...SWOT Analysis Ford John Smith MGT/521 January 9, 2012 Daniela Schultz, MBA SWOT Analysis Ford Located in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, Ford Motor Company is an American automaker and the world's fifth largest based on worldwide vehicle sales. The company was incorporated on June 16, 1903 and founded by 40 years old Henry Ford. Among the few companies to survive the Great Depression, the company would also become one of the largest and most profitable companies in the world. Additionally, the company is the largest family-controlled company in the world, for over 100 years the Ford Motor Company has been in continuous family control. In 1899, Henry Ford founded the Detroit Automobile Company. The company failed, and in 1901 was reorganized as the Henry Ford Company. In 1902 Ford had a falling out with his financial backers, and left the company with the rights to his name and 900 dollars. Henry M. Leland was brought in to manage the operation and their name changed from The Henry Ford Company to Cadillac, and went on to be a successful manufacturer of automobiles. Henry Ford is known to have adapted practices that were not popular in those days. Their famous “Model T” and the unique innovation of interchangeable parts in moving assembly lines that make it possible to assemble cars at low cost and high reliability are what the Car Maker is known for. The company established an impressive financial track record almost throughout the 20th Century except for...
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...Lefkoff BMGT 350-0101 16 September 2014 Ford Motor Company SWOT Analysis Strength: Ford Motor Company’s strength lays in its ability to use internal resources such as knowledge and reputation to maintain its dominancy in the automotive industry. Ford has managed to survive depressions, recessions, and internal breakdowns to become one of the biggest automaker in the world. What sets Ford apart from its competitors is the amount of knowledge it has acquired in the automotive industry for over a hundred years. In the business world, time plays an enormous role because it separates the weak from the strong. Ford is able to maintain its popularity by introducing new and innovative ways to produce and sell automobiles. Ford started with the assembly line, which revolutionized the automotive industry making it faster, cheaper and safer to manufacture vehicles. Then, it continued with the introduction of dealerships all around the United States enabling accessibility to transportation, which was soon to be the fastest growing industry in the world. Knowledge is key in any business, and Ford recognizes the strength and advantage it has over its competitors, by simply being in the business longer and learning from the past. Another major strength Ford has is its reputation. Ford is recognized for its unparalleled ability to speak to the American people. When people think about cars and America, they immediately think Ford. Why? Ford has branded itself as the father of the automobile...
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...Running Head: Ford Motor Company and the Toyota Motor Corporation Ford Motor Company and the Toyota Motor Corporation AIU – MGT680 Abstract Two major automakers are Toyota and Ford. This paper will compare the two companies to better understand the contributions to for success of each company. This paper will include a SWOT analysis which identifies strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to these companies. It will also include a plan of action for one weakness to turn them into strengths. It will discuss the current issues being faced by each company and how it affects the global operation because of the importance. Ford Motor Company and the Toyota Motor Corporation Ford Motor Company was started by Henry Ford in 1903 (Heritage, 2014). Toyota Motor Corporation was started by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1935 (50 Years, 2014). While each firm has been able to develop a relationship between the political and economic forces within their communities, they also understand a strategic plan is important and will guide them to an effective relationship within their communities. This type of plan will help the two firms build brand name as both firms have successfully done. The following table will illustrate the main issues Ford and Toyota are facing. It briefly explains the current position or view of each company to help better understand who the two firms view their community responsibilities. Issues Ford Toyota Legal, Social and Economic Environments Follows...
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...SWOT analysis of Ford and Toyota SWOT ANALYSIS “Opposition is an inevitable part of change and one that can significantly impact your community organizing. However, if you know how to take stock of the opposition inside and outside of your effort or group, you are more likely to plan and act effectively.” That's where SWOT analysis comes in. SWOT can help you handle both ordinary and unusual situations in your community health or development initiative, by giving you a tool to explore both internal and external factors that may influence your work. SWOT analysis, founded by Albert Humphrey, is a compacted planning method used to determine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats involved in a business or in a project. SWOT analysis can be used for product, place, industry or person. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving that objective. There are lots of advantages of using SWOT analysis. When a single person is considered, it is a useful technique for understanding his Strengths and Weaknesses, and for identifying both the Opportunities open to him and the Threats he faces. When SWOT analysis is used in business context, it helps you carve a sustainable niche in your market. it can helps to uncover opportunities for the business. And by understanding the weaknesses of the business, threats can be managed and eliminated that would...
