Carlos Ghosn

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Carlos Ghosn
The Man Who Brought Nissan Back
Tadashi Kitahara 6.13.2006
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? Why I chose Carlos Ghosn
- His great success in reviving Nissan
- His ability to communicate and lead his
Japanese personnel in spite of the fact that he
didnt speak Japanese
- A perfect example of the type of business
executive who is in high demand in the global
economy today.
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• Profile
• 1954 Born in Porto Velho, Brazil
• 1978 Graduated from the Ecole des Mines in
• Paris and joined Michelin
• 1985 Moved to Brazil as Chief Operating Officer,
  
• Michelin Brazil
• Named Chairman, President and Chief
• Executive Officer of Michelin North
• America Inc.
• Left Michelin to become Executive Vice
• President of Renault Group
• Appointed President and Chief Executive
• Officer of Nissan Motor Co.,
• Appointed CEO of the Renault Group on
• May 1st , thus becoming CEO of both
• Renault S.A. and Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

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? Nissan
Nissan was established in Japan in 1933.
1967, the 2000 Roadster with its five-speed,
150-horsepower engine, makes Datsun a
household name in the U.S. 1970s, the 240Z
becomes the fastest selling sports car in the
world, selling more than 500,000 units in
less than a decade.
After capping a decade of success in the U.S,
the company begins placing more importance
on North American markets in 1990s. Sales
in Japan begin declining. Nissans management
problems in Japan begin in 1990s. Eventually
with 22 billion in debt Nissan becomes a bad
risk for Japanese Bankers in 1999.
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? Investigating Nissans failures causes
Ghosn arrives in Tokyo in 1999.
The following 3 months he spends on the road,
personally studying Nissans problems.
He determines that (a) Nissans management
doesnt have precisely quantified
goals, (b) customers have little presence in
the company, (c) no one is acknowledging the
existing emergency, (d) there is serious lack
of interdepartmental communications, (e) there
is no strategy
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? Renault-Nissan Alliance
1999, Renault buys 36.8 of an ailing Nissan.
Japanese press talks about a man known as the
Cost Killer, who will be sent by Renault to
restructure Nissan.
Renault sends a man born to Lebanese parents in
Brazil and educated in France, whose
professional itinerary covers Europe and the
two American continents Carlos
Ghosn, known by the international press
as Le Cost Killer.
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? Ghosns solution
Cross-functional teams made of two leaders from
different disciplines in middle management
would carry out the task of bringing Nissan
around. They would make recommendations to
the executive committee and would make no
decisions on their own.
TV-CommercialGeorgia
Initially cross-functional teams were made of
Japanese nationals only, but later French
members of Ghosns team from Renault were
also included.
At this point Japan did not trust Ghosn or his
methods. In this TV-commercial you will see
what I mean.
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? Nissans Revival - ?
Ghosn invites international journalists
covering the Tokyo Motor Show and tells them
that in six of the previous seven years Nissan
had lost money and that forecast for 1999
was also red.
He also reminds the audience that Nissan is a
global car maker, has a world-class
production system, uses cutting edge technology,
and has Renault as its ally.
He makes the following commitments (1) a
return to profitability in fiscal year 2000,
(2) a profit margin of over 4.5 of sales by
2002, and (3) a 50 reduction in debt.
He promises the audience that if he and his
team can not make Nissan profitable in one
year, they will quit and so will Nissans board.
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? Nissans Revival - ?
From day one, Ghosn is very conscious of
the importance of design.
Ghosn and Shiro Nakamura agree that bringing
back Datsun Z would be reviving a legend
and if successful it would lead and
symbolize Nissans revival.
Nissans focus in its TV-commercials shift
completely, aiming at the car and its
design.

