Henry Ford Essays (Examples)

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Looking at Ford's history, it is easy to see why Iacocca claimed that Ford was largely responsible for creating the American middle class. (Iacocca, p. 2). It is unquestionable that Ford ushered in a reasonable wage for a reasonable work-week. He not only doubled the wages for his workers, but greatly exceeded the wages offered for similar work by competitors. In addition, by giving his workers adequate time-off and a shorter work week, Ford helped usher in current American notions of leisure time. On the production side of things, by resisting pressure to develop an automobile for the upper-class, Ford helped create the current standard of living for the American middle class. It was because of Ford that automobile ownership became a standard for middle-class Americans.

Unfortunately, Ford was also responsible for other elements linked to the idea of the middle class in America. For example, many middle-Americans continue…

The Taurus and Aerostar were star performers in their respective segments, as were the F-series trucks. The Explorer took advantage of the growing SUV market.

The company's modern-era market share peaked in the mid-90s, and has come down steadily over the past decade and change. By the mid-00s, Ford was in financial trouble and undertook the leveraging of its assets in order to get the company through a multi-year restructuring program. The company's struggles, however, have continued in recent years. The company has had a net operating loss every year since 2005 and lost $14.4 billion in 2008.

The company today continues to struggle. Although it had some successful product launches in the early part of the decade, its strategy to saturate the market and occupy all segments has failed to keep out competition. As a result, Ford is increasingly dependent on successful launches. They have not been able to…

History Of Henry Ford

This report attempts to provide some insight into the life and times of one of the greatest entrepreneurial spirits this nation has ever known. This paper is about Henry Ford who may be best known for his contribution to capitalism through his automobile manufacturing corporation, the Ford Motor Company. The report will focus on his life and career and also present facts about his cars and company.

Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863 in Greenfield Township, Michigan and died on April 7, 1947. Ford is best known for creating the very successful Ford Motor Company and also for influencing capitalism in the United States of America. Henry Ford married Clara Bryant in 1888. It is a little known fact that the automobile called the Edsel which eventually turned out to be a major flop for Ford and his company was named for his only…

Henry Ford about the Model T. Ford: 'You can have any color you like as long as it's black.' What attitude does this reveal towards marketing?

Henry Ford was the founder of the Ford Motor Companies and he played a major role in horseless transport systems. Since youth he was interested in mechanics and not his father's farm and he grew up to manage assembly lines in production of the Ford vehicles. (Greenwood, 1998)

The first T. model Ford was built in 1908 and when production started it was in all colors, and also it was extremely affordable to all Americans. And that was Ford's aim: to make his product not only available but accessible to all. And to cut down costs everywhere. Which is why in 1914, he reverted the T. model to only black vehicles. They were only produced in black after his famous quote "You can have…

Ford

There are a number of reasons why firms might prefer to pay a wage above the point where quantity and supply of labor are balanced. The issue is best understood by remembering that a firm is not the economy overall, so firm outcomes are differentiated from economic outcomes. Furthermore, labor mobility is substantially constrained in this world, certainly much more so than capital, so there is unlikely to be true equilibrium in the labor market. Firms know these things, so they set their strategy accordingly.

One reason a firm would pay above this equilibrium is that the firm wants to retain workers. Turnover is expensive, especially when there are high training costs. These costs must be priced into the cost of labor (Twiname, Samujh & Rae, 201). Thus, the combination of a low wage and high training costs could prove to be higher than the cost of high wage…

Heinrich F. Albert and publicly praised by the propaganda office of the eich Ministry of Economics, approved an enlargement of the Cologne plant as well as the construction of an assembly factory in Berlin-Johannisthal for trucks and passenger cars (Baldwin, 2001). Thereafter, in June 1938, as a direct signal of approval that Ford cars sold in Germany were finally being made entirely in Germany, the Nazi government placed an order for 3,150 custom-designed, three-ton V-8 trucks based on an assurance from Ford's headquarters that the vehicles were not being intended for military use (Baldwin, 2001). According to this author, "There was no danger of war on the horizon; besides, if the German consumer market did not warm overwhelmingly to the four-cylinder Ford 'Eifel' sedan, then the company needed to go with the demand for other vehicles" (Baldwin, 2001 p. 283). This rationalization of the economic benefits to be gained from…

Innovation

Henry Ford

Innovation of products and services:

'If I asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses' -- Henry Ford

Knowing the customer is critical when introducing innovative customer requirements. While conventionally-minded companies may survey customers, asking them what they think they want and need, ground-breaking companies try to anticipate consumer desire. That is what Henry Ford meant when he said: 'If I asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses'. Steve Jobs has also been praised for leading rather than following consumer's technological tastes, such as when he created smaller, portable music devices that could be easily carried when working out and did not 'skip' like old-fashioned CDs. The Apple iPad was much mocked, yet consumers lined up to buy this device that was smaller than a laptop yet larger than a PDA. When creating all of his devices Jobs famously distained…

Leadership of Henry Ford-Ford Motor Company. It gives a corporate and organizational history. It discusses the company's culture as a result of Ford's influence and includes comments of leadership theories.

LEADERSHIP OF HENRY FORD: THE FORD MOTOR COMPANY

As the twentieth century drew to an end, Time magazine named the Model T. The "automobile that defined the twentieth century from start to finish" (Alvarado 9). Henry Ford's Model T. mass production methods, and wage price theories revolutionized American industry. He was extraordinarily influential and respected because he made a product that met a public need (Lewis 1). Ford had an immeasurable impact on American life. "hen he got his Model T. rolling in 1908, the horse disappeared so fast that the conversion of acreage from hay to other crops is said to have caused an agricultural revolution" (Stewart 108). By the 1920's, it was rarely possible to find a farm…

There is little indication in Ford's financial statements that things are going to improve any time soon. The company actually hailed the 14.2% market share in North America as "the lowest market share decline in the past ten years" (Ford Motor Company, 2009).

