In Shift, Carlos Ghosn, the brilliant, audacious, and widely
admired CEO of Nissan, recounts how he took the reins of the nearly
bankrupt Japanese automotive company and achieved one of the most
remarkable turnarounds in automotive—and corporate—history.
When Carlos Ghosn pronounced like “phone” was named COO of
Nissan in 1999, the company was running out of gas and careening
toward bankruptcy. Eighteen short months later, Nissan was back in
the black, and within several more years it had become the most
profitable large automobile company in the world. In Shift, Ghosn
describes how he went about accomplishing the seemingly impossible,
transforming Nissan once again into a powerful global automotive
manufacturer.
The Brazilian-born, French-educated son of Lebanese parents,
Ghosn first learned the management principles and practices that
would shape his decisions at Nissan while rising through the ranks
at Michelin and Renault. Upon his arrival at Nissan, Ghosn began
his new position by embarking on a three-month intensive
examination of every aspect of the business. By October 1999 he was
ready to announce his strategy to turn the company around with the
Nissan Revival Plan. In the plan, he consistently challenged the
tradition-bound thinking and practices of Japanese business when
they inhibited Nissan’s effectiveness. Ghosn closed plants, laid
off workers, broke up long-standing supply networks, and sold off
marginal assets to focus on the company’s core business. But
slashing costs was just the first step in Nissan’s recovery. In
fact, Ghosn introduced changes in every corner of the company, from
manufacturing and engineering to marketing and sales. He updated
Nissan’s car and truck lineup, took risks on dynamic new designs,
and demanded improvements in quality—strategies that quickly
burnished Nissan’s image in the marketplace, and re-established the
company in the minds of consumers as a leader in innovation and
engineering.
Like the best-selling memoirs of Jack Welch, Lou Gerstner, and
Larry Bossidy, Shift is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at
what it takes to transform and re-create a world-class company.
Written by one of the world’s most successful and acclaimed CEOs,
Shift is an invaluable guide for business readers everywhere.