Unlike its peers in the industry, Ford Motor Company successfully endured the negative impact of the global financial crisis of 2008 through decisive corporate leadership, introduction of innovative products, and positive culture and corporate values. More specifically, some of the primary factors that helped Ford stay afloat during the global financial crisis include: the top management’s decision to mortgage the company’s assets to have adequate cash on hand; continued investment in product development and introduction of new products that appeal to customer’s new preferences; and the company’s positive corporate culture, particularly the introduction of One Ford. One Team. One Goal, which unites all employees to work together to achieve …show more content…
When Mulally took over the management leadership, he introduced the One Ford plan, which is essentially about the responsibility of each employee to commit to the company and to each other and to stay focus in achieving the mission and objectives of Ford (Irvine, 2013). Ford’s corporate culture teaches each employee to become “One Team” and to work together towards the same goal. Moreover, the company’s management, led by executive chairman and former CEO Wiliam Clay Ford Jr. teaches Ford employees take ownership of the products made by the company (Hammod, 2011). Another important mindset that was instilled in all Ford employees is the “detail to product”. This kind of mindset, which teaches employees the importance of paying attention to detail, helps the company to continue to innovate and introduce new car models and technology that address the needs of its target customers. This companywide attention to detail dramatically supported the company to establish its strong market position today. Overall, Ford’s culture influences its employees to strive for higher performance at all
The company's management put a lot of emphasis on taking care of its employees, encouraging an entrepreneurial spirit, treating each other with respect, and being committed
General Motors became a “centralized organization, so decision-making authority is concentrated in the hands of top-level managers, and little authority is delegated to lower levels” (Ferrell et al., 2015, p. 199). Centralized organizations have little upward communication and top-level manager may not be aware of problems and unethical activities. According to Ferrell et al., (2015), it has been noted that “centralized organization may exert influence on their employees because they have a central core of policies and codes of ethical conduct” (p. 201). Conversely, to survive at GM employees praised the CEO intelligence and carried out their orders by keeping a low profile, and never made waves. GM rewarded employees who followed the old traditional ways and those that challenged their thinking lost promotion opportunities or their jobs. However, General Motors experienced conflict between corporate management responsibility and social responsibility. Consequently, General Motors “attempted to implement a new mentality upon its management in a short period of time” (Goussak, Webber, & Ser, 2012, p. 49) by changing the company’s environment, but
The 1920’s was a time of great social, political, and economic change. The early automobile industry was no exclusion. It appears that throughout history, the figures that stand out the most are either worshipped or despised, and there is very rarely an in-between. Henry Ford, an icon of the 1920’s and the early automobile industry is no exemption. Many people love Ford for his innovative and entrepreneurial skills, while on the other hand, Ford is disliked by many due to his association with Anti-Semitism. Regardless of how Ford is viewed, many decisions he made significantly impacted the automobile industry. These decisions included installing the moving assembly line in his plant, and introducing the Five-Dollar Day. Through the implementation of the Five-Dollar Day, Ford was able to drastically change how the Ford Motor Company company operated, and how business would operate for years to come.
Level 5 leaders are passionate about their company’s success in the next generation long after they have left the company. Mulally worked to establish a comprehensive and thorough succession plan at Ford. Succession planning can play a pivotal role in the future of a company because it determines whether the company can continue to achieve greater results, a fact well understood by Mulally. Mulally had worked over the years to essentially transform Ford into a company generating interests with exciting products with high profitability so it was crucial that the leadership after Mulally builds on the foundation that he had established. Mark Fields, Vice President of North and South America Operations, and a longtime mentee under Mulally was positioned and developed as one of the candidates (three total candidates) to serve potentially as CEO when Mulally eventually leaves the company. Mark was given substantial experience across the board to help the company evaluate how he would perform as CEO. Mark was promoted chief operating officer, he also took over Mulally’s signature management innovation team leading the weekly Business Plan Review meeting. In July 2014, Ford Motor Company officially announce Mark Fields as CEO of Ford Motor Company, shortly after Mulally
The company that the author has chosen to compare his own organization with is the Toyota motor company. The Toyota Company has become a renowned leader in the area of quality management. Toyota’s theory of “keep it lean” has kept the company running at a level that eclipses the industry standards.
