Synopsis
In the “The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan,” the study focuses on the leadership role played by Carlos Ghosn as the Chief Operating Officer of Nissan (Millikin & Fu, 2003) . According to the authors of the study, Nissan had been incurring losses for previous seven years before Ghosn joined the company in March 1999. Since Ghosn was French, many analysts were expecting culture issues in his leadership style. At the same time, the authors note that many anticipated that the new leader would not be in a position to revive the company and make it operate profitably (Millikin & Fu, 2003) . However, upon joining Nissan, Ghosn vowed to step down if the company would not have made a profit after two years. In only eight months, Nissan Company started reporting profit under Ghosn’s leadership. In this case, the study concentrates on discussing and determining the journey that Ghosn and Nissan took until the company started operating in profitability. Besides highlighting Ghosn’s and Nissan’s background, the study also includes different ways in which he addressed various managerial issues, challenges experienced, areas of focus as well as notable milestones that Ghosn was able to achieve.
Professional Background of Carlos Ghosn
Carlos Ghosn was born in 1954 in Brazil to Brazilian and French parents. He pursued his university education in Paris, and after graduation, he was employed by Ghosn “Compagnie Générale des Etablissements Michelin,” a French firm, at the age of 24 (Millikin & Fu, 2003) . Ghosn rapidly advanced to higher levels of management including the COO of Michelin’s Brazilian subsidiary, where he learned about managing large operations that are under strained economic conditions. Ghosn would later learn he would never become the Michelin president even after working for eighteen years since it was a family business. Therefore, he resigned and joined South Africa’s Renault in 1996 as the Executive Vice President of Advanced Research and Development, Manufacturing, and purchasing where he steered the turnaround initiatives (Millikin & Fu, 2003) . After three years, Ghosn was requested to be the Nissan’s COO when Renault and Nissan decided to form a strategic alliance. Combined with his leadership abilities, his five languages that he was speaking, and previous experience, Ghosn was able to turn around Nissan fortunes.
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Cross-Cultural Communication and Management Problems
Some of the cross-cultural communication and management problems faced by Nissan in Japan included:
Deciding on consensus basis and advancement of career (Millikin & Fu, 2003).
Failure to have clear orientation of profit
Over-focusing on competitors and less focus on Nissan’s customers
Failure to have sense of urgency
Lack of strategic plan and vision
Lack of cross-border, cross-cultural and cross-functional lines of work
Ghosn's Management Style
In his management style, Ghosn ensured that he respected both Japanese and his culture. However, his style of leadership involved three principles which included transparency, execution, and communication.
Why Cross-Functional Teams Prove To Be Productive
One of the reasons that made cross-cultural teams be productive was that Ghosn ensured that members of the groups were motivated. In teams, managers were able to ask difficult questions and form new ways of “doing things,” which informed the general culture in the company (Millikin & Fu, 2003) . The nine teams were also given access to all company information which was instrumental in their deliberations. In order to solve specific issues, he formed sub-teams. Freedom and working together among departmental managers provided concrete efforts and well-structured coordination.
Ghosn's Winning Strategies
Some of Ghosn's winning strategies include:
Improvement of company’s brand image
Reducing Redundancies
Reorganization
Performance Evaluations and Employee Advancement
reinvestment in research and development,
Current Status of Nissan in Japan
Currently, Nissan continues to record massive profits. The company is still the country’s second-largest company in the automotive industry (Millikin & Fu, 2003) . The company is currently leading in zero-emission mobility under the Nissan LEAF. In fact, LEAF is the bestselling among the electronic vehicles with more than fifty percent share in zero-emission.
References
Millikin, P. & Fu, D. (2003). The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan. Thunderbird:
The American Graduate School of International Management
