The Whiz Kids were ten United States Army Air Forces veterans of World War II who became Ford Motor Company executives in 1946. The United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF) was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Ford Motor Company is an American Multinational corporation and the world's fourth largest automaker based on Worldwide vehicle sales, following

They were led by their commanding officer, Charles B. "Tex" Thornton. Charles Bates "Tex" Thornton (1913-1981 was an American business executive who was the founder of Litton Industries. The others were:

• Wilbur Andreson — left after two years to return to California and became an executive with Bekins Van Lines
• Charles Bosworth, retired as director of purchasing.
• J. Edward Lundy, retired as chief financial officer — he remained at Ford through the 1970s and was known as one of the most powerful people in the company and as a confidant of Henry Ford II. J Edward Lundy ( January 6, 1915 &ndash October 2 2007) was an American automobile executive who became the chief financial officer of Henry Ford II ( September 4, 1917 — September 29, 1987) commonly known as "HF2" and "Hank the Deuce" was the son
• Robert S. McNamara, eventually Ford president, then Secretary of Defense, then President of the World Bank. Robert Strange McNamara (born June 9 1916 in Oakland, California) is an American business executive and former United States Secretary of Defense The World Bank is an internationally supported Bank that provides financial and technical assistance to developing countries for development programs (e
• Arjay Miller, rose through finance and became Ford president in the mid 1960s. Dismissed in favor of an executive recruited from General Motors, Bunkie Knudsen, he became the dean of the Stanford Business School. General Motors Corporation ( GM) ( is a multinational automobile manufacturer founded in 1908 and headquartered in the United States. Semon E "Bunkie" Knudsen, (born October 2, 1912 in Buffalo New York - died July 6, 1998 in Bloomfield Hills Michigan
• Ben Mills, became general manager of Lincoln-Mercury Division. Benjamin Collett Mills (born 1 March 1980 in Chatham, Kent, England) is a British singer who shot to fame on the third
• George Moore, left after two years to become an automobile dealer. George Moore may refer to George Moore (American Radio Presenter George Edward Moore (1873&ndash1958 G
• Francis "Jack" Reith, became head of Ford of France and was a rising star. Subsequently he was the executive responsible for the Mercury Turnpike Cruiser and heavily involved in the Edsel, both sales failures. The Mercury Turnpike Cruiser was a halo model of the Mercury Division of the Ford Motor Company that was produced from 1957 to 1958 The Edsel was a marquee division of Ford Motor Company during the 1958 1959 and 1960 model years Reith left the company to run the Crosley Division of Avco, and committed suicide a few years later.
• James Wright, eventually head of Ford division and the car and truck group. James or Jim Wright is the name of James Wright (governor (1715-1785 British colonial governor of the U Retired in the early 1960s after a power struggle with executive John Dykstra.

Origins

The group was part of a management science operation within the Army Air Force known as Statistical Control, organized to coordinate all the operational and logistical information required to manage the waging of war. Thornton had been recommended to the assistant secretary of War, Robert A. Lovett, by a mutual acquaintance who thought Lovett would find use for the ambitious and energetic Thornton. Robert Abercrombie Lovett ( 14 September 1895 - 7 May 1986) was the fourth United States Secretary of Defense, serving in Upon finding mass confusion, Thornton developed the idea of an information gathering organization within the service and gained Lovett's support to create the organization, which recruited and trained numerous officer candidates who were selected through intelligence testing. After the war, some of the group discussed opportunities to go into business together.

Thornton wrote to several corporations, offering their services as a group — all ten, or nothing. Henry Ford II had recently taken over the company from his ailing grandfather and, needing management help badly, accepted their offer. Henry Ford II ( September 4, 1917 — September 29, 1987) commonly known as "HF2" and "Hank the Deuce" was the son

Starting at Ford

The group initially worked together as one organization, the planning department, headed by Thornton. McNamara was Thornton's deputy; Miller focused on reports for senior management, Lundy on financial planning, Mills on facility and program plans, Reith on administrative budgets, and Wright, Moore and Bosworth on administrative issues. Over a few years, they all attracted favorable attention for their work and began to move on to other assignments.

Seven of the ten went on to senior management positions. Thornton left Ford in 1948 due to personality conflicts with executives Ernie Breech and Lewis Crusoe, moving on to Hughes Aircraft, and later was head of Litton Industries. Ernest R Breech (1897-1978 was an American corporate executive Lewis Crusoe was an Automobile executive, most notably for Ford Motor Company in the 1950s Named after inventor Charles Litton Sr, Litton Industries was a large defense contractor in the United States, bought by the Northrop Grumman Corporation

The so-called Whiz Kids helped the company to implement sophisticated management control systems in order to govern the company, keep costs in line, and review strategic progress. They also instituted modern recruitment and training programs and career planning aimed to provide Ford Motors with a financial talent pool.

However, they have been criticized for starting the trend of managing by numbers and building corporate bureaucracies, making Top Management a closed environment surrounded with an elitist staff ignorant of the realities of operations and markets, who have only known them by the books or by reports.

Links and Reference

• Detroit News article
• J. Edward Lundy bio in Automotive Hall of Fame
• McNamara interview
• "The Whiz Kids" by John A. Byrne, 1993, ISBN 0-385-24804-0