Ford's financial position is nothing short of awful. The company's condition has deteriorated steadily over the past five years, and its performance relative to industry peers is generally poor.

Appendix a

Ford Motor Company

Financial Ratios

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

Industry

Analysis

Liquidity Ratios

Current Ratio

1.67

1.7

1.51

1.8

1.75

1.1

Good

Quick Ratio

1.56

1.59

1.41

1.68

1.63

0.8

Good

Efficiency Ratios

Inventory Turn

15.87

15.16

15.73

14.93

13.42

7.6

Good

Receivables Turn

1.47

1.47

1.4

1.54

1.49

8.1

Poor

Avg Collection Period

Fixed Asset Turn

5.12

4.76

4.43

4.34

3.97

Total Asset Turn

0.67

0.62

0.57

0.66

0.58

0.8

Bad

Leverage Ratios

Total…

Ford Motor

Introduction of the company - Ford

Ford Motor Business began in 1903 by Henry Ford and it has constantly remained within family group possession ever since that period. The business created and applied assembly line manufacturing from the launch of the Model T. In the year 1909, and created planes and automobiles for U.S. Allies in The Second World War. Ford has worked globally since 1904, in the event it opened a division in Canada to acquire entry to Commonwealth marketplaces. With regard to the initial half in the Twenty-first century, Ford continued to be the prominent automobile manufacturer in the marketplace it had successfully developed. In 1956, Toyota released its initial automobile in the United States of America, and started acquiring marketplace share. In hindsight this became the turning point within the U.S. marketplace, and since the Twenty-first century came to an end Ford experienced declining marketplace…

4 the Competition

Ford Motors Company activates in a mature and highly competitive market and threats come not only from within the United States, but also from abroad. Due to globalization and market liberalization, the automobile manufacturers from Asia are easily capable to sell their products to the American consumer. Brands play a pivotal role in competition as customers tend to make purchases based on it. The competition is also intensified by the vast offering of substitute products, often materialized in public transports or personal automobiles running on alternative combustibles. Another source of rivalry is that the products often seem to look alike, and there are few features that offer one vehicle a point of difference.

The effects of the intense competition are various and often depend on the unique characteristics of the company, its served customers and the market where it operates. There are two most common outcomes. The…

If Boca Raton, Fla. buys 32 Explorers, we need to let the entire municipal market know about it.

Foreign sales

The key to foreign sales is understanding that the Explorer will be a luxury item in much of the rest of the world. Ford Explorers may be driven by middle-class families and soccer moms in the United States, but the $30,000 price tag is going to make the Explorer an upper-class item in countries with a lower standard of living than the United States.

Naturally, to overseas upper-class drivers, the vehicles they drive are status symbols, and we must focus on the prestige element of owning an Explorer. We should look for luxury lifestyle magazines - foreign versions of the Robb Report, for example - and purchase adverting that focuses on the luxury features and prestige factor of owning the Explorer. Ads with American celebrities, who often are even more…

Ford Motor Company (herein referred to as Ford) has grown from a somewhat obscure automaker to one of the world's most recognized motor vehicle brands. Founded in the year 1919 by Henry Ford, the company's main business remains the production of trucks and cars. However, through some of its subsidiaries, the company also concerns itself with motor vehicle financing.

The Ford Motor Company: A Brief Overview of its Vision, Mission and Primary Stakeholders

Ford's mission according to Lewis et al. (2006) is outlined as:

We are a global family with a proud heritage passionately committed to providing personal mobility for people around the world. We anticipate consumer need and deliver outstanding products and services that improve people's lives.

I am convinced that the statement above successfully captures the company's purpose. In so doing, it also succeeds in outlining the firm's overall goals going forward. On the other hand, the company's…

World's Most Ethical Companies: Analyzing Ford Motor Company

The Ford Motor Company, herein referred to as Ford, is a U.S.-based multinational manufacturer of transportation vehicles, particularly luxury cars and commercial trucks. It was formed by Henry Ford in 1903 and has its headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan. The company currently ranks second among America's largest automakers; and is fifth in Europe, and eighth in the world. Cisco Systems, one of its largest technological partners, acknowledges that the company's high-level moral consciousness in the treatment of its stakeholders has contributed to its success year after year. This text outlines the various ways through which Ford demonstrates its moral responsibility to different stakeholders and examines how these acts contribute to the company's overall success.

Ford's Moral esponsibility towards Customers

Organizations have a moral responsibility to ensure that customers receive value for their money and are kept satisfied through high-quality products. Ford goes out…

This should allow Ford to innovate and make pricing decisions that are not directly replicated. Firms in monopolistic competition often behave like monopolies in the short run, something that Ford will need to do to improve its bottom line. Eventually any tactic Ford adopts will be mirrored by its competitors, but the increased competition allows for Ford to implement strategy and not receive a direct and immediate response from its competitors.

