Jeffrey L. Bleustein is theChairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer ofHarley-Davidson, Inc. Of late we look down our noses at big buckCEO’s and their bonuses, but the man at the top is responsible forevery aspect of the company and the fall-guy if something goes wrong.He has primary responsibility for the company’s strategy and performance.
Since joining Harley-Davidson in 1975 Bleustein has served in manycapacities including President and Chief Operating Officer, ExecutiveVice President, Vice President of Parts and Accessories Division; andVice President of Engineering.
Prior to joining Harley-Davidson, Bleustein worked as a technicalconsultant in mechanical engineering for American Machine & FoundryIncorporated (AMF), which owned Harley-Davidson from 1969 to 1980.In 1975 Bleustein moved from AMF to Harley-Davidson’s engineeringdivision and provided leadership as the Vice President of Engineeringuntil 1984. Under Bleustein’s guidance the Company’s EngineeringDivision developed technical innovations including the belt drive,vibration-isolated powertrains and anti-dive suspension. Newmotorcycle designs such as the Tourglide and Softail; and totalredesign of the V-Twin engine, which resulted in the criticallyacclaimed Evolution engine, were all developed during his tenure.The reorganization entailed re-staffing, modernizing engineeringpractices and a major expansion and improvement of the Company’stesting and product development facilities. The primary challengewas to preserve the distinctive styling of the motorcycles whileincorporating new technology. The results of this work contributedsignificantly to the Company’s survival and subsequent prosperity.
Bleustein then focused on strengthening the Company’s Parts,Accessories & Apparel Division. After overhauling operations toeliminate excessive backorders and to generate more new productintroductions, the division began to grow profits. Bleustein’s maincontribution was in conceiving and executing a plan to transform thedealer-owned retail stores into modern retail establishments. Theresulting retail environments motivated both riders and aspiringenthusiasts to buy motorcycles, accessories, apparel and memorabilia.
Jeff also managed to launch an aggressive licensing program that,combined with tighter trademark control, reduced infringement andimproved the Company’s image while establishing a new and successfulprofit center.
In 1980 a group of 13 executives offered to buy Harley-Davidsonfrom AMF. As one of the 13 executive owners, Bleustein helped theCompany regain market share and by 1987 Harley-Davidson recapturedits position as the leading heavyweight motorcycle manufacturer inthe United States. In 1988 Bleustein became Senior Vice President, in1990 he was promoted to Executive Vice President, and in 1993 toPresident and Chief Operating Officer. In 1997 he became Presidentand Chief Executive Officer and in 1998 he assumed his current roleas Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer.
Prior to joining AMF, Bleustein was an Associate Professor ofEngineering and Applied Science at Yale University from 1966 through1971.JB holds Masters of Science and Ph.D. degrees in EngineeringMechanics from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Science degreein Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University.
He serves on the Board of Directors for the Milwaukee FlorentineOpera, the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, The Boys and Girls Clubs ofGreater Milwaukee, the Greater Milwaukee Committee and is a member ofthe Board of Regents of the Milwaukee School of Engineering. He alsoserves on the board of the Brunswick Corporation.He also owns two Electra Glides and a Buell Blast motorcycle.
Jeff Bleustein is no slouch and responsible for thousands of jobs,over 600 dealerships and all the motorcycles we ride. I asked him afew business related questions at a Road Tour (celebrating the 100thAnniversary) location:
Bikernet: What’s your perception of the current stockmarket and the crises which surrounds it?
JB: There’s obviously a lot of volatility in the market,with terrorism, the Middle East, and the economy environment. Peopleare very nervous to make long term investments.
Bikernet: As the boss of a public corporation, have theseactions changed what you do or how you do it from day to day?
JB: No, not really. I don’t think the marketplace as awhole effects how we run our business. The market will have good andbad times. We need to run our business for the business. We feel ifwe make our customers happy, make great products and continue toenhance motorcycling that sooner or later the stock market will comearound.
Bikernet: Do you feel that there are more corporate lawsthat should be passed in an effort to stave off criminal behavior?
JB: I’m from the school that says you can’t legislatehonesty and values. You can make laws that punish if it’s not there,but the same people who would cook their books are the same guys whowould sign off and say that they’re right. There is a movement towardbetter governance which may encourage people to make positivechanges.
Fundamentally there needs to be morality and ethicswithin the company. It is the only way you will have honestmembers.
Bikernet: Do you feel Harley-Davidson is blessed right nowto have their 100th Anniversary to help carry them through a toughperiod of time economically?
JB: We’re certainly blessed to have a 100th anniversary.There have been many special times in the history of the company thathave made is a survivor through tough times.
The 100th duringthis period gives the people of America something positive to lookforward to.
We’ve already witnessed a bump in sales ofmotorcycles, motor clothes, and accessories, that indicate people areenjoying the 100th celebration.
We have been very active in thenew product development which has been a major driver for thebusiness to give our customers exciting new products and to developproducts for people who aren’t into motorcycling or aren’t intoHarley-Davidson yet.
Bikernet: Is there a new profit center started or one yourare considering for the future?
JB: Our business has a lot of different features to it.Motorcycles are 80 percent of our revenue. Parts and accessories isgrowing faster than any other aspect of our business. Our clothingline grows every year and our financial services is growing verynicely. We are always looking for new things to enhance theHarley-Davidson experience. Not everything we do is profitable. Somethings you do because it’s the right thing to do. If we had a newnotion and no one wasTools and Garage talking about it, I wouldn’t be either.
Weare always looking for new things to do, because our customers arealways looking for something new. We are always looking for somethingthat has a connection back to motorcycling.
Bikernet: What’s your best tool for keeping a finger on allthe elements of the company, or is there a tool?
JB: Never sleep…We have good information systems so I’mable, without a lot of hassle, to look at a lot of data and see howthe various networks keep the business going. Basically we run thisoperation in a very participation oriented way. We delegated a lot ofauthority to our heads who work together with teams of other people.People are used to sharing information.
I have a phenomenalstaff.
People who are empowered to do things and if something isgoing wrong they speak up about it and let us know what’s happening.
No one gets beat up for making a mistake. You get talked to, ifyou make it a second time. The third time is a real conversation. Theidea is that people are committed to take the business to the nextlevel, and if something is going wrong to speak up about it. That’sthe way to move toward corrective action quickly.
We really tryto eliminate the fear factor, and when you do that you find out thatinformation flows very easily through the business and makes it veryeasy to see what’s going on.
