes behind the scenes to portray the men at the top during Detroit’s last stand. Rick Wagoner, the CEO of General Motors, tried to turn around a dying company, only to be forced to resign as a condition of the government bailout. Bill Ford, great-grandson of the legendary Henry Ford, had the will to keep Ford alive but needed the guts to hire an unknown outsider, Alan Mulally, to transform the company before it crashed. At Chrysler, leadership was constantly changing as new owners tried in vain to fix the smallest of the beleaguered Big Three. And through it all, the president of the United Auto Workers union, Ron Gettelfinger, fought to save the jobs of the men and women who build American-made cars and trucks. This tale of an iconic industry in crisis is more than a big business drama and provides a rich, unvarnished portrait of how Detroit’s decline affected tens of thousands of workers and dozens of communities nationwide. The story moves from the gleaming corporate skyscrapers and massive auto plants to the halls of the U.S. Congress and into the Oval Office, where President Obama and his aides wrestled with how to keep General Motors and Chrysler from going out of business. Vlasic shows why the bailout worked, and how Detroit can succeed under new leadership and build automobiles equal to any in the world. Once Upon a Car tells a uniquely American tale of success, failure, and redemption. It is an important and illuminating chapter in an astonishing story that is still unfolding. And no one is more qualified to write it than Bill Vlasic.
Download or read book Fill er Up written by Tim Russell and published by . This book was released on with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this car culture of ours, what could be more American than the gas station, from the roadside pit stop in the middle of nowhere to the spit-and-polish, full service city shop? This brightly illustrated history of service stations runs the gamut from East to West, North to South, spotlighting the culture and lore of the gas-pumping garage that has kept the United States moving for a century. Whether it's the last-chance Texaco or the Sinclair dinosaur winking in the distance, the beckoning Shell, or the winged Mobil horse, it's here in all its small-town glory of compact architecture, inspired promotions, art deco pumps, and endless views of the American horizon. Author Tim Russell, one of the world's foremost collectors and historians of Petroliana, rolls out the ribbon of highway that takes us to all of those way stations of Americas motoring past.
Download or read book Sixty to Zero written by Alex Taylor and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2010-05-04 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The collapse of General Motors captured headlines in early 2009, but as Alex Taylor III writes in this in-depth dissection of the automaker's undoing, GM's was a meltdown forty years in the making. Drawing on more than thirty years of experience and insight as an automotive industry reporter, as well as personal relationships with many of the leading players, Taylor reveals the many missteps of GM and its competitors.
Download or read book Soul on Bikes written by Tobie Levingston and published by Motorbooks International. This book was released on 2013-11-15 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The history of the East Bay Dragons Motorcycle Club, an all-black, all-Harley, all-chopper group of motorcyclists in Oakland, California. Written by the club's founder and president, it presents an often-untold portion of African-American history"-Provided by publisher.
Download or read book Fat Cats Running Dogs written by Vijay Prashad and published by Zed Books. This book was released on 2002 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A manual for the great global rip-off
Download or read book Love Peace and Soul written by Ericka Blount Danois and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2013-08-01 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ÊLove Peace and SoulÊ tells the story of the television phenomenon known as ÊSoul TrainÊ a show created in the land of bell bottoms afros and soul power; a show that became the touchstone of the Baby Boomer generation. Don Cornelius host and owner of the show was one of the coolest cats on television. With his platform shoes wide neckties and mellifluous voice he showed the world just how corny ÊAmerican BandstandÊ was in comparison. In 2012 fans were shocked to hear one of the most powerful men in the music and television business took his own life.ÞÊLove Peace and SoulÊ is a celebratory behind-the-scenes collection of anecdotes stories and reflections from the people who were there about the host the show and the power of black music and dance on television.ÞMusic and television connoisseurs will enjoy the history of not just ÊSoul TrainÊ but of other shows including ÊShindig!Ê ÊDon Kirshner's Rock ConcertÊ ÊHullabalooÊ ÊAmerican BandstandÊ and ÊGraffiti RockÊ. Entrepreneurs will be interested in Cornelius' humble beginnings with the local version of the show in Chicago created with his own money. Fans will delight in the lively images and the quirky details. The first mass market book on ÊSoul TrainÊ since Cornelius's passing this volume has something for everyone. Includes afterword by Gary Harris.
Download or read book Among Enemies written by Luke Bencie and published by Mountain Lake Press. This book was released on 2013-03-01 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Each business day, some 35,000 executives, scientists, consultants, and lawyers pass through the nation's airports to destinations across the globe. They carry, along with proprietary documents and computer files, the latest in personal electronic gear. However, carefully watching most of those travelers—beginning the moment they arrive at the airport and often sooner—are uncounted numbers of espionage operatives. These individuals work for foreign intelligence services and economic concerns and seek to separate international business travelers from their trade secrets. To succeed, they use many time-tested techniques to lure unsuspecting travelers into vulnerable or compromising positions. They also employ the latest electronic means to steal business information often at a distance from their prey. This is the 21st century, after all, and economic and industrial espionage have become multibillion-dollar enterprises, utilizing a wide array of the most sophisticated means to obtain proprietary information. Luke Bencie is a veteran of this struggle. He knows intimately the threats business travelers face and how to combat those threats. In Among Enemies: Counter-Espionage for the Business Traveler, Bencie provides everything you need to know to protect yourself and your company from attempted espionage.
