Business Policy (Case Study) Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Business Policy ( ) - Case Study Example It is observed that the most powerful feature of the Ford is its flexibility to assimilate with various market situations. This extreme feature has assisted the company to vie with many competitive aspects of the market. It also seems that the Ford possesses an efficient management team whothat effectively forecasts the market and changing consumer tastes and thereby designs innovative car models. This case study gives a detailed view of the automobile industry evolution and its progress over different eras. This paper evaluates the features of Ford Motor Company and also analyzes impact of 2008-09 economic crises on the company. Context of the case The first internal-combustion powered vehicles were notably produced by Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz in Germany. This was an epoch-making innovation in the history of automobile industry. By the end of nineteenth century, hundreds of manufacturers were producing automobiles both in Europe and in America. The twentieth century witnessed the rapid growth of automobile industry and thus the upward trends in sales volume were clearly visible after the Second World War. From the figure 4.1, it is precise that trucks and buses were less produced in US at the beginning of the 19th century as compared to other passenger vehicles (p.49). However, this trend gradually changed after 1990s and it can be clearly attributed to the effects of globalization and industrialization. Uncertainty over the design and technology of the motorcar was the major issue that impeded the early years of automobile industrial growth. The figure 4.3 indicates that US motor vehicle production as percentage of world’s production gradually declines from 1965 to 2008 (p.50). During the earlier periods of motor vehicles production, the internal-combustion engines faced tough competition from steam as well as electric motors. However, ranges of fascinating features of internal combustion engines could dominate the market. Over this period, compa nies brought different designs and technologies among which many one-promising designs were relegated to the scrapheap of history. As we discussed earlier, the Ford Model T was one of the designs that became the focus of attraction of automobile market in this period. Different countries adopted different sized market segments so as to capture the market opportunities. It is necessary to note that â€Å"Fordism† was the first major revolution in process technology although Toyota’s â€Å"clean production† got world wide acceptance during the 1980’s and 1990’s. The case reflects that the cost of creating a new mass-production passenger car from drawing board to production line was in excess of $1.5 billion. This huge cost associated with product development blocked faster economic growth of car manufacturers. This situation persuaded the companies to think about the concept of mergers and acquisitions. These integration processes and thereby combine d operating costs have assisted the companies to take advantages of lower product development costs economies. The figure 4.4 shows that Ford had made alliances with numbers of other automakers like Tata and Toyota. The Ford’s trend of the past 30 years shows that the firm moves toward increasing outsourcing of materials, components, and services with intent to achieve lower