Ford Motor. Student’s name. Institution Affiliation(s).

Ford Motor
Student’s name
Institution Affiliation(s)

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Change in products and projects......................................................................................................2
Project Managers/Teams.................................................................................................................4
Leadership........................................................................................................................................5
Teambuilding...................................................................................................................................6
Team Motivation.............................................................................................................................6
Communication................................................................................................................................7
Role conflicts within groups........................................................................................................7
Communication problems among group members......................................................................7
Lack of cohesiveness in groups with diverse members...............................................................8
Excessive intergroup conflict.......................................................................................................9
Recommendations..........................................................................................................................10
Conclusions....................................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................14
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Introduction
Ford Motor Company is an automobile producer, founded by Henry Ford in 1903 and has
a multinational presence. The automotive operations at Ford involve designing, developing,
manufacturing, sales, and servicing of cars, trucks and other automotive parts. Ford Motor Co
revolutionized its operations and business by making ‘quality’ its main focus and adopted Total
Quality Management approach to improve quality as well as reduce costs and wastage. The
company has its presence all over the world, with its main manufacturing units based in many
parts of the US, some parts of Europe and the Asia Pacific.
The mission of the company is to work as a team and develop as a world leading
company in automotive and other related products and service. To speed the development of
customer values and needs, to work together successfully as a team, provide effective financial
services and improvement of the balance sheet
The success of Ford Motor Company lies on its core competence. Some of the cores
competencies pointed out by the CEO of Ford Motor Company are technology, safety standards,
fuel efficiency, and quality product. The company focuses on the above core competencies to
develop great products. Additionally, they hope to meet environmental sustainability by looking
for different fuel sources such as electric and hydrogen
Change in products and projects
Finance is often referred to as the ‘lifeblood’ of business. Financial aspects of business
include its income, expenditure, funding and capital structure. Small and private sector
businesses are known to have simpler structures than their public counterparts. Public companies
collect the required capital from various sources. Generally, two types of capital are available,
i.e. owned capital and loaned capital. For public sector companies, the capital structure includes
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various types of capital like equity, debt, preference, long term, and short term loans, etc. Capital
structure decisions are significant as they determine the company’s profitability and financial
flexibility. Therefore, while forming capital structure plans, the financial decision-maker must
consider the nature of the business, external & internal conditions, economic conditions and the
future plan of a company.
The management of the company has efficiently managed the financial risks. One of the
primary responsibilities of financial management is to avoid financial risk by implementing
effective financial policies. Ford Motor Company is always investing in new projects to ensure
product development. In order to improve its balance sheet, the management is trying to
increases the profitability and decreases the leverage of the company. In 2010, it restructured its
balance sheet by adjusting its equity and debt capital to ensure profitability and sustainability.
It has captured significant market shares in most of the global automobile industry. It has its
manufacturing units in many countries, and together they have formed a mission which states
‘One Ford.’ Global Ford concentrates in developing one team, one plan, and one goal. The
company strives to provide profitable growth to its stakeholders and society. The ‘one plan’ of
Ford focuses on new product development, finance, and teamwork. The company has also
realized its corporate social responsibility, and it has taken necessary steps for the safety of
people and society. With the help of research & development, it is now trying to produce more
eco-friendly and safety cars. To reduce the negative effects of global warming, its operating
processes take into account important issues like water, energy and human right.
Ford did not attempt to apply their established business standards & procedures in the
western markets to the newly established Asian markets and also try to customize engineering
aspects as per local demands keeping the quality at optimum levels. Customers are given
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experience in such a way that they are not able to differentiate between Ford and any other
indigenous manufacturer of a country but still are able to enjoy the world-class quality of Ford
brand. Ford Icon and Fiesta are two such products that were modeled as world cars and also
indigenously modeled as per the Asian conditions.
Project Managers/Teams
Ford is renowned as one of the leading brands in the international automotive industry
which is engaged with manufacturing and distributing a wide range of automobiles and
accessories. Ford is universally well-known having its manufacturing and distributing branches
located all over the world. There are currently altogether nearly 90 manufacturing and
distributing plants located in globally. From its inception, the company had to face severe ups
and downs in the competitive market. Ford also relates to the financial services industry being
associated with rendering loan and vehicle insurance facilities to its customers worldwide.
