promotion and almost a ca-
reer change, from the do-
mestic, financial end of the
company to the agricultural
division.
"It was a troubled busi-
ness. At that time, it was los-
ing money and having a
number of problems in laun-
ching successfully a new
worldwide line of tractors,"
recalled Mr. Manning.
He was part of the team
that turned the tractor busi-
ness around. It became
profitable under his direc-
tion, with a growing market
share. His next foray was
ronment. He praises his
wife, Elaine, for having a
positive attitude and enabl-
ing the family to have a suc-
cessful and happy experi-
ence abroad. They decided
together that this would be
an adventure.
"Her mental attitude was
fantastic. She decided before
she left that she was going to
like it, and she did. It was a
fantastic experience for her
and for the kids," he said.
Their overseas adventures
included developing pro-
found relationships with in-
teresting people, learning a
trying to expand Ford's con-
struction equipment busi-
ness in Paris and accepting
an overseas assignment
there.
Mr. Manning chose his
words carefully when he said
his decision to move abroad
was not mandatory for the
advancement of his career
but necessary. He was sen-
sitive to how the move would
affect his family.
"It's not an easy decision
to uproot ourselves and our
kids and go to a strange land
where we didn't speak the
language," he said. Mr.
Manning said the burden of
moving to a foreign company
is with the non-working
spouse who doesn't go to the
office every day and has to
adapt to the new envi-
new language and culture.
His children had the oppor-
tunity to be educated
abroad.
Although the experience
was positive on a personal
level, the company needed to
reassess its role in the con-
struction business.
"It proved not to be a wise
move for the company. I par-
ticipated in the decision to
make the expansion and
then played an important
role in reversing it and
disposing of the company, "
he said. The Mannings mov-
ed back to the United States
and he was elected a com-
pany vice president and ap-
pointed general manager of
Ford Tractor Operations in
1977.
During the late '70s and
'80s, Mr. Manning credits
Ford with having the
foresight to downsize the
tractor business. "We took
steps to bring our capacity in
line with vans and try and
bring our cost structure
more in line with what could
be afforded given the volume
we could anticipate," he
said.
Robert L. Shook, author of
Turnaround: The New Ford
Motor Company, describes
how Ford was able to withs-
tand staggering losses dur-
ing the early '80s and set
business in the right direc-
tion with an emphasis on
communication, teamwork
and technology.
After being in Ford's
agricultural business for 17
years, Mr. Manning had an
opportunity to move back
into the automobile business
based in Melbourne,
Australia. "It was an inter-
esting career move and the
opportunity to move to
Australia would be some-
thing we would look forward
to," he recalled. Mr. Mann-
ing was appointed president
of Ford-Asia Pacific Inc.
Under his tenure, the car
market in Taiwan tripled in
size from 138,000 to 367,000
vehicles. In 1987, Ford es-
tablished a joint venture
with Mazda and created the
largest vehicle assembly
plant in New Zealand with
Ford owning 74 percent.
In November 1989, he was
named vice president for
Latin American Automotive
Operations, based in Dear-
born. Mr. Manning has the
challenge of dealing with
volatile climates, stringent
government controls and a
high rate of inflation. "It's a
kind of business envi-
ronment that I have never
dealt with before," he said.
Ford is represented in
Venezuela by a wholly-
owned subsidiary, while
there is a joint venture,
Autolatina, in Brazil and
Argentina. Autolatina is
owned 49 percent by Ford
and 51 percent by
Volkswagen. According to
an August article in
Automotive News,
Autolatina operates 13
plants and employs 57,000
people.
Autolatina faces the
challenge of combining two
different cultures and
operating effectively in a
third and fourth culture. Mr.
Manning finds this aspect
exciting and believes that
more joint ventures are
possible in the future. Ford
and Volkswagen are work-
ing on a new vehicle in Por-
tugal to be sold in Europe.
When Mr. Manning is not
traveling to South America,
he is involved in community
work. His business acumen
is an asset to Sinai Hospital.
"Mery Manning's reflective
and thorough demeanor has
proven to be a great benefit
to Sinai Hospital's govern-
ing board. His dedication to
Sinai runs very deep, and he
is truly an asset to our
board," said Merle Harris,
chairman of the governing
board.
He recently joined the
board of the Jewish Federa-
tion of Detroit. "He's got a
great financial mind. His
background through Ford
management and problem
solving is very useful to the
Federation," said Chief Fed-
eral Defender Paul D. Bor-
man, past president of Jew-
ish Community Council.
In a troubled economy, it's
no secret that the auto busi-
ness also suffers. It has Mr.
Manning speculating about
the future: "I believe that
over the next 10 or 15 years
there will be a lot of impor-
tant changes in the
automotive industry and not
all of the players you see to-
day will exist in the same
form." 111
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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