...Leadership Analysis of Henry Ford Brief Historical Sketch Who knew that a young farm boy that loved tinkering with pocket watches and simple farm equipment would lead a manufacturing revolution. Henry Ford did. Even from an early age Ford understood that he wanted to change the world. His dream was to design and build a “horseless carriage,” a dream that he accomplish in 1908 (Ford, 2008). However, not even Ford could have predicted the magnitude at which both his invention and his business strategies would have on the world. Henry Ford was born in the small town of Dearborn, Michigan on July 30, 1863. The town was better known as the Greenfield Township. Ford’s parents were both European immigrants. His father, William Ford, emigrated from Ireland and his mother, Mary Ford, though born in the United States had strong ties to Belgium. (Henry Ford, 2012) The Fords were a successful farming family and never had to worry about money. While Henry Ford knew at an early age that taking over the family farm would have been a safe and advantageous decision, his ambition kept him focused on other possibilities. (Ford, H 2008) Ford’s teenage years were instrumental in helping him develop is dream and his career. There were two important memories that Ford could recall that sparked his interest in motor vehicles and engineering. Around the age of twelve, the Ford’s were traveling to Detroit with family when they passed a “road engine” delivering farm machinery (Ford, H 2008). This was...
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...Henry Ford was born July 30, 1863. He was one of eight children. Henry and his family lived on a farm in Dearborn, Michigan. His father was a farmer and wanted Henry to take over the family farm, but Henry had on interest in the farm or farming. Henry’s parents left Ireland and settled in Detroit in the 1840’s due to the potato famine and his education was limited due to this, but he was very good at machinery. Henry Ford was the creator of the Ford Model To car in 1908. He was the first person to build the gasoline powered horseless carriage. He said,1 “Quality means doing it the right way when no one is looking!” He gathered together $10,000 and went on to establish the Ford Motor Company in 1903. He married a girl named Clara Bryant...
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...1891, Ford became an engineer with the Edison Illuminating Company in Detroit. This event signified a conscious decision on Ford's part to dedicate his life to industrial pursuits. His promotion to Chief Engineer in 1893 gave him enough time and money to devote attention to his personal experiments on internal combustion engines. These experiments culminated in 1896 with the completion of his own self-propelled vehicle-the Quadricycle. The Quadricycle had four wire wheels that looked like heavy bicycle wheels, was steered with a tiller like a boat, and had only two forward speeds with no reverse. Although Ford was not the first to build a self-propelled vehicle with a gasoline engine, he was, however, one of several automotive pioneers who helped this country become a nation of motorists. After two unsuccessful attempts to establish a company to manufacture automobiles, the Ford Motor Company was incorporated in 1903 with Henry Ford as vice-president and chief engineer. The infant company produced only a few cars a day at the Ford factory on Mack Avenue in Detroit. Groups of two or three men worked on each car from components made to order by other companies. Henry Ford realized his dream of producing an automobile that was reasonably priced, reliable, and efficient with the introduction of the Model T in 1908. This vehicle initiated a new era in personal transportation. It was easy to operate, maintain, and handle on rough roads, immediately becoming a huge success. By 1918...
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...name of Henry Ford. He was an ambitious young man with many hopes and dreams. He had a drive unlike many of the boys in my town and this made him exceedingly attractive to a young girl like myself. The attraction went both ways and we went together for some time until Henry won me over and on july 12th 1889 I became his bride. At the time I loved Henry no matter how much money he made but his work on his fathers farm a few days a week was hardly putting enough food on the table. I knew how badly Henry wanted more but I didn’t know just how badly until around the year 1903. In 1903 Henry made the biggest and best decision of his life. Henry gave his Model T. Ford idea a shot and asked for a loan from a wealthy coal dealer from Detroit. Henry had always had a way about him that made others believe just about everything he said so it was no surprise to me that this man, Alex Malcomson, agreed to give him the loan. The result was the Ford Motor Company, founded in 1903, with its small, $28,000 financing supplied mostly by Malcomson. However, exchanges of stock were made to obtain a small plant, motors, and transmissions. Ford's stock was in return for his services. Much of the firm's success can be credited to Ford's assistants—James S. Couzens, C. H. Wills, and John and Horace Dodge. By 1903 over fifteen hundred firms had attempted to enter the new and struggling automobile industry, but only a few, such as Ransom Eli Olds (1864–1950), had become firmly established. Ford began...
