William Clay Ford Jr.’s ascension in October 2001 to the role of chief
executive of Ford Motor Co. was not the result of a lifelong quest to follow in
the footsteps of his great-grandfather, company founder Henry, or his father,
former chairman William Sr. Speaking to the Detroit News at the time, the
44-year-old MIT graduate said, “I certainly never sought this job. Lord knows, I
don’t need it. But when I saw what was happening to our company, I thought I
could help us.” The company’s yawning losses and plummeting productivity
spurred Ford to purge the former management and take the helm himself, at the
behest of the company’s largest block of voting shareholders, his family. Thanks
to a complex set of governance rules that keep roughly 40 percent of voting
shares under Ford family control, this 101-year-old automotive giant still
remains a family operated business.
This was not the first time the Ford
family intervened to try to set the company back on track. When times get tough,
the Fords have always circled the wagons. The family can flex its controlling
corporate muscle when it deems necessary, or, as its members see fit, allow
others to manage the business for them, as they have done in the past.
Many Models
Many successful family businesses adopt variations of the Ford
governance model. The rules of succession and governance they define govern the
specific roles family members will play. Some family members, acknowledging
their own lack of desire to follow the founder into management, will opt for an
oversight role and turn the business over to more capable hands. Others may
choose to actually work in the business. Still others may take their
companies public or bring in outside equity investors, actions that impose new
demands and structures upon the family/business relationship.
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