Working in such a versatile environment, Ford was able to successfully secure a leadership
position within the global automotive industry obtaining sustainable profits over the years.
However, it had to witness severe crisis situation during the early decade of the 21st century,
incurring a record debt in its history depicting a position of financial instability and limited
sustainability. Contextually, to rule the market once again and to regain its sustainability, Ford
had to overcome a number of challenges over the recent decades. In order to overcome such a
crisis situation, Ford had to consider drastic changes in its operations is largely focused on its
consumer needs and wants. It was during this period that the organization witnessed a leadership
change, where the then newly recruited Corporate Executive Officer (CEO) Mr. Alan Mulally
implemented drastic financial and managerial strategies which ultimately assisted the
organization to recover from the situation. This particular scenario can be regarded as quite
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illustrative to reflect upon the significance of organizational leadership to secure
competitiveness, sustainability, and growth of the company in today’s 21st-century context.
According to the case study, the Electrical/ Electronic department of Ford management has to
change the project managers who are not efficient
Being a global and hugely diversified organization, Ford has a large number of primary
stakeholders which include customers, suppliers, dealers, employees’ communities and investors
or shareholders. Ford has been significantly focused on its brand recognition and reputation amid
its stakeholders. For instance, the most vital concern in the relationship was the Corporate Social
Responsibility approach of the company towards the society, which involved Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs), government agencies and academia. The leadership of the company even
motivated the stakeholders to participate in the decision-making process which especially
focused on the sustainability issues of Ford. The mission and vision of the company also direct it
towards effective diversity management which again contributes to the core competencies of
Ford.
Leadership
In order to foster effective teamwork, leaders have a critical role to play. Firstly, leaders
can contribute by clarifying each team members’ roles and goals within the team. Unlike
conventional working practices, team working requires commitment and contribution from each
member’s expertise. Leaders need to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each team
member and assign tasks accordingly. For instance, members with innovative capabilities need
to be encouraged towards developing new methods of working/models rather than pushing them
to give higher productivity. However, it is also true that the team comprises of individuals that
are meant to work for one common objective; and hence, that objective becomes every team
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member’s core job. Therefore, leaders should be conscious of not pressurizing team members
with many expectations.
Teambuilding
A team can be effective only when it is optimally sized and not oversized. Hence, unlike
conventional Fordism, management must ensure that teams are not oversized in order for leaders
to manage their teams effectively. Teams must possess a shared communication network, which
will assist in their day-to-day activities. A shared sense of membership can be established
through common goals, which will also create interdependence (McEwan et al., 2017). Clear
performance objectives for every individual will instill a sense of responsibility as well as
direction.
Team Motivation
While role and goal clarity, as well as effective team building, will help in eliminating
dysfunctional group conflicts, effective motivational practices will foster effective functional
conflicts. Functional conflicts can boost performance and motivation at individual, group and
organizational levels. Intrinsic motivational practices such as boosting an individual’s morale
through encouragement, feedback, recognition, appreciation among others will help in
motivating individuals. Extrinsic motivation through rewards, incentives, bonuses, among others
will also help in motivating individuals (Lester, 2017). Team-based rewards and recognition will
promote competition between groups/teams. However, these are capable of causing team
pressure and sustain intergroup conflicts.
Extrinsic rewards in the form of pay, incentives, bonuses, paid leave, and other employee
benefits need to be carefully planned in order to avoid demoralization of employees. These
aspects have to be clearly explained during employment process; further changes have to be
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handled effectively by the managers because these can create sensitive situations because of
grapevine, incomplete information and lack of understanding among employees (Mohammad &
Parpouchi, 2016).
Communication
Role conflicts within groups
Ford Motor Co. was able to achieve such enormous success because of tough controls
and measures and high competition for performance that was infused into its employees through
stringent goals and objectives. Moreover, it adopted some new concepts such as Total Quality
Management (TQM), which required workers to be organized into teams for effective TQM in
order to meet customer demands and remain competitive like others in the market (Kaufman,
Diep, & Kaufman, 2019). Employees that were used to working in one manner had to confront
new and ambiguous situations. This change to the team working concept must have given rise to
much ambiguity in terms of their roles. In a team-working setup, group dynamics also hold back
productivity, performance and create stress as well as conflicts (Guenter et al., 2016). For
instance, managers at Ford pushed for greater productivity, which instilled a sense of
competition among team members. In a team setup, employees are influenced by each other, and
their work and success are interdependent. Although such situations promote cooperation
between the team members, it also promotes competition and thus conflicts. Increased
expectations from managers and organization also create work-related stress as well as
conflicting demands on team members (Hon & Chan, 2013).
