Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes by Philip Caldwell (American Businessperson)

Philip Caldwell (1920–2013) was an American business executive. He was the first CEO 1980–85 of the Ford Motor Company who was not a member of the Ford lineage. He orchestrated one of the most successful turnarounds in business history.

Born near Bourneville, Ohio, Caldwell studied economics 80 miles away at Muskingum College, graduating in 1940. He completed an MBA at Harvard and served in the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant in the Pacific during World War II. After that, he stayed with the Navy in a civilian job as a procurement manager.

Caldwell left the Navy after the Korean War in 1953 and started a 37-year term at Ford. He quickly climbed to the top as a manager. He built a reputation for overhauling struggling business units by cutting costs and increasing productivity.

In 1977, Henry Ford II chose Caldwell as president over Lee Iacocca, who famously championed the Ford Mustang’s introduction in the 1960s. As CEO of Ford since 1979 and chairman since 1980, Caldwell steered the enterprise through some of its most challenging years in the late 1970s and early 1980s and directed a dramatic turnaround. He revolutionized the Ford business by focusing on quality, commitment to research, and open employment practices. He improved Ford’s strained relations with its unions. He laid the groundwork for the company’s most significant success in a generation: the best-selling Ford Taurus.

Caldwell stepped down as CEO in 1985 but remained on Ford’s board for five more years.

More: Wikipedia READ: Works by Philip Caldwell

The important thing to recognize is that it takes a team, and the team ought to get credit for the wins and the losses. Successes have many fathers, failures have none.
Philip Caldwell
Topics: Strength, Success & Failure

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