Ford's Business Environment: Stakeholder Analysis and Comparison

This report provides an analysis of Ford's business environment, focusing on its internal and external stakeholders, functional areas, and a comparison with Toyota. It identifies key functional areas within Ford, such as sales, marketing, finance, human resources, and technology, highlighting their roles in the company's operations. The report details the nature and influence of main stakeholders like customers, employees, and investors, exploring their interests and the potential for conflicting interests. It also compares Ford's stakeholder approach with that of Toyota, noting differences in their priorities and strategies. The analysis concludes by emphasizing the importance of stakeholder management in achieving Ford's long-term goals and maintaining a competitive edge in the automotive industry. Desklib offers a platform to explore similar reports and solved assignments for students.

Running Head: Management
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ford
Business Environment
8/20/2019

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Executive Summary
 Internal and external stakeholder of the company is evaluated.
 Internal stakeholders of the company are the employees, board of directors, employees
etc. which has the great influence on the performance of the company.
 The external stakeholders of the Ford are their customers, suppliers, regulators,
competitors, etc. which affects indirectly to the company.
 The functional areas of the company are sales, marketing, human resource, finance, etc.
which helps in managing and operating the functions effectively.
 Every stakeholder has their own interest which creates conflicts in the company as stated
in this report.
 The comparison of Ford with the Toyota was also done which helps in analyzing that
stakeholders of both the companies has different interest and influences.

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Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Functional areas...........................................................................................................................................3
Internal and external stakeholders and their role.........................................................................................4
Nature of main stakeholders........................................................................................................................4
Influence of the main stakeholders..............................................................................................................6
Stakeholder matrix......................................................................................................................................7
Comparison with another industry...............................................................................................................7
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................8
References...................................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
Ford is the automotive company which was founded in 1925 by Henry Ford. The
company has the headquartered in Richmond, Melbourne which has the right to manufacture the
motor vehicles. Ford provides a wide range of vehicles such as commercial vehicles, SUVs, etc.
Ford Australia is the part of the Canadian Ford company which is known for its unique designs
(Mok, et al., 2015). The vehicles manufactured by this company have a large number of
passenger capacities. In this report, the functional areas of Ford will be discussed. The internal
and external stakeholders of the company have analyzed and their impact on the performance of
the company. The comparison of Ford will be done with the same industry. The interest and the
influence of the stakeholder will be analyzed in this report and it was compared with the similar
industry.
Functional areas
These are those areas where the employees of the company have some similar skills and
expertise. For example the department of sales, all the employees are engaged in sales and has
some common functions. The functional areas of Ford are:
Sales: These members of the sales department work together with the same goals of
increasing the sale of the company. They directly deal with the customers so all the members are
responsible for building the relationship with the customers. The employees of this department
help in analyzing the needs and wants of the company and then they place the order (Kazadi, et
al., 2016)
Marketing: Marketing is very essential in the company as it helps in boosting up the
sales and generates the revenues. Ford uses this approach of “Inside out” marketing in which first
they plan the motor vehicles and then they sell out to the customers (Ford, 2009). The company
first analyses the market and the needs and wants of the customer and then they design and sell
in the market.
Finance and accounting: The Company also has the finance team which maintains the
financial accounting and the other dealing related to the money. In this team, the employees of

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the company also perform the function of forecasting and budgeting process. The plan of the
business majorly focuses on investments or loans (Mazur and Pisarski, 2015).
Human resource: Human resources play a major concern in the company as they hire
the staff as per the needs and skills of the company. The role of HR in the company is very
important as they have to hire the employees who are fit to the organization at the right time.
Their functions are to plan and offer the employees what they want so that they can work with
full of motivation.
Technology: Equipment and technology are very essential in the company as it helps in
operating the business. This functional area helps in balancing the demands of the budgets.
Technologies are very expensive so it should be used wisely so that more production can be
done. Technology is also needed for many other purposes such as sales, marketing,
transportation, etc.
Internal and external stakeholders and their role
Stakeholders play an essential role in the company as they perform various functions and
activities which help in running the business effectively. The internal stakeholders of the Ford
are managers, employees, investors and the board of directors of the company (Beringer, et al.,
2012). The external stakeholders of Ford are their customers, suppliers, regulators, competitors,
etc. Both internal and external stakeholders play an essential role in the company as they manage
the operations of the company effectively.
Internal stakeholders: The internal stakeholders of the company are the employees,
board of directors, employees, etc. Board of directors of the company is Jogn Ford, Francis Ford,
Tom Ford, Sofia Coppola, etc. The CEO of the company is Jim Hackett which plays a major role
in the company as he manages all the operations in an effective manner. He is also the president
of the company as he manages his role wisely. Henry Ford is the major investor of the company
(Abidin, 2015). The company Ford considers its employees the second level priority stakeholders
as they play a major role in doing the production and also provide quality services to the
company. Internal stakeholders are responsible for the outcomes of the company so they take a
major decision and increase the growth of the company.

