Ford Motor company - Case Study

Company - Ford Motor company - Case Study

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Background (General Facts)

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Company

Ford Motors is one of three prominent automotive manufacturing fellowships in the United States. Based in Michigan in 1903 by Henry ford and grew to reach earnings of 0 billion and more than 370,000 employees by 1996 [1]. In the 1970's, the automobile market for the major auto makers - general Motors (Gm), Ford, and Chrysler- was crunched by competition from foreign manufactures such as Toyota and Honda. In 1999, Ford acquired the Swedish Volvo model in an effort to compete in the foreign market and expand to other regions. Furthermore, Ford launched a full organization re-engineering company process plan called "Ford 2000" aiming at reestablishing the company's infrastructure. The process meant discount in their vehicle Centers (Vcs) to only five surface the operations that spanned 200 countries. It also meant cutting redundancies and requiring information Technology (It) to be the driving force and the link between Ford centers worldwide.

In construction Ford's It infrastructure, the company focused on implementing a setup that supported the Tcp/Ip transportation protocol based on the U.S. Department of Defense requirements. At those days, Ford internal network was meant to serve files replacement unlike most fellowships that used the network generally for email communications. Throughout the 1990's, Ford industrialized a cost productive Global company Network Integration (Geni) process to link all its locations compromising on the type of the association and the cabling in favor of full coverage. During the same time, Ford started construction its Web Farm, which was basically a set of hardware and software managed by a team for construction Ford's social website. The work started by publishing documents for technical references and moved to more industrialized images from a live auto show. As a result, the website received 1 million visits a day in less than 2 years after its legal launch. Throughout the end of the 90's, Ford established its web services by increasing the whole of information published, construction more lively and thorough web application in 12 weeks period, purchasing more Netscape browsers for setup on its users' machines, and creating a B2B server to allow the suppliers secured way to Ford's Intranet.

In the path towards assistance cost discount and bringing more company straight through the web, Ford worked closely with its competitors in the U.S. market Gm and Chrysler to create what came to be known as "Automotive Network Exchange" (Anx) certificate. The protocols aimed at providing a unified communications thorough straight through the Internet to enable suppliers to supply common technology for all manufacturers. Moreover, Ford focused on production information on its web site more accessible and useful by deploying a team to carry on the process of adding and updating information based on an diagnosis of how humans deal with information. One final aspect of Fords effort was to try to build a model straight through its infrastructure that benefited from the model implemented by Dell computers to improve their supply chain and delivery process. The direct model would not work well for automotives as it would with computers, as a corollary Ford worked on its retailing network remodeling and identifying what would eventually give it the extra edge in delivery time.

Enterprise Architecture Issues

Ford's regional expansion to address the competition for market shares demanded cost supervision for the infrastructure upgrades It infrastructure places limitations on the type of application amelioration based on the platforms Easy way to information and prompt delivery of vital data to key individuals requires proper knowledge managementOrganizations reengineering and process remodeling is significant when adapting new technologies to avow the cost and growth efficiency supply chain errors and delays can severely influence the expand of the company and the market value of the corporation
Analysis

Infrastructure Upgrade

Since the inception of the Internet in the 1960's, much effort has been made in standardizing how computers associate to it. In 1982, the International organization for Standards (Iso) realized that During that period many ad hoc networking systems were already using the Tcp/Ip protocol for communications and thus adapted it as a thorough in its model for the Internet network [2]. The main driver for Ip convergence, at that period, was the growth in data traffic straight through wide area networks (Wans) established by local companies. Furthermore, in 1991, the Internet was open for commercial use, and that demanded a discount in the total cost of operating the network to cope with 1 million Internet hosts that materialized in only 1-year time. Telecommunications fellowships like At&T understood the possible and worked on standardizing the network gift voice services over Ip networks that managed the separation between voice and data transmission [3].

At the same time, Ford had launched its plan to update its infrastructure, and seized the chance brought by the global movement of integrating the voice, fax transmission network with data transmission and vast its Wan to consist of its offices in Europe and elsewhere. The financial benefits also came from the fact that Ford adapted the Tcp/Ip protocol from the beginning and made sure that all its technical infrastructure upgrades adhere to the standards. This made the transition of its ideas to the Internet as cost productive as it could be.

Web Technologies

Intranets employ the hypertext and multimedia technology used on the Internet. Prior to 1989, when Tim burners-Lee invented the Web [4], most applications used thorough amelioration languages such as C and C++ to create desktop applications that were possession and dependent on the platform. For example, applications running on a command-based operating ideas such as Unix would not run under Windows, and those working for Pcs might not work on Apple computers and vice versa [5]. The invention of Html (Hyper-Text Markup Language) introduced a new model for applications that conform to the standards in case,granted by a single program, the "Web Browser". Unlike thorough applications, the browser brought a unified interface that had a very fast learning curve. Users seem to want no further training to work with web browsers. Furthermore, ideas administrators did not have to spend time installing upgrades on users' machines, since the Intranet client/server architecture facilitated all the updates straight through the association with the web server [6].