4. Outline a rough competitor analysis. Directly competing against Ford is a large number of companies both domestic and international. Firms such as General Motors and Chrysler are direct competitors with similar cost structures, although their bankruptcies last year may change the nature of competition from these two firms. Foreign competitors include Honda, Toyota, Mazda, Hyundai, Kia, Mitsubishi and others. The Japanese firms tend to be more differentiated than Ford but retaining cost structures still in the mass market…

The company is now considered the second largest automaker in the world. Within one year after its inception, the company brought well-known brands under its name such as Cadillac, Cartercar and Pontiac. The company was originally owned by William Durant but excessive debt cost him the ownership in 1910 when the bank took it over. Durant then started the Chevrolet Motor company. In 1920s, the company sales surpassed those of Ford Motor Company due to brilliant leadership of Alfred Sloan. In the next decade, the company expanded and started Greyhound bus service. During the Second World War, the company faced threat of nationalization from Nazi government. But due to personal and business contacts, the company abandoned its German operations in return for a complete tax write-off. Its post war growth was impressive as General Motors became the first ever U.S. company to pay $1 billion in taxes. It was also…

Multi-National Report on Ford Motor Company:

Ford Motor Company is a worldwide company that operates in both the Automotive and Financial Services sectors with its major operations being to build up, devise, produce and service cars and trucks. hile Ford's automotive sector basically sells vehicles under various brand names such as Ford, Volvo, Mercury and Lincoln, the financial services sector provide several automotive financing products both through and to automotive dealers. Ford's automotive sector is responsible for marketing trucks, cars and vehicle parts through the retail dealers, distributors and dealers in North America. Additionally, this sector offers a series of after-sale vehicle products and services in several segments like car accessories, maintenance, repairs and extended service. On the contrary, the financial services sector provides retail financing, wholesale financing and financing to profit-making customers.

Ford's financial services sector also provides other financing services incorporating loans to dealers for operational capital, developments…

Individual eport style Case Analysis: - Ford Motor Company - IN TEXT CASE 18 Case Objectives 1. To examine external internal forces affect competitive strategy. 2. To investigate choices business corporate-level strategies a highly turbulent industry.

Ford Motor Company

The modern day society is still striving to overcome the impediments of the economic crisis that commenced in 2007 in the United States real estate sector. The crisis left people unemployed, losing their life savings, and the economic agents in hurdle. Still, in these difficult times, the leading American manufacturer of automobiles reemerges as a strong and stable organization.

Ford Motor Company has not used federal funds to overcome the crisis, but has focused on reconsolidating itself in order to restore its balance and financial stability. Today, the organization is revealing the first signs of this stability, yet challenges still remain.

General information about Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company was…

Additionally, aside financial resources, they also used their assets. The most relevant example in this sense is the selling of part of its interests in Mazda. It as such transformed its assets into liquidities -- the 20% shares in Mazda were converted into $540 million (Murphy) -- that better allowed them to pursue their innovation objectives.

The matter of technological innovation is not only a core focus of Ford's, but of all players within the American automobile industry. The reasons for the rivalry in terms of &D are numerous, the most outstanding however being constituted by the desire to attract and satisfy as many customers as possible, managing as such to increase organizational revenues. "&D efforts in the U.S. Auto industry are channeled into a variety of processes such as stamping, casting, machining, and assembling. Within the time-frame of our investigation, &D efforts had to embrace sudden changes in taste…

Ford's inventions did not only improve the economy of the United States because of the contributions that the Ford automobiles provided. Moreover, his inventions had presented new job opportunities to people, specifically in being involved in automobile industry. Ford's inventions also gave hope and new dreams to others who wish to become like Henry Ford someday.

Along with the machineries and technologies where Ford demonstrated his intellect, he also showed his skills in management. It was Ford who changed the traditional 48 hours of work a week into just 40 hours. Also, he was the one who started the "five-dollar" day where the wage of the laborers was twice the regular wage at that time. Despite of the success that the Ford automobile had achieved, the monotonous process of the assembly line came to alienate workers (Towards a Modern Day America) that even Ford agreed that no worker would feel…

Finally, the political norms of control by the Ottoman Empire and the reputation of the Ming Dynasty as exploring the world can be overcome with this quest and the establishment of new trade routes.

Current technological barriers make exploration unattractive. However, important navigational tools including the magnetic compass and the cross-staff can help provide guidance on the seas. The caravel will help bring seamen home safely. This journey will test these technological advances and their utility on a long discovery mission. If they are proven to be useful, people will be more willing to go out to sea and funding for these missions is more likely.

Finally, this mission will provide important economic benefits, primarily through trading. Alternate routes to the Indian Ocean without going through Constantinople and into Africa without crossing the Sahara may be discovered. These, subsequent trading posts, and increases in import and export merchandise will be…

They think about the break, they go on the break and the come back thinking about the passed break and waiting to the future one. By the time they focus on the actual task, the next break is up. But if they get two breaks, of 30 minutes each, then they will not constantly interrupt their work and the efficiency would increase.

Setting stricter deadlines, but -- as a manager -- being prepared for them to be delayed. This strategy is useful as the stress of an upcoming deadline will often press the employees to be more active and efficient (Schilling, 2007). This does not mean that the employees would be exploited, only that the time allocated to procrastination is decreased.

Developing and implementing a reward system, based on performances. In other words, it would be necessary for the managers at the Junction Hotel to evaluate the efficiency of each…

It would be helpful in both their personal lives and working environment. Henry Ford helped in placing the world on wheels as well as improving the living standards of many thousands of employees. This shows that Model T. enhanced working conditions as many workers were assisted, therefore, raising their living standards.

