What a surprise !

[Tony Polito <Tony.Polito@alumni.duke.edu>]

What a surprise! I was working this morning with the Social Science 
Citation Index ... and discovered that when I wrote a "letter to the 
editor" of Fortune magazine back in 2003 ... it was printed!  I thought 
that when such letters were accepted, they first wrote back to confirm 
identity and permission.  They never did, so I assumed it just went in "the 
round file."

It is in the June 9, 2003 issue, page 28.  See if my thought rings true 3 
1/2 years later ... !!
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Ford at the Wheel

Re "Getting Ford in Gear" (May 12), regarding Bill Ford's recent reign as 
CEO: It closes on the note that there were "lessons from the past" from 
which he might well benefit. I couldn't agree more.

Perhaps Bill Ford would gain from a re-reading of former Ford CEO Donald 
Petersen's A Better Idea. In the book, Petersen presents his version of 
Ford Motor's last "turn from the brink" during the 1980s. It was a revival 
based on teamwork, on employee involvement and empowerment, on 
participative management, and squarely on the philosophy of W. Edwards 
Deming, the management thinker who contributed so much to the revival of 
the postwar Japanese economy.

Ford Motor has recently been more than willing to bet its product line on 
corporate nostalgia. Doing the same with its management philosophy would be 
a far better bet.

Tony Polito, Assistant Professor
School of Business
East Carolina University
Greenville, N. C.
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