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American Icon
- Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
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Publisher's summary
At the end of 2008, Ford Motor Company was just months away from running out of cash. With the auto industry careening toward ruin, Congress offered all three Detroit automakers a bailout. General Motors and Chrysler grabbed the taxpayer lifeline, but Ford decided to save itself. Under the leadership of charismatic CEO Alan Mulally, Ford had already put together a bold plan to unify its divided global operations, transform its lackluster product lineup, and overcome a dysfunctional culture of infighting, backstabbing, and excuses. It was an extraordinary risk, but it was the only way the Ford family - America's last great industrial dynasty - could hold on to their company.
Mulally and his team pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in business history. As the rest of Detroit collapsed, Ford went from the brink of bankruptcy to being the most profitable automaker in the world. American Icon is the compelling, behind-the-scenes account of that epic turnaround. On the verge of collapse, Ford went outside the auto industry and recruited Mulally - the man who had already saved Boeing from the deathblow of 9/11 - to lead a sweeping restructuring of a company that had been unable to overcome decades of mismanagement and denial.
Mulally applied the principles he developed at Boeing to streamline Ford's inefficient operations, force its fractious executives to work together as a team, and spark a product renaissance in Dearborn. He also convinced the United Auto Workers to join his fight for the soul of American manufacturing.
Bryce Hoffman reveals the untold story of the covert meetings with UAW leaders that led to a game-changing contract, Bill Ford's battle to hold the Ford family together when many were ready to cash in their stock and write off the company, and the secret alliance with Toyota and Honda that helped prop up the American automotive supply base. In one of the great management narratives of our time, Hoffman puts the reader inside the boardroom as Mulally uses his celebrated Business Plan Review meetings to drive change and force Ford to deal with the painful realities of the American auto industry.
Hoffman was granted unprecedented access to Ford's top executives and top-secret company documents. He spent countless hours with Alan Mulally, Bill Ford, the Ford family, former executives, labor leaders, and company directors. In the best-selling tradition of Too Big to Fail and The Big Short, American Icon is narrative nonfiction at its vivid and colorful best.
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- How Faith, Cows, and Chicken Built an Iconic Brand
- By: Steve Robinson
- Narrated by: Milton Bagby
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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During his 34-year tenure at Chick-fil-A, Steve Robinson was integrally involved in the company’s growth - from 184 stores and $100 million in annual sales in 1981 to over 2,100 stores and over $6.8 billion in annual sales in 2015 - and was a firsthand witness to its evolution as an indelible global brand. In Covert Cows and Chick-fil-A, Robinson shares behind-the-scenes accounts of key moments.
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Like an encyclopedia being read
- By Dave on 11-29-19
By: Steve Robinson
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Crash Course
- The American Automobile Industry's Road from Glory to Disaster
- By: Paul Ingrassia
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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In Crash Course, Ingrassia answers the big questions: Was Detroit's self-destruction inevitable? What were the key turning points? Why did Japanese automakers manage American workers better than the American companies themselves? Ingrassia also describes dysfunctional corporate cultures (even as GM's market share plunged, the company continued business as usual) and Detroit's perverse system of "inverse layoffs" (which allowed union members to invoke seniority to avoid work).
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Contemporary History at Its Best
- By Roy on 04-19-10
By: Paul Ingrassia
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The Chip
- How Two Americans Invented the Microchip and Launched a Revolution
- By: T.R. Reid
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Barely 50 years ago a computer was a gargantuan, vastly expensive thing that only a handful of scientists had ever seen. The world's brightest engineers were stymied in their quest to make these machines small and affordable until the solution finally came from two ingenious young Americans. Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce hit upon the stunning discovery that would make possible the silicon microchip, a work that would ultimately earn Kilby the Nobel Prize for physics in 2000.