Since Ford established its Intranet, it was aiming at construction web applications straight through the initial diagnosis of "Mosaic", the early form of web browsers. The technical Department at Ford used web languages to create the first web site in 1995. In 1996, the team started construction applications production use of the unified "Netscape" browser that was deployed on all machines at the company, and working on a thorough template to cut on the amelioration life cycle. There was a mountainous cut in training cost due to the user-friendly interface of web applications. Furthermore, the speed of amelioration made vital applications available to dissimilar individuals across the company. For example, the B2B site allowed suppliers remote and secured way to assorted sections of Ford's Intranet. In addition, the amelioration team created an application as a virtual teardown on Ford's website where Ford's engineers could inspect parts of competitors' cars and evaluate any new technologies. The alternative would have been an actual trip to a physical location where Ford tears down cars to inspect the parts.

Knowledge Management

While there are many definitions for knowledge, each company might adapt its own based on how it diagnosis data and information to collect knowledge. The University of Kentucky, for example, defines knowledge as "a vital organization resource. It is the raw material, work-in process, and ended good of decision-making. unavoidable types of knowledge used by decision makers consist of information, procedures, and heuristics, among others... " [7].

Organizations go straight through dissimilar activities to carry on the whole of information they collect to form the knowledge base of the company. Activities consist of creating databases of best practices and market intelligence analysis, conference filtering and classifying data, incorporating knowledge into company applications used by employees, and developing focal points for facilitating knowledge flow and construction skills [8].

Ford was excited about the traffic it was receiving on the Web site and every person was publishing all the material they have on desk on the Intranet. Nevertheless, there was a growing concern about the usability and usefulness of the material citizen were adding. As a result, Ford created a "Knowledge Domain Team" to build faultless information in nine areas that were identified as vital to the business. The process Ford took was based on surveys and specialists input in how citizen realize information, and what is determined vital and what is distracting in the structure of Ford's website. The aim behind the initiative was to reduce the time individuals spent in searching for information straight through proper indexing of the website content, and production sure that what was prominent could be accessed in due time, and what is trivial did not overwhelm the researcher with thousands of results.

Business Re-engineering

In the area of organization's re-engineering process innovation is the set of activities that achieve mountainous company improvements. fellowships seeking to advantage from process innovation go straight through the regime of identifying the processes, the factors for change, developing the vision, comprehension the current process, and construction a prototype for the new organization. History shows that organizations who define their processes properly will not have problems managing the issues and developing the convert factors [9]. When introducing technology, company redesign is necessary. The commercial fields have been using information Technology to remodel processes, control production, and carry on material for generations. However, it is only recently that fellowships recognized that the fusion of It and company would go beyond automation to fundamentally reshaping how company processes are undertaken [10].

When foreign fellowships were allowed to compete in the U.S. Market, Ford understood that to corollary in company in a contentious arena it needed to implement strategies that competitors find difficult to imitate [11]. As a result, Ford bought Sweden Volvo to enter the European market, and partially owned Mazda to have a contentious edge with Japanese cars1 [12]. To achieve that it re-engineered its production amelioration activities and global corporate organization and processes for dramatic cost reduction. Furthermore, it understood that expansion requires collaboration and alignment, and thus planned to create the It infrastructure straight through a Wan that connected all the offices. In the process of innovation and re-engineering, Ford has set policies to carry on the cost of establishing the network, built models for continuous implementation, and organized global meetings to align all parties with the process. Adding to that, when it came to managing the website, Ford facilitated an awareness campaign for all the branches to understand that Ford is using the web to collaborate and research and adapting information technology as a way to maximize its company value. The goal for Ford was to avow its leadership in the market and to do that in the most productive and cost productive recipe that is there.

Supply chain management

Supply chain supervision (Scm) is about coordinating between suppliers, manufactures, distributors, retailers, and customers [13]. The basic idea that Scm applications revolve nearby is providing information to all those who are complicated in production decisions about the stock or goods to carry on delivery from the supplier to the buyer [14]. Studies show that reducing errors in supply chain distribution, increases revenue, enhances productivity, and reduces the order-to-fulfillment period [15].

