More Than a Motorcycle: The Leadership Journey at Harley-Davidson
by Rich Teerlink, Lee Ozley

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Book Reviews of More Than a Motorcycle: The Leadership Journey at Harley-Davidson

Book Review: A Story of Business Transformation
Summary: 4 Stars

Many people are at least aware of a story about Harley-Davidson. They remember how it nearly went out of business in the 1970's under the ownership of AMF, how it was "saved" in 1981 through a high risk LBO, and how the new owners convinced the federal government to impose temporary tariffs on foreign competition while the company reorganized. The reorganization and the tariffs worked, and Harley emerged as a viable company with a future.

But the "near-death experience" of Harley-Davidson is not the story the authors want to tell. Their story is about what happened afterwards: it's about how they led the company to a new business philosophy, a new business model, and high performance.

It's hard to quarrel with the results. In 1986 after surviving near-death Harley generated $295 million in revenues, employed 2,211 people, and captured 19.4% market share. In 1999 Harley generated revenues of $2.4 billion, employed 7,200 people, and enjoyed a market share of 49.5%.

There's a lot to learn here, and it's clearly an approach that worked for Harley. The authors are frank, however, that their methodology was developed essentially on the fly. They are candid about mistakes and, wisely, they make no claims for having developed a universal model.

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