Ford's E-Commerce Strategy

The Ford Motor Company’s Supply Chain Management ABSTRACT The influx of foreign automobiles that flood the United States market is higher than ever before and American companies are struggling to adapt to this decrease in market share. Ford is one of the organizations that has restructured its supply chain strategy to better integrate suppliers into their system reducing cost and

Ford motor company offers a wealth of variety to the automotive consumer. As they start their second century of business, they are now in a position to appeal to the widest range of potential customers. Each of their automotive brands has a unique personality

By committing to a formal franchise program, the company could limit its future flexibility in attaining new distributors.

Ford Motor Company has been and till the date is known as the king of innovations in the automobile industry. Their research & development department and innovation of interchangeable parts in moving assembly lines resulted in extraordinary global extension for them. They are an old heritage who ruled and still doing impressive jobs in the global automobile market. Some prestigious motor brands are also owned by Ford.

In this world of technology and innovation even Ford Motor Company is investing in new technologies in order to improvised their supply chain management, build an environment with interaction between each department as well as suppliers in order to reduce the bridging gap between them. As it is a leader in auto market segment, needs to update and coop with time and technology periodically but due to huge competition from the Japanese auto makers like Toyota, Honda, and Nissan, Suzuki etc., who are strong and powerful with references to the supply chain process management due to which Ford market share dip compared to others as well as the sales also declined. During this time, Ford analysed the situation and thought positively and started improvement in the supply chain management.

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

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 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

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.

The Order to Delivery (OTD) process as envisioned by the Ford 2000 initiative is intended to reduce the production time to 15 days. This is hindered by bottlenecks throughout the Ford supply chain. Ford desires to be able to forecast customer demand from dealers and keep at least 15 days of vehicles in each assembly plant’s order bank. Ford would also like to utilize mixing centers to optimize scheduling and delivery. Finally, there is a need for an order amendment process for minor customizations during the production process.

As director of Supply Chain Systems, Teri Takai recommends implementing virtual integration strategies from companies like Dell to portions of Ford’s supply chain strategy. Although there are several key differences between the companies, the restructuring plans of Ford 2000 have set a viable foundation to implement Dell’s virtual integration strategy in inventory management, customer service and support and suppliers’ management. The redesign of the process must include design not only of the supply chain but also of fulfillment, forecasting, purchasing, and a variety of other functions that historically been considered independently within the Ford hierarchy. Teri

The idea behind this study is of great significance because e-commerce (online shopping) has grown tremendously since the turn of the century. It has shaped the way people do shopping for the most part.

Ford’s vision statement is “people working together as a lean, global enterprise for automotive leadership” (Thompson, 2015a). The vision statement emphasizes the company’s global leadership, which is how the firm wants to be recognized as one of the top contenders in the international automotive market (Thompson, 2015a).

The mission statement of Ford is not written because in past decades, U.S. vehicle industries have changed dramatically. However, Ford has a vision statement which can be substituted for mission statement, “People working together as a lean, global enterprise to make people’s lives better through automotive and mobility leadership.”

Sullivan Ford Auto World should position itself as a distributor of low-end to middle-low end models of Ford cars to capture its target market. It can sell its low-end models to Generation Y and Generation X, with both generation