Business
was appointed director of materials
management there in 1981. "As head
of budget and operations analysis, I
had to analyze complaints about a
lack of performance at the division. I
guess they figured I knew so much
about the problems that they made
me materials director."
The family headed to Michigan
when Kutner took the top materials
management post at the Chevrolet
Foundry Division in Saginaw. He
took the same position at the former
Buick-Oldsmobile-Cadillac Group in
Lansing, both in the 1980s. He
served two stints at the Delphi
Automotive Division in the early
1990s, the last one as global purchas-
ing director.
Kutner made his mark early at GM
by becoming an expert in raw materi-
als, which gave him an inside track to
the top materials management posi-
tions. He traveled to Africa to buy
copper right out of the mines. He
went to Egypt to acquire aluminum.
In Brazil, he got both copper and alu-
minum.
"I guess I developed some notori-
ety in the company as a broker of
metals and a pioneer in the early
search for new and lightweight mate-
rials to help make vehicles more fuel
efficient," he said. "I really loved what
I was doing, and it put me in the
right place for the materials jobs and
gave me plenty of knowledge for my
current purchasing position."
Kutner's big promotion came in
1994 when he was elected General
Motors vice president in charge of
worldwide purchasing and North
American production control and
logistics. His unit includes plant
scheduling and transportation of parts
and vehicles.
Anti-Semitism has rarely reared its
ugly head during Kutner's career at
GM. "I never hid my Jewishness ... I
always took off work for the major
holidays," he said. "But I never went
out of my way to declare that I was
Jewish either. When you meet some-
one new, you don't say, 'Hi, I'm
Harold Kutner and I'm Jewish.'
"I'm positive I was never held back
for promotions because I'm a Jew.
The promotion procedure at GM is
based on merit and other factors, not
religion. In my case, I think it has
been a matter of timing ... I've always
been in the right place at the right
time. And I've always had a mentor ...
someone above me who gave me
good advice."
There were a few times through
the years when, at a party or golf out-
ing, someone might have had too
much to drink and made a remark or
started telling "Jew" jokes. "I would
interrupt and tell them, 'I'm Jewish
and I don't appreciate those jokes',"
he said. "And they would stop cold.
But those situations were very rare."
There were relatively few Jews at
GM when Kutner joined the compa-
ny in '63, but the Jewish ranks have
increased considerably since then.
Many Jews hold the titles of director
or manager and are mainly engineers,
accountants and lawyers. The same is
true generally at Ford and
ChryslerDaimler AG. Human
resources personnel at the auto manu-
facturers say it's difficult to place a
count on total Jewish employees
today because religious records no
longer are kept on workers.
The death of Henry Ford in 1947
signalled the demise of anti-Semitism
at the Ford company. The big change
came when his grandson, Henry Ford
II, became chairman at the end of
World War II. He later took a leader-
ship role in the Affirmative Action
program, bringing to Ford many
minority employees, dealers and sup-
pliers.
Kutner says his claim to fame at
GM has been quantifiable results in
any job he held. It was easy to tell
exactly what he accomplished in each
area. "I've always tried to be aggres-
sive throughout my GM career —
and I might even have lost a few pro-
motions along the way because of
this," he said. "But it certainly didn't
hinder me in the long run.
"I learned long ago that you just
can't make everyone like you in a
large corporation. If you try to oper-
ate that way, you won't succeed. You
have to make decisions on what's best
for the company and your employ-
,
ees.)
Kutner's reputation for aggressive-
ness is echoed by Steve Harris, GM's
vice president - communications.
Harris is the highest-level Jewish pub-
lic relations executive in the auto
industry. He says of Kutner, "Harold
has maintained an aggressive stance
throughout his GM career, which has
benefited himself and the company.
When you're aggressive, you get the
job done correctly and quickly.
"He is very innovative, being the
first executive here to take on global-
ization, and make it a reality in
worldwide purchasing. This has given
us an edge over competition. He also
has a great sense of humor, and par-
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Detroit Jewish News in