On Wednesday, Feb. 21, Ford’s North American President, Raj Nair, was ousted for unspecified “inappropriate behavior.” Nair was a company veteran of Ford and was reported to be departing from Ford “effective immediately.” The new CEO, Jim Hackett, had promoted Nair in June 2017, making the Executive Vice President/President’s departure more puzzling.
Prior to working as President of Ford North America, Nair served as Ford’s head of global product development and chief technical officer; he has held different director roles at the company since 2000. Nair was considered the “point man” for global product development, seen as a possible CEO successor and one of the four top Ford executives to receive a one-time retention bonus to be paid in 2020. Nair was also granted long-term incentives worth nearly $5 million; there is no knowledge of whether these will be withdrawn due to the latest news.
The “rising star” started an internal investigation when complaints of inappropriate behavior arose. Based on the review, Ford felt that Nair did not meet the company’s code of conduct.
“I sincerely regret that there have been instances where I have not exhibited leadership behaviors consistent with the principles that the company and I have always espoused,” Nair said in a statement released by Ford. “I continue to have the utmost faith in the people of Ford Motor Company and wish them continued success in the future.”
Ford has had a lot of changes in leadership over the past year. Last spring, Mark Fields was removed as CEO and there was an abrupt departure regarding Jason Luo, CEO of Ford China. Among other changes, the new CEO, Hackett, is cracking down on behavior in the workplace; he visited Chicago due to ongoing sexual harassment claims from factory workers.
Some are baffled at all the changes going on within the company. Many investors and analysts have been unhappy with the lack of “clear direction” from leadership. However, in the current atmosphere of transparency and proper action being taken against inappropriate behavior, this direction is a refreshing, hopeful outlook for the public. The international company is taking strides where other organizations are lacking. The large scale of these actions is not lost amongst some.
“It’s always good to address any situation immediately and forthrightly,” said Don Runkle, a former GM executive.
On Thursday, Feb. 22, Ford announced Nair’s replacement: Kumar Galhotra. He is viewed as accomplished, respected and well-liked at all levels of the operation. He previously served as President of Lincoln since 2014, bringing a new image to the brand. Many are pleased with this advancement and hope that it will be as promising as it sounds, indicated by the small bump in for the Ford stock.
Courtesy: techcrunch.com
Hopefully this new change will be the beginning of a new leadership team for Ford that will inspire other international organizes to follow their lead.