Case Study : Ford Motor Company

There are many factors that appeal to leaders why organizational change is needed in today’s business to stay competitive. Weiss (2016) noted “Factors such as technology and globalization have made the world far more interconnected” (p. 4). These factors can create more risks and opportunities for organizations to succeed or fail. Change management is inevitable, in order to successfully bring an organization into the twenty-first century, leaders must recognize this, develop plans and successfully execute them to remain relevant in today’s economy. This paper will provide an overview of Discount Tire Co. and diagnose the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and present a plan using Kotter’s eight-step change process and

Should a risk or benefit analysis be used in situations where a defect in design or manufacturing could lead to death or seriously bodily harm, such as in the Ford Pinto situation? And was it the proper framework to use in this situation? If so, it seems that the correct decision was made. Examining this question after-the-fact, it certainly seems like a poor decision. There are arguments both for and against such an analysis.

Since competition between domestic automobile manufacturers was very intense, the Ford Motors Company decided to build Ford Pinto in only 25 month versus normal 43 months. The General Manager of Ford Pinto project, Lee Iacocca, was so obsessed with the idea of creating an affordable car and winning the market, that he specifically set a certain goal for Ford Pinto development team. The goal was that the car should

Ask just about anyone on the street what company boast a large red bulls-eye on its stores, and surely it would be difficult to find anyone who doesn’t immediately respond, “Target.” Target Corporation’s roots stem all the way back to 1902, and in the years since, the corporation has grown into a common household name. With 1,790 (2014) stores nationwide, Target is currently ranked as 4th largest retailer in the United States (Press). The corporation has achieved this status through hard work, brilliant ideas, and dedicated leadership. However this is just the brief on their success.

The idea for the Ford Pinto started in about 1968 when car companies were trying to create small compact cars for little money. Ford's President at the time, Lee Iaccoca, did not want his company to sit back and let the Japanese control the small car industry( ). After years of modeling and designing, the Ford Pinto

In the early 60’s America’s demand for large cars began to diminish, resulting in many car manufactures production of smaller cars. One car that was released was the Chevy Corvair, a small, compact, rear engine, six seater car, that was an ambitious goal for a company who didn’t want to spend the appropriate resources. Chevy aimed to create huge turnover from this compact car by cutting as many corners as possible. This resulted in a car deemed to be unsafe at any speed. Whether it be the bad handling, poorly designed engine, or poor design flaws, Chevy released a car that they knew was dangerous and did not say anything about it in hopes for a large profit, making them unethical in multiple ways (Unsafe at any speed,1).

The General Motors crisis case involving the defective ignition switch is a lesson for all automakers, where honesty and trying to cut corners does not work. The General Motors Company knowingly knew of a major, life threatening issue, but yet decided to be negligent and not fix the issue. Due to their actions taken by management, what could have been a somewhat easy fix; it was now turned in a costly one, which ruined brand image on a massive scale. In this case analysis of the GM ignition switch, it will review and provide details of the timeline of events, which led to the failure and improper actions taken by General Motors. It will also critique how the crisis was handled, describing what GM did well, how they failed the American

In 1968, Ford Motor Company made plans for a car that would be inexpensive, small, and appeal to all car buyers. The planned project was to meet the 2000/2000 rule, meaning that the Pinto could weigh no more than 2,000 pounds, and cost no more than $2,000. This rule was instituted because of the extreme competition from foreign car makers such as Toyota and all of the automotive companies at the time. However, the 2000/2000 rule left designers with limited ability to design a car the way it should be designed. The Pinto was brought into production faster than any other car had ever been produced; twenty

This is a case study analysis on Nissan Canada Inc. (NCI) and its plan to move from a “make to stock” to a “make to order” process and the implementation of NCI’s Integrated Customer Ordering Network (ICON). Involved in the implementation of ICON, NCI is faced with several challenges in the conversion of its outdated ordering process to Manugistics, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. (Hunter, 2007)

The Pinto began receiving the attention of critics because of the potential fire hazard of having the fuel tank at the rear of the vehicle without a true rear bumper. “Ford was allegedly aware of the design flaw but refused to pay what was characterized as the minimal expense of redesign.”(Ford Pinto Safety Problems). Given the low price of the car, Ford used of a cost-benefit analysis to determine that it would be cheaper to pay the potential lawsuits then to address the issue. Ford Motor Company should have responded to the Pinto’s safety problem as soon as it was discovered, but chose not to. Ford’s decision was not only a pure business decision but it was unethical to put customer’s lives in danger over a sub twenty dollar fix.

In 1968, Ford decided to create the Pinto to compete in the small car market against the advice of former Ford President Semon Knudsen which led to his forced resignation and appointment of Lee Iacocca as president.

In fear of losing clientele to foreign car companies, they decided to quick sell affordable compact cars and lacked in quality. Cost-benefit analysis should not have been applied in this situation because this requires Ford to assess the cost of possible death, severe burns, vehicle damage and making the necessary repairs (Harris, 2009). How can a car company or any administration put a price to human life? They cannot possibly take into account other factors like the suffering of family and friends of the deceased or the psychological impact of severe injuries on a victim. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration decided that it was $200,000 per death, $67,000 per injury, and $700 per vehicle equating to the total "societal benefit" is $49.5 million (Palmiter, 1999).

1. Evaluate the economics of Gulf's exploration and development program in net present value terms. How do Gulf's outlay for exploration and development compare to cash returns Gulf generates from these activities.

One of the world’s largest automakers, GMC has it’s roots traced back to 1908. Also known as GM, this company is a United States-based automaker with its headquarters in Detroit, Michigan. After the General Motors Company was founded, it soon became known as one of the largest car manufacturers in the world. In 1909, the Grabowsky Rapid Motor Vehicle Company (GMC) joined with GM. The trade name GMC Trucks was first exhibited in 1912 at the New York Auto Show and registered with the U.S. Patent Office eight months later. The

The Pacific Oil Company a well-established oil company with an assorted diversified product line including “Vinyl Chloride Monomer (VCM)”. (Lewicki, 2010, p. 583) As one of the pioneer producers of VCM, Pacific Oil cornered the market share for contracting, distributing and selling their niche product, VCM worldwide. One of Pacific’s longtime customers was Reliant Corporation. This partnership was more than a decade old and was strong. However, if Pacific Oil decided to further diversify its product line to include Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) a VCM derivative, “it would not want to be in the position of supplying a product competitor with the raw materials to manufacture the product line, unless the formula price was extremely