Download or read book Country Fried Soul written by Tamara Palmer and published by Hal Leonard Corporation. This book was released on 2005 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Offers an overview of "Dirty South" rap--a phenomenon centered around cities such as Atlanta, Miami, and New Orleans--covering such groups as The Neptunes, Timbaland, OutKast, Lil Jon, Ludacris, and Cee-Lo.
Download or read book Taken for a Ride written by Bill Vlasic and published by William Morrow. This book was released on 2000-05-30 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It was the deal heard round the world. In May 1998, a stunning $36 billion merger was announced by Chrysler, the all-American automaker, and Daimler-Benz, the German manufacturer of Mercedes-Benz luxury sedans. The Wall Street Journal christened the deal "the biggest industrial merger of all time." The marriage of Daimler and Chrysler promised to rock the global auto industry and draw up a blueprint for international consolidation on an epic scale. But the union of Chrysler, the blue-collar maker of Jeeps and minivans, with Daimler, the crown jewel of German industry, didn't turn out to be a merger made in heaven. When the dust settled, Daimler had bought Chrysler, and the shock waves reverberated on both sides of the Atlantic. An American icon lost its independence, and a German giant grew in power and influence. The DiamlerChrysler deal brough together two automotive superpowers and triggered a chain reaction among competitors seeking partners around the world. In a gripping narrative ripped from the daily headlines, Bill Vlasic and Bradley A. Stertz of the Detroit News go behind the scenes of the defining corporate drama of the decade. With groundbreaking reporting, they reveal the untold story behind the unsuccessful attempt to take over Chrysler by its biggest shareholder, the reclusive billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, and its legendary retired CEO, Lee Iacocca. Their startling grab for the smallest of Detroit's Big Three automakers sparked secret talks between Chrysler and Daimler on a massive joint venture. The first deal collapsed, but it set the stage for the final, intense negotiations between Chrysler chairman Robert Eaton and Daimler chairman Jürgen Schrempp. It was hailed as a historic "merger of equals," but the euphoria evaporated amid a clash of cultures, identities, and personalities. The action moves feverishly around the world with larger-than-life characters in the high-stakes arena of international automaking. Taken for a Ride follows the twists and turns in the road to DaimlerChrysler and, in the end, emerges as a cautionary tale of the risks and rewards of going global.
Download or read book American Icon written by Bryce G. Hoffman and published by Three Rivers Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A riveting, behind-the-scenes account of the near collapse of the Ford Motor Company, which in 2008 was close to bankruptcy, and CEO Alan Mulally's hard-fought effort and bold plan--including his decision not to take federal bailout money--to bring Ford back from the brink.
Download or read book Makers and Takers written by Rana Foroohar and published by Currency. This book was released on 2017-09-12 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is Wall Street bad for Main Street America? "A well-told exploration of why our current economy is leaving too many behind." —The New York Times In looking at the forces that shaped the 2016 presidential election, one thing is clear: much of the population believes that our economic system is rigged to enrich the privileged elites at the expense of hard-working Americans. This is a belief held equally on both sides of political spectrum, and it seems only to be gaining momentum. A key reason, says Financial Times columnist Rana Foroohar, is the fact that Wall Street is no longer supporting Main Street businesses that create the jobs for the middle and working class. She draws on in-depth reporting and interviews at the highest rungs of business and government to show how the “financialization of America”—the phenomenon by which finance and its way of thinking have come to dominate every corner of business—is threatening the American Dream. Now updated with new material explaining how our corrupted financial system propelled Donald Trump to power, Makers and Takers explores the confluence of forces that has led American businesses to favor balance-sheet engineering over the actual kind, greed over growth, and short-term profits over putting people to work. From the cozy relationship between Wall Street and Washington, to a tax code designed to benefit wealthy individuals and corporations, to forty years of bad policy decisions, she shows why so many Americans have lost trust in the system, and why it matters urgently to us all. Through colorful stories of both “Takers,” those stifling job creation while lining their own pockets, and “Makers,” businesses serving the real economy, Foroohar shows how we can reverse these trends for a better path forward.
Download or read book Out of Control written by Linda Stunell and published by Constable. This book was released on 2007 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How could these attractive, feminine, girl-next-door stereotypes be capable of such crimes as rape, torture and sexual assault? Out of Control details the continuing story of these convicted women - their sex crimes, their excuses, their dramatic lives, and their twisted notions of love. Supported by court transcripts, research studies, psychiatric reports and expert opinions, Out of Control dares to tell the truth about female sex crimes and female sexuality. It exposes the myths about love, power and gender differences and it exposes the drama and media hype that makes celebrity superstars out of attractive women criminals. Linda Stunell, a certified clinical hypnotherapist and sex counsellor, takes the reader on a fascinating journey inside the minds of celebrity female sex predators who lost control.
Download or read book Fast n Snappy written by Pattie L. Schnetzler and published by Carolrhoda Books. This book was released on 2004-01-01 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fast the alligator and Snappy the frog, the best pardner a Hop-to-It Express rider ever had, speed west with an important letter from President A. Blinkin while Gila Joe and his snakes try to stop them at every turn. Includes facts about the Pony Express.
