Interview with Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn

Q. How can you evaluate a company's performance in a culture where people aren't necessarily prepared to talk freely? How do you deal with that?

A. When you evaluate a company's performance, you start by analyzing the figures: the changes in turnover, profitability, profit margins, level of debt and market share. You make the figures talk. You look at the trends of the last few years. The figures never lie.

If there is growth, it's a sign of good health. When the figures aren't good, you have to find out why.

When a company doesn't make a profit, you can't just say, 'I don't know why.' You have to take a look at the selling price of your cars, as well as at costs.

If that's not enough, you have to benchmark yourself against the competition and compare the results. It takes willpower to make an evaluation that is backed up by figures, is objective and clear, and that will then allow you to take action.

Q. You have talked about the importance of your company's personnel and of motivating them. How did you manage to overcome the concerns of the Japanese staff about the change in management when you first took over?

A. In a company, the most demoralizing thing is to be in a situation you don't understand, when the company isn't doing well and you can't come up with a coherent and convincing response to the problems.

You remotivate people when you make the most objective evaluation of the situation possible, which should be able to convince the staff. Then you have to come up with solutions.

If the company's employees feel that they are understood, which is usually the case, then they will be reassured by the fact that the problem was revealed.

So if you find the right solution, you'll have the benefit of the doubt. People expect results. If you're capable of getting results quickly and explaining things to the staff, people will be motivated again, sometimes very motivated.

Q. But haven't you run into problems during these kinds of talks?

A. Of course. They are not easy. If they don't come naturally, you need to be persistent, firm and patient. You need to be willing to call yourself into question because, after all, you could be wrong.

The only way to avoid a mistake becoming a more serious one is to take a look at the results of your actions and to listen to the people around you. If you manage to do that, you are likely to find a good solution for the company.

Q. As CEO, aren't you in an ivory tower of sorts? How can you listen to your employees and know what motivates them when you're so far removed from them?

A. You need to surround yourself with good people, of course; to have people close to you who are capable of telling you like it is and not just what they think you want to hear. This also means that you have to announce profit margins that are very objective and very clear.

The one thing that doesn't lie is the company's performance. You are constantly monitoring the performance. It can be measured by accepted criteria, such as operating margins and profitability.

You have to keep an eye on changes as they happen, and as soon as you notice a turn for the worse, you immediately have to find out why and what is being done about it.

Q. You've said in the past that the Middle East is a region with great potential.

A. No observer of the Middle East will tell you that the region has reached its full potential. When you see that there is no common market, no coordinated policies and that there are conflicts everywhere, saying that the Middle East isn't a region with potential is like saying that it's a region whose economy is developing in a satisfactory manner. I don't think this is the case.

Q. There are rumors that you will be appointed to a government post in Japan or Lebanon.

A. They're not true.