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...Ford`s Outsourcing Problem Ford Motor Company is an automobile Multinational Enterprise established in Detroit in 1903. Ford has been sustaining heavy profit losses in its European operations due to the economic downturn affecting most of Europe. The “company now expects Ford Europe’s pre-tax loss for full year 2012 to exceed $1.5 billion” (http://media.ford.com/images/10031/3Q2012_Financials.pdf, 2012). “Business refers to any type of economic activity in which goods or services are supplied in exchange for some payment” (J. Morrison 2010) and in this case Fords European vehicle sales market has been saturated through less demand for its products. Ford said European car sales across the industry were the lowest in 20 years (BBC News, 2012). The main losses are being sustained within Europe in which Ford operates in 51 different European markets. Ford`s strategy is likely to be offshoring manufacturing of the Transit Van, meaning the closure of its South Hampton Factory with immediate redundancies of 500 employees with closing parts of the Dagenham Plant which will push redundancies to 1400. Although is this likely to be the answer? What will be the effect upon the microeconomic factors? Especially the level of job losses of stakeholders, including suppliers and employees, further down the chain. Is it ethnical of Ford to simply offshore production to a cheaper labour area such as Turkey or is this just a simple case of how Britain’s Manufacturing industry is further...
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...SWOT and Business Analysis of The Ford Motor Company The purpose of this research is to assuming the role of a Fund Manager deciding whether to invest in The Ford Motor Company. By Identifying Internal and external stakeholders, wants and needs , Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) of The Ford Motor Company. This to detriment whether the company is profitable and competitive in the automobile industry. Ford Motor Company SWOT Analysis Strength • Ford Motor Company is a Multi international Company with 90 plant and facilities selling vehicles in 200 markets. It is the second biggest plant in the world, with approximately 345,000 employees. (http://www.freeonlineresearchpapers.com/ford-diversity-commitment) , (http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=7670) • The Ford Motor Company is the Fifth largest vehicle manufacturer in the world and the second in the U.S. with a total (Sales 2010) of 4,988,031 vehicles manufactured including Cars, land craft vehicles (LCV), Heavy Commercial Vehicles (HCV) and Heavy Buses. (Oica.net, 2011) (http://oica.net/wp-content/uploads/ranking-2010.pdf) • Ford Motor diversity in Ford Credit is a subsidiary of The Ford Motor Company that finance vehicles to customer and dealers to support Ford Motor Company sales. They also provide financing on Lincoln vehicles, offering: competitive rates, innovative products, flexible terms (http://www.fordcredit.com/companyInfo/profile.jhtml) • Ford Motor merges with Hertz Rent-A-Car...
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...Memo To: Alan Mulally From: Travis Harper Date: March 6, 2012 Re: SWOT and Value Chain Analysis The purpose of this memo is offer the Ford management team advice and recommendations based on an internal and external analysis of the Ford Motor Company. A SWOT analysis will be conducted and the memo will outline and explain the processes involved with the analysis. A SWOT analysis will provide the decision makers of the company with information about the positive and negative aspects of both the external and internal environments currently facing Ford. The internal analysis will provide better insight into the strength and weaknesses of the company, and the external analysis will recognize opportunity and threats presented by the external environment. In addition to the SWOT analysis, the memo will provide an analysis of the primary and support activities that make up Ford's Value Chain, which is a systematic way of examining how these activities create customer value. External Analysis The external analysis was conducted by scanning and evaluating Ford's external environment. It is important that both the general and specific sectors of the Ford's external environment are scanned in order to identify the opportunities, which are positive trends, and threats, which are negative trends, facing the company. When analyzing the general environment of Ford, the economic sector should be a major focus for the company. A major aspect of Ford's decline has been due to poor economic...
