Successes and Failures of the Ford Motor Company

Paper Summary:

According to the book "Built To Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by James Collins and Jerry Porras," the Ford Motor Company is one of the paradigmatic examples of successful enterprise in the American automobile industry. Like the image it has projected of its automobiles, the firm itself is a model of durability and consistency. This paper examines the reasons for the successes and some of the failures of the company according to the principles outlined in Collins and Porras' text, what they call their "12 Myths of Successful Businesses," that are outlined and exploded over the course of the book's analysis.

From the Paper:

"Ford Motors company has produced products that have changed not only the automobile industry but American corporate and popular culture as a whole, including such models as the Model T of the first half of the 20th century and later the Mustang. (Collins and Porras pp. 2-4) "Innovate, Motivate, Lead," proclaims the corporate slogan of Ford upon its 100th anniversary as a company. The company pioneered the "assembly line" system of automobile manufacturing. In this system, the parts and vehicles themselves moved rather the individuals doing the manufacturing. This system enabled the company to manufacture the first automobile, known as the Model T, which was affordable and accessible on a mass scale to ordinary American families."

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