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Ford Motor Company: The future of HR
What are the key business strategies?
Of all of the troubled 'big three' automakers, Ford was the only one not to need major financial help and government-supervised restructuring. This was seen partially as a result of Ford's commitment to incorporate sustainability into its car designs far earlier than either General Motors or Chrysler. "Ford's current strength stems from what was a literal bet-the-company decision in 2006 to borrow $23.6 billion, putting even the company's fabled blue logo up as collateral. That money helped Ford move more quickly than General Motors or Chrysler to bring out new lines of more fuel-efficient vehicles, and, more crucially, provided a cash cushion when the car market tanked along with the economy in late 2008" (Ford Motor Company, 2010, The New York Times). Ford has sold off of its luxury brands like Jaguar, and divested most of its less popular brands such as Mercury and Mazda (Ford Motor Company, 2010, The New York Times). Ford's primary strategies are 'greening' or capitalizing upon the sustainability trend and streamlining its operations.
How should HR support (align its focus to) each of these strategies?
HR can play a key role in advocating sustainability within organizations, by hiring individuals with a background in sustainability and 'green' jobs and experiences. Even when hiring...
Recruits on every level of the company should receive an education in the Ford perspective on the environment and how new Ford vehicles will make a contribution to the further betterment of the planet. Workers at all levels should be solicited for information, if they have an idea about how to make their particular division of Ford more 'green,' and highlight such employee ideas on the corporate website. Also, the company should give information about how workers can make their own lives greener, such as by using products made from environmentally-friendly materials at lunch and eating less meat (Bolch 2010:1)
HR can also take practical strategies to reduce the carbon footprint of employees by allowing telecommuting whenever possible. Reducing paper by using electronic communications, electronic payments, and shifting…
References
Bolch, Matt. (2008, June). Speaking green: spreading the word about sustainability initiatives may fall to more than one department, but human resources plays an important role. HR
Magazine. Retrieved November 26, 2010 at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3495/is_6_53/ai_n27889475/
Ford Motor Company. (2010). The New York Times. Retrieved November 26, 2010 at http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/ford_motor_company/index.html
Smashing the clock. (2006). Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved November 26, 2010 at http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_50/b4013001.htm
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