The car made their life better as many people enjoyed the invention of the car. Farmers used the car as tractors as well as powering farm machinery like water pumps together with wood saws. Many cars were used as trucks to and other services in the farm. The Model T. was efficient to farmers as well as enhanced working conditions as they used the cars as tractors and trucks to assist them in their fieldwork and farms. Prior to the invention of the cars, they were forced to perform all the farm activities by hand. Later, the farmers used…

History of Multi-Cultural America

Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America - Ronald Takaki

What was the result of the 1903 Supreme Court Lone Wolf Decision and the 190 Burke Act? The Lone Wolf Decision came about partly in response to a law passed by Congress in 1902. That law "accelerated the transfer of lands from Indians to whites," according to Takaki (237). The provisions of the 1902 law required that those who inherited the land must sell all allotted lands at public auctions - once the original owners had passed away. Basically, this meant that unless an Indian had the money to purchase their own family lands, they would lose what had been their property. The President (Theodore Roosevelt) was informed that this new law would ensure that all Indian lands will pass into the hands of settlers within a short few years.

But, notwithstanding this injustice, when Chief…

Human esource Management at the Ford Motor Company

The Ford Motor Company is one of the largest economic entities at the global level, with sales and operations across the entire globe. The organization is reputable as the first company to make automobiles accessible to the people through the usage of the production and assembly line. In more recent times, Ford is recognized as one of the largest employers in the United States and a global leader of the automotive industry.

During 2008, the company was hit by the internationalized economic crisis, which raised new financial concerns, but also exacerbated the problems already existent within the firm. For decades, Ford had invested in large size and luxurious vehicles as an emblem of American consumerism. Throughout the past recent years however, the preferences of consumers have changed to reflect the shifting international price of oil and environmental concerns. More and more smaller…

Ford (Evans, 2004).

By the 1920s, the affordability of Ford's products and the increasing availability of modernized paved roads and highways combined to make taking a "country drive" one of the fastest and most fashionable national pastimes in the U.S. (Nevins & Commager, 1992). The trendy new fad of driving to the still-undeveloped suburbs and many other recreational areas on weekends was fueled by the relative exclusivity of automobile transportation to the middle (and upper) class, which allowed them to escape the masses of poor at the most popular local recreation spots such as the most popular beaches and state parks (Nevins & Commager, 1992). Ironically, Ford's success in making the automobile more accessible to the middle class also resulted in the beginning of a national obsession with the automobile as much for its social connotations as for the transportation convenience it offered.

eferences

Evans H. (2004). They Made America:…

Change systems

Change often occurs in our society and previous experience has thought us that the primary instinct is that of reticence to the new features. Change can be brought about by both the company as well as the stockholders. Stockholders are represented by all individuals and groups which are directly or indirectly affected by the company's actions. As such, a company's stockholders include, but are not limited to, its purveyors, its clients, its shareholders, its investors, the general public or the state's government.

In order for a change system to function, it has to be properly designed and modelled. "System modelling is a technique to express, visualise, analyse and transform the architecture of a system." It generally includes drawings, diagrams or any other visual features that might ease the understanding of the system. Change systems are complex models which cannot be universally valid. As such, they have to be…

The marketing mix has many variables that can be changed and adapted in every company, but in this process it is important to keep in mind the position the company wants on the market and its objectives.

The marketing mix planning is the process of developing long-term strategic plans that can help the company to achieve its goals. Each element in the marketing mix - product, price, promotion, and place -should be very well used in the attempt to satisfy the needs of consumers.

ibliography

Ford Parts (n.d.). Retrieved March 6, 2007 at http://www.innerauto.com/Ford_Parts/

FW15-MARKETING MIX (n.d.). Retrieved March 5, 2007, at http://www.freeworldacademy.com/newbizzadviser/fw15.htm

Marketing mix (n.d.). Retrieved March 5, 2007 at http://www.answers.com/topic/marketing-mix

Marketing mix (Price, Place, Promotion, Product) (n.d.). Retrieved March 5, 2007, at http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/theory/theory.php?tID=243

Overview (n.d.). Retrieved March 5, 2007, at http://www.ford.com/en/company/about/overview.htm

The marketing mix (n.d.). Retrieved March 5, 2007, at http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/theory/theory.php?tID=185

Volker Mike, MARKETING & 4Ps of MARKETING…

Management Theories

Historical records show that people always organized themselves in order to work together towards a common objective and they coordinated their efforts to achieve this objective (Accel-Team 2004). It was not until the latter part of the 19th century that the concept of scientific management entered history during the Industrial evolution, but management skills existed long before the 19th century. Ancient Egyptians built the pyramids, ancient Chinese erected the Great Wall of China, the Mesopotamians irrigated their lands and walled their cities and the omans of old put up their roads, aqueducts and notably Hadrian's Wall not without established and superb management standards of their leaders (Accel-Team) and massive obedience and coordination among the followers. The pyramids of Egypt, wonders of the world, each measure 75,600 square feet at the base, 480 feet high and consists of more than two million blocks of stone, each weighing 2.5 tons.…

Through this, the owner of Ford Motors Corporation was able to increase production levels and to reduce costs. "Even then when the lean manufacturing concept was years away, Ford had a focus on reducing time and material waste, increasing quality, and lowering cycle times, in order to achieve a lower cost vehicle which was reflected in the price reduction of the model T. year on year. This focus allowed him to reduce costs, even though he payed his workers well, and provide a great value product to the customer" (Lean Manufacture Website, 2009).