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...Henry Ford Biography Assignment Econ 220 – Entrepreneurship Instructor: Geoff Malleck Submitted By: Salvatore Curcio ID#20300001 Jenna Ortwein ID#20383970 Matthew Montgomery ID#20338248 Fatima Munir ID# 20239890 Kyle Georges ID# 20298815 “People can have the Model T in any colour--so long as it's black.” - Henry Ford “All Fords are exactly alike, but no two men are just alike. Every new life is a new thing under the sun; there has never been anything just like it before, never will be again. A young man ought to get that idea about himself; he should look for the single spark of individuality that makes him different from other folks, and develop that for all he is worth. Society and schools may try to iron it out of him; their tendency is to put it all in the same mold, but I say don't let that spark be lost; it is your only real claim to importance.” - Henry Ford What made Henry Ford… ------------------------------------------------- Questions & Answers Question: From a very young age, what characteristics and events were significant in foreshadowing Henry Ford was a truly innovative engineer with a love for machinery? Answer: When Ford received his first watch at the age of 13, unlike most adolescents, he took the watch apart to analyze the mechanical components of it. Ford was seen to all people as inherently curious, which was a key characteristic for engineering the fuel powered vehicle. Another significant event that peaked Ford’s interest...
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...orHENRY FORD AND THE MODEL T O n May 26, 1927, Henry Ford watched the fifteen millionth Model T Ford roll off the assembly line at his factory in Highland Park, Michigan. Since his ‘‘universal car’’ was the industrial success story of its age, the ceremony should have been a happy occasion. Yet Ford was probably wistful that day, too, knowing as he did that the long production life of the Model T was about to come to an end. He climbed into the car, a shiny black coupe, with his son, Edsel, the president of the Ford Motor Company. Together, they drove to the Dearborn Engineering Laboratory, fourteen miles away, and parked the T next to two other historic vehicles: the first automobile that Henry Ford built in 1896, and the 1908 prototype for the Model T. Henry himself took each vehicle for a short spin: the nation’s richest man driving the humble car that had made him the embodiment of the American dream. Henry Ford invented neither the automobile nor the assembly line, but recast each to dominate a new era. Indeed, no other individual in this century so completely transformed the nation’s 76 FORBES GREATEST BUSINESS STORIES OF ALL TIME way of life. By improving the assembly line so that the Model T could be produced ever more inexpensively, Ford placed the power of the internal combustion engine within reach of the average citizen. He transformed the automobile itself from a luxury to a necessity. The advent of the Model T seemed to renew a sense of independence...
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...TO: Paul Welch, Vice President of Research FROM: Colten Harris, Jackson Wallace, Easton Heigley, Daniel Gift DATE: March 10, 2015 SUBJECT: America’s Wealthy Introduction Since America’s conception, new pioneers have walked this country not with a goal to finish a map like Lewis and Clark, but to strive for “The American Dream” and never settle for less than absolute success. Each man researched is from a different time period, with different circumstances surrounding them. With different presidents, different rules and regulations, even with different life expectancies. However, all men had one dream, to make America a better place. From oil pipelines to windows operating systems, these men truly did create things that changed the lives of all Americans for the better. They are the unspoken heroes. Not of war or battle, but of ingenuity, hard work and of sound mind. These are America’s Wealthy. Findings John D Rockefeller was born on July 8, 1836. He began with humble beginnings and is a perfect definition of a rags to riches dream that many Americans that try to live by. His life at home was somewhat shaky. His father was never at home very much because he was a traveling salesmen who sold elixirs. In his early teens his family moved to a suburb of Cleveland, there he took a 10 week business course that would help him later in his life as the richest man in America. His first job was with a bookkeeper at a commission firm. He excelled at keeping track of...