Ford often compared its supply chain process to that of Dell's, in an effort to close the gaps in its own process and reach the level of success Dell has reached. The variation in the distribution model between Dell and Ford lies in the middle link of using retail shops. Since Ford cannot skip retail as a focal distribution point, it worked on establishing a network of retail shops that it owned. Ford made sure shops are not affecting each other in terms of sales, and gave them all a thorough look and feel to create itself in the consumer's market as a prestigious cars sales retail company. Furthermore, allembracing re-engineering initiatives were undertaken to improve Ford external network by eliminating the correlation with smaller suppliers. In that way, Ford made sure that key suppliers have way to forecasting data from customers' purchasing trends and production information to enable a faster order-to-delivery cycle. Ford vision was to create a model that allowed flexibility, predicable processes and delivered the stock at the right time to the right consumer.

Conclusions

Ford is an example of how primary organizations can mature to adapt what is current and maximizes the company value. The process that Ford went straight through necessitated the continuous preserve from management. In addition, it depended on alignment between those complicated as a key for success. The correlation was not restricted to internal staff; it extended to cover competitors to reach mutual benefits, to work with suppliers to avow similar grounds and enough infrastructure, and to create training programs to educate all on the vision and organization's objectives.

Ford technical expand came at a time where the Internet was yet to reach its full potential. The introduction of Fiber-optic cables in the late 90's and the mountainous growth in bandwidth would have helped Ford and cut on the cost in endured connecting its own offices. Furthermore, the Isp services that in case,granted hosting servers were exiguous to only few players, which explained why Ford preferred to carry on its own web server and avow the overhead of the 24 hours uptime and backup.

From this case study, I understood the level of commitment large firms have to maintaining their position in the market. These fellowships know the revolving nature of company in the sense of how easy it is to fall back if they did not keep up with the change. The Ford process also shows the need for quick and resourceful reasoning when faced with situations that might seem to be unfavorable. The way Ford ventured into the foreign market by acquiring local manufacturers was a strategic decision that did not only enabled Ford to merge with dissimilar technologies, but it also saved it the further cost of establishing production centers in Japan and Europe.

Recommendations

Maintaining leadership in the market requires innovative organizations willing to reengineer to succeed. It fusion with the company means restructuring and remodeling to understand the role It would play to meet the company objectives Planning and modeling is vital when coordinating work with large teams. Constructing websites is not about content; it is about comprehension what adds value and how humans interact with information. Knowledge supervision is a plan that fellowships need to create as part of their initial company process modeling It is not wrong for large firms to try to adapt to victorious processes implemented by other firms.
References

Robert D. Austin and Mark Cotteleer,"Ford Motor Co.: Maximizing the company Value of Web Technologies." Harvard company Publishing. July 10, 1997. Harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b02/en/common/item_detail.jhtml;jsessionid=Wdarnhinbsyksakrgwcb5Vqbke0Yoisw?id=198006 (accessed July 30, 2008). Computer History Museum, Internet History 80's. 2006. Computerhistory.org/internet_history/internet_history_80s.shtml (accessed July 30, 2008). Darren Wilksch and Peter Shoubridge, "Ip Convergence in Global Telecommunications." Defense Science & Technology Organization. March 2001. Http://www.dsto.defence.gov.au/publications/2400/Dsto-Tr-1046.pdf (accessed July 30, 2008). Computer History Museum, Internet History 80's. H. Joseph Wen, "From client/server to intranet." information supervision & Computer protection (Mcb Up Ltd) 6, no. 1 (1998): 15-20. R. Boutaba, K. El Guemioui, and P. Dini, "An outlook on intranet management." Communications Magazine (Ieee), October 1997: 92-99. Joseph M. Firestone, company information Portals and Knowledge supervision (Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2002), 169. David J. Skyrme, "Knowledge supervision solutions - the It contribution." Acm Siggroup Bulletin (Acm) 19, no. 1 (April 1998): 34 - 39, 34. Thomas H. Davenport, Process Innovation: Reengineering Work straight through information Technology (Watertown,Ma: Harvard company Press, 1993), 28. Thomas H. Davenport "The New commercial Engineering: information Technology and company Process Redesign." Sloan supervision reveal 31, no. 4 (Summer 1990): 11-28, 12 Gary M. Erickson, Robert Jacobson, and Johny K. Johansson, "Competition for market share in the presence of strategic invisible assets: The Us automobile market, 1971-1981." International Journal of research in Marketing (Elsevier Science) 9, no. 1 (March 1992): 23-37, 23. Austin and Cotteleer, "Ford Motor " , 2. Henk A. Akkermans, et al. "The impact of Erp on supply chain management: Exploratory findings from a European Delphi study." European Journal of Operational research 146 (2003): 284-301, 286 Thomas H. Davenport and Jeffrey D. Brooks, "Enterprise systems and the supply chain." Journal of company information supervision 17, no. 1 (2004): 8-19, 9. Kevin B. Hendricks, Vinod R. Singhal, and Jeff K. Stratman. "The impact of company systems on corporate performance:A study of Erp, Scm, and Crm ideas implementations." Journal of Operations supervision 25, no. 1 (January 2007): 65-82.

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