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...of time the business must be able to conduct regular analysis of their success. They must be able to determine where they are today and have a goal of where they would like to see themselves 5-10 years down the road. In order to conduct a true analysis of the company, one must complete an environmental scan of their organization. Thus scanning for events, trends, issues and expectations that they may be faced with in the future. Furthermore, examining all internal and external environment challenges. Internal environmental challenges may be with employees, shareholders or board of directors or the overall culture of the organization. External environmental challenges may include economic, socio-culture, political, and technological environments, as well as customers, suppliers, competitors, financial institution, government and media. Ford Motor Company One organization that decided to take a step back and really analyze their organization by conducting an environmental scan was Ford Motor Company. The company completed a complete SWOT analysis in 2013 to understand where their business was today and decide how they would best get to where they want to be. Starting as the first American automotive company to manufacture and sell automobiles and automotive parts, ford is currently the second largest US automaker and the fifth largest vehicle seller in Europe and the world ("Strategic Management Insight Ford", 2013). Ford Motor Company is a worldwide, automotive retailer with...
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...Toyota and Ford Comparison L. Johnson MGT680-1203B-12 Abstract Toyota and Ford companies are two of the major players in the auto industry. Comparing the two companies helps to understand what contributes to the success of each. The SWOT analysis can be used to identify weaknesses and a plan of action to turn those into strengths. The current issues faced by each company affect how it operates globally. It is important for each company to understand how each issue affects its operations. Introduction Every firm creates a relationship between the political and economic forces within its community. Toyota and Ford understand the importance of developing a strategic plan that guides them on how to create effective relationships within the community. This helps with building brand name, which both companies have done successfully. Ford and Toyota’s current position on the main issues that they face and a SWOT will be done to show their current market position. Issues The following table will compare the current issues faced by Ford and Toyota. The current position/views of each company are briefly explained. The purpose of this table is to understand how Ford and Toyota view their responsibility to the community. Understanding the companies’ positions help to develop strategic plan suggestions. |Issues |Ford |Toyota | |Legal, Social and Economic...
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...Competitive Positioning: Ford Motors [Type the document subtitle] [This paper tries to analyse the competitive positioning of Ford on the basis of various business and strategic parameters which affects the profitability of Ford.] 2013 SilverSpark Microsoft 10/14/2013 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The company which is taken into consideration is Ford Motors which is an American multinational company. The study is about the company’s background, size, competitors, product life cycle, swot analysis, customer’s traits and the company’s positioning CONTENTS: 1. An Executive Summary..............................................................................2 2. Company & product background..................................................................2 3. Market analysis: Size, Competitors and Product Life .....................................4 4. SWOT Analysis...........................................................................................6 5. Customer traits and Segmentation ................................................................7 6. Positioning Strategy.....................................................................................7 7. Conclusion..................................................................................................7 8. References..................................................................................................8 COMPANY AND PRODUCT BACKGROUND: Ford Motors is an automobile...
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...Business Analysis Part I MGT 521 August 8, 2011 History The organization selected is the Ford Motor Company. Ford Company is a global company that has two core businesses: automotive and financial services (,2011). The (1997) website states that the Ford Motor Company is one of the greatest automobile manufacturers in the world. The company was founded by Henry Ford in Detroit, Michigan. Ford was a skilled craftsman who built an experimental car in 1896, a twin cylinder engine with potential of 20 mph. In 1899, Ford left his job to organize the Detroit Automobile Company. His first production was in 1903, The Model A that had an under the floor engine which sold for $850. Between 1908 and 1927, it became the all-American automobile. During the 1960s, competition increased and Ford had to become innovative to remain one of the top manufacturers. In 1964, Ford created the Ford Mustang was created. It still remains to be a success. With increased production, innovative styles, low prices, and customer satisfaction, Ford Motor Company has become a worldwide leader in automobile manufacturing. The company’s main focus is to provide quality built products and services to the world. According to (2011) website, Ford’s chair and Chief Executive Officer, William Clay Ford Jr., has a simple, but unique strategy, “Our vision for the future is simple: We want to build great products, a strong business, and a better world.” “Ford’s vision is, “To become the world’s leading consumer...
