Memo
To: Alan Mulally
From: Travis Harper
Date: March 6, 2012
Re: SWOT and Value Chain Analysis
The purpose of this memo is offer the Ford management team advice and recommendations based on an internal and external analysis of the Ford Motor Company. A SWOT analysis will be conducted and the memo will outline and explain the processes involved with the analysis. A SWOT analysis will provide the decision makers of the company with information about the positive and negative aspects of both the external and internal environments currently facing Ford. The internal analysis will provide better insight into the strength and weaknesses of the company, and the external analysis will recognize opportunity and threats presented by the
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Customer value comes from three broad categories: the product is unique and different, the product is low priced, or the product meets the needs of customers quickly and efficiently. Ford must assess the organizations ability to create customer value through its primary and secondary activities. In this case the primary activities under consideration are operations, marketing and sales, and customer service, while the secondary activities consists of human resource management and technological development.
Analysis of Primary Activities
The primary activities of a company are the source of customer value. Productivity, quality, and cost efficiency are all very important factors for the operations activities of Ford when it comes to creating customer value. The Way Forward plan has certainly put the company on a path to achieve profitability and to accelerate product development to provide customers with value through improved quality. The company is currently matching foreign rivals in quality surveys, which is a positive step forward, and continuing to make its manufacturing plants as efficient and effective as possible by stressing strategies and processes to maximize operational quality and efficiency. Ford has aligned its goals of manufacturing with marketing by focusing on a customer driven strategy, aligning plant capacity with customer demand. In the area of
Ford has improved overall quality and enhanced their brand reputation/recognition. In a 2011 Consumer Reports Survey, Ford scored 144 points, taking 2nd to Toyota with 147 points, which analysts call a “dead heat” score. The survey was based on “safety, quality, value, performance, design/style, technology/innovation, and environmentally friendly/green” (Associated Press 2011). Ford is on the right track and is gaining customer loyalty while increasing market share, which is a winning economic equation.
Every external factor exhibits an open door or risk that the business must address through vital activity. As one of the main five players in the worldwide car industry, Ford guarantees that it addresses the issues in its PESTLE analysis. These issues are an immediate determinant of the hierarchical advancement direction of Ford.
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
Ideas introduced in the article assist in understanding Ford’s current situation. Ford reported sharp falls in U.S. auto sales in May 2008. Sales of its most profitable pickups and SUVs suffered the most (“US Auto Sales Slide”). Some of the main
Typically, our firms performance objectives was to be sustainable and profitable as a business while at the same time achieving customer satisfaction for our main consumer segments; singles, family, and enterprisers and value seekers. Our generic marketing strategy was focused around a balance of cost leadership, and product differentiation. Cost leadership was employed strategically for our economy and family car, executed with emphasis on efficiency and safety. In period one, our firm was positioned positively and strong; sales were at a profitable level of $20,516.
Ford has had to face various challenges and current goals are to obtain the market share from its competitors and build the vehicles consumers are demanding. By meeting these needs, the company can redefine itself. With consumers trying to decrease their debt and an increasing number of competitors showcasing fuel-efficient vehicles, Ford needs to create affordable high quality and fuel efficient vehicles to remain competitive. An internal analysis of Ford Motor Company will evaluate its resources and capabilities. This analysis can aid in determining Ford’s cost position, competency, and competitiveness in the current marketplace.
SWOT Analysis: The internal strengths and weaknesses of the company, and the external opportunities and threats from the viewpoint of the company
A mutual fund manager is a person who actively buys or sells and sometimes both funds. They are experienced in implementing a funds strategy used for investing and manages its trading activities as well as the portfolio. Choosing whether or not to invest in Ford Motor Company will take the use of a SWOT analysis and learning about the stakeholders of the company.
Ford’s vision statement, “people working together as a lean, global enterprise for automotive leadership” (Thompson, 2015) has three major points that surrounds the vision statement; which are global leadership, emphasis on stakeholders, and lean business (Thompson, 2015). Each area is a specific point that Ford concentrates on in order to better the business. Global Leadership indicates that Ford wants to become a top player in the international market; Ford achieves Emphasis on Stakeholders through enhancing their HR policies and corporate social responsibility strategies for employees, customers, investors, and others; and Lean Business which they have
Ford Motor Company is considered a global automotive industry leader. Ford was able to reinvent themselves to be able to stay ahead of the economic downturns. Ford has continually improved their overall profit and recently started paying
The External Factor Evaluation (EFE) matrix below in Exhibit 2 depicts Ford’s opportunities and threats from the outside market. After an evaluation of 20 factors, the organization performed slightly better than
Ford in 2011 is on the rebound, having recovered from the darkest hours in the late 2000s. The company for the company is that many of its competitors are also rebounding, and there are significant long-run changes in the automobile industry. Ford needs to determine a strategy that will take the company through the next decade, and improve the company's competitive position. The company has four of the top fifteen best-selling cars in America, but also needs to set strategy globally, as many of the best automobile growth markets are overseas. Another strategic consideration is that CEO Alan Mulally remains in the process of changing the organizational culture at Ford, which had become stagnant and unresponsive to the changes in the industry environment.
Ford Motor Company preserves its place as one of the largest makers of vehicles globally by making changes to its strategies. Ford needs to create a plan of action and ideas that react to the most substantial effects from outside divisors in the motor vehicle industry globally. The Five Forces analysis of Ford Motor Company recognizes the most significant outside elements and how they affect the company, rendering data that helps in management’s decision-making process.
Total quality management focuses on several aspects such as Continuous improvement and the Customers to improve the quality of the products. Ford Company has in place a strong set of values, norms, and artifacts which it strongly enforces. The mission statement for the company is based on a simple phrase, “One Ford: One team, one plan, one goal.” The company vision is, “To become the world’s leading consumer company for automotive products and services.” (Haas-kotzegger, Schlegelmilch, & Ambos, 2013) Both these company philosophies give the company a good favor towards the consumers.
The market introduction project of a new product is as important as its design project. When a company is budgeting for a new product project, it is fundamental to include the marketing expenses in the initial budget, thus, the company will not have future surprises. Dr. Levoy, in his article, The difference between efficiency and effectiveness, he explains that it may be a waste of time if a company has an entirely efficient manufacturing process, however, at the end is not effective, or does not achieve its objective, such as bringing more clients or selling a new product, (Levoy, B., 2011). This is the importance of a marketing project, the marketing professionals can sell ideas, products, services, anything that is marketable, and if a company is launching a product I believe that the goal is to reach the customers. Therefore, to understand well our plan for Fiat Chrysler and the launching of the new Jeep Wrangler Pickup Truck, we design the following schema to explain the plan details: 1. A fast explanation of the actual market and some challenges; 2. Explanation of the nature of the new product to be launched and its industry; 3. The marketing project to introduce the new product to the customers; 4. Explanation of how we will use the Total Quality Management - TQM tools to measure and control the marketing plan execution; 5. How FCA already applies TQM philosophy to achieve client satisfaction and how we can expand the use of TQM