Alfred Sloan - Managing To Be Best

"The main reason living standards have improved so much in the 20th century is that businesses have become so much more productive. And it is managers who have helped drive that evolution. The great ones do more than just run things efficiently; they develop and put into practice ideas that transcend their company, their industry, even their national borders. Their ideas survive to become vocabulary in the halls of management and often in society at large."  The marketing era has produced many great businessmen. One being Alfred P. Sloan.  In 1923, he came into a GM that was cash short, chaotic and nearly bankrupt (Ford had a 60% market share) and brought discipline to a sprawling company, clearly defining the issues of planning, strategy and organization. He mastered the concept of market segmentation--Chevrolets for Everyman, Cadillacs for the wealthy--to better target GM's sales and avoid internal competition, a strategy that left Ford behind. Sloan also understood what managers today call "consumer insight" by visiting Ford dealers incognito to learn about buyer behavior and competitive offerings. His reign at GM ended as Chairman in 1956.