Strategic Planning: Ford Motor Co.
It was only 5 years ago when the world economy had its throttle set full open. In just a span of a year the world economy came to a grinding halt and every market shivered with terror in the wake of a global financial meltdown that many feared may rival the financial collapse during the Great Depression. Banking, airline and auto industries were struck. There were no markets unaffected. In a way it was a good. It got everyone to rethink the necessity of spending money. It was bad because global economic contracted forcing massive layoffs, leading to the highest US unemployment rate since 1983.
Out of the wake the US auto industry was gasping its last breath. Competition from foreign competitors and lucrative union bargaining packages had taken its toll on the auto industry. The Big Three were operating in the red and collapse was imminent unless something drastic changed. The government step in and offered to help prop up the three US automakers. General Motors and Chrysler were forced to accept the offer while Ford decided to go it alone. Ford’s position may have been arrogant. It may have been fool hearted. It may have been a strategy used to wrestle away some of the power held by the unions. In either case, Ford was forced to restructure the company and made painful concessions to ensure its future. At the same time unions played a vital role by conceding to Ford’s insistence.
Ford has rebounded unlike GM or Chrysler. Ford recorded a $2B dollar profit in the first quarter of the 2010. This is the highest profits seen in 6 years. A greater emphasis on quality, a mixture of industry coincidences, as well as a savvy marketing strategy has proven to be recovery map for the auto titan. Ford has bucked the conventional and has hired a group of smooth media ad agency to produce a campaign blitz that has made American rethink American made. Ford is harnessing its new ad strategy that includes “…its four key pillars -- quality, green, safe and
Out of the wake the US auto industry was gasping its last breath. Competition from foreign competitors and lucrative union bargaining packages had taken its toll on the auto industry. The Big Three were operating in the red and collapse was imminent unless something drastic changed. The government step in and offered to help prop up the three US automakers. General Motors and Chrysler were forced to accept the offer while Ford decided to go it alone. Ford’s position may have been arrogant. It may have been fool hearted. It may have been a strategy used to wrestle away some of the power held by the unions. In either case, Ford was forced to restructure the company and made painful concessions to ensure its future. At the same time unions played a vital role by conceding to Ford’s insistence.
Ford has rebounded unlike GM or Chrysler. Ford recorded a $2B dollar profit in the first quarter of the 2010. This is the highest profits seen in 6 years. A greater emphasis on quality, a mixture of industry coincidences, as well as a savvy marketing strategy has proven to be recovery map for the auto titan. Ford has bucked the conventional and has hired a group of smooth media ad agency to produce a campaign blitz that has made American rethink American made. Ford is harnessing its new ad strategy that includes “…its four key pillars -- quality, green, safe and
References: (2010). Databases, Tables & Calculators by Subject. Bureau of Labor and Statistics. Retrieved 23 May 2010, from http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/servlet/SurveyOutputServlet?data_tool= latest_numbers&series_id=LNU04000000&years_option=all_years&periods_option=specific_periods&periods=Annual+Data Halliday, J. (23 May 2010). Ford: Moving On, Ford 's one of the hottest brands on the road. So how does it plan on staying there? Adweek. Retrieved 24 May 2010, from http://www.adweek.com/aw/ content_display/news/agency/e3i3088c639a8acf60c9b92bf1a06a92955?pn=1 http://www.ford.com/about-ford/company-information/one-ford