Lee Iacocca: Some Thoughts on Management and Organization

With all the memorials to Lee Iacocca after his recent death, one wonders what can be said that hasn't been said before. Journalists have recounted his life mostly by summarizing what was in Iacocca's Autobiography; His immigrant parents, hard work at Lehigh and Princeton before joining the Ford Motor Company; rise as a marketer; father of the Mustang; collision with Henry Ford II and dismissal; saving the Chrysler Corporation; the Minivan and K-Car, as he teamed up with Hal Sperlich; acquisition of AMC and Jeep; dismissal and the aborted 1990s takeover with Kirk Kevorkian; two failed marriages and a number of entrepreneurial ventures; and finally playing golf with Snoop Dog.

I used Iacocca's Autobiography many times in my "Automobile and American Life" course, usually with great success. Two ideas of his continue to stick in my mind related to his ideas concerning management and organization. First, after moving on to Chrysler and eliminating over 50 vice-presidents, Iacocca introduced his quarterly report strategy for all managerial employees. This was a great idea, as it led to an accountability that was both motivational and self-actualizing. I suggested that this be done at the University of Dayton many years ago, and the notion was dismissed. We now do this as a part of tenure review on an annual basis, but I do not know if administrators are required to do anything like this. But in the 1990s the UD administration was stuck in mediocrity, and nothing would do to move it forward.

The second Iacocca idea was a part of the Chrysler government bailouts and employee force reduction, and salary adjustments -- equality of sacrifice. This strategy would have been a coup for Cheryl Schrader at Wright State University during recent labor problems there.  Too often faculty feel that they are on unequal footing with administrators, and rightfully so.  Equal sacrifice, with facts to back it up, defuse tensions and bring an organization together.


One can still learn much from Lee Iacocca, rest his soul!