Word: forde
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Critics protest that forced ranking can be harsh and arbitrary. But that hasn't kept a growing number of companies from joining such firms as Enron, Ford Motor and Microsoft in adopting them. "What it all boils down to is who is in the room fighting for you," says an Enron worker who was cut from the herd. "I didn't have people there to talk for me, and I felt like I got screwed." Counters Craig Taylor, a manager in Enron's commodity-trading department: "You have to know where you stand, and I believe the system does...
...Perhaps not, but the forced-ranking systems have ignited legal firestorms. Recent lawsuits brought by past and present employees have charged Microsoft, Ford and Conoco with using the systems to favor some groups of workers over others--such as white males over blacks or women and younger managers over older ones...
...range, the reasoning went, was the only way a car company could afford the huge investments necessary to incorporate the latest technologies. That meant that if you were a small independent, you would have to merge--or face the Darwinian consequences. So Daimler coupled with Chrysler, Renault bought Nissan, Ford scooped up Volvo, and everybody mused that it was just a matter of time before the biggies gobbled up BMW and Honda, and maybe even Porsche. Yet here we are in 2001, and among the most successful players in the auto industry are...BMW, Honda and Porsche...
Jurgen Schrempp, the once swaggering chairman of DaimlerChrysler, is praying that the billions of dollars in losses at Chrysler and Mitsubishi (in which he bought a ruling share last year) don't sink the entire company. Ford CEO Jacques Nasser has a collection of premium brands in his stable: Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo. But amid a weak economy, sales at Ford and GM are down some 15% this year, and even the luxury brands are under new pressure from smaller Japanese and German automakers...
...special about BMW is its management depth and persistence. Two years ago, the company floundered when its attempt to get big--the 1994 takeover of Britain's Rover--went awry. That cost the company $3.9 billion and prompted a flurry of talk that BMW would be bought by Ford or GM or Toyota. But since Milberg emerged as chairman in 1999, the company has stayed ahead of the luxury pack. Although most of its 21 factories are in Europe, BMW built a new plant in Spartanburg, S.C., which now exports the company's popular X5 SUV to 100 countries. Aiming...