...Running head: FORD MOTOR COMPANY Leadership and Organizational Behavior Professor Michael Padgett Strayer University Ronetta Perry May 15, 2011 “Ford Motor Company” The Ford Motor Company, founded in 1903 by Henry Ford, is one of the largest auto makers in the world. In recent years, the auto industry, including Ford Motor Company, has experienced increase financial hardship. Ford lost $12.6 billion in 2006, $2.7 billion in 2007, and as a result of the biggest sales slump in decades, they lost $14.6 billion in 2008, making it the worst year in its history. But when the car industry went into what seemed like a death spiral during the global recession, Ford resisted taking the federal bailout and vowed to show the industry that the brand was built for toughness. Discuss the role of leadership and how it can impact organizational performance. “Leadership is commonly defined as establishing a clear vision, communicating the vision with others and resolving the conflicts between various individuals who are responsible for completing the company’s vision”(Media & Vitez, 2009). Traditionally there are four different leadership styles that suit the follower and their willingness; the telling style in which the leader gives specific directions and supervises closely, the selling style which helps builds confidence in the follower by the leader providing direction and encouraging two-way communication, the participating style in which the leader encourages followers...
Words: 1432 - Pages: 6
...ASSIGNMENT #3 ALAN MULALLY, CEO FORD MOTOR COMPANY STUDENT: LINDA LANG AUGUST 8, 2010 STRAYER UNIVERSITY BUSINESS 520: LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR INSTRUCTOR: CARLENE GRAHAM ALAN MULALLY, CEO – FORD MOTOR COMPANY The Ford Motor Company began its journey in the auto industry with the creation of the 1908 Model T. Henry Ford’s creation of the Model T changed the way in which people transported themselves on a daily basis. This paper will address how an iconic company such as the Ford Motor Company is currently negotiating the issues of organizational performance, leadership style, and goals for the company. Lastly, I will attempt to address the effectives of the changes that the Ford Motor Company has made and continues to assess. Discuss leadership and how it can impact organizational performance. Leadership is, simply put, the art of inspiring and motivating others into motion in order to achieve an aspired goal. The leader sets the direction of action and takes part in the process, whether alone or as a guide to a team, so as to accomplish a set goal. In the world of business transactions, leaders who are successful and effective are those who inevitably increase a business’ productivity. There are so many different styles and models of leadership. Each style or model can be both successful and unsuccessful in reaching goals, contingent upon the context in which the style or model is being used. Reaching the productivity goal is dependent...
Words: 2601 - Pages: 11
...The changes at Ford initiated by CEO Mulally, a former aerospace guy, have meant the difference between death for the automaker and merely being sick Almost 30 months after Alan R. Mulally left Boeing (BA) to become chief executive of Ford Motor (F), it's still easy to peg him as an industry outsider. Talking to Wall Street analysts in November, Mulally described the debut of the tiny, fuel-sipping Ford Ka at the "Paris Air Show" when he meant the "Paris Motor Show." Earlier this year, Mulally showed how he'd tried to stop appending an airplane doodle to his signature, but struggled to ink a car instead. "Rats. I still haven't got the car down," he said, in the "aw shucks" Kansas delivery that has become as familiar in Detroit as his off-the-rack blazers and shirts. Outsider CEOs have a decidedly varied track record. Some bring in their own people and impose a jarring management philosophy on a corporate culture, as Robert Nardelli did at Home Depot with such mixed results that the board pushed him out. Some are unsuited to running an unfamiliar business. Former S.C. Johnson CEO William Perez's 13-month stint at Nike (NKE) comes to mind. Others tread more softly and succeed, like Eric Schmidt, the former Novell (NOVL) guy who runs Google (GOOG). Mulally arguably falls into the latter category. Since arriving he has left most of the team he inherited in place and quieted talk that an aerospace guy couldn't run an automaker. Of course, Ford remains a very sick company. It lost...
Words: 3111 - Pages: 13
...“Alan Mulally, CEO, Ford Motor Company” Corey Young Dr. Bernard Nash Leadership and Organizational Behavior May 8, 2011 Discuss the role of leadership and how it can impact organizational performance. The impact of leadership in building a successful business is quite enormous. Firstly, leaders make things happen---They are the catalyst for business success; they challenge the status-quo; they are vision-driven; they think differently. Secondly, leaders manage through times of change---They determine direction; they are goal-setters and goal-getters; they move organizations from where they are to where they need to be. And thirdly, leaders are revolutionaries---They face reality and mobilize appropriate resources; they encourage others to do the same; they leave a footprint that cannot be erased. These are the Jack Welch of the 21st Century who turns a dying business to a multi-billion dollar business, just as Allan Mulually did for Ford Motor Company. Mulually took on the responsibility to save the Ford Motor Company name as well increase revenue. He also managed to bring back the Ford Taurus after Ford has made the decision to replace it with the Ford Five Hundred. The new Ford Taurus has made a drastic come-back with raving reviews; which has also kept Ford motor company from borrowing from the government as many other dealerships have done thus far. Mulually obviously had done his homework on the Ford Taurus’s...