The editors at the Lean Manufacturing Guide online implement an approach similar to the editors at the Lean Manufacture Website. From their standpoint, lean manufacturing is an organizational effort by which waste is being reduced with the purpose of creating more value to the final product. In their own words, lean manufacturing is a "systematic approach to…

y then, the principles of division of labor and interchangeable parts had been successfully demonstrated by the American inventors Eli Whitney (1765-1825) and Samuel Colt (1814-1862). (Assembly Line - History)

The assembly line was first used on a large scale by the meat-packing industries of Chicago and Cincinnati during the 1870s. These slaughterhouses used monorail trolleys to move suspended carcasses past a line of stationary workers, each of whom did one specific task. Contrary to most factories' lines in which products are gradually put together step-by-step, this first assembly line was in fact more of a "disassembly" line, since each worker butchered a piece of a diminishing animal. The apparent breakthroughs in efficiency and productivity that were achieved by these meat packers were not immediately realized by any other industry until Ford designed his assembly line in 1913. Ford openly admitted using the meat-packing lines as a model. His success…

" (Brown, 1996, p. 74)

That potential of globalization can be attributed directly to the current business processes working to its fullest capabilities. Some may think that these trends towards globalization are new to the twentieth or twenty-first centuries. In a sense that is true because of the fact that our current globalization phenomenon can be linked with the advent of our new technology, financial methods and distribution channels to any point on the globe. However, globalization is technically not a new process that was created in or by our current digital and information revolution. Actually, not even the industrial revolution can be credited with the idea of globalization because the concept originated even before Christopher Columbus or Marco Polo. (Employees, 2005)

World trade has linked disparate locations into highly complex and extensive systems of finance, communication, migration, and other interconnections for thousands of years. Some of these events have…

Amidst the seemingly constant and fruitless rancor which came to typify the national debate regarding health care reform certain truths were ultimately laid bare. Through revelations of widespread waste and mismanagement by hospitals and pervasive political lobbying by pharmaceutical conglomerates, America was forced to confront the disturbing reality that its health care system had become irrevocably broken. Today's medical community is defined by a fragmented and ineffective structure in which the ever rising costs of healthcare stand in stark contrast to the diminished and compromised quality of the care being provided. With the ranks of those who require regular medical attention swelling at an exponential rate many members of the medical profession agree that new modalities are needed to sufficiently adapt the healthcare system. As observed in the 10th edition of Jonas and Kovner's Health Care Delivery in the United States, "organized health care delivery" in which "care providers have…

likeability is effected by management in the international workplace. It assumes a phenomenological approach to the notion of likeability, and is based on the idea that likeability in management is fundamental to achieving "connectedness" among employees and to inspiring the drive needed to ensure an organization's success. By conducting a survey of employees and managers from every major business continent of the globe (Asia, Europe, America, the Middle East), it seeks to understand the different ways in which likeability is manifested, discerned, appreciated, and utilized in the cross-cultural international workplace. Its aim is to fill a gap in likeability research regarding the importance of international managerial likeability and hopes to raise awareness about the essentiality of likeability to success. It also aims to identify the phenomenon of likeability as it appears in different cultures. Identifying that phenomenon and coming to terms with it will help business managers to better develop…

If it has, how has it? If it hasn't, how much is it left?

Fordism thus remains. It remains in worker surveillance, to guard against morality and time theft. It remains in the increased bureaucratization of the global economy, as multi-million dollar conglomerates dominate the world. It remains in the modern emphasis on productivity, rather than training in franchises. It also remains in the developing world, where the poor with little hope of mobility, labor for the rich. And it remains at companies that invest little in worker training like al-Mart.

If it is a combination of both? (Recommend to choose this)

Fordism has given the world many benefits -- affordable goods, particularly technological goods that would be prohibitively expensive without mass production. However, companies such as Google that strive to maximize efficiency, create a corporate culture and climate that permeates every facet of employee's lives, yet still makes an…

Exclusive and symbiotic relationships with suppliers are valuable, especially suppliers located close to the factory.

A JIT company strives for preventive maintenance so no time is wasted, and errors are reduced or eliminated because all aspects of the production process are kept in 'tip-top' shape. Above all JIT requires a flexible workforce with workers trained "to operate several machines, to perform maintenance tasks, and to perform quality inspections" ("JIT Lecture Notes," 2006). A flexibly trained and loyal workforce has several advantages. Despite its emphasis on the benefits of innovative computer technology during certain aspects of the production process, Toyota has been commended for the great respect it showed for its workforce. "A quality at the source (jidoka) program must be implemented to give workers the personal responsibility for the quality of the work they do, and the authority to stop production when something goes wrong" for JIT to be successful…

American Corporations and the Media, 1890-1940

American corporations have never been reticent to use available media to reach their goals, and in the years between 1890 and 1940, there are impressive examples of how U.S. corporate interests have utilized various media to realize additional profit and power -- sometimes employing unorthodox and unethical methods. This paper delves into instances of corporate use of media, and points to the dynamics that allowed those associations to flourish.

"Today's critics of media conglomerates fail to grasp the reality that corporate power, in league with the state, [has] made a mockery of prospects for a democratic global media system… [and it's vital to recognize that] the U.S. radio industry subsequently followed a similar pattern of monopolization in the 1920s…" (Peterson, 2004, p. 86).

Author James Schwoch points to the fact that the American radio industry had a profound impact on Latin American activities between…

Had the organization employed the techniques of activity-based costing, they would have realized the need to change their approach and had started manufacturing small size and fuel efficient engines, as most of the customers were requiring these items. "If Ford [...] had used activity-based costing, they would have realized early on the utter futility of their competitive blitzes of the past few years, which offered new-car buyers spectacular discounts and hefty rewards" (Drucker, 2003).

