By: Jeremy Mullman

October 24, 2005, Crain's Chicago Business

Sox skipper Ozzie Guillen is no Harvard MBA, but his management style has some surprising parallels in the business world.

Ozzie's way: In remaking the White Sox from a team built around lumbering power hitters like departed outfielder Carlos Lee to a squad focused more on speedier stars like left fielder Scott Podsednik, Mr. Guillen — once a slap-hitting shortstop himself — essentially remade the team in his own image.

Corporate parallel: Lee Iacocca. The former Chrysler Corp. honcho leveraged his own personality to turn around the automaker in the 1980s, starring in TV commercials that highlighted his improved quality standards. "That's a style typical of turnaround CEOs," says Walter Scott, a professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

Ozzie's way: Mr. Guillen's management style is marked by brutal honesty. Just last month, he publicly questioned whether injured relief pitcher Damaso Marte was really hurt.

Corporate parallel: James Dimon. After taking over Bank One in 2000, Mr. Dimon began loudly challenging its stodgy culture and berating managers during conference calls. Kellogg's Mr. Scott says the candid approach fosters trust: "I know (Mr. Guillen) seems like an unguided missile, but his bluntness makes people trust him."

Ozzie's way: Mr. Guillen picked a public fight with star slugger Frank Thomas in April, calling him "a big part of the bad attitude" on last year's team. He has also quarreled openly with departed outfielder Magglio Ordonez. Without the two former All-Stars, the Sox made the World Series for the first time since 1959.

Corporate parallel: Edward Liddy. In 1998, the Allstate Corp. CEO converted the company's agents to independent contractors, then threatened them with termination if they refused to embrace his sales tactics. "It was a totally inbred culture and he just went right after it," says executive recruiter James Drury. "I see a lot of that in what Ozzie has done."

Ozzie's way: In only his second year with the Sox, Mr. Guillen ended the team's reliance on the sexy but elusive home run, opting instead for a "small ball" strategy exemplified by the sacrifice bunt, designed to concede outs in hopes of eking out runs. It worked: The Sox led the American League in sacrifices — and wins.

Corporate parallel: Richard L. Keyser. Baseball fans may not know Mr. Keyser, who in 2001 took industrial parts distributor W. W. Grainger Inc. out of a series of sexier and potentially higher-return e-commerce ventures to focus on the low-margin but safe and steady business of shipping a range of industrial supplies; the stock is up 91% since then.

©2005 by Crain Communications Inc.