Words: 900 - Pages: 4
...MGT 504 Management & Organizational Behavior Case Study Alan Mulally’s Restructuring of Ford Motor Company Alan Mulally’s Restructuring of Ford Motor Company Case Study Alan Mulally received an opportunity to turn around one of the most famous brand names in the United States. Ford was struggling; losing more than 12.7 million in 2006 (Nelson p558) and desperately needed a change. Alan Mulally took the challenge, and stated he would do what many thought was impossible at the time – make Ford profitable. He did just that. Mulally knew Ford had issues and the first step was to identify those structural issues. The issues included a wide variety of models and styles of automobiles. A work force that was not collaborating or communication to a high standard, hypercompetitive and relentless competition in pricing and sales, and possibly the most important was lack of accountability. With the development of his strategic plan of “One Ford” Mulally was on his way to the turnaround of one of the biggest automakers in the world. The first major act of this plan was to sell the Aston Martin division of the company and focus on the customer by building what they really want. By eliminating 70 percent of his vehicle models in fewer than four years, and cutting labor costs by 22 percent, Mulally was well on his way to achieving great success (Nelson p588). The direction Mulally took in approaching his goals of the One Ford was through understanding what was needed. The focus was...
Words: 636 - Pages: 3
...“Alan Mulally, CEO, Ford Motor Company” Chiquetta Silver BUS 520 Dr. Amine Ayad May 15, 2011 Discuss the role of leadership and how it can impact organizational performance. Leadership is the process of developing ideas and a vision, living by values that support those ideas and that vision, influencing others to embrace them in their own behaviors, and making hard decisions about human and other resources (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011, p.4). Leadership is guiding people toward productive results to achieve the goals of the organization. It involves influencing people to move from where they are to some new place. An effective leader has the ability to motivate and influence others. Leadership influences organizational performance depending on the level to which the leader enables managers and team leaders to plan, organize, control, and act effectively. By accepting authority, responsibility, and accountability, managers can confidently face though situations that require decisions made. Both the manager and the subordinate must know how to distinguish right from wrong by using sound judgment. Likewise, the leader must to learn his own strengths and weaknesses at work as well as his personal life and seek new professional skills. Everybody has different opinions and attitudes towards values, lifestyles, and behaviors. Thus, an effective leader will use diversity at the workplace to combat the fierce competition in the market place. Cultural diversity within the...
Words: 1305 - Pages: 6
...Alan Mulally, CEO, Ford Motor Company Dr. Daniel C. Frost Leadership and Organizational Behavior- BUS 520 November 16, 2011 Strayer University-Allentown Campus Alan Mulally, CEO, Ford Motor Company 1. Discuss the role of leadership and how it can impact organizational performance. Answer: Leadership is the process of developing ideas and visions, living by values that support those ideas and that vision, influencing others to embrace them in their own behaviors, and making hard decisions about human and other resources (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011, p. 290). Whereas according to Richard et al. (2009), organizational performance comprises the actual output or results of an organization as measured against its intended goals and objectives. Effective leadership is a personal role that requires the blending of motivational, strategic and management skills to align focus, energy and drive while creating a culture that encourages individual thinking and attainment. For a leadership to impact organizational performance positively, said leadership has to posses the four leadership traits of intelligence-successful leaders tend to have somewhat higher intelligence than their subordinates; maturity and breadth-successful leaders tend to be emotionally mature and have a broad range of interests; achievement drive-successful leaders are result oriented; when they achieve one goal, they seek another and integrity-successful leaders, over the long term, usually...
