Randomly Noted

General Motors was never the kind of place where things happened fast. It is now. With CEO Frederick “Fritz” Henderson out the door, the auto maker’s post-bankruptcy board of directors has moved quickly. Directors could have given Henderson, who had been in office a mere nine months, more time to prove himself. But Chairman Ed Whitacre and the high-powered directors whispering in his ear recognize the urgency of the situation. Here’s the situation: As the global economy recovers and emerging economies speed up their growth, Whitacre & Co. want people to buy GM cars because they’re well-made, fuel-efficient and attractive –  not because they’re cheap, which has often underlined a GM buyer’s thought process. “GM cars are so boring but the quality is just about okay and the price is rock-bottom so I’ll hold my nose and buy one” – this has been that thought process. Whitacre’s board wants customers to think like Ford buyers – “Wow. This car is getting great reviews, it’s fuel-efficient, it looks really good. I want this Ford.” So, who will succeed Henderson? Who can extract brilliance from GM’s peculiar cultural mix of stodgy complacency and severe low self-esteem? Can a one-in-a-million CEO candidate afford to take a pay cut? One must remember that GM owes taxpayers lots of money; the federal government’s pay czar, Kenneth Feinberg, won’t let Whitacre offer a world-class salary. And besides, who will want to run a company with the White House looking over her shoulder? This will be a labor of love for a man or woman with a visceral affection for General Motors and America’s automotive history; the wherewithal to read, digest and comprehend the statistics behind the marketing glitz – monthly sales, pricing levels, incentives, labor costs and so on; and the brains to ask the right questions and demand rigorous responses from the many thousands of GM workers who have been waiting for just such a leader. GM directors may opt for a non-automotive outsider along the lines of Alan Mulally, Ford’s CEO, who came from the aerospace industry. Mulally has presided over Ford’s resurgence. GM needs a Mulally. Alternatively, it might benefit from a Carlos Ghosn. The spark atop the Nissan-Renault success has been in a demanding dual role since 1999. Does a Detroit assignment appeal to Ghosn? Within GM’s ranks there may be some shining stars a couple of rungs down the hierarchy, but the board may be hard-pressed to find a seasoned change-agent within Henderson’s circle of top executives. The GM board itself could yield a CEO. It’s a potent bunch of personalities with stellar resumes. It’s also a very busy board. Directors already had a packed agenda. In coming weeks,they must to name a new permanent chief of the European Opel unit (the very business it decided to keep against Henderson’s recommendation earlier this fall, thus signaling the board and CEO weren’t in sync.) They also must review offers for its foundering Saab business before finally deciding its fate.  Now, it has to find a new boss.