Unlike absorption costing, marginal costing uses the traditional division into direct, indirect, fixed and variable costs. The accounting method sees that the final marginal cost of a product will be calculated by summing up the direct costs of labor, the direct costs of materials, the direct expenses and the variable overheads (Brown). The applications of marginal costing revealed that Ford was able to support a price advantage relative to General Motors and Chrysler due to its…

Health Care -- Lean Philosophy on Cost Reduction and Quality Improvement

Lean Philosophy is initially traced back to Henry Ford's innovative assembly line, revolutionizing manufacturing while failing to provide true variety. Building on Ford's concepts Toyota management established a Lean Philosophy in the 1930's and 1940's that focused on production flow and waste elimination, resulting in rapid, low cost and high quality processes, along with simpler and more accurate management. These concepts were further elucidated by authors including James omack, who established the Lean Enterprise Institute in 1997.

The essential elements of Lean Philosophy are 5 principles including: defining the value sought by the customer; specifying the value stream of the product satisfying that value while challenging wasted steps; making a continuous flow of product through refined steps; creating "pull" (essentially meaning "customer demand/expectation") from step-to-step for continuous flow wherever possible; continually improve and refine the process to cut the…

These costs are far greater than what Ford originally anticipated. In addition, the improvements to the gas tank gave Ford a valuable opportunity. They could use this improvement as a means of differentiating themselves from the competition. Although safety may not have been a primary concern in the 1970s, the proper marketing campaign could have made Ford a leader in safety, like Volvo, which could still be serving the company now, nearly 40 years later.

Conclusion:

On paper, the decision to leave the faulty gas tanks on the Pintos as is seemed to be a good business decision. However, it turned out to be a poor ethical decision. Ford failed to realize that they could not put a dollar value on human life. In addition, they failed to take into account a variety of secondary costs that could have led to the downfall of the entire organization. In an effort…

Other specific branches of management study have been developed for multinational enterprises (MNEs) and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

Strategic management incorporates much of the work of previous management theorists, in particular including elements of organizational structure, motivation, organizational behavior and the definition of roles. In some respects, strategic management's focus on the human side derives most substantially from the Drucker tradition. Production management, conversely, remains focused on task. Systems such as Six Sigma and TPS follow on Taylor's theories about task specificity and optimization. There remains at this point in management theory there is a disconnect between these two types of management theory. Perhaps the future direction of management theory is to bring the two concepts -- production management and people management together to form a holistic view of the organization.

Most of today's management theories derive from the influence of Taylor, Drucker and other management thinkers of…

While these principles are likely equally true within both operational management and business marketing management, the nature of the tasks encompassed by the latter provide greater opportunity to incorporate the element of improving employees' job satisfaction through family life-friendly management policies. Since many modern marketing business functions are conducted through computer processes and communications, marketing managers may have the greatest flexibility to allow untraditional work shifts and teleworking opportunities. In fact, establishing privileges of this nature as a reward for quality work further reinforces the Theory-Y approach suggested by contemporary industrial psychologists (George & Jones, 2008; obbins & Judge, 2009).

In general, some of the major changes in modern management philosophy have equal applicability to operational management and to business marketing management. However, the fundamental differences between those two business functions also dictate certain differences in the specific uses of management techniques to maximize productivity and employee satisfaction.

eferences:

Daft,…

Although Frederic inslow Taylor may have built his management model on observations of machines, for people working on machines, he also systematically analyzed human behavior at work. He stressed that just as machine parts were easily interchangeable, cheap, and passive, so too should the human parts be the same in the machine model of scientific organizations. In other words, even if one must lose an employee because of personal and cost concerns, the duties and protocols of the office should be sufficiently clear that another human being can fulfill those duties. (ertheim, 1999) This is not a humane-sounding ideology, but the idea of functions rather than people is the key to the ability of any hierarchy to work in modern times, from the military to management of hierarchical corporations.

Then as now, many workers resist the dehumanization of work. To be fair to the father of scientific management, Taylor also…

organizations can adhere to simple frameworks structured with a purpose of attaining continuous improvement in its operations or its supply chain. These structured approaches aid and facilitate different aspects such as decision-making, problem solving, as also process enhancement. This paper discusses the existing interrelations between organizations that utilize structured frameworks for improvement together with their operational performance through case studies

General Motors Company

General Motors Company is a multinational company involved in designing, manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of vehicles, vehicular parts, and accessories. The headquarters of the company is situated in Detroit, Michigan. The company founded in the year 1908, is 108 years old today. It is centered in the automotive industry and is one of the major renowned companies in more than thirty nations and operating with about thirteen brands. The business units of General Motors include General Motors Financial, General Motors International Operations, General Motors North America, General…

Their recommendations, which focused on prevention and response to campus emergencies such as the deadly shootings at Northern Illinois University, included suggestions for detecting early signs of and treating mental illness. esearch has indicated that the risk of violence may increase when other risk factors are involved, such as substance abuse. Training should be targeted to campus security forces and first responders, health services personnel counselors, resident advisers, coaches, and student/minority affairs staff according to the report. The group surveyed more than 112 higher education institutions in Illinois and found that about 64% have mental health counseling services. The task force's other recommendations for colleges and universities in Illinois included: becoming part of the federal government's standardized incident management process called the National Incident Management System, implement methods such as e-mail and speaker systems to alert students of an incident on campus, engaging in practice emergency drills at least twice…

The brand exists solely in the minds of the consumersand it encompasses their overall perceptions andattitudes of Vermont." (http://www.vermontpartners.org/htm/research_vtbrand.asp) Whena brand is established in a consumer's mind itcan trigger associations with smaller destinationswithin the area the brand represents.

