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CEOs Sometimes Need Outside Help

Harvard Business Review

Edmondson, and Herman B. To take a corporate example, Alan Mulally’s pioneering transformation of the fortress-like Ford organization was fueled in part collaborating with outsiders, seeking insights from regulators, investment bankers, and consumer automotive researchers, as well as major customers and car dealers.

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Can GM Make it Safe for Employees to Speak Up?

Harvard Business Review

And the sheer complexity of building cars also plays a role — David Cole, the former head of the Center for Automotive Research (and son of a former GM president), insists that this is really what’s behind the ignition switch error and why it was so hard for the company to get to the bottom of the problem.