Alan Mulally’s Restructuring of Ford Motor Company

GM is described as an organization with a dysfunctional company culture that somehow still manages to have amazing results in its work, on a global scale. The key attributes of GM, were primarily in the changes initiated by Mary Barra after the GM ignition switch recall crisis. Some of those attributes include her willingness to openly acknowledge the undesirable aspects of the GM culture and her efforts to take action towards a resolution. There are also several noticeable strengths and weaknesses within the organization. One of the biggest weaknesses is the company’s repeated inability to acknowledge that, lack of functional culture and leadership are truly the root cause of the company’s issues. Based on my reading I would describe the current behavioral organizational model as a Custodial Model. I chose this model because the managerial orientation is money, employee orientation is security and benefits and performance results are passive cooperation. All of these attributes were described in the reading.

The customers (drivers of Ford) are the number one stakeholders that lost the most. They might not have lost much money or reputations, but they lost the one thing that you can never get back, their life.

Despite of these good things, Ford Motor faced a loss due to some wrong decisions taken by the management regarding their business strategy. The decision of centralizing the management made them think narrowly which results in too much Americanization and ignorance of local market in the rest of the world.

Organizations that strive to be a leader in an industry must look beyond their domestic boundaries and expand into international markets. The Ford Motor Company remains the second largest automotive manufacturer in the United States and fifth largest automotive manufacturer in the world with Toyota leading the way. This essay will address the Ford Motor Company’s strategic approach to compete internationally and identify which resources and capabilities make it attractive to compete internationally. Additionally, the Ford Motor Company’s diversification strategy options will be described. Lastly, we will identify how chosen diversification strategy options would lead to a strategic fit for the Ford

He decided to enlarge the goals of the company so as to include the marketing of the vehicles that they produced. This in itself is what entails planning. Therefore, management has affected planning in that the presence of a new CEO in the company has introduced other goals that were not there in the first place. The presence of an eligible leader led to the company building its own battery packs, power microelectronics segments and great proficiency automotive to enable them work without a license from AC Propulsion. Apart from influencing the planning of the company in a positive manner, the management also led to improved performance of the firm in that they now had extensive goals to achieve which required them to work harder (Hunger, 2010).

Alan Mulally, who was hired as CEO of Ford in September 2006, had not engineered, designed, or built any cars. He came from Boeing. After joining Ford, he devised a plan that identified specific goals for the company, created a process that moved it toward those goals, and installed a management system to make sure the company reaches those goals. Mulally demands weekly, sometimes daily, updates. “Alan's style is pretty relentless,” says chief financial officer Lewis Booth, a 31-year Ford veteran. “He says, ‘If this is the reality, what are we going to do about it?' not ‘We're going to work our way through it.'”

The Ford Motor Company and General Motors have greatly influenced and shaped the global automobiles industry over the 20th Century. While there are other big car-makers both in the United States and elsewhere in the globe, the two companies have been the commonest and significant players across the entire sector. This research focuses on an argument of how competition between both companies has benefited them.

Ford Motor Company has tough competition with European and Japanese manufacturers, therefore the company did not respond well and suffered

Ford was created in 1903 by Henry Ford in Detroit, MI. He quickly revolutionize the development of the automobile as a product and he also was the visionary behind the assembly line for mass production, and in turn made it possible for automobiles to become more affordable for the average household. Ford had a strong belief in his mission statement, which defines the kind of actions that are needed to fulfill organizational goal. However, Ford also had a vision statement that helped drive its global organization to reach its higher performance levels. Both areas assist in the overall foundation that Ford’s strong beliefs stand on. Both mission and vision statement are factors that solidify the success and strategic direction in the automotive industry.

Ford Motor Company is an American automobile manufacturer founded and headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan but incorporated in the state of Delaware. The company was started by Henry Ford in 1903 and is historically famous for the creation and implementation of the assembly line in manufacturing processes. Ford’s mission is to produce and sell automobiles – cars, trucks, SUVs, etc – from the ones initially designed and engineered by Henry Ford all the way through the newer versions created in the last few years. (Profitable Growth for All, 2012)

The Ford Motor Company, founded in 1903 by Henry Ford, is synonymous with American innovation and capitalism. With iconic branding and revolutionary

Ghosn’s philosophy of change leadership was already developed at Michelin based on three principles: “assume nothing (find answers within the company); work fast; and earn trust and respect with strong results.” He diagnosed the complications that Nissan had as internal. His initial analysis was that the “company culture emphasized narrow, functionality based thinking at the expense of a larger strategic view.” Based on this analysis he formed cross functional teams bringing executives from all statuses and geographical locations to brainstorm and recommend solutions within three months. The plan was clear and straightforward: reduce procurement costs; reduce debt; and close plants that weren’t viable and introducing new models. These

Founded in 1903, Henry Ford managed to get investor support to open the first manufacturing automobile company in Detroit, Michigan. Ford Motor Company has been known for its mass production of vehicles using a perfected assembly line method and its innovations in the automobile industry. Ford’s famous Model-T was developed as an innovative automobile that could be produced quickly, while keeping the cost to a minimum. This allowed people with a lower income the opportunity to afford an automobile. One of the biggest changes in the automobile industry occurred in 1913 with the introduction of a perfected assembly line method. This assembly line method was the one of the main reasons Ford Motor Company was able to keep the cost of vehicles and the production time to a minimum. Ford also took the first step to increase wages of their employees above the industry standard. Although it was still a very low value, Ford offered $5 per day which was a huge improvement from the $2.34 per day that most companies offered.

Profitability is vital to success for Ford Motors. A profitable business pays interest to lenders, tax to authority and dividend to shareholders and bonuses to employees in time. It helps in satisfying all the stakeholders of FM. A profitable FM creates more opportunity for growth and a growing FM will generate further profit to satisfy the stakeholders. So, this

Mulally went at lengths to communicate and make people feel comfortable about the change and to explain their role in the process. His positive influence over the company eventually caught on and even his doubters begin to believe in his ability to pull this thing off.