• TV-Commercial
• Before Ghosn

TV-Commercial Before Ghosn
Datsun Z becomes the flagship and the symbol of
new Nissan. In addition, a number of new
designs prove very successful and along
with Datsun Z, push Nissans worldwide sales up
by 8.5 by 2003.
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? Ghosns Management Style
Ghosn completely turned around the existing
culture at Nissan.
He simplified procedures, clarified objectives,
motivated rank file by clearly defining
challenges and rewards.
He maintained a strict personal standard of
integrity, he did not alter, or go back on
his word.
His methods were based on

(2) Instilling Motivation and Confidence,
(1) Simplicity and Clarity,
(3) Listening,
(4) Speed,
(5) Commitment,
(6) Setting clear Target,
(8) Consistency
(7) Making Tough Decisions,
Once their confidence was gained, employees
started focusing on implementation, pushing
far beyond commitment levels, and
delivering to expectations beyond their promise.
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? Achieving World-Class Status - ?
Under Ghosn, Nissan achieved its revival plan

? Management committed in 1999 to returning
Nissan to bottom-line profitability in the
first year of the NRP(Nissan Revival Plan) and it
was done.
? Management committed to achieving an operating
profit margin of 4.5 percent by the end of
2002, amazingly by the end of 2001, Nissan
reported a margin of 7.9 percent, on par with
Japanese competitors Toyota and Honda.
? Management committed to reducing net automotive
debt in half while increasing the companys
investment rate from 3.7 percent to 5 percent
of sales by the end of 2002.
? Twelve months ahead of time, at the end of
2001, Nissans net automotive debt stood at
4 billion and 350million dollars, the lowest it
had been in twenty-four years.
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? Achieving World-Class Status - ?
Nissan and Ghosn together accomplished more
?The automotive production parts supplier
base was reduced by 40 percent, while
service suppliers were reduced 60 percent.
?Five plants were closed, resulting in an
increase in manufacturing utilization
rates from an average of 51 percent
before the NRP to a level of 75 percent at
the end of 2001.
?Manufacturing platforms in Japan were
reduced from 24 to 15
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? Carlos Ghosn the man
? Ghosn said that the person who influenced him
most, was his paternal grandfather whom he
had never met.
? The story of Bichara, his grandfather, was a
typical immigrants story of his time, He
boarded the ship to Brazil with a small bag, with
no money and almost no education.
? Bichara became a porter at a port in Brazil. He
saved up enough money to open a street
vending counter. By the time Ghosns father was
born, the business had developed to a
partnership with the Brazilian airlines.
? Ghosn believed that the reason he could expect
so much from himself and his team was that
his grandfather had overcome greater
difficulties! Ghosn believed in hard work
more than differences in individuals
national, cultural or financial background, he
was inspired by the memory of his
grandfather who had fought against great odds and
had won.
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The List of Works Cited
Books 1. Carlos Ghosn and Phillippe Ries. SHIFT
INSIDE NISSANS HISTORIC REVIVAL.
U.S.A(oroginally published in France) Currency
Doubleday, 2003. 2. David Magee. TURN ARROUND.
U.S.A Harper Business, 2003. 3. Miguel
Rivas-Micoud. The Ghosn Factor. Singapore
McGraw-Hill Education (Asia), 2006 4.
Yoko Togashi. The True Story of Carlos Ghosn.
Japan Shogakukan, 2002 5. Yozo Hasegawa.
Carlos Ghosns Five Revolutions. Japan
Kodansha, 2005 6. Carlos Ghosn and Phillippe
Ries. Carlos Ghosn talks his Management Style.
Japan Nikkei-Business, 2005 URLs 7.
http//www.nissan.co.jp/ 8. http//www.renault.jp
/ 9. http//www.tv-asahi.co.jp/sunpro/contents/ba
cknumber/0039/ 10.http//www.isize.com/carsensor/s
/smodel/NI_41_2.html 11.http//www.assist-plan.co.
jp/business_letter/2005_4/yellow.php 12.http//www
.kantei.go.jp/jp/m-magazine/backnumber/2002/ghosn.
html 13.http//www.nissan-global.com/JP/NISSANCHAN
NEL/EVENT/2005/index.html