Profile of Ford Motor Group - Case Study Example

?Profile of Ford Motor Group - Henry Ford Organization Table of Contents Introduction 3 Company Overview 3 Profile of Henry Ford 4 Rationale for Marketing Strategies of FMC 5 Organizational Culture of FMC 6 Organisation’s Initiatives to Motivate Employees 6 Conclusion 7 References 9 Introduction This report aims at analysing the profile of Ford Motor Company (FMC), with respect to Henry Ford’s contribution, entrepreneurial skill, and organisational culture that he has established. It will begin with an overview of the company, followed by a comprehensive discussion on the profile of Henry Ford. Further the justification of the marketing strategies implemented in the company will be analysed in order to indicate the reasons why FMC has always remained among the top players in the automobile industry. The organisation culture of FMC has also been a heritage for the company, which would be evaluated in the report. Finally the framework of FMC for motivating the employees would be scrutinised so as to understand the human resource management initiatives of the company. FMC has always believed in one theme when it comes to human resource, i.e. ‘One Team, One Plan, and One Goal’ (Ford Motor Company, 2013). It has always tried to deliver solutions which will affect not only the business but the lives of people. It is the motto of the company to support and develop its human resources that design, develop, and sell the best vehicles in the world. Company Overview FMC is one of the most famous automobile manufacturers in the world. The company is headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, USA. It was founded in 1903 by Henry Ford. FMC was the most sold automobile brand across the world before World War II. The large scale car manufacturing concept was introduced by Ford Motors in 1914 (Ford Motors Company, 2011). Ford has been a stable company all throughout its journey, though the company was also a victim of the global financial crisis which engulfed many stable leading companies of America, but Ford managed to save itself from bankruptcy. It recorded an operating profit of $ 8.8 billion in 2011, or $ 1.51 per share earnings. This revenue figure states that there has been an increase of $463 million in 2011 from 2010. The net income amounted to $20,213 in 2011, which is much higher than the net income of 2010, $6,561 million. The company is also into financing of vehicles, insurance and leasing (Bloomberg, 2012). Profile of Henry Ford ‘Entrepreneurs are not born, rather they become through the experiences of their lives’, has been stated by Professor Albert Shapiro of Ohio State University (National Content Standards for Entrepreneurship Education, n. d.). This saying is appropriate for Henry Ford. Henry Ford was born on the 30th of July 1863. He is well-known around the world, of course for FMC, but apart from this, he is also known for developing the system of mass production with the help of assembly line. Henry Ford discovered the creed called Fordism, which preached mass production of inexpensive products by offering high wages to workers (Seligman, n. d.). He had intense commitment towards reducing the cost of production and offering automobiles to Americans, which they can easily afford to buy. It was the vision of no one other than Henry Ford, to offer unprecedented mobility to the people which changed the lives of millions around the world. He is not only remembered for the automobiles that his company produced, but also for improving the standard of living of people through his inventions such as Ford Model T, or Qadricycle, and the assembly line approach (Ford Motor Company, 2012). Henry Ford introduced better automobiles after Qadricycle, and in order to publicise them, he drove his own race cars. The first car that FMC sold was in 1903, and it was a Model A car which was sold to a dentist at a price of $850. However, Henry Ford became one of the richest men in the world, mainly because of Model T cars. Even during 1914, he paid $5 per day wage to his workers. Henry Ford had a view that if the workers are paid well and they are satisfied, then their families will also live a happy and contended life, which will in turn lead the worker to spend more time for the development and growth of the company. He also formed a sociological department in his factory so that it takes care of his employees and makes their lives better. He is totally against unionism and made it a point to take care of his employees himself (National Content Standards for Entrepreneurship Education, n. d.). Rationale for Marketing Strategies of FMC FMC was floated on the foundation of superior products that continue today. Ford has been able to offer an exceptional line of cars and trucks since the days of Model T to F-series in the present times. The company has never missed a chance to win awards for best cars or trucks. The product line of Ford is extremely strong, which is one of the major marketing strategies of the company. Ranging from Ford Explore, Expedition, Thunderbird, Land Rover Freelander, Aston Martin Vanquish, to Mercury Mountaineer and Ford Fiesta, FMC has an excellent set of automobile offerings for its customers, which is difficult for the competitors to compete with. An interesting fact is that FMC benefited from the products and services of diverse family brands that they have tied up with. The company acquired Land Rover in 2000; similarly, they acquired Volvo in 1999. They also acquired Aston Martin in 1987 and many more (Today’s Zaman, 2011). This was another important part of the marketing strategy of Ford. Acquiring significant automobile companies and adding them to the FMC league was a strategy of the