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Great narration, sloppy writing
- By Constantly Learning on 10-06-22
By: T.R. Reid
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The Lost Art of Closing
- Winning the Ten Commitments That Drive Sales
- By: Anthony Iannarino
- Narrated by: Anthony Iannarino
- Length: 5 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Anthony Iannarino has a different approach to closing geared to the new technological and social realities of our time. In The Lost Art of Closing, he proves that the final commitment can actually be one of the easiest parts of the sales process - if you've set it up properly with other commitments that have to happen long before the close. The key is to lead customers through a series of necessary steps designed to prevent a purchase stall.
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gems buried in fluff
- By Andrey Norin on 04-13-18
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Fordlandia
- The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford’s Forgotten Jungle City
- By: Greg Grandin
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 15 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Fordlandia by National Book Award finalist Greg Grandin tells the enthralling tale of Henry Ford’s failed attempts to transform a Connecticut-sized chunk of Brazilian rainforest into a homespun slice of American utopia.
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An eye-opening account of an arrogant man's folly
- By Melissa on 09-17-13
By: Greg Grandin
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Empires of Light
- Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World
- By: Jill Jonnes
- Narrated by: Chris Sorensen
- Length: 16 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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In the final decades of the 19th century, three brilliant and visionary titans of America's Gilded Age - Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, and George Westinghouse - battled as each vied to create a vast and powerful electrical empire. In Empires of Light, historian Jill Jonnes portrays this extraordinary trio and their riveting and ruthless world of cutting-edge science, invention, intrigue, money, death, and hard-eyed Wall Street millionaires.
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Get the book vs audio version
- By DuPont on 06-15-17
By: Jill Jonnes
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The Carroll Shelby Story
- By: Carroll Shelby
- Narrated by: Chris Abernathy
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Carroll Shelby wasn’t born to run. He was born to race - some of the fastest cars ever to tear up a speedway. The exciting new feature film Ford v Ferrari - starring Matt Damon as Shelby and Christian Bale as fellow racer Ken Miles - immortalizes the small-town Texas boy who won the notorious Le Mans 24-hour endurance challenge and changed the face of auto racing with the legendary Shelby Cobra. But there’s much more to his high-velocity, history-making story.
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Interesting but not what I expected
- By Pablo Puente Jr on 01-01-20
By: Carroll Shelby
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Street Smarts
- An All-Purpose Tool Kit for Entrepreneurs
- By: Norm Brodsky, Bo Burlingham
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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People starting out in business tend to seek step-by-step formulas or rules, but in reality there are no magic bullets. Rather, says veteran company-builder Norm Brodsky, there's a mentality that helps street- smart entrepreneurs solve problems and pursue opportunities as they arise. Brodsky shares his hard-earned wisdom every month in Inc. magazine, in the hugely popular "Street Smarts" column he cowrites with Bo Burlingham. Now they've adapted their best advice into a comprehensive guide for anyone running a small business.
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This great audio was originally called The Knack!
- By morton on 12-16-11
By: Norm Brodsky, and others
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The Automatic Customer
- Creating a Subscription Business in Any Industry
- By: John Warrillow
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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The lifeblood of your business is repeat customers. But customers can be fickle, markets shift, and competitors are ruthless. So how do you ensure a steady flow of repeat business? The secret--no matter what industry you're in--is finding and keeping automatic customers. These days virtually anything you need can be purchased through a subscription, with more convenience than ever before.
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Can be applied to almost any business
- By C Mason on 02-25-15
By: John Warrillow
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Gulp
- Adventures on the Alimentary Canal
- By: Mary Roach
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Best-selling author Mary Roach returns with a new adventure to the invisible realm we carry around inside. Roach takes us down the hatch on an unforgettable tour. The alimentary canal is classic Mary Roach terrain: The questions explored in Gulp are as taboo, in their way, as the cadavers in Stiff and every bit as surreal as the universe of zero gravity explored in Packing for Mars. Why is crunchy food so appealing? Why is it so hard to find words for flavors and smells? Why doesn’t the stomach digest itself? How much can you eat before your stomach bursts?
