Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is one of the worlds largest producers of cars and trucks and one of
the largest providers of automotive financial services marketing vehicles under the eight
brands shown below. The Company is a publicly traded company listed on the New York
Stock Exchange. During 2002, the company made 6.7 million vehicles and employed
328,000 people worldwide. Business partners include 25,000 dealers and more than 10,000
suppliers.
Ford motor company offers a wealth of variety to the automotive consumer. As they start
their second century of business, they are now in a position to appeal to the widest range of
potential customers. Each of their automotive brands has a unique personality and holds a
distinct place in the ford motor company family.
Vehicle Brands
Ford
Lincoln
Mercury
Mazda
Volvo
Jaguar
Land Rover
Aston Martin
AUTOMOTIVE SERVICE BRANDS
Introduction
The marketing orientation has become common in companies that make things for
individual customers. It remains rare in heavy industry that produces steel, coal, oil, and
paper, where the immediate consumers are other businesses. The transition from the
production orientation to the marketing orientation is still going on. It is the most
important but least understood revolution in human history, marking a decisive power-shift
from institutions to individuals. In the production orientation, human enterprise asked
first what we could make, and second whether anyone will want it. In the marketing
orientation, we ask first what we want, and second how we can invent the means to fill that
want. Production made people technologys servants. Marketing makes us technologys
masters.
The marketing revolution promises a golden age when social institutions and markets are
systematically organized to maximize human happiness. One of marketings strongest
features is its empiricism. What science did for perception, marketing does for
production. It tests intuition and insight against empirical fact. Henry Ford thought he
knew what people wanted from a car: cheap, reliable, and black. Ford sold millions of
model-Ts in the 1920s with this mass marketing strategy. Then General Motors came
along, segmenting the market into many strata according to income, age, and tastes,
attracting buyers by fulfilling their needs more precisely. Now all car companies work
very hard to find out what people really want from cars, and they try to build cars to fit the
preferences. Market research uses all the same empirical tools as experimental
psychology, but with larger research budgets, better-defined questions, more representative
samples of people, and more impact. Ideally, marketings empiricism works like Rogerian
psychotherapy: it holds up a mirror to ourselves, reflecting our beliefs and desires so we
can recognize, remember, evaluate, and transform them.
Ford Motor Company is undergoing a transformation that is putting their customers at the
center of everything they do. Their vision is to be the worlds leading consumer company
for automotive products and services. That requires a much different headset than that of a
traditional automobile manufacturertione that concentrates intensely on the people who
buy and use their products. Obviously, they had had a pretty good idea of what their
customers wanted in the past, or we wouldnt be approaching our 100th anniversary.
For nearly a century, Ford Motor Company has worked to improve peoples lives and be a
responsible and valuable member of the community. In recent years, they have expanded
and accelerated their corporate citizenship efforts, and worked to integrate them into their
overall business strategy.
But todays customer—and todays competition—requires a deeper level of understanding.
Traditional market research is fine, but its only the start. To transform the company, require
all employees to interact directly with consumers. At the Consumer Insight Center,
customers bring their vehicles in and discuss them face-to-face with Ford employees. The
emphasis is on the individuals interaction with her or his vehicle. The most well known
consumer connection programs is the effort to provide home computers and Internet access
to all of employees around the world .Being a leader in corporate citizenship is not only
the right thing to do, but also is fully aligned with ultimate goal of providing superior
shareholder returns over time.
1. Strong and Differentiated customer proposition.
Ford Motor Company is undergoing a transformation that is putting their customers at the
center of everything they do. Their vision is to be the worlds leading consumer company
for automotive products and services. They constantly measure customer satisfaction to
learn what their customers like about their products and services, and what issues need
attention. The most important determinants of customer satisfaction are product quality
and the experience customers have while using the product. About 75 percent of a
customers satisfaction typically comes from these factors. A customers sales and service
experience typically factors into the remaining 25 percent. That requires a much different
headset than that of a traditional automobile manufacturertione that concentrates intensely
on the people who buy and use products.
Consumer driven 6-Sigma, an extensive quality improvement initiative, is a proven
method of reducing variability and improving efficiency. While other Fortune 500
companies have implemented 6-Sigma as a cost-cutting tool, Ford taken the 6-Sigma
process in a new direction. They used it to identify projects that have the greatest potential
to increase customer satisfaction by improving quality and reducing defects.
Feedback from customer surveys, focus groups and other sources helped to identify the top
customer concerns. Groups of Ford employee Black Belts and UAW employee Green
Belts are trained in statistics and problem-solving to identify ways to address these
concerns. All told, Consumer Driven 6-Sigma contributed more than $52 million to Ford
Motor Companys bottom line in 2000.
For nearly a century, Ford Motor Company has worked to improve peoples lives and be a
responsible and valuable member of the community. In recent years, they have expanded
and accelerated their corporate citizenship efforts, and worked to integrate them into their
overall
business strategy. According to the companys vision, mission and values the customer is
Job 1. They do the right thing for the customers, for the people, for the environment and
for the society.
They built strong relationships with the people, communities and organizations. In the last
98 years, they built nearly 300 million cars and trucks. If they hadnt been dependable and
responsible, and offered outstanding value to their customers, they wouldnt have a thriving
business today. Still they are making quantum improvements to continue to be a thriving
business in the future. In this juncture we can accurately declare a score of 15 points to the
companys marketing orientation
Maximum score 15
Awarded score 15
2. Ability to anticipate and act on future trends quickly
The advent of the Internet has greatly increased the ability of companies to conduct their
business faster, more accurately, over a wide range of time and space, at reduced cost and
with the ability to customize and personalize customer offerings. E- marketing describes
company efforts to inform, communicate, promote, and sell its products and services over
the Internet. The exchange process in the age of information has become customer
initiated and customer controlled .the business-to-business sites are changing the supplier
customer relationship in profound ways. Ford is using B2B auction sites, spot exchanges,
online product catalogues, and other online resources to obtain better prices.
The Ford motor company registered a web site with an Internet domain name for
electronic payments, signature security allowing legal documents to be signed and
exchanged over the Internet. Ford became the first company in the world to offer
computers and Internet access to its employees and their families in their homes for a
nominal fee. This program helped Ford employees gain a deeper und customer needs,
enhance their computer skills and access learning
opportunities through the Internet. The Web site provides customers with some of the
information they need for their purchase decisions. While our e-commerce strategy
provides benefits to customers and dealers alike, some dealers see it as a possible threat to
their business.
In recent years, by necessity, much of the companys focus has been on the economic
dimension of sustainability. In January 2002, they announced a comprehensive, long-term
plan to return Ford Motor Company to profitability. The first phase of plan – stabilizing
business and getting it back
on a sound operational and financial foundation, was done. As a result of their continuing
efforts, the overall financial results have improved by about $5 billion in two years, which
was ahead of their plan. .
Ford Company is taking their philosophy of being profitable and responsible to other
emerging markets around the world. Asia-Pacific region will be the fastest-growing market
for the automotive industry in the coming decade, with China accounting for the largest
part of that growth. The company is planning to be aggressive in participating in that
growth and strengthening their presence in the region. . Companys ultimate goal is to build
great products, a strong business and a better world. Here they deserve the maximum score
of 8 points.
Maximum score 8
Awarded score 8
3. Success in launching profitable new products /services which add incremental sales
Companies that fail to develop new products are putting themselves at great risk. Their
existing products are vulnerable to changing customer needs and tastes, new technologies,
shortens product cycle, and increased domestic and foreign competition. New technologies
are especially threatening. Most companies focus on incremental innovation. Newer
