1922 Lincoln & Mercury
1979 Mazda (33.4% stake hold)
1987 Aston Martin and Hertz
1990 Jaguar
1999 Volvo
2000 Land Rover
When the company first started, it was a private limited company ran by a partnership of 12 people, a coal dealer, Alexander Malcolmson; the coal dealer’s business manager, James Couzens; a banker who trusted the coal dealer; two brothers who owned the machine ship that made engines; a carpenter; two lawyers; a clerk; the owner of a haberdashery store; a man who made windmills and air rifles. They started with only $28,000 in cash, some tolls and some blue prints.
As a private limited company
The ownership of FMC has been inherited to the third generation of the Ford family – Henry Ford, William Clay Ford and William Clay Ford Junior. Currently, the Ford family owns 20% of the company’s share. Although the Ford family owns such a small percentage of the company’s share, they still hold the majority right of the company.
As a well-established public limited company, FMC holds the advantage over newly set up company as it dominates the market with only a few major competitors such as General Motors and Toyota.
However, as a successful plc, FMC faces threats from outside interests that may result as being the subject to fluctuation or even possible take-over battles. For example, in the past few years, Ford has taken over a couple of automotive companies such as Jaguar and Volvo. Also, they had discussions about taking over BMW but were unsuccessful.
As described above FMC has made the translation from a small private company into a global public listed company over the past century. Its size and company structure has both its advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages
- Limited Liability
- Continuity of the business (as a plc, it normally dominates the market)
- Ease of buying and selling shares
- The ease of capital inquisition (it’s easier for a plc to raise their finances as financial institutions are more willing to lend money to a plc)
Disadvantage
- The ease of buying and selling shares may attract outside interest that may result for being the subject to fluctuation of possible take over battles.
2.2 Business Objectives: Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategy and Tactics (VMOST)
Businesses exist to provide goods and services to satisfy their customers. All businesses have their own distinctive attitudes, value and beliefs that make up their culture, in which they set themselves objectives that reflects the way they operate. The objectives that most businesses’ follows are based on: -
- Making a profit
- Increasing sales and/or market shares
- Surviving
- Offering charitable and/or non- profit services, such as contributing in saving the environment
- Developing staff skills
- Producing high quality products and/or services
The goals are used as a benchmark to measure the performance of the organisation. They are set to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic and Time specific).
The following is Ford Motor Company’s VMOST, which can be separated into 2 sections: -
The Vision, Mission and Objectives (What the organisation intends to achieve)
The Strategy and Tactics (How the organisations plan to achieve their goals)
Currently, Ford Motor Company is the world’s second largest automobile company after General Motors. So, comparing the result of the company’s position to their vision, the company did not fulfil their intention, which is to become ‘the world’s leading company for automotive products’.
As for the customer service of the company, it is very difficult to measure because it will require feedbacks from the customers of all the automotive companies.
Referring to the value of FMC, the leaflet presented in Appendix III is an evidence of how the company react in order to obtain the values that they have set for themselves. The following evaluates on the steps undertook in the past, which associates with their value.
Air Quality and Vehicle Emissions
Ford’s Position
- Ford has dramatically reduced the tailpipe emissions of our vehicles and continues to push for further improvements. Additionally, we are dedicated to developing alternatively fuelled and advanced technology vehicles that produce significantly reduced, and in some cases, zero emissions. Our consumers rely on our vehicles to provide important function and utility. We are committed to actions that address both the needs of customers and the need for improved air quality.
Ford’s Action
- Ford has voluntarily certified all of our gasoline pickups, SUVs and the Windstar minivan as low-emission vehicles (LEVs), years ahead of regulation.
- Our LEV trucks are cleaner than many cars on the road today.
-
Ford offers more alternative-fuel vehicles than any other major automobile manufacturer. They include models that operate on compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), ethanol, and electricity. We are also focusing on a variety of advanced technologies, including hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and fuel cell vehicles, to significantly reduce emissions while not compromising utility.
Source: Ford 100 Years Anniversary Year Book
Source: Company Internal Website – www.marketstrategies.ford.com
Source: Jim Padilla’s “Building on Basics” Triangle (refer to Appendix II)
Source: Bill Ford Internal e-mail to FMC Employees (refer to Appendix III)
www.ford.com/en/company/about/publicPolicy/airQualityVehicleEmissions.htm