MBA备考商务英语泛读文选全集(18)
网络资源 免费考研网/2009-01-16
Time; New York; Dec 7, 1998; Lee Iacocca;
[Author note]: Lee Iacocca was president of Ford, later
chairman of Chrysler and last year founded EV Global Motors.
The only time I ever met Henry Ford, he looked at me and
probably wondered, "Who is this little s.o.b. fresh out of
college?" He wasnt real big on college graduates, and I
was one of 50 in the Ford training course in September
1946, working in a huge drafting room at the enormous River
Rouge plant near Detroit.
One day there was a big commotion at one end of the floor
and in walked Henry Ford with Charles Lindbergh. They
walked down my aisle asking men what they were doing. I was
working on a mechanical drawing of a clutch spring (which
drove me out of engineering forever), and I was worried hat
theyd ask me a question because I didnt know what the
hell I was doing-Id been there only 30 days. I was just
awestruck by the fact that there was Colonel Lindberg with
my new boss, coming to shake my hand.
The boss was a genius. He was an eccentric. He was no
prince in his social attitudes and his politics. But Henry
Fords mark in history is almost unbelievable. In 1905,
when there were 50 start-up companies a year trying to get
into the auto business, his backers at the new Ford Motor
Co. were insisting that the best way to maximize profits
was to build a car for the rich.
But Ford was from modest, agrarian Michigan roots. And he
thought that the guys who made the cars ought to be able to
afford one themselves so that they too could go for a spin
on a Sunday afternoon. In typical fashion, instead of
listening to his backers, Ford eventually bought them out.
(未完待续)