Lee lacocca: corporate warhorse 

 Lee Anthony Iacocca (pronounced ya-kocha) is a former President of Ford Motor Company and CEO of Chrysler Corporation. He is known for his unconventional thinking and out of the box approach to complex issues. While at the helm of Chrysler, lacocca created an indelible legacy of great managerial prowess. 

Early Years

 Iacocca was born in 1924 to Italian parents, Nicola and Antoinette, who came to the United States from Italy, San Marco, in 1902. His parents believed that America was a land that would reward hard work and they did work hard. They started a real estate business, a rental car business, and even ran a hot dog stand. He was part of all this and learned the nuances of running a business first hand. At 16, he was working almost 16 hours a day combined — at a fruit stall and other businesses. He learnt strong work ethics from his father. His real first name was Lido — he changed it to Lee so that business associates could remember his name more easily. 

The Ford years 

Iacocca graduated from Lehigh University and went to Princeton on a fellowship. Soon after, he joined Ford Motor Company as an engineer. He later moved to sales, as he found the sales function more exciting. At Ford, he introduced several innovative marketing schemes. One was the 56 for 56' scheme that gave consumers an opportunity to buy a 1956 Ford for 56 dollars payable monthly over a three-year period. It is estimated that this scheme alone was responsible for sale of over 75.000 cars. 

Another of his projects, the Fairline Committee, used research data to decide what cars to produce. The research suggested that there would be an increase in spending power  among Americans in the 1960s and in ‘two-car families' and that more women would start buying cars. Armed with the inputs. Iacocca initiated work on a small car that would seat four people. The end product was the 1964 ford Mustang, which was a roaring success. 

The launch of the Mustang indicated that he was willing to listen to the potential needs of the consumer. It also reflected his willingness to take risks in introducing a product that would satisfy the latent needs of the consumer.

In 1970, Iacocca was made the President of the Ford Motor Company. In the following years, he initiated two major product launches - the Pinto and  mini van. The pinto proved to be a technical failure while the idea of the mini van was scuttled by Henry Ford. II. By 1975, strains appeared in his relationship with Henry Ford II.The situation worsened to the point that he was fired from the Ford Motor Company by Henry Ford II in 1978 although the company had made a $2 billion profit that year. 

At Chrysler 

Ford's competitor, Chrysler Corporation made an offer to Iacocca, which he readily accepted. At the helm of Chrysler, he realised that his company needed immediate cash inflow to stay afloat. He approached the United States Congress for a loan guarantee with the following logic — bankruptcy at Chrysler would mean loss of jobs in many sectors of the economy. He cited the government bailouts of railways, airlines, etc., as examples. After receiving the loan guarantees from the U.S. Government, he released two new models — Dodge Aries and Plymouth Reliant in 1981 — based on compact designs that were rejected at Ford earlier. 

As these compact designs cars hit the markets immediately after the oil crisis, they sold well. He also introduced the minivan. Based on these three models, Chrysler was able to repay the guaranteed loans seven years earlier than was initially contracted for. He also oversaw the acquisition of AMC that brought the iconic Jeep into Chrysler's fold. 

However, the ride during his Chrysler days was not easy He bargained with the unions for salary cuts and cuts in benefits for employees. He advocated that for the company to survive everybody had to sacrifice a bit. He walked the talk he reduced his annual salary to $1. per annum. 

He also vowed that he would not take a higher pay until the company made profits. When in July .1983, Chrysler paid back all the debt, Iacocca made this public statement: "We at Chrysler borrow money the old fashioned way. We pay it back." 

In order to remember the correct spelling of his name, Chrysler Corporation employees devised the mnemonic: I Am Chairman Of Chrysler Corporation Always. He retired as President, CEO and. Chairman of Chester at the end of 1992.

Secrets of Success 

Even after his Chrysler days, Iacocca continued to play an active role, being an advocate for American exports. In 1984, he brought out his autobiography, 'Iacocca: An Autobiography', which remained on the bestseller lists for two years — 1984 and 1985. For the American people, the book showcased how sheer hard work could propel a commoner to the pinnacle of the corporate world. The book was a tribute to the true spirit and promise of the land called America. He is also the author of another bestseller, 'Talking Straight'. He attributes his success to his self-learnt qualities to motivate, prioritise, solve problems and communicate with clarity. Lee Anthony Iacocca these qualities in abundance, which have made him one of the greatest corporate managers of all time.

Lacocca specks 
We have one and only one ambition .to be the best .what else is there ?
Even a correct decision is wrong when it is taken too late .
Setbacks are a natural part of life,and you 've got to be careful of how you respone to them 
You can have brilliant ideas ,but if you can't get them acros,your ideas will not get you anywhere.

 

Bloomberg L.P:Delivering Quality Data

Bloomberg LP (LP stands for Limited Partnership) is a privately-held business that provides incisive financial information to its customers. The company was founded by Michael Bloomberg, with the help of Thomas Secunda, Duncan MacMillan and Charles Zegar in 1981 as Delaware Limited Partnership. Michael Bloomberg is also a three-time former Mayor of New York City. He has recently announced his candidacy for the U.S. presidential election in 2020. 