Words: 1835 - Pages: 8
...Ford Motor Company and Change Management Founded in Detroit, Michigan in 1903 by Henry Ford and a group of investors, the company introduced the tremendously successful Model T in 1908 and by 1923 was producing more than half of all U.S. automotive vehicles. Through the Lincoln Motor Company, Ford produced luxury Lincolns and Continentals. After years of declining sales, the Model T was succeeded by the Model A in 1927 other companies such as General Motors took the opportunity to make an advance into Ford's dominance. The company was reincorporated in 1919, with Ford and his family acquiring full ownership Henry's son Edsel served as president 1919-1943 and Henry's grandson Henry Ford II led the company 1945–1979, reviving its fortunes considerably. Its stock was first publicly traded in 1956. Ford acquired the British automaker Jaguar in 1989 -1990, bought the rental car company Hertz Corp. in 1994, and purchased the automobile division of Volvo in 1999. Later acquisitions included Aston Martin and the Land Rover brand of sport utility vehicles. Ford also owns a significant share of the Mazda Motor Corporation because of financial struggles at the beginning of the 21st century, the company sold off Aston Martin in 2007 and both Jaguar and Land Rover in 2008. Faced with an overwhelmingly complex situation, Alan Mulally was brought in as Ford Motor Company's new president and CEO. As diverse global dynamics confront the company and pressures continue to build, he has...
Words: 2045 - Pages: 9
...ALAN MULALLY, CEO – FORD MOTOR COMPANY The Ford Motor Company began its journey in the auto industry with the creation of the 1908 Model T. Henry Ford’s creation of the Model T changed the way in which people transported themselves on a daily basis. This paper will address how an iconic company such as the Ford Motor Company is currently negotiating the issues of organizational performance, leadership style, and goals for the company. Lastly, I will attempt to address the effectives of the changes that the Ford Motor Company has made and continues to assess. Discuss leadership and how it can impact organizational performance. Leadership is, simply put, the art of inspiring and motivating others into motion in order to achieve an aspired goal. The leader sets the direction of action and takes part in the process, whether alone or as a guide to a team, so as to accomplish a set goal. In the world of business transactions, leaders who are successful and effective are those who inevitably increase a business’ productivity. There are so many different styles and models of leadership. Each style or model can be both successful and unsuccessful in reaching goals, contingent upon the context in which the style or model is being used. Reaching the productivity goal is dependent upon the success of the leader to effectively evaluate and motivate the team. In my opinion, after reading the accounts of so many businesses (such as Ford, Campbell’s Soup, DineEquity, and PricewaterhouseCoopers)...
Words: 2524 - Pages: 11
...In 2006, The Ford Motor Company, at 103 years old, found itself floundering, lacking leadership, and near insolvency. It had lost 25% of its market share since 1990 and lagged behind some of its competitors in innovation and design, all the while burdened with drastically increasing legacy and operating costs. The company’s Board of Directors recognized that bold leadership is required if Ford was to be saved. In September 2006, although faced with much skepticism for its decision to seek external candidates for its top job, decided to hire Alan Mulally, an executive from Boeing Corporation without any automotive experience, as its Chief Executive Officer. Eight years later, not only is Ford profitable again and on the path to continued prosperity and growth, but Mr. Mulally is considered as one of the five most significant corporate leaders of the last decade by Forbes magazine (2014), and one of the World's 50 Greatest Leaders by Fortune magazine (2015). Through this case study, I will explore and discuss Mulally’s leadership approach, traits, and attributes, relative to the principles of leadership characteristics and attributes, leadership ethics and values, and leadership behaviors as taught by Bordeaux (2015), and Hughes (2015). Leadership Although there are various definitions for what leadership is, there seems to be common attributes among those who are considered effective leaders, past and present. According to Hughes (2015), “defining leadership...
Words: 2227 - Pages: 9
...better than others they have better products and bigger market shares. The first purpose of this paper is to present the old organizational culture, the old values and leadership style of Ford and how they affected the performance of the company. The second goal of the paper is to show why the need for change came in Ford and how they managed to implement this change into practice. Organisational culture, Leadership and Leadership Style – Definitions One of the possible definitions for organisational culture that exists is as follow: Organisational culture is “the set of shared values, beliefs and norms that influences the way employees think, feel and behave toward each other and toward people outside the organization” (George and Jones, 2012). One of the aspects which are considered in this paper and which is aspect of organisational culture is organizational structure. It can be described as “the pattern of relationships among positions in the organization and among members of the organization” (Mullins, 2006). The term leadership can be defined as “the capability of an individual to exercise influence and control over other members in order to to help a group or organization to achieve its goals” (George and Jones, 2012). The purpose of this paper is to show the differences in Ford under the...
