Chapters 14-15 Summary and Analysis

Iacocca began work at Chrysler on November 2, 1978, when the company announced its worst deficit. Iacocca found a management mess at Chrysler where each of the thirty-five vice presidents ran their own department independently with little communication and interaction between them. There was no overall system of financial controls. People couldn't even provide the kind of information he was asking for.

Chrysler's philosophy had been to move people around to different departments instead of having them work in areas they were trained for. Iacocca had to clean house and this meant firing many people. Morale was low and people were worried about their jobs. Iacocca knew that this was a situation that led to industrial espionage. In addition, Chrysler cars suffered from styling and quality problems.

At Chrysler, cars were produced and put into inventory, called the sales bank. The...