Communication problems among group members
The fact that a group consists of members with different attitudes, behavior,
understanding, and skills is sufficient to give way to numerous misunderstandings among
themselves. The teams at Ford Motor Co comprised of skilled and unskilled workers working
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together but performing different roles. Moreover, the skillset of skilled workers was different
from that of unskilled workers (Norouzinia et al., 2016). This is sufficient to create
misunderstandings through ineffective communication, listening, different nonverbal cues, and
egocentric behavior. There are many possibilities that the skilled workers may be dominating
through their assertiveness, authority, stubbornness, and looking down upon fellow unskilled
workers. Moreover, communicating with different functions operating from other locations could
result in missing information, improper or incomplete communication, lack of understanding,
etc. With incorrect information and inappropriate understanding, possibilities of developing
conflicts with other groups are high. The Electronics/ Electrical department of Ford Co. has
communications problems which are affecting the performance of the company
Lack of cohesiveness in groups with diverse members
At Ford, employees from different functions and locations have to coordinate with each
other by means of their work. Their hierarchical structure inhibits face-to-face or direct
communication between the front line workers; instead, they have to communicate through their
supervisors. This could create sufficient ground for misunderstandings because the workers may
misinterpret the information received and/or given. Moreover, not all workers get to participate
in decision-making activities, which could result in a lack of ownership. For people performing
a job that is different from other group members’ job, their feeling of togetherness gets affected.
Such stressors or conflicting situations are possible at Ford Motor Co because teams comprise of
skilled and unskilled workers, which means both perform different tasks (Downey & Bedard,
2018). Groups are comprised of individuals that possess varying levels of commitment. In such
teams, individuals that put in lesser efforts potentially affect teamwork and create problems with
cooperation among team members. Moreover, promoting team-based performance and rewards
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with such team members could demotivate the morale of high-performing individuals, and this
could lead to conflict with individuals’ morale and motivation.
Excessive intergroup conflict
Intergroup conflicts at Ford Motor Coexist at two levels, horizontal and vertical.
Horizontal conflicts arise with other groups, departments, teams, etc. The core activities at Ford
Motor Co include all operations functions starting from accumulating raw materials through
marketing. This means different functions work together to produce the same product lines,
which eventually generate revenue for the company (Mayfield & Mayfield, 2017). In such a
business model, members working for different functions tend to develop emotional conflicts
due to various factors such as skill levels, operational issues, budget constraints, delays due to
technical failure at one or more setups, etc. These conflicts can be detrimental to the
implementation of TQM and will also affect employee involvement, which is the quintessential
factor for TQM’s success. Incidences of failure of TQM at Ford have been attributed to such
conflicts. Moreover, lack of understanding, coordination, and communication could result in
emotional conflicts between functions and/or groups (McMillan et al., 2012). Emotional
conflicts between groups also arise due to distinctive goals, such as sales revenue goals for
marketing and cost efficiency goals for operations. In addition, personal egos and competition
could fire interpersonal conflicts, which translate into group-level practices and noncooperation.
Vertical intergroup conflicts at Ford are evident from union-management disputes, or
disputes between different levels of management. For instance, the first level employees are not
satisfied with pay hike percentages or other employment-related practices, working conditions
among others, which could result in insurgency against the management.
There are four main factors that could result in horizontal and/or vertical intergroup
conflicts. Firstly, perceived goal incompatibility like that between manufacturing and marketing
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functions, which have different goals but oppose each other’s activities. Secondly, perceived
differentiation due to factors such as cultural diversity, feelings of ethnocentrism, geographical
barriers, and economic factors among others can create distrust and biased behavior among
group members. Thirdly, task interdependency between different groups with independent goals
could create conflicts with respect to their objectives. Lastly, perceived limited resources among
groups can cause resource crunch and hence conflict over the available resources such as human
resources, finance, technology, facilities (Martínez et al., 2014).