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...Ford Motor Company entered the business world on June 16, 1903, when Henry Ford and 11 business associates signed the company’s articles of incorporation. With $28,000 in cash, the pioneering industrialists gave birth to what was to become one of the world’s largest corporations. Few companies are as closely identified with the history and development of industry and society throughout the 20th century as Ford Motor Company (Ford Motor Company, 2007). What made Henry Ford the businessperson successful where others had failed or succeeded only on a much smaller scale? It was not just his vehicles, excellent as they were – it was his unique understanding of those vehicles’ potential role in society Before Ford, cars were luxury items, and most of his early competitors continued to view them that way, manufacturing and marketing their vehicles for the rich. Ford’s great stroke of genius was recognizing that with the right techniques, cars could be made more affordable for the public– and that the public would want them (Ford Motor Company, 2007). Ford’s belief in bringing the car to the common man ruled his business decisions. He was fiercely determined to improve manufacturing efficiencies so his company could produce more cars and charge less. Ford was also unique in recognizing that his business was about more than just cars: it was about transportation, mobility, changing lifestyles. He anticipated the ripple effect from mass production to create more jobs that let more people...
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...the Model T The Ford Model A was a upgrade to the Model t that soon became very popular. During the 1920’s there was many other car manufacturers , but Ford was the most popular and affordable to the people. Henry Ford produced many cars, but had two very popular models, these being the Model T and the Model A. Both models made by Ford were very prominent and affordable, and made for mass production to fulfill the needs of our growing society. The Model T was a admirable car during its production, but soon owners realized that it had a few flaws. Henry ford saw these small issues and decided to resolved them with a upgrade, with the new Model A. Henry Ford’s many new improvements made the Model A a great advancement compared to the Model T for the Ford company in the automobile industry. The Model A was a great improvement and influence to car history and the advancements we have today in our society. The Model T was a great automobile introduction to the United States, a mass produced car with lots of new interesting specs. The Model T had many new features to a car that many Americans had not seen in automobiles. For example the Model T had a four cylinder, with detachable cylinder heads for easy access and repair (“Model T.” Encyclopedia Britannica). Although when the Ford Model T was introduced there was no paved roads and was very rural compared to today. During the start of production the Model T was available in grey, green, blue, and red although Henry later changed it...
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...Henry Ford An Entrepreneurial Biography Throughout the birth of the automotive industry there were many attempts by assorted firms to create the first everyday automobile. However, this resulted in a vehicle that could only meet the expense of by the upper class. Due to the structure and strategy used by these firms the costs of mass producing their vehicles were too expensive for the average American to afford. It was not until an American named Henry Ford, revolutionized the automobile industry in the early 1900’s with his invention of the assembly line and his desires to produce a simple yet affordable automobile for the everyday American citizen. This biography will outline and examine the current industry, competitors and market trend at the time of the Henry Ford’s venture. As well by exploring Ford’s biography, we will be able to identify relevant concepts such as the Elevator Pitch, the 10x rule, the need for pain, competitive advantage, and the “3 C’s of leadership” used throughout Henry Ford’s prosperous career as an entrepreneur. During the early stages of the automobile industry, the number of firms that entered the market industry grew steadily from 1895 to 1907, peaking at 82 in 1907. (Klepper, 2001) It was apparent that this was a highly competitive market as the U.S was in the midst of the industrial revolution and to become successful a company would have to establish a competitive edge over...
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...mom and pop enterprises were born and grew up along the Lincoln Highway as well as historical little stops. Overnight Starlites, motels, and diners sprang up...all places where you could take your boots off for a night and shake away the weary road warrior blues. Touristy stops, a place to pitch a tent and break out the checkers and beans and other unique and quirky little spots sprouted up, too. By 1925 roadways across the country had increased. And with the increase of roads, naturally more road names were assigned and the name, Lincoln Highway was no longer exclusively known as the Lincoln Highway. She was joined up with other long distance highways, such as the Dixie Highway and U. S. Route...