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Funtastic Voyage
- By Mel on 04-05-13
By: Mary Roach
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Losing the Signal
- The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry
- By: Jacquie McNish, Sean Silcoff
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Losing the Signal is a riveting story of a company that toppled global giants before succumbing to the ruthlessly competitive forces of Silicon Valley. This is not a conventional tale of modern business failure by fraud and greed. The rise and fall of BlackBerry reveals the dangerous speed at which innovators race along the information superhighway.
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Fascinating
- By Gerardo A Dada on 09-05-15
By: Jacquie McNish, and others
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Charging Ahead
- GM, Mary Barra, and the Reinvention of an American Icon
- By: David Welch
- Narrated by: Tee Quillin
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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A decade ago, no one would have guessed that GM would be the company poised to lead America into the future. At a time when business book listeners seem endlessly fascinated by soaring tech giants like Amazon and Netflix, and ill-fated startups like WeWork and Theranos, why is it important to put the spotlight back on 112-year-old GM? Because Charlie Wilson’s quip from 1952 is still true: What’s good for GM is still good for America, and vice versa
By: David Welch
What listeners say about American Icon
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- long hair
- 04-13-18
Engrossing
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes, its an engrossing read that is almost as much history as it is a business case study.
Which scene was your favorite?
When Allan M's family comes in the study after he gets off the phone from telling Bill Ford no and the family asks when they are going to Ford;-)
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes
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- John Haley III
- 11-25-16
Great Read!
What made the experience of listening to American Icon the most enjoyable?
This book was so good that I could wait to get back in my car each morning to continue listening to the book!
What does Pete Larkin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Pete's voice was very calming and he created a very natural listening experience
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
at 14 hours I would say no
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- J Bo
- 12-06-15
Great Book on Business & Personnel Management
Well researched book. Great recreations of history, not so much about the cars in the latter years it's more about the men and women (mostly men) who make the decisions to make cars. Sometimes the drama sounds like a soap opera, but if you work in corporate America or for a large organization, you'll recognize some of these themes as being universal. Throw in the Ford family, the Union, and the media as outside influences and you have a great story.
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- CR
- 12-29-15
Interesting and enlightening story
Makes me want to go buy a Ford! This is a great American turnaround story. I was unfamiliar with the details of Ford's unique challenges although I know the Japanese imports were crushing them for a while and I know the market crash put a hurting on everyone. It was interesting to learn how all the auto makers and parts suppliers are all tied together and failure of one US auto maker could cause the demise of another so they kind of had to help each other to some extent to survive. It also seemed very unfair how the US government treated Ford versus the others, BUT I know we are only hearing one side of that story. In any case, Alan Mulally and Ford seem to have earned their victory and I'm glad they survived. I do recommend this book.
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- David
- 01-05-15
Eye opening exprience
Exceeded my expectation. Opened Ford up for better understanding what the auto maker had to manage and survive the market conditions.
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- Amazon Customer
- 12-07-20
The Struggle Was Real
The Struggle Was Real, but Ford overcame the challenge through teamwork, perseverance, and transparency. Alan Mulally had a challenge to overcome the old culture at Ford, but he helped change the world.
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- Jeannie Parker
- 07-22-20
A slow start but more than worth it!
The beginning groundwork for this book is necessary but could take a little patience to get past, once you do, you’ll be so glad you held on for this amazing book. Enjoyed learning about the history of such an prominent company but this was also a great book about leadership and make hard decisions.
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- Melissa Edmister
- 03-07-18
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.
The principles are applicable in so many business arenas. I work in health care and feel inspired to look at ways to apply concepts to my own work place. Definitely worth the read!
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- s
- 01-19-23
Great Story and Storytelling… Bit Long
Great story and storytelling, however i think it could be just a tiny bit shorter. I liked the VO work. Was an excellent telling of the inner workings of Ford
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- benjamin
- 12-31-22
Really enjoyed
Fun and inspiring. Ironically, sounds a lot like EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) from the book “Traction” by Gino Wickman. I also was struck by how important a positive mindset is in leadership.
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