As I had mentioned on an earlier post, Mr. Nardelli owns a silver Prowler, learned to drive in a DeSoto and knows about racing with his Home Depot backgrpound. For your informantion and to add to those statements, here are some positive comments from other industry leaders and analysts:
``This is an absolutely perfect fit. They've got to get cost, efficiency, service, all those things in line. He's the best in the world at that. He got defined by the media, if you will, over his salary and other things. It was just the wrong portrayal. He really is a perfect industrial leader. He'll get the right people on products. He'll make deals with the right people. At GE he invested in products, cut costs, improved labor relations, created joint ventures. He will leave no stone unturned at Chrysler. He's a global thinker and he delivers. His relationships with the unions at GE were fabulous. They've got to have straightforward, no-baloney, on-the-table relationships with the unions there. And Bob is perfect for that.'' Jack Welch former GE Chairman and CEO
``He might be the best operating executive I've ever seen. He can smell cost a mile away. He is maniacal about goals, objectivity, accomplishments within the boundaries of the values of the company" Ken Langone, the Home Depot co-founder and a strong Nardelli ally.
"All of the rhetoric around compensation really overshadowed the job he did at Home Depot. He charged into Mexico and other international moves and that was positive for the company. He increased shareholder value through acquisition and cash flow. No question he made a big difference there. He’s a hands on guy." Roger Penske, racing icon, businessman and former Home Depot board member
"Nardelli is talented, aggressive, take-no-prisoners kind of executive, which is what Chrysler needs. Cerberus decided they wanted to put the heaviest-duty, highest-horsepower person in the company." Gerald Meyers, a business professor at the University of Michigan and former chairman of automaker American Motors Corp
“He was known to get in at 6 a.m. and walk through stores with employees. He instilled discipline in the operations. He is well-equipped to make judgment calls when it comes to people, strategy and crisis management. He'll deal with all three at Chrysler. He's one of the most high-integrity guys, but he's also pigheaded, but when you focus that in the right way, it's pretty powerful for the organization. He’ll take a hard look at bureaucracy and redundancy. It's a turnaround situation. This is not a slash-and-burn cost guy. This is a guy who will rethink the business model ... and invest in building an infrastructure for the long-term." Noel Tichy, a professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, has known and worked with Nardelli since 1984
“His tough-minded leadership is going to speed up the level of change that is going to be required to get the costs out of the business," Jeremy Garlington of management consultant Point of View
“He's shown he's great at taking costs out of the business. That's why I think he'll work out well at Chrysler or any manufacturing firm, because he's great at driving costs out of the system" Keith Davis, an analyst with Farr Miller Washington
"Despite the way his career ended at Home Depot, he's a great manager. In a private environment, he's going to be able to do what he needs to without the microscope of the public entity." Richard Steinberg, President of Florida Asset Management
``This is an absolutely perfect fit. They've got to get cost, efficiency, service, all those things in line. He's the best in the world at that. He got defined by the media, if you will, over his salary and other things. It was just the wrong portrayal. He really is a perfect industrial leader. He'll get the right people on products. He'll make deals with the right people. At GE he invested in products, cut costs, improved labor relations, created joint ventures. He will leave no stone unturned at Chrysler. He's a global thinker and he delivers. His relationships with the unions at GE were fabulous. They've got to have straightforward, no-baloney, on-the-table relationships with the unions there. And Bob is perfect for that.'' Jack Welch former GE Chairman and CEO
``He might be the best operating executive I've ever seen. He can smell cost a mile away. He is maniacal about goals, objectivity, accomplishments within the boundaries of the values of the company" Ken Langone, the Home Depot co-founder and a strong Nardelli ally.
"All of the rhetoric around compensation really overshadowed the job he did at Home Depot. He charged into Mexico and other international moves and that was positive for the company. He increased shareholder value through acquisition and cash flow. No question he made a big difference there. He’s a hands on guy." Roger Penske, racing icon, businessman and former Home Depot board member
"Nardelli is talented, aggressive, take-no-prisoners kind of executive, which is what Chrysler needs. Cerberus decided they wanted to put the heaviest-duty, highest-horsepower person in the company." Gerald Meyers, a business professor at the University of Michigan and former chairman of automaker American Motors Corp
“He was known to get in at 6 a.m. and walk through stores with employees. He instilled discipline in the operations. He is well-equipped to make judgment calls when it comes to people, strategy and crisis management. He'll deal with all three at Chrysler. He's one of the most high-integrity guys, but he's also pigheaded, but when you focus that in the right way, it's pretty powerful for the organization. He’ll take a hard look at bureaucracy and redundancy. It's a turnaround situation. This is not a slash-and-burn cost guy. This is a guy who will rethink the business model ... and invest in building an infrastructure for the long-term." Noel Tichy, a professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, has known and worked with Nardelli since 1984
“His tough-minded leadership is going to speed up the level of change that is going to be required to get the costs out of the business," Jeremy Garlington of management consultant Point of View
“He's shown he's great at taking costs out of the business. That's why I think he'll work out well at Chrysler or any manufacturing firm, because he's great at driving costs out of the system" Keith Davis, an analyst with Farr Miller Washington
"Despite the way his career ended at Home Depot, he's a great manager. In a private environment, he's going to be able to do what he needs to without the microscope of the public entity." Richard Steinberg, President of Florida Asset Management