But first there is a need to establish a consistent brand identity.For example, "The Henry Ford" brand is the umbrellabrand name for five different attractions in the samedestination. Although each attraction has its ownpositioning, promise, descriptor and tagline, all ofthem are consistently branded under one brand:"The Henry Ford." The choice of this brand namewas based on research performed by the organizationas to how visitors perceived and referred to thedestination.In the case of a state, the brand name provides anumbrella for the state's other destinations, as well asother business entities, which benefit from itsgreater exposure. For example, a shopping related business located in a primarily outdoor recreationdestination will benefit from the overall increase…

Walter euther's German immigrant father was a socialist, pacifist and labor leader who did not wish his sons to fight in the Prussian Army, which is why he came to the United States in 1892. He brought up his sons in the socialist-labor tradition, and the entire family supported Eugene Debs and Norman Thomas in the years 1900-32. During the Great Depression, Walter and Victor euther traveled the world for three years. They were in Germany in 1933 when the Nazis took over and witnessed first hand the suppression of the labor and left-wing movements there, as well as the attraction some of their own relatives felt for Hitler and the Nazi regime. In 1933-35, the lived in the Soviet Union as "well-paid" foreign workers for ford, and unlike most ussians were allowed to travel freely around the country (Carew 1993, p. 12). After visiting Japan, the returned to the…

Reuther made sure that the workers enjoyed economic benefits as well as job security, pensions, vacations, and most important of all supplemental unemployment benefits. He was successful in the campaign for wage increase. Reuther managed to bargain for a great wage for workers at GM in 1948. He managed an accord where GM had to increase annual wages per annum and had it tied up to a cost of living allowance. This is one reason why the working and living standards of workers were improved. He also pressed for workers early retirement. According to him, workers should be retired after 30 years of service. It is sad that the current generation takes these benefits for granted.

They benefited from healthcare programs, profit sharing, severance pay, plans for legal assistance, increment in vacation time, holidays and rest time. They were also given profit sharing benefits too.

Supplemental unemployment benefits were implemented…

.. business performance and long-term economic success; the responsibility for the sparing use of our planet's resources and for maintaining an intact environment for present and future generations, and the responsibility for the people involved in or affected by our company's business activities and for society as a whole" ("Chrysler Group," Internet).

Currently, Daimler-Chrysler is headed by Dr. Dieter Zetsche, appointed in 1998 and until the year 2010. His leadership style is wholly based upon the company's "Integrity Code," being guideline... which defines limits to the activities of employees worldwide... And contains rules of conduct concerning international transactions, conflicts of interest, the issue of equality, the role of internal monitoring systems (and) the right to the fulfillment of statutory standards." As to the company's ethics, it currently adheres to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act "which is applicable to board members and other senior officers" within and without the company. Also, Daimler-Chrysler "acknowledges…

Organizational theory refers to the behavioral and social theories which help in the understanding of both informal and formal organizations. It makes references to a number of fields - anthropology, sociology, psychology, semiotics, economics, communications science, history and cybernetics (Sage Publications, n.d). The field has become popular with sociological researchers. Many of these researchers, drawn from such fields as medical sociology, social movements, political sociology and education, have realized the need to study this concept because of the role in empirical research that big organizations play. Scholars out of this field have always found discussions regarding organizational theory arcane. These scholars also hold the view that all that organizational theory concerns itself with is firms and so it is not applicable in other social situations. The formal or complex organization is the study object in organizational theory. Assumptions are made that there exists goals, rules, hierarchy and definitions of membership…

(Preston Tucker, we miss you)

Preston Tucker was a person who acknowledged the fact that wealth can indeed be created, and that the entrepreneur is actually the man who is the driving force behind the creation of wealth and of economic growth. Thus it was that Tucker happened to hit upon the idea that even poor people needed to keep their milk fresh and edible at all times, and therefore needed a refrigerator that would help them to do it. This was why Tucker set about creating a refrigerator that would work on kerosene and not on electricity, and this would be something that the poorest of the poor would be able to afford with ease. This would have been 'capitalism at its finest' if it had been accepted and created, but it was neither accepted by the government nor was it created. Thus another brilliant idea was laid to…

The Shared Governance arrangement:

offers an apparatus for registered nurses to show guidance in the development of practice decisions authorizes all nursing staff to add to work redesign advances the quality of patient and family outcomes.

In the shared governance arrangement, the staff nurses are a big piece of the course, designated and chosen from their units to stand for an area of practice on one of many councils. it's all about shared choice making and authorizing staff nurses to affect their practice atmosphere and have a say in unit choices (Shared Governance at Henry Ford Hospital, 2011).

A new nursing deficiency is revitalizing shared governance. This pioneering organizational model gives staff nurses power over their practice and can expand their affect into administrative areas formerly controlled solely by managers. But nursing shared governance is tough to describe. Its configurations and procedures are dissimilar in every business. Shared governance, is…

The rapid expansion of American manufacturing power was not due to purely domestic circumstances. Post-war, because the American economy was so strong relative to Europe and Japan, America had a wide array of venues in which to sell its products. This is why the postwar era is often called a kind of Golden Age of American manufacturing. America dominated all major industries and the dollar was the world standard of currency. However, as Fordist philosophies gradually began to be adopted by other nations, and with the growing prosperity of Japan and Europe, high wages began to have an unfavorable impact upon the prices of American consumer goods.

