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Contents Acknowledgments Introduction What They Wrought One 1920: The Fateful Year - America and the General on a Roll - Losing a Man Named Chrysler - The Eve of Showdown Two A Precocious Dropout Forges his First Empire - A Hands-on Education - Sins of the Fathers - Just a Short Ride Across Town - Selling Billy Durant, and then Selling the Product - A Bitter Lesson in Production Control - From Startup to Industry Leader Three A Quiet Student Becomes a First-Class Supplier - Staying on Message - A Most Serious Young Man - Early Risk and Turnaround - Seeing a New Market Four A New Machine Creates a New Order - An Ancient Idea Slowly Takes Hold - Enter Ransom Olds - Leland, Master of Precision - Henry Ford and his Demons - Leland is In, Cadillac is Born - Alfred Meets Henry. . . and Henry Rises Again Five Restless in Flint, Antsy in New York - The Good Life in Flint - Spared the Strife . . . for the Time Being - A Different Routine for Billy?s Executive Team - A Hardy Man Takes the Plunge without Billy - Billy Takes a Sabattical - David Buick Takes his Shot - Enter the Briscoe Boys and Whiting of Flint Six The Dropout?s Next Big Thing - Making it a Go - Another Industry Precedent, and an Early Jab from Alfred - Billy Finds a New Flame - Buick Triumphant - No Legacy for David - A Shakeout on the Horizon Seven Birth of a General - A Hyatt Customer Prepares to Shift into High Gear - Henry Ford?s Different Product Strategy - Billy Takes Another Call - Billy Brings the Big Four Together . . . - Henry Ford Kills Morgan?s Big Deal - Billy Cuts his Own Deal - No Headlines for Billy?s New-born Eight Shooting for the Stars - Putting the House of Olds in Order -- Cut the Baby in Quarters - Cadillac Makes itself the World Standard . . . Despite Slumping Sales - Wooing the Lelands - One More Run at Henry Ford - The Great Race . . . and More Great Opportunities - A Whirling Dervish Unconstrained Nine Down but Hardly Out - Billy Says Goodbye . . . for Now - A Case of Conspiracy or Prudence? - Henry Pulls Away . . . and Brings America with Him - Heady but Precarious Days for Sloan the Supplier - The Bankers Turn to James Storrow, Brahmin - Billy Champions a Former Prot¿g¿ - Every Executive Recruiter?s Dream Candidate: Walter Chrysler - The Bankers? Bottom Line - Enter Kettering with his Self-Starter - The Bankers? Philosophy versus Henry Ford?s Ten Beating the Odds with Chevrolet - Taking on the Model T . . . Slowly - A Different Way to Build Brand Awareness and Community Relations - Finally, the Long-awaited Hit - Henry Again Changes the Game - The Guardian from Delaware and his Right Hand Eleven A Board Room Coup Like None Before or Since - The Mother of All Proxy Battles - Another Clash of Philosophies: Pierre vs. Billy on Corporate Governance - Cementing the Base: Step One, Locking in Chrysler - Step Two: Luring Alfred into the Fold - Alfred Moves up with Billy Twelve The Founder?s Grip Slips Again - Henry?s Plunge into Pacifism, Politics, and Prejudice - Billy Durant vs. the Lelands - Good Times on the New Jersey Shore but not on Wall Street - The Wizard Gambles again . . . and Dilutes his Power Thirteen A Last Goodbye to the Baby - Prelude to the Crisis - General Motors? Response vs. Ford Motor?s - The Founder has his Own Doubts as his Leadership Team Remains Mute - Done in by the Street . . . Again - Billy Does Right by his Baby - The End of an Era Fourteen Alfred Pulls the Ranks Together - Pierre Comes Out from Behind the Curtain - Kettering?s Copper-Cooled Engine - From Stand-off to Near-Meltdown - Defying the Consultants to Save Chevrolet - Decentralized Operations with Coordinated Control - Henry Ford Misses a Sea Change in the Market - A Car for Every Purse and Purpose Fifteen From Transformation to Domination - A New Paradigm for Product Design - The Annual Model Change - Beyond the United States - Non-Automotive Forays and Legacies - Financial (and other) Controls - Attracting, Developing, and Holding the Best Talent at All Levels - Unrest in the Ranks - Politicians and Executives Don?t Mix - The Finest Hour: General Motors Goes to War for America - The Sloan Philosophy and Legacy of Winning Epilogue What?s Good for General Motors . . . Appendices: Chronology of Key Events Note on Sources and Permissions Bibliography Index About the Author
Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication:
General Motors Corporation -- History.
Automobile industry and trade -- United States -- History.
Businesspeople -- United States -- Biography.
Durant, William Crapo, 1861-1947.
Sloan, Alfred P. (Alfred Pritchard), 1875-1966.