Words: 3208 - Pages: 13
...Strengths • Global Company – Ford is a global company with manufacturing in the North and South America, Germany, England plus joint ventures with Japan and Nissan. The Ford (Family Tradition-CEO 100 Years) has owned and managed a major hand in the company. • Bill Ford Jr. introduces major cost cutting measures at just the right time 2003. New ideas turn out good for the company -Reverse Engineering on Taurus Made in Best in Class • • Voip --Saves money on phone costs. Use of telecomm through Computers Ford remains Innovator in the Industry: • • VideoConferencing to hold meetings across the country in several locations simultaneously saving travel costs and reducing time to market • Computer Aided Design Engineering Portal allows design engineering to collaborate on CAD designs and to share information, ideas, and prototyping plans F-150 State of the Art Facility with totally wireless assembly • Capitalized on profits enjoyed 2001-2004 by reinvesting in the company It reduced overheads, cut product expenditures and slashed warranty costs. At the same time, it boosted revenues by targeting incentives and increasing the mix of high-profit vehicles, such as sports utility vehicles (SUVs) with four-wheel-drive packages" (Taylor 10). Weaknesses • • Struggling with sales due to weak designs. 1st Quarter loss in 2009 of $1.4 billion. Opportunities • Capitalize on the fact that they are the only auto co. of the big three that did not have to take a buyout and are not facing bankruptcy...
Words: 989 - Pages: 4
...A critique of Ford’s CEO Alan Mulally’s Approach to Decision Making. By Ally M Mukasa Executive Summary Ford Motor Company is a public company founded on June 16 th 1903 by Henry Ford. It is headquartered at Dearborn, Michigan in the United States of America. Its products are mainly automobiles but it also offers automotive finance, vehicle leasing and vehicle servicing. Ford has three divisions which include; Ford, Lincoln and Motocraft. Ford has subsidiaries all over the world. Mr Alan R. Mulally is its president and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to his appointment as CEO, Mr Mulally worked at Boeing. His journey from aerospace to automaker industry was a new challenge but an opportunity for him to prove to the sceptics that an aerospace person can run an automaker. Among the challenges he faced were; the economy in recession, soaring prices of gas, a calcified corporate culture, a general lack of transparency in decision making, fractious divisions, the penchant cycling of executives into new jobs every few years, the problem of pre-meetings that was antiethical to decision-making, and hiding problems. Mulally had to make decisions to address the challenges mentioned. His decision making style is much of directive with low tolerance for ambiguity than behavioural or people-centred. He did not involve Ford staffers below top echelon in decision-making. He downsized the company, closed down underperforming factories, stopped the cycling of executives into...
Words: 4359 - Pages: 18
...edge sword. Strong culture is said to exist where employers responds to stimulus of their loyalty to organizational values. Every organization, big or small has a unique identity called culture. Firstly, companies with strong cultures are operating in stable and safe environments. Strong cultures helps organizations to function well or operate like “well-oiled machines” Furthermore having a strong culture, companies can tackle internal and external problems accordingly. For example Ford Motor Company in November 2008 who desperately needed a lifeline. The CEO Alan Mulally completely changed the culture of Ford Motor Company as the culture they had before was weak. To begin with, he stated that weekly meeting was a safe place. Sharing information and asking for help to get ideas was ok. Ford employees was use to Ford as many divisions and subsidiaries but Mulally changed all that into a simple global enterprise. Moreover Ford was not use to building vehicles that the public actually wants. The CEO motivated the employees by telling them to come together as a team and coming up with one plan and sticking to it. Strong cultures also have a lot of impact on organizations. Its positive impact includes improved alignment between employee behavior and corporate objectives. For instance it provides a clear guideline for action and effective communication between employees which result in fast decision making inside the firm which can result in high stock price income growth and return...
Words: 628 - Pages: 3
...Running Head: [ [Ford Motor Company] ] [ [Ford Motor Company] ] [ [La Vaughn Aiken] ] [ [Chester Galloway] ] [ [BUS 302] ] [ [1/23/11] ] 1. Which of the three criteria’s are best and why ? The first option is to close down older plants in an effort to realign production and sales. The economic situation in this country has had a numbing effect on the auto industry, especially the Ford motor company. It is trying to stem losses and adjust to it new, lower market shares. Ford has seen its share of U.S. auto sales fall every year over the past 11 years. The cuts will trim Ford (up $0.38 to $8.28, Research)'s North American capacity by more than a quarter, or 1.2 million vehicles. Ford's North American plants ran at about 75 percent of capacity in 2005, according to Mark Fields, the president of Ford's operations in the Americas (cnn.com2006). It truly would be a very bad business decision for the Ford motor company to produce more cars then it is selling at the present time. But even with the reduced capacity, Ford will have North American capacity of about 3.4 million vehicles, or about the same number of vehicles it sold in North America in 2005, and some of those sales are from its import brands like Volvo and Land Rover. And for that reason the four option mentioned in the case study I would not even consider, selling the entire PAG group. Though it may be a small number of vehicles sold in this division, these vehicle brands are still doing quite well...
Words: 654 - Pages: 3
