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Description of ford motor company
Ford motor company business
Ford motors business strategy
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Ford Motor Company
Introduction
This paper will address an analysis of the key success factors in strategic planning of the Ford Motor Company including planning, product offerings and marketing and sales. The paper will also include financial characteristics and a competition 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 world's most well known automotive brands, most known for the Ford Mustang, and F-Series pickup trucks. Henry Ford incorporated Ford Motor Company in 1903 at Dearborn, Michigan. Ford Motor Company is known as one of the largest automobile companies in the world. (DATAMONITOR: Ford Motor Company, 2010 p. 4). Since 1980, Ford has been able to remove $5 billion from its operating cost (Brady, 1986, p. 8). The Ford Motor Company has around 181,000 employees and 65 plants worldwide using the automotive brands Ford and Lincoln (FMC Annual Report 2013, p.149).
The company is broken down into the following segments:
-Automotive Brand for Ford and For Lincoln
*Customer Assistance
-Financial Services
*Ford Motor Credit Company
-Customer Services
*Service
*Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center
*Ford Parts and Motocraft
*Ford and Lincoln Accessories
*Ford and Lincoln Extended Service Plan (ESP) (FMC Annual Report 2013 p. 149).
Planning
Every successful company needs a competitive advantage. As part of our companies future they current successor team has researched various goals and strategies that will move Ford forward and allow them to be competitive in the changing market. “Ford must solve its nagging overseas problems and then "p...
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Until recently, the Ford Motor Company has been one of the most dynastic of American enterprises, a factor which has both benefited the company and has brought it to the brink of disaster. Today Ford is the second largest manufacturer of automobiles and trucks in the world, and it’s operations are well diversified, both operationally and geographically. The company operates the worlds second largest finance company in the world, and is a major producer of tractors, glass and steel. It is most prominent in the US, but also has plants in Canada, Britain and Germany, and facilities in over 100 countries.
Prior to January 4, 1914, the name Ford meant nothing. The Ford Motor Company paid its employees $2.34 for a nine-hour shift, and in 1912 the company made a profit of $13.5 million dollars (Raff 181). Raff continues in his article, “Looking back at the Five-Dollar Day,” that the Ford Motor Company had an employee turnover rate of 370%: “50,448 workers had to be hired during the course of 1913 to maintain an average labor force of 13,623” (181). These
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.
Model T’s were everywhere in America, even long after Ford stopped production in 1927. (Henry) While Ford was the number one brand, selling the most cars throughout the early 1900’s, the Model T created a new industry that is distinctly American; the auto industry. Three manufacturers, Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler dominated the American auto industry, and all three companies still produce cars today. The Model T gave birth to the competitive auto market. To this day, car companies in America are constantly racing to innovate, improve, and outsell their competitors. Manufacturing of cars “became the backbone of a new consumer goods-oriented society. By the mid-1920s it ranked first in value of product, and in 1982 it provided one out of every six jobs in the United States.” (history –idk yet) The demand for cars also resulted in a booming petroleum industry, and a high demand for metals, like steel. ( History idk yet) Furthermore, with so many people driving cars, construction of roads was necessary. The popularity of automobiles set off a chain reaction that created new opportunities all across the country. All sections of the modern automotive industry, from marketing to manufacturing, as well industries like petroleum refining, steel production, and road construction, can trace their beginnings to the Ford Model
Ford had to change its conduct of business, restructure itself, and follow the technological trends that its main competitor, Toyota, has employed in order to regain its competitive advantage (Grant, 2010). Ford came into profitability by employing new technologies, reducing operational costs, and changing its culture, which has proven very successful (Grant, 2010). Moreover, today, it is still operating in the black and competing with the global automobile industry. Remain focused on efficiency Establishing a competitive advantage is important to survive in the automobile industry during these times of world recession and decreasing demand for automobiles.
Observed as a technological mastermind, Ford commenced experiments involving machinery from the time he was adolescent to launching his career working at the Edison Illuminating Company. He examined internal combustion engines and gasoline buggy ideas, eventually resulting in removing himself from Edison’s company and his introduction into the emerging automobile industry. Following in 1903, he established the Ford Motor Company, which expeditiously became a leader in the automotive industry and would gain extensive wealth within only a few decades. While other manufacturers strove to produce automobiles to be extravagant and luxurious predominantly for the wealthy, he immensely focused on efficient mass production of durable, affordable vehicles for the expanding middle-class market. The car should be like a fine watch," Ford said.
Ford has the opportunity to both reach out to the customer and provide an experience customized to the preferences of that customer. Ford needs to be able to provide a high level of quality treatment both at the dealership and with on strong online web-presence that provides customization and pricing features for potential buyers to ensure high-quality customer satisfaction throughout the production process.
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.
Ford’s production plants rely on very high-tech computers and automated assembly. It takes a significant financial investment and time to reconfigure a production plant after a vehicle model is setup for assembly. Ford has made this mistake in the past and surprisingly hasn’t learned the valuable lesson as evidence from the hybrid revolution their missing out on today. Between 1927 and 1928, Ford set in motion their “1928 Plan” of establishing worldwide operations. Unfortunately, the strategic plan didn’t account for economic factors in Europe driving the demand for smaller vehicles. Henry Ford established plants in Europe for the larger North American model A. Their market share in 1929 was 5.7% in England and 7.2% in France (Dassbach, 1988). Economic changes can wreak havoc on a corporation’s bottom line and profitability as well as their brand.
Retrieved from the book Strategic Management and Business Policy: Towards Global Sustainability – 13th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Rightin, M. (2014). The 'Standard'. Tesla cuts losses but sees costly year ahead.
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- focused differentiation, medium pricing, breadth of product line is high. A strength is their pick-up truck market share, a weakness is perceived reliability and styling on some of the lines.
Ford Motor Company started the last century with a single man envisioning products that would meet the needs of people in a world on the verge of high-gear industrialization. Today, Ford Motor Company is a family of automotive brands consisting of: Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda, Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin, and Volvo. The company is beginning its second century of existence with a worldwide organization that retains and expands Henry Ford's heritage by developing products that serve the varying and ever-changing needs of people in the global community.
...(Boudette, and Dolan, 2010). Ford is about to launch its smaller vehicles; less than two years ago Ford motor’s plant in Mexico was building big pick-up trucks. But it has retooled to produce Ford’s small Fiesta car, due to go on sale in America for the first time in June. (Simon, 2010).Mulally is the architect of Ford’s remarkable recovery in its fortunes.
With about 187,000 employees and 62 plants worldwide, the company’s automotive brands include Ford and