Recommendations
Role perspective - Organizations that employ team-based models require practices that
promote effective teamwork. It is important to understand that good performer may not be
effective in the team setup. This is because each team member possesses specific to his/her
nature, attitude, behavior among others, which may/may not be compatible with team setup. To
build an effective team, it should be a mix of members that possess leadership, innovation, social
and qualities of enthusiasm (Karadakal, Goud, & Thomas, 2015). No one individual can form a
great team.
For communication and coordination - Teams can be effective if there is clear
communication among the team members in terms of roles, goals, and purpose of each member’s
actions. This will help in avoiding misunderstanding, misinterpretation and egoist tendencies.
Clear communication also fosters mutual trust, motivation, control and organization, and higher
team productivity (Schoeneborn, 2011). For instance, the Electronics/ Electrical department of
Ford Co. needs to bring the change in the communication and processes of the things in the
execution of the project. The communication should be simple and clear and proper
communication and regular communication should be established between the project
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management and team and the priorities should be made for the things to be done and then
execute the project accordingly.
Group-level conflicts can be addressed by fostering collaboration and coordination
between different groups through cross-functional activities. Cross-functional teams and groups
also promote better communication and ownership of cross-functional goals. Cross-functional
activities could include setting cross-functional goals; providing cross-functional training;
conducting cross-functional teambuilding exercises; fostering employee bonding between
different teams through motivational practices such as extra-curricular activities, competitions,
etc. Improvement in cross-functional bonding can be accomplished only when communication
between groups is improved (Connelly, Griffith, & Thiel, 2014). For this, the organization needs
first to provide strong resources and opportunities for effective communication. Resources could
include effective communication media such as telecommunication, teleconferencing and video
conferencing, email access at workstations, etc. Moreover, managers and leaders need to
schedule regular cross-functional team meetings with a clear agenda.
From an overall perspective, it can further be recommended that the leader must consider
its employees as a vital part of the entire system and simultaneously, as an alternative of other
tangible as well as intangible assets. A crucial module of management leadership behavior
stresses upon an edifice as well as upon an atmosphere in which all the employees attempt
spontaneously to develop and excel. Organizational leadership, therefore, complies with the
bidding process to manipulate and impel the group’s hard work towards the accomplishment of
the organizational objectives and ultimate goals (Krapfl & Kruja, 2015). Leadership is a
significant task of supervision that helps to capitalize on efficiency as well. Creating self-
confidence is another significant feature which can enable to achieve all the way through
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expressing the labor towards their subordinates, enlightening them towards their roles and
responsibilities, and directing them through well-defined strategies. Hence, it can be apparently
witnessed that organizational leaders play a major role in assuring the effective performance of
an organization with proper management of the resources, both tangible and intangible in nature
by identifying, rationalizing and overcoming the obstacles present on the way (Larabee, Howell,
& McCabe, 2017). For instance, the Electrical/ Electronic department of Ford management has
to change the selection of both the project team and team members. The project managers should
be efficient and have good knowledge in the various fields. Project managers should be capable
of using appropriate project management tools and powers depending upon the situation and
efficient project team. Also, team members should be selected in such a way that the selected
team should be coherent, efficient and capable to execute the project in critical situations.
Conclusions
To sum up, the Electronic and Electrical department of Ford Motor Co highlights many
conclusive facts about their performance; however, identification of other hidden issues requires
careful study and deeper dwelling into their structure, personnel management, and functional
aspects. While Ford has achieved immense success and profitability by driving performance in a
controlled and systematic manner, sustenance of this competitive position required the adoption
of best practices which required a team working, employee involvement and cross-functional
collaboration. These practices are invariably accompanied by conflicts in terms of roles,
communication, cohesion, and intergroup functioning. Recommendations to address these issues
revolve around role and goal clarity to team members; clear communication among team
members and with management; and effective cross-functional practices. To achieve these,
effective leadership, better teambuilding activities and strong employee motivation are the
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prerequisites. In the absence of effective employee management, performance can be achieved
through continuous and authoritative pressure, coercion, and dysfunctional competition, which
will ultimately result in employee burnout, lower productivity and employee turnover. The
above-mentioned changes bring the change in the management plan, and its effect is positive
which improves the performance of the project.
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