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- IT GETS CHILDREN TO SCHOOL. IT MIGHT HELP GET THEM TO COLLEGE. See the all new 2000 540/1/40 Today! 248-624-0400 on Maple Rd. W. of Haggerty We take more special requests than the band at your sister s wedding. When you need employees (interim-based for special projects or permanent) Call Melissa Wilkins at 248-932-1821 OPEN SATURDAY Just name your tune. Got a big audit coming up? A new stock offering? A buy-off? We've got the people to help you through. At Creative Financial Staffing, we have the candidates with specialized accounting skills, all pre-screened to make sure they can perform as needed. CREATIVE FINANCIAL STAFFING Owned & Operated Locally by Morof, Sheplow & Weinstein, PLC Sourcebook Correction Notice: CAPPUCCINO MAN e correcte - mai ad ress Lewkowsl@aoi.com You can find this advertisement on Page 120 of your SourceBook 9/24 1999 Detroit Jewish News in