Craig Friedman MGMT of Tech and Innovation Tucker: The Man and His Dream Directed by the famous Francis Ford Coppola, Tucker: The Man and His Dream, depict the story of a bright and egotistical entrepreneur- who hopes to turn the automotive industry on its heels. Prior to causing heartache to the “Big 3” in Detroit, Mr. Tucker designed and built armored cars and gun turrets for the military out of his small shop located outside of Ypsilanti, Michigan during WWII. Despite the shop’s small size, innovation was at the forefront for each product or design that Tucker planned to release to the public. Following the war, Tucker continued to innovate and decided to switch his focus to his true love: Cars. Tucker dreamed of bringing the vehicle of the future to the front pages of American news headlines. Throughout Tucker’s mission of creating cars ahead of their generation, he faced numerous obstacles that impeded the successful transition of bringing The Tucker Torpedo to market. During this paper I will highlight Tuckers innovation process, his knowledge of the industry, and offer analysis on how he could have improved Unlike Tucker’s counterparts, innovation was the backbone of the Tucker Corporation because of his knack and eye for innovation and design. In the late 1930’s through the early 40’s, Tucker began to manufacture a new assault vehicle prototype for the U.S. government called the Tucker Tiger. The urban vehicle was well suited to operate in muddy areas and offered innovative features such as a V-12 engine and most importantly the “Tucker Turret.” The U.S. government tested the car and critiqued it saying it reached speeds that exceeded government specifications; however, the government wanted to utilize and mass produce ... ... middle of paper ... ...industry. Tucker understood the need to invest heavily in resources and other raw materials to stay on par or ahead of competition. However, Tucker lacked one thing which future innovators such as Tesla or large corporations need for sound growth, constant flowing capital and correct market timing- the market was not ready to fully embrace change, especially the “Big 3.” Additionally, due to the corporation’s debacle with Kaiser-Frazer, the SEC placed several automakers under watch which hampered Tucker’s growth and eventually led to the SEC pursuing Tucker’s company for mail fraud and violation of certain regulations. Even though the Tucker Corporation won the trial, his company’s reputation was scarred; he lost his Dodge Factor, and incurred massive amounts of debt. If Tucker had not let his ambition drive the company, we might see more Tucker’s around today.
When analyzing the film Tucker, it is easy to see there are several external factors that contributed to his difficulty in the automobile industry. The first was really an intermingling of two threats, the threat of suppliers and rivalry. With the car industry being in the mature stage of the industry life cycle there were three major automobile manufactures and they controlled most of the market share in the industry. With them having such large market shares they also controlled much of the materials that went into manufacturing an automobile this included steel. Tucker faced this challenge when he attempted to buy steel to manufacture his vehicles and learned there was no steel to be purchased because the big three already controlled all of the available steel. From the assistance of Howard Hughes Tucker learned of a failing helicopter manufacturing plant that had in their possession more than enough steel to make the cars that Tucker needed to make. Tucker eventually gained access to the steel from the helicopter plant either through acquisition or merger th...
In Embattled Dreams, author Kevin Starr explains the decade that begins with World War II and ends with the growth of states that were part of the war, concentrating on the United States specifically California. The book speaks about the changes that the war brought into California and how it was a catalyst for major changes in the state’s economy and society. It focuses on the development of California. Many books show the major events that changed a country, but there were smaller stories within the country that demonstrated to the development as well. The author wants to show readers that California contributed much to the war cause, building machinery and such, but this book emphasizes the effects these jobs had on society. Kevin Starr
Johnson, David E. Fast Tanks and Heavy Bombers: Innovation in the U.S. Army, 1917-1945. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1998. Print.
Famous for being one of the few people to greatly influence the twentieth century, Henry Ford was an innovator with a vision for the future. With his astounding work on transforming the automobile from just a simple invention into a great innovation that people to this day still buy and use, he shaped the twentieth century to a great extent. He was an American industrialist who founded the Ford Motor Company in the early nineteen hundreds. Ever since Ford was a young boy he has always seemed to have an interest in machines. He loved to tamper with machinery and other simple mechanisms. His first job was in a machine shop in Detroit which inspired him to experiment with machines and learn how they work. He learned to fix things like watches by trial-and-error and no matter what he did not give up when trying to learn how to fix things. He was one determined young man who worked hard and turned out to be a great leader with a very creative and imaginative mind. By teaching himself how to put a simple wrist watch together, he was able to use his newly found knowledge to move on to designing machines such as full sized steam engines. A few men who ran the steam engines helped to expand Ford’s knowledge of the engines by teaching him how they operated.
Starting in the late 1700’s, European engineers began messing with motor powered vehicles. By the mid 1800’s, steam, combustion, and electrical motors had all been attempted. By the 1900’s it wasn’t very clear on which type of engine would really power the automobile. At that time, electric cars were the most popular but there were no batteries at that time that would allow a car to move very fast or a long distance. Commercial production in the United States began at the beginning of the 1900’s. In the early 1900’s, the United States had about two thousand firms producing one or more cars.
