Editing Robert McNamara (section)

==Ford Motor Company==
{{See also|Whiz Kids (Ford)}}
In 1946, [[Tex Thornton]], a colonel under whom McNamara had served, put together a group of former officers from the Office of Statistical Control to go into business together. Thornton had seen an article in ''[[Life magazine|Life]]'' magazine portraying the [[Ford Motor Company]] as being in dire need of reform. [[Henry Ford II]], himself a World War II veteran from the Navy, hired the entire group of ten, including McNamara.

They helped the money-losing company reform its chaotic administration through modern planning, organization, and management control systems. Because of their youth, combined with asking many questions, Ford employees initially and disparagingly referred to them as the "Quiz Kids". The Quiz Kids rebranded themselves as the "[[Whiz Kids (Ford)|Whiz Kids]]".

Starting as manager of planning and financial analysis, McNamara advanced rapidly through a series of top-level management positions. McNamara had Ford adopt computers to construct models to find the most efficient, rational means of production, which led to much rationalization.{{sfn|Martin|2010|p=16-19}} McNamara's style of "scientific management" with his use of spreadsheets featuring graphs showing trends in the auto industry were regarded as extremely innovative in the 1950s and were much copied by other executives in the following decades.{{sfn|Martin|2010|p=16-19}} In his 1995 memoirs, McNamara wrote: "I had spent fifteen years as a manager [at Ford] identifying problems and forcing organizations—often against their will—to think deeply and realistically about alternative courses of action and their consequences".{{sfn|Martin|2010|p=16-19}} He was a force behind the [[Ford Falcon (North America)|Ford Falcon]] sedan, introduced in the fall of 1959—a small, simple and inexpensive-to-produce counter to the large, expensive vehicles prominent in the late 1950s. McNamara placed a high emphasis on safety: the [[Lifeguard (automobile safety)|''Lifeguard'']] options package introduced the [[seat belt]] (a novelty at the time), padded visor, and dished steering wheel, which helped to prevent the driver from being impaled on the steering column during a collision.{{sfn|Johnson|2007}}{{sfn|Johnson|2021|p=184–185}}

After the [[Lincoln (automobile)|Lincoln]] line's very large 1958, 1959, and 1960 models proved unpopular, McNamara pushed for smaller versions, such as the [[Lincoln Continental#Fourth generation (1961–1969)|1961 Lincoln Continental]].

On November 9, 1960, McNamara became the first president of the Ford Motor Company from outside the [[Ford family (Michigan)|Ford family]] since [[John S. Gray (businessman)|John S. Gray]] in 1906.<ref name="ford-chronology">{{Cite web |url=https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-resources/popular-topics/ford-company-chronology/ |title=Ford Motor Co. Chronology, 1903–2003 |website=The Henry Ford Museum |access-date=March 1, 2021 |archive-date=March 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302013253/https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-resources/popular-topics/ford-company-chronology/ |url-status=live }}</ref>