The secret of Bloomberg's success has been an unstinting ability to provide an ever-improving product and backing it up with unrelenting attention to customer service. Michael's riches from the operations of the company he holds a 88% stake in the company—makes him one of the richest persons in the world; as of November 2019, his net worth is estimated at $58 billion. 

There are about 3.5 lakh terminals (or installations) of Bloomberg around the world. Each customer pays the company an annual fee of about U. S .$25,000 for the privilege of running a proprietory Bloomberg machine. 
 why?,' you may ask. Well, this fee is for a subscription service that sells financial data, analytical software to leverage the data's usefulness, trading tools, and news in the form of print, visual, and audio media. All this is accessed through a colour-coded Bloomberg keyboard that displays the information on the computer screen. You can find these installations in the suites of private investors, in the offices of senior bankers, on the desks of attorneys — just about anybody who brokers power (financial power that is) will have a Bloomberg. One can even access the service from a Blackberry, Android & iOS device. 

Today Bloomberg offers various services apart from financial information services, including compliance, data, technology and trading solutions. It also provides data, analysis and tools in the fields of government, law, energy, finance and sports. 

Bloomberg is also a leading name when it comes to news and media and has successfully forayed into books, broadcasts digital and magazines, like Businessweek. 
 
Since Bloomberg is a closely-held private company, the data regarding its financials is not readily available. However, the market estimates the company's 2019 revenues to be about $10 billion, which makes it one of America's 30 largest private companies. Considering that Bloomberg started off just 38 years ago, this should feature as a creditable achievement. 
According to Bloomberg, while disseminating news there are 5Fs that should not be violated — providing the first, fastest, factual, final, and future words. An observer on the Wall Street says that it seems "[there] is an editor standing behind the reporter with flying pan, beating him over the head, saying 'Get it out, no matter what'. 'The Street' is also impressed with the newsmaker's rigour and discipline in operations. 

Work Culture 

The Bloomberg culture is sometimes referred to as "Big Brotherish" Emloyees wear ID badges and when They "badge in" and "badge out" of a Bloomberg office, the time and date is displayed on their personal profile page and is visible to all Bloombergers around the world. The boss would not take much time to spot patterns like extended tea-breaks. Even within this "Big Brotherish" culture, the news staff have special rules that are laid out in a 363-page style book. The basic rule is, "Every story has to be written in such a way that a dope can understand and a professional can appreciate" . Certain words are to be avoided completely - the best pick for this rule is the word "but". As per the style book, a bible for the company's reporters, the "clauses Containing the word (but) confuse more than they clarify". 
The rivalry between Dow Jones and Bloomberg has achieved legendary status in the financial circles. At the time Bloomberg was launched, Dow Jones was the undisputed leader in the financial information industry. Dow Jones, realising that technology can spur it to the top of the league, acquired an electronic trading product called Telerate for about $1.6 billion. Telerate just provided financial information and did not provide any analytical tool to read the data.' Simply put, the product just dumped a lot of data; there was no value addition to it at the Customer's end. The product was disposed of in 1998 for $1 billion, less than What it Was purchased for. Bloomberg provided exactly what the customer wanted authentic data supplemented by the software required to do the analysis. The Bloomberg terminal provided, and still are continues to provide, stock price monitor, stock chart, sliding tickers for price, volume and earnings information, live video chats, portfolio analysis, news stories, trade book, volume weighted stock data, and U.S. economic indicators. 

Businesses 

1.Bloomberg Professional service: More than 310,000 subscribers in 174 countries 

3.Bloomberg Television network: Available in over 310 million homes worldwide 

4.Bloomberg Radio: Bloomberg Radio reports and programs are syndicated to 200 radio affiliates nationally Bloomberg 

5.Markets magazine: Circulation of 375,000

6.Bloomberg Businessweek: 4.7 million readers

7.Bloomberg Professional service: More than 310,000 subscribers in 174 countries 

8.Bloomberg News: Produces over 5,000 stories a day from 146 bureaus in 72 countries. Bloomberg News content is syndicated to over 440 newspapers and magazines in 65 countries 

9.Bloomberg Television network: Available in over 310 million homes worldwide

 10 Bloomberg Radio: Bloomberg Radio reports and programs are syndicated to 200 radio affiliates nationally

 11.Bloomberg Markets magazine: Circulation of 375,000 

12.Bloomberg Businessweek: 4.7 million readers 

Through Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg Government, Bloomberg New Energy Finance and BNA, the company provides data, news and analytics to decision makers in Industries beyond finance. Bloomberg News, delivered through the Bloomberg Professional service, television, radio, mobile, the Internet and two magazines, Bloomberg Businessweek and Bloomberg Markets, covers the world with more than 2,300 news and multimedia professionals at 146 bureaus in 72 countries. 

What Bloomberg has done is to democratise the flow of information; in other words, it has leveled the field for business by making the most important aspect—information—freely available. Although the company operates in a highly competitive segment, Bloomberg is riding high on the back of a report by the McKinsey Global institute that puts the current figure for the value of world's financial assets at over $214 trillion, with projection for 2020 touching $317 trillion. Why should Bloomberg be happy about this projection? The more the assets, the more would be the variables associated with the same, the more complex would be the interplay between them, and so greater would be the need for more specialised "information". A company that thrives on the flow of information should be happy about that.