Achieving world class business performance is a major challenge in today’s society. Manufacturing companies continue to face increased competition and globalization from its competitors. (1, p. 148). The automotive industry is one of the most volatile manufacturing industries that we have, which was evident in the 2008 – 2010 automotive industry crisis. (2) This global financial downturn served notice to the American automotive manufactures to raise the bar, in order to achieve word class business performance. General Motors, one of the country’s largest automotive manufactures, had to receive a government bailout to survive. During this time many with the corporation asked themselves, if we were a world class business, would we be facing this pending crisis. The answer was a resounding “NO”. General Motors has come out of bankruptcy and is focused on being a world-class business organization.
This paper takes a look at the ways in which the ideas of Fordism and Taylorism helped the success of the U.S motor vehicle industry. The motor vehicle industry has changed the fundamental ideas on the process of manufacturing and probably more expressively on how humans work together to create value.
The company’s approach to motivate employees has been working in a positive way. The employees are satisfied with the family style community, and the productivity has increased as well. The company’s style of treating employees as important partners has been successful in other manufacturing companies too. For example, when Honda opened its first factory in the U.S., the CEO and employees shared the same cafeteria, just like Lincoln.
The automobile went from being a toy for society’s elite to being an essential item within the economic reach of nearly every American, all thanks to the hard work and ingenuity of Henry Ford. His dedication to quality and attention to detail earned him not only dozens of racing titles, but also the reputation of a respectable businessman. Ford understood his market so well that he knew what the people wanted before they could even ask for it, always ahead of the curve. Ford was a pioneer of American commercialism, and so his production methods were centred around efficiency and mass production, thus allowing him to increase productivity and decrees cost to meet the demand of the masses. Lastly, consideration of the working class and philosophy of raising the wages instead of raising the price point and focusing only on profit. There are a great many lessons to be learned from distinguished businessmen in history, and Henry Ford is no
Ford Motor Company Introduction This paper will address an analysis of the key success factors in strategic planning for the Ford Motor Company, including planning, product offerings, marketing and sales. The paper will also include financial characteristics and a competitive analysis of the Ford Motor Company. Ford Motor Company The Ford Motor Company inspired a manufacturing revolution with its mass production assembly lines in the early 20th century. Ford and Lincoln are one of the world's most well known automotive brands, most known for the Ford Mustang, and F-Series pickup trucks.
With about 187,000 employees and 62 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford and
Employees have to work in a culture where they are presented with challenges and develop solutions by questioning their fellow work team rather than just following suit and agreeing or settling. “Toyota views employees, not just as pairs of hands but as knowledge workers who accumulate chi- the wisdom of experience- on the company front lines” (Takeuchi, 2008, p.98). This establishes input from everyone in the company even the frontline workers. “A “community of fate” ideology is developed, which means that employees feel that they and the organization share the same fate that they will succeed or fail together.” (Besser, 1995, p.383). This helps the personal goals align with organizational
Ford Motor Company current mission statement is “committed to provide personal mobility for people around the world”. With that in mind their vision is to become the world’s leading Consumer Company for automotive products and services. By improving everything they do, the company provide superior returns to their shareholders (Vision, Mission, Values).
Ford Motor Company has been and till the date is known as the king of innovations in the automobile industry. Their research & development department and innovation of interchangeable parts in moving assembly lines resulted in extraordinary global extension for them. They are an old heritage who ruled and still doing impressive jobs in the global automobile market. Some prestigious motor brands are also owned by Ford.
1. What is the difference between a. and a. Define and discuss Ford’s business-level strategy. Henry Ford began a family automobile business in 1903; this was during the industrial revolution. This business has become the most famous automobile brand in the world. Over the years, the business structure has adapted to changes in leadership, market trends and the economic conditions.