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...MGNT 4110 Leadership in Organization Leader Analysis Paper: Henry Ford As stated many times, leadership is a process towards achieving a goal. That process requires people who are interacting in the effects of influence. Leadership also requires one primary factor, which is the leader who is doing most of the influencing. The people that a leader influences are considered followers. Many question the view of leadership and how people can interpret if a leader is effective or the proper candidate for the environment or organization he/she is leading. Not all leadership is positive. This paper focuses on Henry Ford and his approach as a leader. Henry Ford can be considered the brilliant and innovative individual who founded the Ford Motors Company that we know today. Ford Motors Company is an automobile manufacturing company founded June 16, 1903. Henry Ford’s idea was to create a reliable source of transportation that fit the needs of the consumer but could also be built in the most effective and efficiently manner. Ford conceptualized a way to mass produce automobiles through his creation of the assembly line. Henry Ford grew up in the Dearborn, Michigan area on a prosperous family farm in the early nineteenth century. He became an apprentice machinist at sixteen. Henry did not completely turn his back on the family farm and provided periodical assistance while he worked with steam engines and on farm machine repair. His talent for engineering and machinery lead him to...
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...Lean Production Techniques, the new Henry Ford: why his techniques worked and why it does not work as well today. Abstract This paper takes a closer look into lean production techniques and how drastically they have changed since the Industrial Revolution. It looks into the time when Henry Ford was successful in creating and implementing the concept of the assembly line, why it worked and how it is doing today. It will explore the concepts of General Motors and what they did to overtake Ford to become the largest automobile maker. And lastly, it will look into Taiichi Ohno, who he is and what he did to help Toyota eventually surpass the American vehicle manufactures and to become the world’s largest car maker. Lean Production Techniques, the new Henry Ford and why his techniques worked and why it does not work as well today. One of the greatest production techniques ever implemented during the last century was the idea of the assembly line. Henry Ford revolutionized the manufacturing industry by using a constantly-moving assembly line and in doing this realized huge gains in efficiency. By using productivity technologies he helped turn the automobile from a luxury item for the rich, to essential transportation for the everyday man. Henry Ford was always looking for new ways to improve the production process. [In 1914, Ford began paying his employees five dollars a day, nearly doubling the wages offered by other manufacturers. He cut the workday from nine...
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...Essay for Make the Rules or your Rivals Will November 22, 2011 "Make the Rules or your Rivals Will"! It is the name of the game and a strategy to win at your opponent. Wow, what a powerful statement in today's business world! Upon reading the book by Richard Shell, the title alone captures the pure essence of how businesses have utilized the legal system to their advantage since the early 1800's. Businesses are formed on a daily basis and can range from a mom and pop sole proprietorship, a big corporate giant to the masses, or a huge conglomerate government business to maintain the laws of the land. Law and business are interrelated and one cannot survive without the other and the glue that binds them together is legal strategy. The legal environment in which businesses operate is becoming more complex and companies must understand the basics of business law if they want to avoid legal entanglements. Situations that present potential legal problems arise everyday in most businesses and owners need to be aware and posture themselves to handle these issues effectively and quickly. There would be pure chaos in today's capitalistic society if there was not a standard way of doing business because business needs are always evolving from decade to decade. Back in the 1800's there were not any class action lawsuits, litigation explosions, securities regulations or antitrust laws. The business arena needs a way to change the rules as it relates to the business...
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...1. I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work .- Thomas Edison 2. The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. – Vidal Sassoon 3. Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming. – Richard Branson 4. Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune. – Jim Rohn 5. An entrepreneur tends to bite off a little more than he can chew hoping he’ll quickly learn how to chew it. – Roy Ash 6. The most valuable thing you can make is a mistake – you can’t learn anything from being perfect .- Adam Osborne 7. A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them. – John C. Maxwell 8. Our business in life is not to get ahead of others, but to get ahead of ourselves. - E. Joseph Cossman 9. Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. – Albert Einstein 10. You can’t ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new. – Steve Jobs 11. Live out of your imagination instead of out of your memory. – Fortune Cookie 12. Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it. – Maya Angelou 13. The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said. – Peter F. Drucker 14. If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough. – Mario Andretti ...
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