Mullaly Gets It Right at Ford

It's early, but the day may come when Alan Mullaly's work at Ford(F Quote) will rank as one of the great corporate turnarounds by an outsider.

Mullaly arrived at Ford in 2006 after spending 37 years at Boeing(BA Quote), where he presided over development of the 777 but didn't quite reach the top of the corporate ladder.

Mullaly Gets It Right at Ford Nardelli a Victim of Economic Forces

While both companies are major manufacturers with huge supplier networks and union workforces, they also have major differences. Ford uses a dealer network to sell dozens of vehicle models to millions of consumers; Boeing sells a handful of models to a few hundred airlines.

"There aren't a lot of 747 dealers out there," says Rebecca Lindland, director of autos at HIS Global Insight.

Industry analyst James Harbour says aircraft manufacturing experience led Mullaly to conclude that Ford would work better with common platforms and components, rather than different sources for every single item. "He comes to Ford and he looks at the door handles, and he says, 'Oh My God, I've got 17 different sets of door handles," Harbour says. Finding that unworkable, Mullaly developed the One Ford concept, where platforms and components are shared worldwide.

Another key to Mullaly's success was a decision, shortly after his arrival, to borrow $23.6 billion in 2006, enabling Ford to avoid seeking a government bailout when the financial storm hit.

To date, perhaps the most compelling example of an outsider who successfully transformed a company is Lou Gerstner, who moved from RJR Nabisco to IBM(IBM Quote) in 1993, says Hugh O'Neil, professor at the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School.