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...achievement from a company, a country or at the very least a non – financial institute to achieve strategic success. Ford Motor Company has in recent times lost its market share to emerging Asian companies such as Honda, Toyota, Hyundai and Nissan. As a new landscape of economic might surfaces, new car stereotypes are emerging. Finding a place in these segments is proving difficult for Ford Motors and hence need to change its strategies. Hyper-competition combined with tough economic times has pushed Ford to the edge of insolvency. This paper examines the issues that plague the company while using published models to make analysis on how and why the problems occur to better understand their potential impact on the company’s sustainable competitive advantage. Recommendations will seek to give strategic solutions to address the issues identified earlier. This research isn’t structured upon models to identify, analyze and solve issues but rather looks at the core of the problems within Ford Motors and provides models to analyze and solve the issues. TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents INTRODUCTION 1 SECTION 1: STRATEGIC ISSUES AT FORD 2 Underlying Issues at Ford Motor 2 1. Financial 3 2. Competition 4 SECTION 2: STRATEGIC MODELS AND FRAMEWORK SUITABLE FOR ISSUES IDENTIFIED 6 2.1. Competitor Analysis 6 2.1.1 Porter’s 5 Forces Analysis 7 2.1.2 SWOT ANALYSIS 11 2.2 Financial...
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...You are to develop the fundamentals of strategic plans for the Ford Motor Company and the Toyota Motor Corporation, two giants of the automobile industry. You are to develop SWOT analyses and propose strategies for the two multinational enterprises. In doing so, it will be necessary to research, analyze, and compare both firms to understand better their current position and future plans to increase competitive advantage. Common problems facing each auto giant today are the current economy; the competition of the other auto firms; and the demand for a lower cost, more ecologically friendly, alternative fuel vehicle. Your research should include the following issues for both firms. Present your data in the form of a comparative table. Issues Ford Toyota Legal, Social and Economic Environments Management Structure Operational & Financial Issues Analysis of Strategic Intent Social and External Challenges Current Manufacturing Facilities & Distribution System Market Demand & Demographics Alternative Fuels & Propulsion Systems Your document must evaluate, compare and contrast Ford’s and Toyota's current position on these issues. Respond to the following: 2. Take the perspective of Ford's Director of Strategic Planning to develop a full SWOT analysis of Ford, identifying and explaining at least five factors for each category (strengths...
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...should. Together these two companies will continue to be at the forefront of the introduction on new vehicles into their respective markets by capitalizing on the innovation that is inherent in their organizations. Honda Motor Company, a Japanese company, has its largest customer base is in the U.S., alternatively Ford Motor Company, an American company, has its largest customer base is in Asia. The Japanese have been particularly hurt due to economic variables impacting their country, the valuation of the yen was high and gave the American automobile manufactures more time to catch up in terms of product innovation, the Japanese also suffered from inappropriate product and investment strategies which were motivated by overly optimistic growth and market share forecast. In 1989 a battle between Honda and Taurus started for gaining the number one selling car in the United States resulted in Taurus winning in 1993 and became the bestselling car in the United States, a title it would retain for as long as this generation was sold. When production ended in 1995, more than 1,400,000 second generation cars had been sold. VS VS SWOT Analysis: Honda SWOT Analysis: Weaknesses * Losing the number one position 1992. * Increased price due to recession in Japan. * Accord had not been restyled in two...
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...Ford Motor Company (Case Analysis) Group #6- TGAA TTH 1:00 Member 1- Taylor O’Neill Member 2- Knyra Ratcliff Member 3- Alex Perkins Member 4- Xu Han Member 5- Kevin Carter Member 6- Alex Dundon/ Nick Tran Presentation Date: 11/17/15 Introduction Our group has chosen Ford Motor Company as our case analysis subject. Ford is an American multinational automaker and was founded by Henry Ford in 1903. Ford Motor Company is the second largest automaker in the United States and is also the fifth largest automaker in the world. Throughout the paper we will be sharing background information of the company such as the vision statement, mission statement, company history, the industry, and our company’s strategy. We will also be sharing the elements of Ford’s internal and external environment (includes historical and competitor financial information), problem statements, possible alternative solutions to those problems, and our recommendations as to which alternative solutions would be best used in response to the problems at hand. Towards the end of our case analysis on Ford Motor Company there is a visual present for both the SWOT analysis and the grand strategy matrix. We have provided appropriate and significant content in completion of this case analysis. Background Vision Statement “To become the world's leading Consumer Company for automotive products and services. (Homepage, 2015)” Mission Statement “One Team. People working together as a lean, global enterprise...
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