Henry Ford

Henry Ford

"It is doubtful if any mechanical invention in the history of the world has influenced in the same length of time the lives of so many people in an important way as the motor car." So writes an American historian, thinking of the automobile alone. But it does not stand-alone. It was the automobile factory that introduced mass production, a process that has changed the lineaments of our economic and social life more profoundly than any other single element in the recent history of civilization. Nearly everyone has heard of this process, yet few have any detailed or exact knowledge of its inception and development. Enter Henry Ford. The true answers of what inspired this Michigan farmer to develop a production process that was so simple, effective and efficient it changed the entire course of history.

In this report, we will present a brief history of the era in which Henry Ford lived, the background from which he came, and important management trends he followed.

It is hard to summarize the era in which Henry Ford lived. Chiefly because he changed the entire tone of the era in which he lived, making his career a transitional period. We will begin with the world before Ford.

In the mid-latter part of the eighteen hundreds (c.1860-c.1895), the United States was still tending its wounds from the aftermath of the civil war. It was a time of rebuilding, reorganizing and a time to accept change. The country’s figureheads were also changing. When the most respected of men were generals, soldiers, presidents, and war painted warriors, combat bravery was a greatly revered trait. However when the dust and smoke of war cleared, the public’s attention naturally shifted back to home life. The transition occurred when the position of bravery in the public eye changed from a warrior’s bravery, to an entrepreneur’s type of bravery. An undeniable part of home life and living is what tools are used to make a home or farm function. This is where the gaze shifted toward men like Edison for inventing the light bulb and standardizing the use of electricity. Well over one hundred years later, what home is complete without electricity? And (back to our focus) what home is complete without an automobile?

Naturally many inventors influenced this time in history. Take for example three boys who grew up on several of the farms in Worcester County, Massa...

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...ategory of lives known as revolutionaries. He was not simply and inevitable product of his time. He was original and revolutionary. He defied precedent and never once allowed the impossibilities of the past to limit the possibilities of the future. And above all he was a true patriot to the growth of the human race.

11. Kathryn M. Bartol & David C. Martin, Management 3rd edition (Boston, Massachusetts Burr Ridge, Illinois Dubuque, Iowa Madison, Wisconsin New York, New York San Francisco, California St. Louis, Missouri 1998),

Bibliography:

 Henry Ford, by Roger Burlingame (New York, Alfred A. Knopf 1966) p 1-57, 118-135, 156-184

 The Quest for Social Justice, H.U. Faulkner (New York, 1931), p137 http://www.hfmgv.org

 Management 3rd edition, Kathryn M. Bartol & David C. Martin (Boston, Massachusetts Burr Ridge, Illinois Dubuque, Iowa Madison, Wisconsin New York, New York San Francisco, California St. Louis, Missouri 2008), p36, 37, 41

 Ford: Expansion and Challenge, Allen Nevins and Frank Ernest Hill (New York, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1957), 76-155

 Ford: The Times, The Man, The Company Allen Nevins, (New York, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1953), 93-114