Carlos Ghosn Cross Functional Teams

Cross-Functional Teams

"When you get a clear strategy and communicate your priorities, it's a pleasure working in Japan. The Japanese are so organized and know how to make the best of things. They respect leadership ". Carlos Ghosn

Even though Ghosn expected that his attitude toward cultural respect and opportunism would lead to success, Ghosn was pleasantly surprised by how quickly Nissan employees accepted and participated in the change of their management processes. In his speech at Tuck school he mentioned that workers love stories, they want to understand the story they are in and the role they are playing, they want to see a happy ending-and they want to be part of that ending. Nissan employees were eager to prove themselves." In fact, he has credited all of the success in his programs and policies to the willingness of the Nissan employees at all levels to change their mindsets and embrace new ideas.

Perhaps it was the way he started that set the foundation among the employees. He was the first manager to actually walk around the entire company and meet every employee in person, shaking hands and introducing himself. In addition, Ghosn initiated long discussions with several hundred managers in order to discuss their ideas for turning Nissan around. This began to address the problems within the vertical layers of management by bringing the highest leader of the company in touch with some of the execution issues facing middle and lower management. It also sent a signal to other executives that they needed to be doing the same thing.

But he did not stop there. After these interviews, he decided that the employees were quite energetic, as shown by their recommendations and opinions. With this in mind, Ghosn decided to develop a program for transformation which relied on the Nissan people to make recommendations, instead of hiring outside consultants. He began to organize Cross-Functional Teams to make decisions for radical changes in the company. Part of his interest in doing this was to address the motivation and horizontal communication issues that he encountered throughout the organization. He felt that if the employees could accomplish the revival by their own hands, then confidence in the company as a whole and motivation would be high. He was making it clear that he was also putting his own future in their hands because he had publicly stated several times that the Nissan company had the right employees to achieve profitability again in less than two years.