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External stakeholders: These stakeholders of the company are not directly involved in
any kind of decisions and the operations of the company. These stakeholders do not have any
kind of interest in the company they are majorly concerned with the government or the
environment concerns (Blackstock, et al., 2012). For example, if Ford is making some new plant
and it is creating a lot so pollution then external stakeholders will stop the company to do so.
Customers play a major role as they want high-quality services and products from the company.
They play a major role in determining the revenues of the company. Competitors also play a
major role in the company as it creates competition in the market such as Toyota Motors, Tesla
motors, etc.
Nature of main stakeholders
The interest of stakeholders: The main stakeholders of the company are the customers
who have an interest in effective sale services. The customers of the company want the quality
product and services so that they can rely more on the company. The customer's interest in the
company was in the product innovation and the mobility of the company (Perrini and Tencati,
2016). They want the quality of the product, safety and fuel economy motor vehicles. Another
major stakeholder of the company is the employees which also has a major interest in the
company in getting higher wages and for the development of their carrier.
The major interest of the employees is in a sustainable workforce, global development,
product training, etc. The investors play a major role in the company as they give the funds to the
company so that they can operate the functions in the appropriate manner. The main interest of
the investors is in achieving the higher profits and stability of the company. For the interest of
the investors, the company has implemented the one ford plan in 2008 which has maximized the
profitability of the company and reduces its cost. Communities are also the important
stakeholders of the company such as Corporate Social Responsibility. Their main interest is in
the development of the community and to take care of the environment. The perception of the
customers is influenced by these stakeholders.
The implication of conflicting interest: There is much conflicting interest between the
stakeholders which occurs in the company. Every stakeholder has different aspects and their
interest is different which creates conflicts. The investors and the owners of the Ford want high

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profit in the company so that they earn a high dividend. The employees of the company want that
should be served with high wages and they should pay higher for their hard work. When the
personal interest of the person is getting affected then it becomes the reason for the conflicts
between the stakeholders (Baumgartner, 2014). Conflicts of interest create the problem for the
company as it affects the ethical decision making of the company. Due to the increasing
competition in the market conflicts arises in the stakeholders as conflict on the issues related to
the resources, money, time, etc. The company has limited resources and the demand of the
customers is very higher sop it is the basic reason of confliction.
The employees want a higher salary which is their main interest from the company and
the owners want to cut the cost by giving the lower salary to employees so that more profits can
be earned. So this is the reason which creates conflicts among the stakeholders (Hahn, 2013).
Conflict of interest also arises in the company when stakeholders have multiple interests and
different stakeholders create conflicts due to their implications. The main goals of the company
Ford are to sustain for the long term period but at the same time, they have to fulfill the demands
and the wants of the customer (Jeston, 2014). They do not analyze the market first and start
designing the product whereas customers want that the design should be made according to
them.
Influence of the main stakeholders
The influences of the main stakeholders are:
Customers: The customers of Ford want excellent services from the company. In
running the effective functioning of the company, customers have a great influence. If the
customers do not like the design or the function of the motor vehicles then they will not purchase
it and it will create the implication for the company as the profit of the company will be a decline
(Aapaoja and Haapasalo, 2014.
Employees: The attitudes, values and the behavior of the employee create the implication
of the company. Employees always want a satisfying working culture and a good working
environment. If the employees are not satisfied with the working environment then it results in
declining the profitability of the company.

