A complicated man facing complicated issues
Ford’s office is a testament to the staunch environmentalism of a man who, as a teen-ager, eagerly volunteered for clean-water and recycling projects. All the carpeting, curtains and furniture upholstery in his office were produced from hemp, and the ceiling tiles are made from reconstituted materials.
But his green tendencies are not the only thing setting him apart from the average American CEO. With the self-confidence that perhaps only inherited wealth and fame can bring, he seems to be something of the CEO as Boy Scout, with a number of twists: Ford is a practicing Bhuddist and a vegetarian whose favorite drink is water. He has a black belt in tae kwan do. He likes to note that he drives himself to work each day, in his favorite car, a convertible Ford Mustang.
Ford acknowledges the obvious, that he inherited a fundamentally broken company. Among the critical issues he was forced to tackle was runaway health care costs — including coverage for retires — an albatross that continues to dog the company. More than half of the $3.2 billion the company spent on health care last year went to retirees.
"This issue is bigger than any one company," Ford says. "I’ve asked our vice chairman, Allan Gilmour, to look into health care and try to find ways to reach out to other groups that are grappling with this issue. We think it’s going to take a broad-based coalition of government, business and the health care industry to solve some of the more fundamental concerns."
But that issue doesn’t move itself to the forefront in the same way as Ford’s ongoing environmental debate, where Ford continues to be drilled by critics on both sides of the argument.
Five years ago, the Sierra Club gave Ford Motor Co. its "Exxon Valdez Environmental Achievement award," for producing gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles. Ford (the CEO) responded by vowing to decrease SUV emissions by one-quarter in just a few years.
In 2003, the Sierra Club used the automaker’s centennial celebration to take another jab. In national ads, it trumpeted "A Century of Innovation," with photos depicting then-and-now models of telephones and audio equipment. The ad’s kicker: "Except at Ford." The ad noted that the Model T got 25 miles per gallon nearly a century ago, while the Explorer SUV gets just 16 miles per gallon. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal berated Ford for his failed strategy of "appeasement" of the environmental lobby.
Despite this, Ford pointedly refuses to acknowledge any tension between business and responsible corporate citizenship.
"Trying to make the world a better place isn’t just a nice thing to do, it is a way to grow your business and become more profitable," he says. "As we move farther along into the 21st century, that’s going to become more obvious to everyone. I want my company to get there first."
In other words, the rest of corporate America will catch up with his visionary ideas.
Still, Ford has scaled back some of his initial boldness in the environmental area. By fall 2002, having absorbed a full year of mounting skepticism from Wall Street, he was trying to find an artful balance between his idealism and the grittier realities of running a major company.
As he told an automotive roundtable in Paris: "Obviously, the potential of hybrid electric and fuel cells is compelling, and they’ve been getting huge amounts of publicity in recent years. But the internal combustion engine has stood the test of time, and has evolved into an extremely clean, efficient and inexpensive power source. It continues to be improved, and emissions are now approaching zero in some designs."