In the beginning when Tucker was trying to get established with his ideas concerning the automobile, the government helped him by giving him the funds and equipment he needed. Since the government gave him funds, money and supplies Tucker needed to produce his ideas, they signed a contract together stating rules and deadlines for this idea and how Tucker was supposed to repay the government. They also gave Tucker a factory in Chicago, where he was to start his projects and begin making the advertised vehicle. This helped him get on his feet so to speak. When they gave him this factory it stated in the contract that they could legally take the factory away and shut it down so that Tucker could not produce any cars if Tucker did not make a total of 50 cars by the deadline date, which was June first, which posed as a reasonable obligation. In certain ways the government treated Tucker very poorly and unfairly, but they also did him good by letting him start his ideas in the first place and by helping him get the funds he needed as
Money may be the key to open to the door of power, reputation, and buy the beauty of women. However it is not certain that it will be able to buy satisfaction and happiness in life. Irish writer Oscar Wilde said, “There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.” I believe that Dexter Green in “Winder Dreams” by F. Scott Fitzgerald experienced both tragedies in life but in different terms.
The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen is about a young runner, Jessica Carlisle, that runs the 400-meter dash at Liberty High as a senior. She had just set a new league record, 55 seconds flat, but on the way home from the meet the school bus she was on had a terrible accident. That accident caused Jessica to lose her leg, and another young student, Lucy Sander, to lose her life. This story will follow Jessica through the struggle she now calls her life as she recovers. It shows her reach milestones during recovery and in the real world. Once back at school, she is sat at a table with a girl, Rosa Brazzi, with cerebral palsy in math class. Watch Jessica battle through with the help of all those around her, find love, and most importantly
In 1903 the Ford Motor Company came to be. Ford, along with other investors including John and Horace Dodge raised $28,000 and in the first 15 months produced 1700 Model A cars. These cars were known for their reliability, yet were still too expensive for the average American. Over the next five years Ford and his engineers produced models with the letters B through S, the most successful of which was the Model N (priced at $500) , and the least successful was the Model K (priced at $2500). It was obvious from the Model N that the key to the companies success lay in inexpensive cars for a mass market. The answer that Ford and the American consumer were looking for was the Model T.
The automobile changed American life, but the process was gradual. Though historians argue the date and inventor of the first automobile, we can say that Henry Ford’s creation of his Ford Motor Company in 1903 marked perhaps the major milestone of the early twentieth century automobile industry in America and around the world. Five years after the company’s inception, Ford’s legendary Model T of 1908 would revolutionize transportation and the world economy. Before the Model T, automobiles in the US were associated with only the wealthier class. Ford sought to make cars available to every American. His cars would assume the general build that continues to characterize automobiles today, and his innovation and system of production would make him a legend.[i] The automobile led to an extremely advanced system of roads and contributed to an American mentality of freedom to move.[ii] Early drivers saw both benefits and difficulties as the automobile became the standard American mode of transportation.
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.
.... American Bantam Car Company was surprisingly quick with this and they were proud. The one at American Bantam Car Company who designed the ruthless Jeep was Karl Probst. Karl Probst was a Detroit freelancer who was hired to the American Bantam Car Company to design the Jeep with only five days until the deadline. Working round the clock, Probst met that deadline, designing the nation's first four-wheel drive, all-terrain vehicle in less than five days. Bantam's first hand-built prototype was complete and running by September twenty first in the year of nineteen forty. The Army put this prototype through torturous testing, taking the American Bantam Car Company Jeep vehicle over thirty four hundred miles, all but about 250 of which were unpaved. The testers eventually concluded that "this vehicle demonstrated ample power and all requirements of the services needed."
...no matter what. He thought that spending time with family was far more important than anything else. It’s a good thing to have values like that. He’s an honest hard working man that deserved all the good things he got. He didn’t fold when it looked hopeless at Chrysler, he did everything he could to keep the company alive, and now it’s having more success than it ever has in it’s history of existence. This is a very good book, and I recommend that everyone read this one. It’s got a lot of interesting stuff and advice in it. It also gives great insight into the auto manufacturing business. There are a lot of stereotype’s out there that say a car company tried to kill them. But really, all of the guys that make the cars are driving them themselves. They don’t purposely make bad cars, they drive them and so do their kids, and I don’t think all of them are suicidal maniacs either. I think most of them are sane people. I say one thing we need less of in America is blood sucking lawyers. They’re just greedy people that we could do without some of them. I learned that in order to succeed, you must not give up easily. You can’t give up on your dreams until you have put your all into it.
The history of American civilization is the story of the rise and fall of the great American Dream. ‘The Progressive Era’ and ‘The Great Depression’ were the two prominent phases of American Civilization. The progress era witnessed the ideals of harmonious human community largely operative to bring the Dream of prosperity to core reality. The poverty, stagnation, pessimism and imperfection were considered un-American words whereas the depression decades shook ‘greatest society on the earth’. The ‘chosen few’ of ‘promise land’ realized poverty stagnation pessimism and imperfection which were inbuilt in its structure.
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.