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Investors: Investors are also the major stakeholders of the company as their interest is in
the higher profits and the dividend from the company. If the investors will not purchase the stock
of the Ford then it creates the implications as the operations and the decision of the company get
affected (Freeman and McVea, 2011). They provide capital to the company so they are the main
stakeholders whose influence on the company impacts the performance.
Stakeholder matrix
Comparison with another industry
Ford: The stakeholders of the Ford are very active and took an interest in the company.
With the help of its active participants, the company has made a good performance. The
company has launched any motor vehicles and it results in increasing the sales of the company.
Stakeholder of the company believes that the company should focus on the design of the motor
vehicles so, the large number of the customers can be attracted. The customers of the company
also attracted a large size and comfortable seats. Stakeholders of the company believe in
designing the product unique and give them the quality of goods and services (Frandsen and
Johansen, 2011)
Stakeholder
Matrix
Power
Highly
satisfied by
employees
Low
monitoring
performance
Interest
High interest
affects the
performance

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Toyota: The stakeholders of the company have manufactured the motor vehicles of
Toyota in a very attractive way. The major focus of the stakeholders is on the engine, wheels,
and tires of the company. They want to manufacture a car which will take less fuel. So this
strategy of the company is attracting the customers as they want such kind of vehicles only
which are fuel-efficient (Farooq, et al., 2017).
The difference in the interest of stakeholders: The directors of the Ford wants to make
the higher profit and growth in the market while the dire tors of the Toyota wants to make the
company worldwide famous (Polonsky, et al., 2015). The employees of the company want
higher wages and the good development from the company Ford whereas the employees of
Toyota wants job security and job satisfaction. The suppliers of the company Ford want the long
term contracts from the company and the supplier of Toyota wants the payments on time. The
customers of both the company have different expectation from the companies. The customers of
Ford have an interest in effective designing and the quality of the product whereas the customers
of Toyota want the effective customer’s services and effective cost.
Conclusion
From the above report, it is concluded that there are many functional areas which have to
be managed for effective working. The basic functional areas for the company Ford are
marketing, sales, finance, etc. In this report, both internal and external stakeholders of the
company are evaluated and their role is also clearly stated. Every stakeholder has some interest
in the company which affects the performance of the company. In this report, the stakeholder
matrix is also created. In this report, the comparison has been done between the Ford and the
Toyota as they both are dealing in the automobiles company. Both the stakeholder’s interest and
the influences ate different which has stated in this report. So in this report, the contemporary
environment is studied which helps in analyzing the fundamental of the business.

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References
Aapaoja, A., & Haapasalo, H. (2014). A framework for stakeholder identification and
classification in construction projects. Open Journal of Business and Management, 2(01),
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Abidin, M. (2015). Higher Education Quality: Perception Differences among Internal and
External Stakeholders. International Education Studies, 8(12), 185-192.
Baumgartner, R. J. (2014). Managing corporate sustainability and CSR: A conceptual framework
combining values, strategies and instruments contributing to sustainable
development. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 21(5),
258-271.
Beringer, C., Jonas, D., & Gemünden, H. G. (2012). Establishing project portfolio management:
An exploratory analysis of the influence of internal stakeholders’ interactions. Project
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Blackstock, K. L., Waylen, K. A., Dunglinson, J., & Marshall, K. M. (2012). Linking process to
outcomes—internal and external criteria for a stakeholder involvement in river basin
management planning. Ecological Economics, 77, 113-122.
Buysse, K., & Verbeke, A. (2013). Proactive environmental strategies: A stakeholder
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De Schepper, S., Dooms, M., & Haezendonck, E. (2014). Stakeholder dynamics and
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Ford, R. C., Peeper, W. C., & Gresock, A. (2009, September). Friends to grow and foes to know:
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Freeman, R. E., & McVea, J. (2011). A stakeholder approach to strategic management. The
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Hahn, R. (2013). ISO 26000 and the standardization of strategic management processes for
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Kazadi, K., Lievens, A., & Mahr, D. (2016). Stakeholder co-creation during the innovation
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Mazur, A. K., & Pisarski, A. (2015). Major project managers' internal and external stakeholder
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Polonsky, M. J., Polonsky, M. J., & Scott, D. (2015). An empirical examination of the
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