During the 1970s, the rapid increase of oil prices and the fall of the American dollar created recessionary conditions in the U.S. that proved to be hard to change. Conventional Keynesian thinking suggested that prices fall during a recession. Consumers stop buying for…

count includes cover page, abstract, table contents, list references appendices; place supporting material exceeds word limit appendices.

Ray Kroc's organizational process of 'McDonaldization' and the birth of the American franchise

One of the great ironies of McDonald's is that a company whose name is synonymous with standardization was actually quite a unique invention when it was born in the mind of the great innovator and entrepreneur Ray Kroc. Kroc was so successful at patenting his formula for creating cheap, predictable burgers, fries and milkshakes that his company's golden arches became an icon of Americana. The word McDonaldization has come to refer to the extent to which "the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as the rest of the world," in the words of sociologist George Ritzer (Waters 1998). Rationalization, efficiency, predictability, calculability, and control, according to Ritzer, are…

When I first discovered that I was likely to loose my friend to leukemia, I simply refused to believe it. for, just a few weeks before, we had been enthusiastically planning to do everything in our power to get accepted in the same college. The disbelief and denial, however, quickly receded to be followed by a bout of severe grief and depression, characterized by tears, temper tantrums, sulks, and long periods of withdrawal from family and friends.

I am not sure just how long my depression would have lasted if it hadn't been for the very friend who was facing the task of battling a debilitating illness. In fact, looking back, I am ashamed to say that my overall behavior must have definitely added to the grief and challenges that my friend was already facing. Yet, when she finally chose to tackle me on the subject, she didn't say a…

Technology [...] food processing in history, and how the development of food processing technologies has altered lives for the better. Food processing, and the healthy, edible food it produces, is taken for granted in today's society. However, in the nineteenth century, fresh food was not normal, and technologies were developed to preserve food, so that more Americans could enjoy fresh, wholesome food year round. It was one of the most important technologies to develop, and it changed the way people ate, drank, and enjoyed their meals.

Before the advent of food processing, fresh food spoiled, it was that simple. In medieval times, people attempted to cover up the smell and taste of tainted food by using fragrant herbs in the cooking and serving process. Even earlier, people used salt to preserve meats, and they used smoking and drying, especially for meats. However, none of these processes was totally satisfactory, and…

Ayers (2000, p. 4) describes a supply chain as "Life cycle processes supporting physical, information, financial, and knowledge flows for moving products and services from suppliers to end-users." A supply chain can be short, as in the case of a cottage industry, or quite long and complex as in the manufacture, distribution, and sales of automobiles. In fact, the automobile supply chain has its origin in the mining of the iron ore used to make many of its components.

Forward-looking companies and industries are beginning, now, to leverage the communication power of the Internet to improve their supply chain efficiencies. In the same way that early computers offered improved efficiency within the walls of a company, the promise of "Internet Technologies" (IT) now offers potentially far-reaching positive effects throughout a company's entire manufacturing supply chain. If the changes brought about by an "Internet revolution" such as thin-client technology; seamless integration…

History Of Communication Timeline

TIMELINE: HITORY OF COMMUNICATION

(with special reference to the development of the motorcycle)

35,000 BCE.

First paleolithing "petroglyphs" and written symbols. This is important in the history of communication because it marks the first time humans left a recorded form of communication. Also, these written symbols became the ultimate source of later alphabets.

Wikipedia, "Petroglyph."

12,600 BCE.

Cave paintings at Lascaux show early representational art. This is important in the history of communication because the caves depict over 2000 figures, including abstract symbols. More recent research suggests these may record astronomical information.

OURCE: Wikipedia, "Lascaux."

3400 BCE.

First surviving umerian pictograms demonstrate a primitive form of record keeping. This is important in the history of communication because pictograms, together with ideograms, represent a primitive form of writing, in which a symbol either means what it looks like, or represents a single idea.

OURCE: Wikipedia, "Pictogram."

3300…

Michigan Auto Show: History

Early History

The history of the Michigan Auto Show (now re-named as the North American International Auto Show) dates back to 1899 when it was held for the first time as the Detroit Auto Show in Detroit. The credit for organizing the earliest Detroit Auto Shows goes to illiam E. Metzeger who dealt in bicycles before becoming associated with the auto industry. ("Zacharias"). Metzeger had traveled to England in 1895 to attend the world's first auto exhibition and returned to Detroit to become its first auto dealer. (Ibid.)

In 1899 Metzeger and an associate formed the Tri State Sportsman's and Automobile Association and leased the Light Guard Armory in Detroit to organize a hybrid exhibition of sporting equipment and automobiles. At the first show, the major attractions were big-game trophies from Africa, fishing tackle and assorted sporting equipment, rather than automobiles. Metzeger was the only auto…

Speech: Ray Kroc

Every 5 hours somewhere in the world a new "McDonald's" fast food franchise is opening.

Today, the "McDonald's" brand name is the 2nd most recognizable name in the world, next to "Coca Cola." (Fermano)

Do you know the man behind this astounding success story?

His name was Ray Kroc and he was a simple man with a simple plan. But he had what it takes to be a successful person -- tons and tons of perseverance.

He had tried his hand at different occupations -- ambulance driver at 15, became a paper cup salesman, a real estate broker, piano player, and milk shake mixer salesman.

By 1954, he was 52 years old and hardly a picture of health -- He'd been plagued by years of arthritis, diabetes, had lost his bladder and most of his thyroid gland, but he had not lost his dogged determination and his…