metro >> on the cover

Historic Promotion

How Ford's Mark Fields rose to the top.

Bill Carroll I Contributing Writer

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Mother Sustains Jewishness

Fields, 51, whose family name had been
Finkelman in past generations, and whose
mother used to send him packages of
matzah and Chanukah candles around
the world to remind him to keep up his
Jewishness, fits right in at the new Ford
Motor Company.
Earlier this month, the elder Ford's great-
grandson and current executive chairman,
Bill Ford Jr., announced Fields' appoint-
ment, plus other executive promotions,
practically cementing Fields' position as
heir apparent to CEO Alan Mulally after
2014.
This vote of confidence will give Fields
time to further prove his mettle after
being Ford's president of the Americas
for seven years, leading the development,
manufacturing, marketing and sales of Ford
and Lincoln vehicles in the U.S., Canada,
Mexico and South America.
He implemented The Way Forward
plan and was responsible for the highly
successful transformation of Ford's North
American operations and its record profit-
ability, although not without the elimina-
tion of some vehicle models, thousands of
job cuts and the closings of several of Ford's
oldest assembly plants.
Fields now will head everything in
Ford's worldwide business operations
— the Americas, Europe, Mideast and
Africa, Asia Pacific, Product Development,
Manufacturing and Labor Affairs,
Purchasing, Quality, Sustainability,
Environment and Safety Engineering,
Information and Technology, Government
and Community Relations, Market, Sales
and Service, and Communications.

Must Continue Culture Change

"Ford is handling this the right way, put-
ting Mark in a stationary position to give
him more experience instead of moving
him around the world as in recent years:'
observed Jewish journalist Paul Eisenstein
of the Detroit Bureau in Pleasant Ridge,
who's a 34-year veteran of the global
automotive scene. "The question now is,
can Mark continue the corporate culture
change at Ford that Alan Mulally installed;
can Mark take this to the next level after
Mulally? There's no doubt that Mark is a
talented guy who did a solid job running
the Americas; the company's profit num-
bers prove that:'
Mulally, 67, came to the faltering compa-

8

November 29 • 2012

Jh

ny in 2006 from the Boeing Co. and was the
architect of Ford's major turnaround, avoid-
ing the eventual bankruptcy restructurings
that befell General Motors and Chrysler. He
will continue leading the long-term strate-
gic development of his Ford One Plan.
While the company said Mulally officially
still has 26 months to go before retirement,
these "waiting" periods in the auto industry
have been known to shrink in the past,
and the new chief — in this case, probably
Fields — takes over sooner.
How did Fields do it — the handsome
Jewish boy who was born in Brooklyn and
raised in Paramus, N.J.? The answer: It took
a lot of intelligence, ability and simply being
in the right place at the right time.

Bar Mitzvah In Paramus

Fields' grandparents were immigrants from
Russia and Romania. But like him, his par-
ents were born in America. He became a
bar mitzvah at a Conservative congregation
in Paramus and excelled in high school,
where he starred in the sport of cross coun-
try. He's been "running" throughout his
whole career.
His father, manager of a housewares busi-
ness, never pressured him to be a doctor,
dentist or lawyer, "but my parents insisted
that I do well in school and always encour-
aged me to choose a career and stay with
it:' Fields recalled in a previous interview
with the Detroit Jewish News.
An economics graduate of New Jersey's
Rutgers University, he entered the work
force with IBM in marketing and sales,
stayed for six years, then earned an MBA
from the Harvard Business School. "I've
always been interested in marketing and
sales because that area deals with people,"
he said, "and you can quickly see the results
of your actions; you get instant feedback:'
Unlike many of his Harvard classmates
who chose careers on Wall Street, Fields
picked Ford because the car business
enthralled him. "I felt it was really impor-
tant to go to a company that made some-
thine he said.
In 1989, Ford was looking for potential
executives with product sales promotion
and marketing experience as part of a new
marketing leadership program. His first
job was as a marketing manager for the
Thunderbird car line. "I loved cars, so Ford
was a perfect fit for me reflected Fields,
who had a collection of 100 mini cars as a
youngster.
By corporate standards, Fields rose pretty
quickly through the Ford ranks. He held

managerial positions at offices in California,
Dearborn and Detroit, living briefly in
Farmington Hills and Birmingham during
the latter assignments.

Argentina First
In 1996, he became assistant managing
director of Ford Argentina in Buenos Aires
(where only about 2 percent of the popula-
tion is Jewish), then managing director a
year later when his predecessor took ill. In
two years there, he helped turn the affili-
ate around from a $100 million loss to a $2
million profit.
After that, it was off to Hiroshima, Japan,
for several posts at Mazda, leading up to
executive vice president and assistant to
the president. Only a few weeks later, fate
intervened again when the president retired
unexpectedly because of ill health — and
Field moved right to the top as president
and CEO. Ford owned controlling interest
of Mazda at the time.
"You must be joking; was the response
from Fields' wife, Jane, whom he had met in
Atlanta, Ga., during his IBM days, when he
told her of the promotion. "She just laughed
and refused to believe me Fields mused.
"It was so soon after my previous promo-
tion. But she quickly got used to it:' They
have two sons, Zachary, 18, and Max, 16.
Fields had to overcome several obstacles
as the "brash young foreign" Mazda chief,
including the "element of surprise when
they found out I was Jewish:' he recalls.
"There are all kinds of religions there ...
but there certainly are no Jews in Japan.
"But I never experienced any anti-Sem-

itism there, and I have never encountered
one iota of discrimination as a Jew during
my career at Ford:' he said.
Fields led Mazda through a period of
significant transformation, reducing losses
through restructuring and a series of cost-
cutting measures.
That performance earned Fields' promo-
tion to executive vice president of Ford of
Europe and CEO of the company's Premier
Automotive Group, handling all activities
of the company's premium vehicle busi-
ness, including cars like Jaguar and Aston
Martin.
Bill Ford Jr. then summoned him from
Europe to take over the Americas organiza-
tion during the trying times beginning in
2005. "The growth we've all seen in him
(Fields) ... has been remarkable," Bill Ford
said as part of his recent announcement.
Fields has followed the same basic
philosophy throughout his Ford career:
"What's important is that everybody is pull-
ing together to solve issues and not score
points:' he maintains. At the end of the
day, it's all about the company and not indi-
vidual success:'
Fields' parents had visited him during
some of his overseas assignments, but usu-
ally just bridged the global gap with letters
and packages containing the Jewish holiday
items.
Fields, who has residences in Dearborn
and Delray Beach, Fla., declined to be inter-
viewed after his latest promotion, saying in
an email he was " ... going to focus on my
new role for a while before any interviews
or questions:'

❑

Another Jewish Pioneer

Mark Fields is a Jewish pioneer at Ford
"When I joined Ford in 1956 at the Ford
Motor Company, but his road to the
Division office in Dearborn, there was
top of Ford was paved by other
one African American in the
Jewish pioneers, beginning
building — and he was the shoe-
with Mervyn H. Manning of
shine man. Not only was I the
Bloomfield Hills.
first Jewish vice president, but I
Manning became Ford's first
was the first minority VP of any
Jewish vice president in 1977,
kind, including women."
and, thus, the first Jewish officer
The company now has several
of the company. He held the
minority vice presidents and
VP position in various capaci-
many minorities in other high
Mervyn
ties around the world until he
positions,
including members of
Manning
retired in 1992.
the board of directors.
"The entire culture of the
"It's great to see Mark Fields
company has changed since the days of
moving forward at the company and
Henry Ford, then the time that Henry
keeping up this new tradition," said
Ford II took over," said Manning.
Manning.

❑