company to be in the competition as a strong contender. FMC has always believed in developing relationship with the customers as well as with the employees working for the organisation. This is because the motive of Ford has always been to transform the lives of people in a positive way. This is done by offering affordable, stylish and good quality automobiles to the customers. On the other hand, the employees were offered good pay and a warm environment within the organisation so as to enhance their standard of living (Crowther and Capaldi, 2008). Organizational Culture of FMC In order to build a successful organisation, proper understanding of leadership skill and appropriate management is necessary. The top management of FMC believes in developing a sustainable environment for the society (Bryan, 2003). The company has tried to reduce around 30 percent of the CO2 emission rate from the automobiles within a time span of eight years. FMC has always had the motive since the days of Henry Ford to work with a small workforce, but they should be efficient enough to maintain the standard of Ford. The company slashed around 7,000 underperforming employees in 2008. This poses an example that leaders at Ford are competent enough to take such difficult decisions. The culture at Ford is healthy, innovative, competitive, and practical. The history of FMC reveals that the company has always focused on creating a diverse employee base. In fact Ford has been always considered a leader in inclusion and diversity. It is kept in mind that this strategy is implemented at every level of the organisation that is from broad room to factory (Durai, 2010). Organisation’s Initiatives to Motivate Employees FMC believes in establishing a healthy relationship with the business partners and employees because they know that this leads to improvement in quality, efficiency, and cost that will also allow the company to innovate and develop. Ford considers its employees to be the driving force behind their success. Ford has initiated the activity of motivating the employees since the time of Henry Ford. It was his vision to keep the employees always motivated and charged up through better pay, healthy environment, and innovative work culture. This is still the tradition and culture of FMC. The company has launched several corporate volunteer programs (CVP) to not only demonstrate their social responsibility towards the society but also to motivate the employees and make them feel good that they are working with Ford and contributing to the society (Fleck, 2012). If we look back into the 1900s, Henry Ford introduced numerous measures for the employees, which also includes offering a double compensation package to the employees in the industry. The company offered employment from diverse strata of society, which also involves disabled people. FMC includes a sizable number of Asians, Africans, and also Americans (Collins, 2008). Moreover, a significant percent of female employees are there in the company. This reveals the initiatives of the company towards motivating the employees. The corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities of the companies not only assist them in getting goodwill and recognition from the society but also help in motivating employees. There are several initiatives which FMC has taken as a part of the CSR program, for example “Drive toward a cure” program in 2004, which was for raising funds for breast cancer patients (Crowther and Capaldi, 2008). Conclusion It can be concluded that FMC was built by Henry Ford on not only strong marketing strategies but also values, which is assisting the present CEO of Ford in reaping profits. Henry Ford believed that if the products offered to the customers are superior and the employees are happy, then the company will always be among the major players in the automobile industry. The vision of Henry Ford has indeed proved to be true, as Ford has been even able to survive in the greatest recession of 2008 due to its sustainable position and marketing strategies, which were developed on strong values. References Bloomberg, 2012. Ford Motor Co. [online] Available at: [Accessed 30 March 2013]. Bryan, F. R., 2003. Henry's lieutenants. Michigan: Wayne State University Press. Collins, S. D., 2008. Managing conflict and workplace relationships. 2nd ed. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Crowther, D. and Capaldi, N., 2008. The Ashgate research companion to corporate social responsibility. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Durai, P., 2010. Human resource management. Noida: Pearson Education. Fleck, D., 2012. Ford Motor Company launches education initiative with the Irving school district. [online] Available at: [Accessed 30 March 2013]. Ford Motor Company, 2012. Sustainability report 2011-2012. [online] Available at: [Accessed 30 March 2013]. Ford Motor Company, 2013. Career paths. [online] Available at: [Accessed 30 March 2013]. Ford Motors Company, 2011. Ford Motor Company 2011 annual report. [online] Available at: < http://corporate.ford.com/doc/2011_annual_report.pdf > [Accessed 30 March 2013]. National Content Standards for Entrepreneurship Education, no date. Nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit. [online] Available at: [Accessed 30 March 2013]. Seligman, J., no date. Building a systems thinking culture at Ford Motor Company. [online] Available at: < http://www.appliedsystemsthinking.com/supporting_documents/Leveraging_Ford.pdf > [Accessed 30 March 2013]. Today’s Zaman, 2011. Ford Motor Co. says culture change has led to success. [online] Available at: < http://todayszaman.com/news-232039-ford-motor-co-says-culture-change-has-led-to-success.html> [Accessed 30 March 2013]. Read More