Major Strategic Concepts of Ford Motor Company - Lab Report Example

?Table of contents Introduction 2 2.0 Findings 2 2 Entrepreneurship 2 2.2 Marketing 3 2.3 Organizational culture 4 2.4 Motivation 5 3.0 Conclusion 6 4.0 References 7 1.1 Introduction The report focuses on Ford Motor Company and it will discuss factors that have contributed to the success of the company from an entrepreneurial point of view. The report will discuss various strategies used by the company to obtain its goals. The paper will discuss concepts which include entrepreneurship, marketing, organizational culture as well as motivation and it will also attempt to analyse how they have been implemented at Ford Motor company. Major points discussed in the report will be summarised at the end of the paper. 2.0 Findings Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903 by Henry Ford and it specialised in manufacturing automobiles. The company rose to prominence when it invented the Ford T model which attracted a lot of customers after being launched in the market. This inspired the founder to use his entrepreneurial skills to devise strategies that could improve the production process of the vehicle so as to be in a better position to gain a competitive advantage over other players in this particular case. The report will analyse the strategies used by the founder in order to establish the extent to which they contributed to the success of the company. 2.1 Entrepreneurship Basically, the concept of entrepreneurship can be defined as the process of searching the business environment to identify business opportunities for improvement or start-up enterprises to mobilise resources as well as to implement actions to maximise these opportunities (Bowler, 1996). To a larger extent, it can be said that entrepreneurship is learnt behaviour where it can be seen that profitable business opportunities are realised after carefully scanning the environment. It is important to determine the strong and weak points before starting up a business. Henry invented the Ford car and he did not end there. He went on further to devise strategies that were to improve the production of the vehicles. The success of Ford Motor Company can be attributed to the founder’s outstanding leadership skills as well as the capability to devise strategies that could improve productivity. Henry Ford displayed great entrepreneurship skills when he invented the Model T vehicle. For instance, in 1913, he turned his attention to improving the manufacturing process in order to help meet the growing demand for the Model T car (Ford Motor Corporation, 2013). He implemented the technique that allowed workers to stay in one place and perform the same task repeatedly and it soon became the standard of production in the automobile industry. According to its official website, the strategy of moving the assembly line proved tremendously efficient and it helped the company to surpass the production levels of its competitors by far while making its vehicles more affordable. 2.2 Marketing Marketing is defined as the process used by marketers to satisfy the needs of the people in a profitable manner (Lamb et al, 2008). Essentially, marketing is concerned with satisfying the needs of the customers with the aid of using various tools in meeting the marketing mixes. It is therefore the responsibility of an entrepreneur to adapt a marketing strategy that effectively utilises the marketing mix in order to appeal to the interests of a certain group of potential buyers in the market targeted. This can be done through the effective utilization of the marketing mix so as to be in a position to attract as many customers as possible. Ford Motor Company uses various marketing strategies in order to satisfy the needs of different customers. For instance, the product is designed to suit different needs of the customers. According to its official website, the company offers a wide range of hybrid cars and these are designed to appeal to the interests of as many people as possible. The company makes an effort to keep pace with the changing demands and tastes of the consumers with regards to choice of motor vehicles. The prices of different vehicles offered by the company are determined by various factors and they can be afforded by the targeted customers. Outstanding vehicles attract premium prices while moderate cars are fairly priced such that they can be afforded by the majority of people. Ford Motor Company has various distribution centers across the globe. There are also dealers who sell the vehicles manufactured by this company. This makes it relatively easy for the customers to access the vehicles from any part of the world. Promotional prices are offered when the company introduces a new brand of vehicle. This helps it to attract a lot of customers which is essential in as far as the aspect of competitive advantage is concerned. 2.3 Organizational culture There is no universal agreed definition of organizational culture but it is Schein’s definition which is of great impact. He defines organizational culture as the values, common shared faith and group norms that shape the behaviour of people belonging to a particular organization (Zhang, ND). During the contemporary period, it can be noted that existing research shows that organizational culture is an important resource for enhancing organizational competitiveness (Zhang, ND). Attention is being paid to the impact of organizational culture on performance of the organization as a whole. This also applies to entrepreneurs who are concerned about realising their stated goals. Thus, a successful entrepreneur has to possess a locus control of the human resources involved in that particular business venture. (Burke, 2007). This entails that a successful entrepreneur must be skilled in persuading other people to share his own ideas which can positively influence the operations of the enterprise. The success of Ford Motor Company can be attributed to the culture of the organization adopted by the founder when the company was established. Henry Ford is remembered for his wisdom in creating a diverse workforce -- long before such concepts were embraced by other business leaders (Ford Motor Company, 2013). Since its inception in 1903, Ford has established itself as a premier American employer which supported equitable and inclusive employment. According to its official website, “Ford continues to attract a highly skilled committed workforce that reflects a broad spectrum of culture, ethnicity, race, perspective, age, religion, physical ability and sexual orientation.” The company has policies that are designed to cater for the needs of a diverse workforce. To date, the company employs people from diverse nations and it also employs people with disabilities. Ford Motor Company is an equal opportunity employer and it has included aspects that make people unique like backgrounds, opinions, experiences, perspectives and life situations. The company also strives to foster an inclusive culture that is free from barriers where all employees are respected. 2.4 Motivation According to Robbins (1993, p. 581) “Our knowledge of motivation tells us that people do what they do to satisfy needs.” Before a person embarks on a particular course of action that is designed to achieve a set of goals, he or she looks for the payoff or reward. This is very common in different organizations where the employees seek to gain satisfaction from their effort in a given organization. Once people are sure of getting satisfaction from a certain course of action, they can pursue that activity with vigour and enthusiasm. This significantly helps to improve the productivity of the company through improved performance of the employees. People who are happy about their job are committed to work and this strategy has been used at Ford Motor Company in order to improve the performance of the organization. An entrepreneur cannot succeed in isolation and this is the main reason why it is important to motivate the employees in order for them to be productive in different tasks they are expected to perform in the organization. For instance, Henry Ford had a good transformative idea in January 1914 which was meant to motivate the workers. He suggested that Ford Motor Company would pay $5 a day to its workers as well as shortening the working period to eight hours (Ford Motor Company, 2013). These new changes introduced by Henry Ford significantly motivated the employees such that staff turnover disappeared. This helped the company to become a force to reckon with in the motor industry in the US. 3.0 Conclusion The report sought to analyse the strategies that have contributed to the success of Ford Motor Company which was established in 1903 by Henry Ford. The founder’s great entrepreneurial skills significantly contributed to the success of the company since he used strategies that enabled the company to gain a competitive advantage over others. For instance, the organizational culture of Ford Motor Company has played a pivotal role in shaping the operations of the company which has led to its success. The employees are also motivated by the work ethic adopted by the company. 4.0 References Bowler, A 1996, Entrepreneurship: An Introduction. Nassou, CT. Bragg, A & Bragg, M 2005, Developing New Business Ideas, Pearson Education, Harlow. Burke, R 2006, Entrepreneurs toolkit, Burke Publishing, Everbest. Ford Motor Company 2013, ‘Ford's History of Diversity and Inclusion in the Workforce’ Viewed 24 February 2013: . Lamb, CW 2008, Marketing. Oxford University Press, CT. Robbins, SP 1993, Organisational behaviour: Concepts, controversies and applications, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall: NJ. Zhang, X. ND, On How Organizational Culture Impact its Performance and Competitiveness. School of Management, Hubei University of Technology, P.R.China, Read More